Tell me about yourself - where'd you grow up? How'd you get into the business?
Well, I grew up in a small town called Squamish, which is about forty-five minutes outside of Vancouver. I grew
up playing any sport possible - hockey, soccer... pretty much anything I could do. Also, in high school I did a lot
of acting. Then I moved down to the cities... played some football, and ended up getting a football scholarship in Pennsylvania,
because I thought it would be a good idea.... thought it would be fun to go out there and experience that whole thing.
In the first season I broke my ankle, and I was mis-diagnosed so I kinda played on it. I kept on over-compensating more injuries,
and that type of thing - wasn’t really finding any major... so I decided to come back the next year, and made some really
good friends and stuff... I tried to find something that really interests me. But I kept playing football, and the injuries
just weren't getting any better. So I finally decided it would be better if I came back and re-focus. In Vancouver,
I had a lot of free time... my mom was working in the film industry at the time and said that I should get an agent and go
out for small roles here and there. So it sort of went from there.
So breaking your ankle was a blessing then?
Yeah, it's kind of like a blessing in disguise. So you never really know what's going to happen.
How did you get the role of Colossus (X-Men)?
It was when I just started auditioning. I only had one commercial under my belt... just small things... then they
had a big 'cattle call' for anyone over 6'3" that's big, had dark hair... anyone that looked resembled the character.
They looked all over the place - L.A., Toronto, and Vancouver... so I just went out for that, and I ended up getting called
back. I remember they gave me seven call backs, and I eventually got the job.
Were you a fan of the X-men to begin with?
Well, yeah. I never really read the comic books, but I always watched the cartoon. It really sucked because
when I was young it was on at 3 o'clock - and my house was right on top of a hill, and the school was right at the bottom...
it was probably about two miles long and pretty steep. So I used to run home and I'd get there with fifteen minutes
left and I'd catch the end of everything.
How come Colossus didn't have a Russian accent in the movies like he's supposed to have?
When they had the first audition, because I knew that's what the character was... I learned how to speak with a Russian
accent, and worked on that for a while. I went to the audition and I did it with just a normal accent and also in Russian.
Then when I got hired I asked them if they wanted the Russian accent and they said no. Bryan Singer said he wanted to
take it into a different direction - like Pyro is supposed to be Australian, and Wolverine is supposed to be Canadian, and
Storm was supposed to be African... and she tried that and it didn't really work.
Were you involved in the video game process at all for the new movie?
No, I didn't get to. I think the only characters they had were Wolverine, Iceman, and someone else. So no,
I wasn't involved. It would have been cool though.
Did they make any toys based on you at all?
I don't know. Yeah, I'm not getting any love. (laughs)
I thought you did a great job though....
Thanks, man. It would have been awesome to get more lines, but.... I'm just happy to be working. Last
summer when they were working on it... it was just up in the air. But I finally got the call... but it was changing
so much all the time... adding new characters, taking characters out... and my role was originally bigger... then it shrunk.
Do you know about the Wolverine movie coming out next year?
Oh, the spin-off... no. I just sort of heard from Hugh when I was working on the third one.
So I'm assuming you're not going to be in it...
I don't know. You never know, right? It could be from earlier on, and my character might not even be around.
What type of role would you like to tackle next?
I'm not sure. I'll take anything - it's just sort of slowed down up here. Anything that's kind of fun and
challenging... something different.
Anything you're working on right now?
Not right now, I've just been auditioning for The Hills Have Eyes 2... it's being filmed down in Morocco, which would
be really cool. But you never know... it's tough being my height...
What are you... 6'8"?
Yeah, 6'7".
You don't seem that tall in the movies. Someone online said they shrunk you down in
front of Hugh Jackman to make him look bigger.... is that true?
He's tall, he's 6'3". I think that's why I don't look as tall. In X2, in some scenes I was actually up higher
and stood out even more.
What are some good memories of filming the two movies?
The whole experience. Being on something that large of a scale, and meeting some of those actors face to face...
and seeing how normal they are. It's always scary going into things when people have said things about certain actors
- you meet them and they're normal people. Then seeing yourself on a fifty foot screen.
