Rock Bottom Interview: Victor Webster

Tell me about playing Hunter and being on the set of Harper’s Island.

I knew Katie Cassidy [Trish] from before; so we had a great time on set – we got along really well, and everybody else was great. For some reason this show – a lot of times when you get on a show the cast – a couple people would be really cool and some people are okay; then there’s a few that you really don’t want to hang out with. But on this show; I don’t know what it was – every single person was very open… very friendly… happy – everybody hung out together. It was a rare and very unique experience. The concept of the show was awesome; like a horror movie on television, and that’s always fun – that’s a genre that I love. Working with great people and in a beautiful place like Vancouver – I didn’t have any complaints at all. [laughs] It was a great time.

Did you enjoy playing a bad guy?

I love playing bad guys; I never really get to play a bad guy – sometimes I might play the antagonist, but not usually a “bad guy”. I kind of liked it; a darker edge – having motives that aren’t always so clear cut – there was darkness behinds what he wants, and people don’t know what he wants – it’s nice to have that mysterious edge as well.

How long were you on location?

I was up there for a few months working off and on. I love Vancouver; it’s a beautiful place – it was a perfect location for that. Why are things always scarier when you’re out in the woods? [laughs] Why are so many horror movies in the woods? [laughs] I don’t know; it’s always freaky.

Were you involved in any of the special features on the upcoming DVD? [available on DVD September 8, 2009]

Um… not that I know of. [laughs] I mean there might be some special features about my face getting blown off – things like that… that I wasn’t a part of, but not that I know of. I mean there were interviews and things like that they may use.

Since your character died pretty early in the series; was there more to your character that they edited out and we didn’t get a chance to see?

A couple things were cut out for time; one of the shows was too long, but for the most part what you see is what you get. He’s there to… not really get Trish back, but mostly to negotiate himself back into the family and make some money… and Trish would have been icing on the cake.

At what point did you know that your character was going to be the next victim?

I knew; I knew before I even went up there – they were like “You’re coming up for this many episodes” I was like “Okay, great”. So that wasn’t a secret, but I didn’t know what was going on after I left and we didn’t get any of our scripts until right before we were supposed to be shooting – so I didn’t know how I was going to die.

At least you got one of the better death scenes…

Yeah, I loved it – no complaints here. [laughs]

What was it like filming your death scene? I’m sure a lot of it was done on computers after the fact, but what was it like on that boat doing your last scene?

It was great. It’s always amazing how they make things happen and make things look like they’re actually happening – I was just out there on the boat sitting there; we weren’t even moving, but it looks like I’m going thirty miles an hour on the water because they have these huge fans and they’re splashing water up into the air – I was told “Okay, now turn around – you’ve got all this money it’s fantastic… give a big smile… okay, walk to the back and all of a sudden you see a flash” – so I jump back and land on the ground. All that stuff is fun for me; I’m like a big kid so any time I get to play around… its fun for me.

Do you wish you could have lasted longer on the show?

You try to make the most of what you’ve got, and I knew going in… I think if I went in and I didn’t know that I had a limited run and all of a sudden I read the script and found out that I was dying; which is what a lot of people did – then I think I would have been really bummed, but because I knew – mentally I was prepared for it. With that being said; I would have enjoyed getting to the point where the killer was discovered and was chasing us around – the idea of running round and round with people chasing you and being able to act that out… and create that suspense sounded like a lot of fun – I would have liked that part.

Which character are you most like?

I’m a huge practical joker – I really like to have a good time and laugh – so probably Matt Barr’s character [Sully]. He played a lot of jokes on people; he doesn’t take anything too seriously.

What else can people see you in this year?

I’ve got a Tyler Perry movie “Why Did I Get Married Too” – that’s coming out soon. I’ve got Bruce Willis’ “Surrogates” – that’s coming out in September. An independent movie called “Coming & Going” – another one called “Burning Palms”, and I just signed on to do a bunch of episodes of Melrose Place – so that starts shooting this week.

A lot of good things coming up…

Yeah, I’ve been really busy… thank God – I’ve been very fortunate. I’m looking forward to all that stuff – some parts are bigger some parts are smaller; I’m just having fun doing all different kinds of things.