Willem Dafoe Says John Carter of Mars Will Be "Mind-Blowing"
Posted 10.21.09 by BrentJS
Other than a few cast additions, the last news we had heard about Pixar's already-delayed live-action production John Carter of Mars came from actress Lynn Collins, who will play the Martian princess Dejah Thoris opposite Taylor Kitsch. Collins said that "some hair and makeup tests" had begun, but knew little else about the production.
Now, two-time Academy Award-nominated actor Willem Dafoe confirms that pre-production on the CGI/live-action mash-up is chugging along. Dafoe will portray Tars Tarkas, a four-armed, nine-foot-tall Martian, or "Barsoomian," as they are referred to in the classic 11-volume novel series by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Dafoe said that although his character will be rendered digitally, his performance should shine through, thanks to the incredible skills of the Pixar artists.
[Pixar will] use my face, but they'll enhance it in a way — both after and before — in a way that I may not be recognizable. But, I'm good with that. It's particularly cool, because he's a creature, but he's got this huge range of character. And, he does cool things in the movies.
When asked if he had developed a voice for his alien character yet, Dafoe told Ain't It Cool News:
No, but there's a whole period where we're going to work with the language and the movement, and find out how I'm going to be nine feet tall, and all that stuff ... like, a long period of time where we're going to go to Thark school, you know what I mean? We're going to create our culture. So, it's going to be very cool. These guys know how to do this, and they've got great people. And, the designs and things are just mind-blowing.
Next Showing: John Carter of Mars is scheduled for a 2012 release