0
Noel Fisher has been creating a buzz in the US playing the paranoid Mickey Milkovich on the American Shameless.
The Canadian actor will be hitting the big screen later this year as Vladimir in the next installment of the Twilight films and rocking up alongside Kevin Costner and Bill Paxman in TV mini series Hatfields & McCoys.
Purple Revolver caught up with the 28-year-old to chat about Twilight, TV and which comic book character he’d like to play on screen.
Purple Revolver: How was it joining a group of actors who had worked on so many of the Twilight films already?
Noel Fisher: “It’s been a very welcoming expereince. There were so many people who were veterans of the series and who had already created a kind of family, but they were all very good at welcoming all the newbies.
“But the other good thing was that were so many new people joining the cast it was kind of like having a whole new family joining.”
PR: Did you feel any pressure taking on a role in a series that has been so hugely popular and scrutinized?
NF: “More than pressure there was a feeling of not quite believing that it had happened.”
PR: So are you ready for all the Twilight mania then?
NF: “I think so. There is a massive, dedicated fan base, but my expereince of them so far has been very welcoming too and very supportive.
“Actually I had one fan on Twitter do a charity drive for my birthday. They just decided to take that initiative and raise money for an animal shelter, which was great.”
PR: You’ve done a lot of TV work throughout your career, is it an easy transition from filming TV roles to going to work on a movie?
NF: “There are a lot of differences but also a lot of similarities. When you’re making films you have a lot of time, sometimes days just to shoot one scene.
“But on Shameless we’d try to shoot about 10 pages a day. TV forces you to be in touch with your instincts because you don’t have as much time as you do with film roles.”
PR: Did you enjoy getting to play someone as aggressive and paranoid as Mickey on Shameless?
NF: “I love playing Mickey, he’s definitely one of the best characters that I’ve ever got to play.
“He’s just insane, if anyone is a candidate for therapy I would say it was him.”
PR: Did you watch any of the British Shameless to get ready for the role?
NF: “I haven’t watched a lot of the British Shameless, just little bits but not the whole thing.
“I wanted to give my own spin on the character so that’s why I’ve kind of stayed away from it. But I figure I’ve been doing it for so long now that I have a handle on the character so I guess it would be safe to watch now.”
PR: You’re going to be in the TV mini-series Hatfields & McCoys with Kevin Costner and Bill Paxman, how was it working with those guys?
NF: “Both of those guys were awesome. I grew up watching films like Robin Hood, Dances with Wolves and Alien, so it was an amazing experience.
“They’re both very good at what they do, obviously, but it raises your game up and makes you better as an actor.”
PR: There’s so much great TV coming out of the States, especially on HBO and AMC, do you find yourself leaning towards more TV roles?
NF: “I don’t really make career choices in that way. But it doesn’t really matter to me, I just do projects that I enjoy.
“I have a blast on Shameless but I love doing features. I just want to do both, maybe that makes me greedy?”
PR: You were the voice of Toad in the cartoon X-Men Evolutions, are you a big comic book fan?
NF: “As a kid I liked comic books, I wasn’t really a collector but I loved reading what I had.”
PR: So is there a particular comic book role that you’d like to make your own for a film or TV show?
“I don’t know if I’d be right for a lot of roles that I’d like to do, I mean Batman’s been taken. I loved Spawn when that came out, and the Deadpool movie was cool too.
“I’d have to find a character, maybe from the Marvel universe, that I’d be right for, but I don’t know how many small, pasty white superheroes there are.”