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Dominic Cooper interview: Warcraft actor on Duncan Jones, Preacher, and not being pigeonholed

The actor discusses Preacher being a long-running role and the unfair criticism video game adaptations get

Friday 27 May 2016 16:53 BST

Dominic Cooper (Getty)

“A £22 bacon sandwich, it’s ridiculous,” starts my interview with the charming Dominic Cooper. “Freshly cut tomatoes in a bacon sandwich, that’s not right.”

Cooper, dressed head to toe in black, is wandering around a large room in a very high-end Knightsbridge hotel. The day is just starting (for him, at least), and there’s no great rush to sit down. Instead, the conversation centres on the overly expensive aforementioned sandwich, as well as a royal chariot passing outside.

“How much do you think one of those costs to go around in?”, he asks – as if I would have the slightest clue. It’s remarkable that the actor has stayed so grounded having starred in multi-million dollar projects for the good part of 10 years – starting with Mama Mia and including the likes of Captain America: The First Avenger, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, and Dead Man Down – you would be inclined to think Cooper’s head may be in the clouds. Yet, throughout our conversation, he remains easy to talk to, laughing when discussing past projects (Fast & Furious), while speaking excitedly about future ones (The Preacher).

We’re here to talk about Warcraft: the Beginning, the third film by Duncan Jones after Source Code and Moon. Based on the popular video-game series, the CGI extravaganza tells of a battle between orcs and men. Cooper plays the human king, Llane, a powerful figure who governs over a world called Azeroth.

“I didn’t have much of a clue about the game beforehand,” the 37-year-old actor admits, deciding to take a seat on the adjacent sofa. “I had an idea of what the game was. I had heard stories about people’s jobs and marriages ending over spending too many hours sitting behind a computer screen.”

Warcraft: The Beginning Clip - King Ilane Asks Garona To Help

Luckily, the director was a little more clued up on the game’s history. A self-proclaimed fan of the series, Jones was the main driving force behind the film and the person who got Cooper interested in the ambitious, £109m project.

“I loved Duncan’s past work so I was desperate to meet him. I think we Skyped first, then I met him in the offices where he had been creating this world. Everything had been created on the page and physically. He was so passionate about the universe, and the world in which it inhabits.

“I needed it to be explained in a way that made sense, and that’s what he did, the different take he had on it. I was incredibly excited to be part of it and this exciting environment that I had no idea about. The magic involved, I was blown away by his passion for it.”

When watching Warcraft, it’s obvious Jones has a passion for the game’s fantasy world, dropping dozens of Easter Eggs (“I only recently learnt what those are,” adds Cooper) and references to the wider Warcraft franchise.

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However, one worry many people share is that the majority of video-game adaptations are subpar in quality. Just look back to 2015 and the release of Hitman: Agent 47, a film that holds a 28/100 Metacritic score. Surely warning signs went off in Cooper’s head?

“I’ve done one before, Need for Speed. That was interesting,” he chuckles. “Video game adaptations are a worry; you have to offer something the game isn’t already offering. If you think about what gamers are already experiencing, you are at liberty to make something that is a completely different experience.

“There are so many preconceived ideas of what the characters are to those gamers. They’ve lived with those people longer than the people actually making the film. There’s this massive responsibility and at some point, you have to draw the line and not be panicked. You put yourself in the firing line immediately because of people’s expectations, because people have much more of an ability to converse about something they know well, they can immediately compare the two.”

Film premises that shouldn’t have worked but did

Show all 14

1/14Film premises that shouldn’t have worked but did

Film premises that shouldn’t have worked but did

1. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Kicking us off is Phil Lord and Christopher Mille’s bizarre animated film about a scientist who creates a machine that transforms water into food. So far, not too crazy, but then the machine gets stuck in the sky and it starts raining food. Everything goes wrong and Flint Lockwood must save the day by flying up to the machine and kicking fried chicken butt. Yeah, a pretty crazy premise, but a fantastic film.

Film premises that shouldn’t have worked but did

2. Frank

Michael Fassbender may be one of the most bankable stars of the moment - having starred in the likes of Steve Jobs, X-Men and Macbeth - but in 2014, instead of flaunting his face, producers decided to make him wear a weird papier-mâché mask for the film’s near entirety. The plot see’s Fassbender’s titular character front a rock band, play SXSW and make ‘likeable’ music. It’s all just a bit strange.

Film premises that shouldn’t have worked but did

3. Groundhog Day

Almost anything with Bill Murray in it is a win in my book, but when you say the premise of Ground Hog day out loud - a weatherman who must relive the same day over and over again - it sounds quite boring. What transpired was one of Murray’s funniest films.

Film premises that shouldn’t have worked but did

4. Star Wars

With Star Wars being so prevalent in pop-culture, it’s hard to imagine a time when no-one except George Lucas knew what a Lightsaber was. Producers must have been shocked when this young director came into the office trying to sell a script about Luke Skywalker, R2D2, Darth Vader, Chewbacca and Stormtroopers. Thankfully, they believed in his vision and now we have one of the best sci-fi sagas of all time.

Film premises that shouldn’t have worked but did

5. Incepetion

A dream, within a dream, within a dream. Even those who watched Inception were left confused, let alone those who only heard what the film was about. Christopher Nolan’s final flick, however, was a masterclass in storytelling and one of the best films of the last ten years.

Film premises that shouldn’t have worked but did

6. Speed

The high-concept Speed is quite ridiculous really. Keanu Reeves can’t let a bus go below 50 miles per hour or it will blow up. It’s quite amazing how Jan de Bont managed to make his debut 116 minutes long in the first place, let alone making it a decent film in the process.

Film premises that shouldn’t have worked but did

7. Edward Scissorhands

Tim Burton is a director who could fill this entire list up. While he may have chosen to reboot numerous films in the past few years (Alice in Wonderland, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the upcoming Dumbo 2) it was his original concepts that set him apart from everyone else. In Burton’s head, the love story of a man with scissors for hands and a young woman made complete sense, while for everyone else - from just the premise - it seemed entirely weird. Luckily, he was given the opportunity to make the film and a cult classic was born, all while Johnny Depp’s ability to play the outsider was solidified.

Film premises that shouldn’t have worked but did

8. Mrs Doubtfire

Post-Hook and Aladdin, Robin Williams was on a role. One of his standout performances was as Mrs. Doubtfire, the father-turned-drag-housekeeper. As a premise, dressing your lead male as a woman wasn’t exactly new (see Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie), so the filmmakers ran the risk of it all seeming like an overdone joke. Luckily, Chris Columbus managed to pull off the ridiculous plot (how wouldn’t the kids know it’s their father, really?) leading to one of the funniest films of the 90s.

Film premises that shouldn’t have worked but did

9. The Lobster

Like Burton, most of Yorgos Lanthimos’s films could probably feature on this page, but we’ve gone with The Lobster. The film tells of a hotel where residents must find a suitable partner within 45 days otherwise they will be turned into an animal. Try to run away and the other residents will hunt you down with tranquillisers. The result was one of the best love stories of 2015.

Film premises that shouldn’t have worked but did

10. Ant-Man

Some comic book superheroes should not be adapted to the big screen (*cough* Howard the Duck *cough*). Ant-Man is not one of them. Against all the odds, Paul Rudd and Peyton Reed managed to make a compelling film about a man who could shrink down in size and control ants. What’s incredible is that - somehow - the film quickly became one of Marvel’s most beloved films. Of course, everyone knew Marvel could pull off weird, having knocked it out of the park with Guardians of the Galaxy the year before.

Film premises that shouldn’t have worked but did

11. Beetlejuice

Two ghosts living in their old home want to scare away the alive people who now live there. Unfortunately, the new home-owners can’t see them and so the ghosts have to call upon a deranged Michael Keaton to help them out. Add one of the strangest afterlife scenes in film history and you’ve got a brilliant film.

Film premises that shouldn’t have worked but did

12. Forrest Gump

While not an obvious contender like Star Wars or Beetlejuice, when you think about it, Forrest Gump is a weird idea. A below-average intelligent man, sitting on a bench, waiting for a bus, telling strangers about all the famous moments in history where he observed/effected. Thanks to Tom Hanks, Gump was a magical film of love and hope, winning over the hearts of thousands and becoming an instant classic.

Film premises that shouldn’t have worked but did

13. The Lego Movie

Another film from Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, The Lego Movie shouldn’t have worked. Making a beloved toy into a film; it was all just a bit silly. Thankfully, Chris Pratt’s turn as Emmett (and a catchy song in “Everything is Awesome”) the film was a huge hit with critics and fans alike, and now we have a cinematic universe of Lego movies to come. Awesome?

Film premises that shouldn’t have worked but did

14. I’m Not There

“Let’s get Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Marcus Carl Franklin, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger, and Ben Whishaw to all play Bob Dylan in a single film”, Todd Haynes said. While you would think that would be overkill, the result was stunning, with Dylan himself eventually praising the film in 2012.

It sounds like a big responsibility, but Cooper should be used to that by now; his past roles have included adapting ABBA musicals, Marvel comic books, and Olivier Award-winning plays (The History Boys). This has led to the actor starring as a Vampire Hunter, the 2nd Earl Grey, and now King of Azeroth. It’s fair to say Cooper has a varied CV.

“That’s definitely the way I like it. It seems weird to be pigeonholed, I find it weird. The only way you can prove yourself is to not be pigeonholed and to be confident, do the different genres.

“You can only do what’s in front of you, and what tempts you, so now I’m going to go do a play [The Libertine] and get back on stage because it’s been a while. You never know the outcome of these things, how you’ll end up, whether people will like the work you’ve done.”

He goes on to mention Preacher, a 10-part drama based on a comic book that delves into black comedy, horror and the supernatural. Cooper plays the titular character in the series, something he admits is something of a “step-up” in his career. Yet, even with the series under his belt, he remains ever pessimistic about being an actor.

Warcraft - Trailer 2

“It’s such a financial business,” he says. “You’re constantly dealing with how apparently popular you are and whether you can get something made. You do have to treat it like a business, one where you need to stay popular. And that’s the sad truth. Otherwise, I’m sure people would be continually doing independent, artistic films. But I’m not sure it’s feasible, I’m really not sure it is.”

Luckily, with critics having already praised Preacher to high-heavens, things are looking stable for the Warcraft actor. With little time left, I quickly ask whether he sees Preacher being a long-running role: “I’ve got a feeling it might be, yeah. You never know, but I have a feeling. I’m relieved it is that show that’s it, because I’m enjoying it. It always sounds more daunting than it is but if it’s something you love and cherish playing then it’s all good. But you never know.”

Warcraft: The Beginning is in cinemas 30 May in the UK. Meanwhile, Preacher is available on Amazon Prime Video.

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