*The A-Team'*s Bradley Cooper, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Sharlto Copley, and Liam Neeson.
South African director Neill Blomkamp took a considerable risk by entrusting the lead role in his first feature film, the science-fiction drama District 9, to a non-actor, his charismatic friend and onetime boss Sharlto Copley. The film went on to snag a surprise best-picture Oscar nomination, and Copley caught Hollywood's giant alien eye with his anguished portrayal of an officious bureaucrat who ruefully watches his life slip away as he morphs from human into persecuted extraterrestrial.
Copley returns to screens next month in the reboot of The A-Team, the hit 1980s TV show, alongside Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. He plays “Howlin Mad” Murdock, the team’s certifiably crazy master of imitation and disguise (and fanboy cult favorite). Herewith, Copley discusses Mr. T’s image in apartheid-era South Africa and reveals what Liam Neeson is like in the boxing ring. Also, he puts his sublime voice to the service of the Air Wolf theme, which he replicates note for resplendent note.V.F.: Did you even watch The A-Team in South Africa?
Sharlto Copley: I absolutely did. It was my favorite show as a kid, hands down. I had an A-Team gang in school.
Really?
Totally true story. Then another group when I was 12 years old, I think, started an A-Team gang. So we started a war. We had rival A-Team gangs. And we won, because we knew there could only be one A-Team. I had stickers. You know those trading cards you used to get? And the action figures. I had a birthday cake with Mr. T on it, and the old South African flag, which—if you could believe—in apartheid-era South Africa. It was: “All hail the power of Mr. T, B. A. Baracus.” There was an old South African flag with a black guy on the cake. No problem. It was pretty awesome.
Were you Murdock in the old gang?
Murdock and B.A. were my two favorite characters, but I was actually Hannibal—because I’m very bossy. I remember because I started the gang. I actually wanted to be Murdock, but I realized that if I was Murdock, I couldn’t be the boss. I went through this little personal dilemma. But I was able to be the gang leader. I decided what happened, and what adventures we played.
You were a businessman and a producer before ever getting in front of the camera. How did you score the A-Team role?
I come from a filmmaking and production company, and I owned a visual-effects company, a talent agency, in Cape Town, in South Africa. I was helping Neill [Blomkamp, director of District 9] as a producer on [the short film] Alive in Joburg, because there was a very small crew involved in that. Everyone does what they can. So if you can act, you act. Neil asked me to play a small role in that. Then he asked me to produce two smaller tests for him while he was trying to raise the money for the film version. In that process, I got on camera again, this time as a different character. That was the character that became Wikus, and instead of being one of the producers of the film—which is what I thought was going to happen and what was said to happen—he offered me the job to play the lead character. Here I am.
As for The A-Team, while I was on the publicity tour for District 9, I shot some clips in my hotel room in Austin, Texas. I called it, “Things That Could Happen to Murdock in His Hotel Room.” I edited them on the plane. I sent them to Joe [Carnahan, The A-Team director], and that’s how I got the part. That was very much improv, using the same kind of energy the original character had.
I went back to read the very first reviews of the old TV show. The only thing that the critics seemed to be unanimous about was the comedic performance of Dwight Shultz—the original Murdock. Did you feel the pressure?
I felt pressure, certainly. I definitely wanted to play Murdock as close to the original character, with the original kind of energy, as possible.
Dwight made a cameo. When he arrived for the day, I had lunch with him. I thought, “O.K., I’m going to take the plunge and show him the tests that I did.” While he was watching, I couldn’t see his face; I had to stand behind him. I heard he was laughing at the right times. He turned to me, he had tears in his eyes, and he said to me, “You are Murdock.” Then he put up this thing on his Web site: “Murdock is dead. Long live Murdock.” Which was just awesome. So that meant the world to me.
Liam Neeson—any embarrassing run-ins on set?
No, nothing embarrassing. He taught me to box, which was cool. He’s very demanding. And it worked. Me and Bradley [Cooper] and “Rampage” [Jackson] are definitely the kids of the group. But whenever Liam was there, it was like, “O.K., O.K., the boss is here”—both in character and out of character. So that was very helpful to create the right tone between us. There was a kind of intensity that he brought.
What was it like boxing Liam Neeson?
Well, again, he was nice to me.
He didn’t put you on the mat?
No, no. He was just teaching me form and basic boxing. Apparently, he boxed as a young man.
Since Wikus in District 9 was a quirky guy, and Murdock from The A-Team is the ultimate oddball, I thought it might be fun to do an exercise. Are you up for a game of free association?
Are you doing this just to see how crazy I am?
Just for fun. I’m going to say a 1980s television show. Please respond with whatever pops into your mind—if it’s character, a specific scene, a childhood memory—whatever. O.K.: Miami Vice.
Smooth, 80s-style jackets. Shoulder pads. My minds going
Magnum P.I.
The mustache. Very cool show. Loved it.
Knight Rider.
Wanting my car to speak. Curly hair was cool.
Who’s the Boss?
Alyssa Milano. I once lied and told my friends that I kissed her when I went overseas. Total lie. I had a total crush on Alyssa Milano. Teen romance, teen crush.
Oh, wow. Dallas.
My parents used to watch it, and they would lock us out of the room. We weren’t allowed to watch it.
Airwolf.
Um. Um. [Hums theme song.] This text will be replaced var so = new SWFObject('/mp3/ontheweb/player.swf','mpl','460','20','9'); so.addParam('allowscriptaccess','always'); so.addParam('allowfullscreen','true'); so.addParam('flashvars','&file=http://downloads.vanityfair.com/downloads/music/sharltocopley.mp3&backcolor=2e2b1e&frontcolor=FFFFFF'); so.write('player');
There’s no way you remember that.
I do! That’s correct. You can go look it up.
MacGyver.
I doubt that you could do that with a piece of chewing gum.
Are you guys going to kick MacGruber’s ass?
Yeah, we will.
