In addition to sharing his favorite career deaths, Todd shared reflections on his career to date, described what it's like to go on a sushi date with action legend Sonny Chiba, and discussed his passion project Eerie, PA, the indie crime pic he wrote and will make his directorial debut with. But first: Which movie deaths are dearest to Tony Todd's heart?
Platoon (1986)
Todd landed one of his first film roles in Oliver Stone's Platoon, playing Bravo squad leader Sgt. Warren. Wounded in a firefight during the church ambush scene...
"My first death was in Platoon, in that second-to-last firefight. I'll never forget that, because a) it was the first one and b) we were in some strange country called The Phillippines, which was fascinating -- everything grows larger there. And it was Oliver Stone. It was immersive. We went to that mock boot camp, and we only got three hours of sleep a night, and would wake to firefights -- simulated firefights, thank God. It gave me a deeper respect for the military service, I tell you that."
Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh (1995)
The sequel to boogeyman tale Candyman reveals how the titular killer (Todd), once a Louisiana man named Daniel Robitaille, was tragically murdered at the hands of a lynch mob... and a bunch of bees. [Movieline points out that between Candyman 2 and My Girl, the early '90s were a time of heightened bee-phobia.]
"As a matter of fact, I think the same bee wrangler worked on both of those. Norman Gary, based out of the Sacramento area. You try to remember your crew and your cast; if you don't do that, what else do you have? I counted once in a moment of boredom; I think I've died over twenty times in films, one way or the other."
The Rock (1996)
Michael Bay would later cast (and kill in grandiose fashion) Todd in his Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, in which Todd voiced The Fallen. But in 1996, Todd had fun on another large-scale Michael Bay set, playing a mercenary who turns on his boss (Ed Harris) in The Rock.
"I think the way I was killed in The Rock was pretty inventive, because I got shot out at Alcatraz, over the San Francisco Bay by a giant nuclear missile and ended up in a fence post. [Laughs] You know, like a stuffed insect. But that particular sequence took over two and a half weeks to film. It was Michael Bay. Two and a half weeks. 'Basically, Tony we need you to get back up into the air, then we need you to wiggle your left finger.' Of course, it only translates to, what, twenty seconds of film? But then again, it's Michael Bay, and everything is big, big, big, big!"
Final Destination (2000)
Though he's one of few to avoid Death's gaze in the Final Destination films, the first installment in the series features one of his favorite death scenes -- one not involving his character, William Bludworth.
"I like one of the first kills in the first Final Destination, when the girl steps off the curb and gets hit by the bus. It was sudden, it didn't linger, it was a surprise -- I don't think anybody had ever seen that before. That was extraordinary."
Hatchet II (2010)
Todd reprised his role as Rev. Zombie for Adam Green's Hatchet II, which culminates in a showdown between him and Kane Hodder's swamp-dwelling killer, Victor Crowley.
"Most recently, I did Hatchet II. Kane Hodder, who's a good friend of mine -- crazy, but a good friend -- he kills my character at the end. I'm the final death in that one. Not only is it a kill, it's a three-step kill: I'm sort of the antagonist throughout, and basically we fight, he steps on me... [Laughs] And then he steps on the back of my neck, then he's still not done. So he reaches and pulls out my spine, and there's a shot of my inner being being held up by a tree, and I think he does something else -- he throws me against a tree trunk."
After spending so many years in the world of horror films, is it still fun to kill or be killed onscreen?
Yeah, because you know, I live and breathe, I've got to give it a healthy outlook. It's not like I got my master's and said, 'I want to go to horror film class,' it's the luck of the draw. And I'm fortunate, because for every one person that's working there's at least, what, three thousand out of work? I'm just talking actors, not even the rest of the country. So I'm continually being asked to play, to come join the party, and it's a blessing.
Can you tell us about the role you went out for today?
No, because I don't have it yet. But it's a redo of a very iconic '70s television show. I'll give you a big clue: It had three women in it.
Aha!
Very short list. I went in today and laid down nine pages of voice-over.
You are known for that voice!
That would be awesome, so we'll see. At least I'm not up against Ricardo Montalban, or James Earl Jones. [Laughs]
How do you see things when you look back on your career, how things evolved for you over the years? Platoon, for example, was one of your very first films, and yet your horror work has dominated your career.
Well, the battle's not over yet. I have a bunch of stuff in the can that hasn't come out yet. One in particular is a movie called Sushi Girl. Mark Hamill's in it, James Duvall, Andy Mackenzie, Sonny Chiba, Danny Trejo, Michael Biehn, Jeff Fahey...
That's such a fantasy cast for genre nerds of all stripes.
It is! The fact that these guys were able to get everybody in the same room at the same time for three weeks is incredible. But it's creating quite a buzz and it's definitely the best role of my life.
Why so?
The character has a strong beginning, middle, and end -- he's got a great arc. He's a complete dominant sociopath, in the most deviously likable ways. It was just a great guy to get under his skin, or to let him get under my skin. And headlining a cast like that? Come on, now. You're only as good as your weakest link, so for that one they gave me really good targets, no pun intended. The only person we didn't get was Malcolm McDowell.
I find the idea of seeing Sonny Chiba interacting with this cast to be especially intriguing.
Oh, he is such a classy guy. We went out and had a sushi dinner with him, and hearing him talk about his experiences in the '60s, being an icon then... You know, he's still happy, he's still resonant, he's vibrant as ever. And Mark Hamill is the same way -- you can't get more pop cultural than that.
What's the current status of Eerie, PA, which is set to mark your directorial debut?
You know, the stock market crashed. We had half the money raised and then everything went kaput. So we're in a rebuilding period, but now with a couple of these successes out there it will be a little easier to get it done again. I'm going to be talking to New Line in particular about it, and once they see the numbers that they expect come this weekend, that'll be fantastic.
What spurred you to make this your first film as director? You've described it as a sort of Midnight Cowboy meets Boxcar Bertha.
That's my baby, it's a non-genre project about a couple of smal-town bookies that get in over their heads. They have a timeline to come up with the money, or else, and it becomes a test of their loyalty to each other and to the city that they live in. I was inspired because I went to visit Erie, PA, and it's a town that's just lost in the '70s -- complete with mullet haircuts and attitudes, racism and so forth.
It's also where the real-life pizza bomb incident that inspired 30 Minutes or Less took place.
Yes, that's right! It happened right there. So that's the kind of thing that happens, it's filled with Hardee burger shops and Dairy Queens. I did a lot of research and in the 1800s it was one of the most profitable cities in America because of the railroad and the Erie Canal and all that. Then it just sort of started disintegrating.
And you'd like to get actors you've previously worked with onboard?
Yeah, well part of the director's job is 90 percent casting, right? If you hire the right person for the job, that's that much less you have to do on set and you can focus on how the shot looks, and so forth. And also I like giving back. I've been lucky in that I have a lot of friends who are in the business, I'm not the type of guy that blows up on set and I'll never speak to you again, and that's benefited me at least in terms of relationships with directors. There are quite a few that I've worked with more than once and that, to me, should be the goal in life -- if you get it right, all things being equal, why not work with someone you get along with?
Who would you like to cast?
A guy that sort of spurred me to writing it, because that was my major when I was getting my master's, but when I went to New York the acting came first, was a guy named Bob Sachetti. He's nobody you've heard of but he was one of the best acting students in my [class], he's currently working as a sound man. So I wrote it for me and him to do. I've talked to a whole bunch of people who've said yes, but I've just got to wait for the actual day and see who's available. I want Lewis Black to be in it. We'll see.
Final Destination 5 is in theaters Friday. Read Movieline's review here.