I don't consider this a superhero show, he says on a Wednesday afternoon in New York Citys Gramercy Park Hotel. To his point, the Watchmen series only has one character with superpowers: Dr. Manhattan, the otherworldly being who now lives on Mars. I consider it a humanist show, that asks what would happen if if the law allowed for the masking of retribution? How would that ramify? What sort of fractures with that widen your culture? And I think that the show really beautifully examines that.
If Watchmen were a superhero story, Nelson would be far from a stranger to it. While the Tulsa native might be best known for his work with filmmaking stalwarts like The Coen Brothers ( O Brother Where Art Thou , The Ballad of Buster Scruggs ) hes also had a pair of prominent superhero roles to his credit: one came in the DOA 2015 Fantastic Four film; the other as a villain in 2008s The Incredible Hulk, the second film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and a role hes been for years.
Watchmen is set in an alternate history universe, some 30 years after the events of the graphic novel (which showrunner Lindelof considers canon). In this world, Robert Redford (yes, that Robert Redford) has become the United States longest serving president in history, and police officers, like Nelsons character, are forced to a life of anonymity, afraid theyll be targeted after one particularly violent attack from a white surpremacist group.
\"I don\'t consider this a superhero showI consider it a humanist show.\"
The way Looking Glass maintains that anonymity, undoubtedly, is his characters defining quality. Chrome in the same nature as a pair of reflective Aviator-sunglasses, the mask shows only what surrounds him in the room. When he looks into someones eyes, all they see is themselves. Looking Glass mask goes beyond opaque. Nelson says. It blasts ones image back at them.
When the 55-year-old actor is in costume, he describes the chrome mask (which covers his entire head) as a little more than translucent when looking throughwhich made things so difficult that his goal was simply see 40% of the actors he was shared scenes with. You need your partner, and what they're giving you, so that you can give back to them. It's like ping pongyou don't want a situation where you can't see the ball. Luckily, this challenge didnt persist throughout the entire productioneventually, Looking Glass mask had holes cut where his eyes were (with the eye slots digitally painted over in post-production), so that 40% skyrocketed to a more plentiful 100%.
The nature of Looking Glasss character, and his own position within the ecosystem of the Watchmen universe is a unique one; hes got a cool mask; not a signature weapon, but a signature device (wait until you see The Pod); and fights crime. But, as Nelson says, hes still operating within the system of government as its been set up. I just look at him as a guy who justifiably wants to right wrongs, he says. And he'll do that, using whatever means are necessary. And in this respect, it's not about revenge. And it's not about taking the law into his own hands. He's working within the law.
As one moment later in the show that distinctly pokes fun at a scene from The Dark Knight makes clear, Nelson thinks one of the key themes of Watchmen comes in examining vigilanteismbut Looking Glass doesnt even fit that vigilante mold. The work they door at least the work that he does, that defies any convenient label he says.
Nelsons scenes as Looking Glass are incredibly tense. The character is the Tulsa police force's primary interrogator, and while he doesnt have superpowers, per s, his mask gives him a major advantage on anyone he comes into contact with.
\"He\'s watching somebody respond to the truth of their image, and that really puts somebody on the spot\"
It makes the power dynamics totally shiftif anyone is lying to the face, it'll only make them feel like they're lying to themself. Their own image is all they're getting back. He's watching somebody respond to the truth of their image, Nelson says. And that really puts somebody on the spot. He compares the interrogation technique to T.S. Eliots poem , and the idea that someones been pinned to a wall, with no choice but to interrogate themselves.
Nelson seems fully-invested in the show's writing, praising not only the conventions used, like his mask, but the world that the show exists in. Not only does the universe established in the comic persist, but Lindelof does masterful work in building out the show's universe in the early episodes. There's no part of you that ever doubts that what's happening on-screen isn't just a drop in the bucket of more happenings around the show's world.
In fact, Nelson was drawn to this project, in particular, for these two reasons: his familiarity with the source material, and his respect for the previous work that showrunner Damon Lindelof has doneparticularly The Leftovers. But even more than he enjoyed his work, Nelson enjoyed meeting the man himself.
"He radiates not only intelligence, but also decency, and sensitivity," he said about his Watchmen boss. "And if you combine that with his unpredictable openness as a storyteller, which leads to places that completely surprise you, but at the same time feel inevitable. When you look back on every preceding moment, you realize that you're in the presence of a real magician." When asked why now felt like the right time for this version, this continuation of Watchmen, Nelson first had a bit of fun with the shows October 20th release date (So that people can wear our costumes for Halloween) before explaining that now is the perfect, time for the show with an answer that echoes what Lindelof himself has been saying when asked. The original Watchmen was examining what most concerned us in 1985, which was the Cold War and the prospect of nuclear annihilation, he said. This show is examining what bedevils us today, and I think in a really deep way.
