It takes some performance to join the ranks of Hollywood’s greatest villains — and doubly so when you spend most of the time onscreen CGI’d out of all recognition into an 8-foot tall blue cat person.
But Avatar: Fire and Ash star Stephen Lang, across the course of the trilogy-and-counting Avatar saga, has managed just that. His Colonel Miles Quaritch, the series’ antagonist, is, to put it bluntly, a proper bastard.
And, in this third and latest entry into the Avatar series, he’s something of a scene-stealer, too. Increasingly conflicted between his duty as a high-ranking member of the human invaders’ military, and his born-again / clone resurrection as one of the indigenous Na’vi people, Quaritch is seen wrestling with his position between both warring factions.
A “deepening” of the character “is exactly what is happening”, Lang tells Shortlist as we sit down for a chat ahead of the new movie’s release.
“New feelings are emerging that we've never seen before; colours, emotions that have been dormant in him or curtailed in him, or forcibly pressed down in him, repressed, are coming to the surface.
“It’s partly motivated by Eywa [the franchise’s Mother Nature-like spiritual core] herself, and the Na’vi DNA that's now coursing through his grandly huge blue body. Some of the change is simply circumstantial — the appearance of his son Spider, and a growing kind of admission on his part that, whatever he may be, he is indeed this boy's father. And also the deepening complexity of the relationship between himself and hero Jake Sully. It's moved beyond mere betrayal into something that's actually far more multifaceted than that.”
A tough-as-nails villain for the ages
Director James Cameron has a knack for creating tough-as-nails marine characters — his ‘Colonial Marines’ in Aliens are certainly cut from the same cloth as Quaritch. And Lang can see a bit of himself in there, too.
With villains there is, by definition, an exotic quality to them. And so like a spice, they need to be used very, very carefully.
Stephen Lang
“There’s a lot” of Quaritch in Lang, says the actor. “I'm mission oriented, I'm disciplined — to an extent! I'm loyal, I think I have some leadership qualities. I try to find what's in me that reflects well into the character, because I'm the advocate for Quaritch.”
“There’s what the Russians would call ‘Perezhivanie’, which is kind of this… experiencing, this melding of actors and character as well. So I've gone to the character. I make the journey to the character, and the character makes the journey towards me as well.”
With Quaritch certain to join the pantheon of Hollywood’s greatest villains, what makes for a good bad guy for Lang?
“A good villain must be used efficiently,” he explains.
“With villains there is, by definition, an exotic quality to them. And so like a spice, they need to be used very, very carefully. They shouldn't be overused. They shouldn't be underused. For an audience they need to be something that you can't get enough of, and you never will!”
And Lang has plenty of inspiration to draw from — his list of all-time favourite onscreen baddies reads like a who’s who of wrong’uns.
“The finest villain that I can think of is Jack Palance in Shane as the gunman Wilson,” says Lang.
“That is a perfect, perfect villain. I also think, of course, Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch of the West, is an iconic villain. Robert Mitchum in Night of the Hunter is one of the great villains. And of course, again, in Cape Fear, he's quite amazing. But Harry Powell in Night of the Hunter is the greatest.
“And then just one other I might mention… There is a villain in the film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the Child Catcher. That's a blatant one, you can't get a more on-the-nose villain than that. Absolutely brilliant — it's still chilling to watch as an adult, and it's just incredibly icky as a child. Scares the hell out of you.”
A partner in crime
The nature of Avatar’s tech-heavy development means that scenes viewers will be watching this week on the big screen were shot between 2017 and 2020 — The Way of Water and Fire and Ash were shot back-to-back, and the CGI insanity that is laid on top of an actor’s performance takes many years to produce. But, contrary to what some might think of such a controlled shoot, the set-up gives actors incredible scope to explore their characters and adapt scenes.
“There’s unlimited potential for improvisation,” explains Lang.
“I mean, it's infinite space. When you're working in the performance capture, in ‘the volume’, as we call it, it's an empty space — defined by one of the greatest theater directors ever, Peter Brook, ‘The Empty Space’. This is where it happens, you know? And so, because you're not concerned with the camera, my relationship to the lens is not an issue as it would be when you're working in conventional film. It doesn't exist. All that exists is your relationship with your fellow actors.”
Seeing it all for the first time remains a thrill for Lang — especially considering the stark contrast between the sterile motion capture studio that performances are filmed in and the lush colours of the alien world Pandora that it is all transformed into.
“It's a fulfilment of a long expected dream, when you see it, it's enthralling,” says Lang.
“It's sort of eye-popping and mind-numbing, because you see James Cameron has brought to fruition what he wrote on the page all those years before. When you finally see it, you still feel surprised and delighted.”
Lang didn’t stalk the soundstage alone for Fire And Ash. The film adds a new sinister character to the mix, Varang — the shamanic, witch-like leader of the fierce Mangkwan Clan. Varang is played by Game of Thrones star Oona Chaplin with a ferocity that’s an easy match for Quaritch’s, drawing the two into each other’s orbit as the film progresses.
“She's a professional of the absolute first order,” said Lang of working with Chaplin.
“She knows her business as an actress very, very well. As a human being, she's just the most gracious and kind and lovely person ever. Working with her was just a thrill, and to watch this kind of lovely woman turn into this ferocious, and almost demonic and dominating character of Varang was kind of mind blowing! And to submit to that as well is a wonderful thing, because Quaritch submits to nobody. What does he say? ‘I don't serve anybody.’ But he does! He submits to her.”
In for the long haul
Now 16 years into the Avatar franchise, Lang, aged 73, is seeing his character’s role becoming only more physically demanding. He’s in each movie’s most demanding action scenes. And though the fights, battles and flights of Na’vi athleticism take their toll, Lang wouldn’t have it any other way.
The stakes have to rise in every way, the emotional stakes, the spiritual stakes, and also the physical stakes.
Stephen Lang
“It’s fair to say it’s getting more intense as I'm getting older!” jokes Lang.
“So doing the same stuff that I did 10 years ago requires a little more effort! But that's the name of the game — that the stakes have to rise in every way, the emotional stakes, the spiritual stakes, and also the physical stakes.
“If you're going to have a donnybrook of a battle, well, you can't have one that's not as good as it was in the last film. So we have a hell of a fight in this one. God knows what it will be if we are fortunate enough to move on with the saga, and if I'm fortunate enough to ever be part of it!”
Lang has two simple tips for anyone wanting to stay action-movie limber as they advance in age.
“To prepare I do a lot of push ups,” he reveals. “I do a lot of yoga too because it's got more to do with flexibility at this point than strength.”
Avatar has always been planned in James Cameron’s head as a five-part movie and, assuming Quaritch remains a part of it until the bitter end, it’ll see Lang in the role right through until at least 2031. It’s a long-term commitment — so does Lang know what’s next for Quaritch, and ultimately where his journey on Pandora ends?
“I've read everything, so I do know,” teases Lang.
“But I don't think that I will say more than that, other than that if you feel elements of surprise at the way the character has evolved or devolved over the course of the saga, I think that could conceivably continue. And that’s not just true of Quaritch. I think it's true of all the characters, that their journeys just take them to an unexpected place — sometimes heartbreaking, and sometimes inspiring.”
Wherever it takes him, it’s been a career-defining series for Lang.
“I think when The Way of Water came out and had the success that it had, it did prove that there is a future for this,” he smiles.
“I have every expectation — I'm an optimist by nature — that Fire and Ash is going to do very, very, very well. And when it does that, I think we can say that this franchise has truly arrived as a cultural phenomena that is here to stay.”
Avatar: Fire and Ash hits cinemas worldwide on Friday 19th December
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