An R-rated version of the film will eventually hit Netflix — and the actor notes the violence may surprise people: “the shadow of the Snyder Cut looms large.”
Rebel Moon star Ed Skrein has created his most memorable villain yet in Admirable Atticus Noble, and he found inspiration from the unlikeliest source: Olivia Colman.
Alongside Sofia Boutella’s Kora, the English actor is the de facto co-lead of Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon ensemble, as his Admiral Noble commandeers the Veldt farming village that Kora, a former Imperium soldier turned fugitive, now calls home. This hostile takeover prompts Kora to put together a team to combat Noble and his vast army, and so it quickly becomes apparent that the two-part Netflix film series will center on Noble and Kora’s blood feud. And considering that Noble’s body has android-like modifications, their surface-level dynamic is somewhat similar to Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, but instead of going to that obvious place for inspiration, Skrein took a major left turn.
“I adopted this sing-songy, almost thespian voice. So I thought that would be intriguing and interesting and against type, and I actually based that voice on Olivia Colman,” Skrein tells The Hollywood Reporter. “I thought that would really throw things off to almost hear her voice coming out of my mouth. I don’t how she’d feel about being a part of such a horrible tyrant, but it was out of respect.”
What makes Skrein’s latest turn all the more impressive is that he was cast at the very last minute, as Rupert Friend had to exit the role due to the pandemic’s industrywide impact on schedules. So Skrein used the short runway that he had to trust his instincts, and before he knew it, he was on set for the first time, filming the climactic scene with all the rebels ensnared on Gondival.
“It was a baptism by fire, but that’s all right. That’s what we do,” Skrein says. “I’m sure Rupert [Friend] would’ve done an incredible job with this, and if I couldn’t have done it or my visa hadn’t worked out, then someone else would’ve done an incredible job. I’ve replaced actors in the past and actors have replaced me. This is the nature of the game.”
Case in point, Skrein’s Rebel Moon co-star Michiel Huisman took his place as Daario Naharis on Game of Thrones season four (through season six), and while Skrein’s exit was more complicated than just his starring role in The Transporter Refueled, the situation is water under the bridge between the two actors.
“There were no awkward standoffs with him or anyone in the cast. Michiel is a good dude. He’s a really good dude, and I loved spending time with him on set,” Skrein says. “So that’s the way it goes. People will replace me in the future and I will replace other people in the future, and I’ll be a gentleman about it at all times.”
Below, during a recent spoiler conversation with THR, Skrein also discusses what viewers can expect from the “hard-core” extended cuts of Rebel Moon Part One and Two, as well as space hookahs, tentacle-related pleasure and astral planes.
Well, I dug the introduction to the world of Rebel Moon, but I can’t stop thinking about the unadulterated cut.
Yeah, that was always going to be part of the dynamic of structuring it in this way. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t remember anyone ever doing this before, especially shooting two different movies and a PG-13 and a R-rated version. Knowing what we shot for the R-rated version, Zack and Netflix did an incredible job of putting together the PG-13 version. So it was always an interesting proposition to see what they did with the PG-13 cut, and I was really pleased. I feel like it’s a really strong piece, but the shadow of the Snyder Cut looms large. My son is 12 years old, and he came to the London premiere and loved it. I also brought my godson, my nephew and his best mate, and they loved it, because [the PG-13 cut] is really for that demographic. I feel it has the potential to be something seminal for that demographic. But the R-rated version, the Snyder Cut, “the extended cut,” as we’re supposed to call it, has the potential to be something seminal for the older generation.
When I watch something, I just want to see something new. I don’t need to love something. I don’t need to find it perfect. I can see flaws in it, whether it’s a painting, a song or a film, but if it’s new, then I come away and say, “Wow, that was great. That made me feel something.” So you’re going to see something fucking new in that R-rated cut, and we’ve never seen anything like it. We’ve seen Lars von Trier push cinema to the edges. We’ve seen Saw and Hostile and all those kinds of movies push violence quite far for a commercial entity, and of course, we’ve seen what we did with Deadpool. That film pushed the superhero genre to another place, but there was still comedy involved in that. But this shit is not funny. This is fucked-up empires in space and evil human nature evolving and playing out on an intergalactic level. It’s hard core.
