Tell us who you play in the film.
This is a gang film and my character, Duke, is the head of the gang. If you agree with him, everything’s fine, but if you don’t, things turn. One thing I’ve learnt about this type of person is that their ego is immense. I actually did a lot of research into what makes up a sociopath – reading up about known ones throughout history and also visiting a few psychiatric units.
Have you ever been to a dinner like this, with that kind of ‘family reunion from hell’ vibe?
I grew up with the normal family unit but I think everyone has been to a tense gathering. I’ve never witnessed a murder at a dinner, though.
How often do people identify you as Candyman?
They do so quite a bit. You can’t run away from whatever makes people happy or stop them from recognising you – and I have no problem with it. What I have a problem with is when that’s the only thing they’ve seen me do. The other thing is that people associate me with the character. I don’t live like Candyman!
You must’ve had some interesting fan encounters?
I was at a convention and this woman approached me. She had on a bright yellow sundress and, y’know, she weighed more than a couple of kilos. Anyway, she said, “Hey, I wanna show you something.” So I said, “OK.” She put her leg on the table I was sitting at, lifted up her sundress, and on her thigh was a tattoo of my face. I hadn’t even had breakfast yet! But I view life as a circus, so I’m happy for people to do what they want and live their own sideshow.
You were Admiral Briggs in Black Ops II. What’s it like working on a game compared to a film?
I’m a gamer, so that helped. You pretty much only have one take to lay it down but what makes it more difficult is that they put you in this wetsuit when you arrive first thing in the morning, and it’s covered with these [motion capture] dots. I learnt that those dots cost $8 apiece. There are 82 dots on your face alone.
You also have quite a few action figures, right?
I was watching a YouTube video the other day where people were playing with my action figure from [animated TV series] Transformers Prime. I turned it off after five minutes because it got a little strange. I think I’ve got maybe eight action figures in all. The Candyman one is the most realistic but my favourite is probably the Transformer because it’s badass.
Finally, what do you order at a sushi restaurant?
I always order salmon. I love the way they live their lives: swimming upstream, then going to fornicate. Just one tip: Always avoid fugu!
Sushi Girl is out now on Blu-ray and DVD
