[vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1485122877781{border-top-width: 4px !important;border-right-width: 4px !important;border-bottom-width: 4px !important;border-left-width: 4px !important;padding-top: 4px !important;padding-right: 4px !important;padding-bottom: 4px !important;padding-left: 4px !important;background-color: #707070 !important;border-left-color: #800000 !important;border-left-style: solid !important;border-right-color: #800000 !important;border-right-style: solid !important;border-top-color: #800000 !important;border-top-style: solid !important;border-bottom-color: #800000 !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;}”]
We had the honor to interview Mark Metcalf, unforgettable interpreter of the Master.
With the kindness and humor he knows, he answered our questions.
Another big thank you to him.
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[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1485116417613{padding-top: 4px !important;padding-right: 4px !important;padding-bottom: 4px !important;padding-left: 4px !important;background-color: #707070 !important;}”]Playing under a mask at all times was it difficult ?[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]
Actually playing hidden by the mask is quite liberating. There is for everyone, actors or non actors a deep fear about appearing in public, as the focus of attention. The mask is a very successful disguise, or cover, for what is perceived as a nakedness in front of the public. Because of that it is liberating psychologically and emotionally. Writers, actors, musicians often say, “Well, that wasn’t me, that was the character acting through me.” or, “I’m just the vessel for whatever the message is.” The mask is a very concrete denial of responsibility.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1485116812026{padding-top: 4px !important;padding-right: 4px !important;padding-bottom: 4px !important;padding-left: 4px !important;background-color: #707070 !important;}”]How did you feel playing a scary villain on the small screen ?[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]
The writing was good, the directors and producers were good, the other actors were good, so the play was good, or rather the playing. It was a good job and the work was fun. As far as playing a “scary villain”, the actor has to believe that his character wakes up in the morning with good intentions and serious needs. Those intentions and needs may not benefit society, but they benefit her, or him, and therefore she pursues them. Notions of good and evil do not apply. They are for the audience to determine.
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[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1485117273123{padding-top: 4px !important;padding-right: 4px !important;padding-bottom: 4px !important;padding-left: 4px !important;background-color: #707070 !important;}”]All fans wonder how old the Master is, References give him more than 900 years ? Do you have an idea of the age of Master ?[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]
I was playing him as 838 years old. DOB 4 October 1159, just a bit before the beginning of the 4th Crusade.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1485117519614{padding-top: 4px !important;padding-right: 4px !important;padding-bottom: 4px !important;padding-left: 4px !important;background-color: #707070 !important;}”]Would you say your character is funny ?[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]
I think the Master has a definite sense of humor. When you live that long you need a sense of humor. Mortals are a little pathetic and foolish and you need to be able to laugh at them and at yourself or you’d just go kill them all to put them out of their misery. Witness the world’s response to the newly elected President of the US. You have to laugh or you’d go insane.
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[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1485117781929{padding-top: 4px !important;padding-right: 4px !important;padding-bottom: 4px !important;padding-left: 4px !important;background-color: #707070 !important;}”]Would you like to play more fighting scenes ?[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text] I would have liked to have played more fight scenes. It is harder now to do them. Age in mortals, and I am one despite rumors to the contrary, withers the joints, makes them ache and limits their range of motion. I can still kick some ass though.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1485118087083{padding-top: 4px !important;padding-right: 4px !important;padding-bottom: 4px !important;padding-left: 4px !important;background-color: #707070 !important;}”]You told us to be outside the US when we asked for an interview, did you travel a lot ? Have you ever been to France ?[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]
I travel as much as I can. I love the diversity of the globe and feel really great when I am in a country or a place where I do not know the language or the culture and history. There is a vulnerability that I really like. I have not been to France except in books and films. I hope one day to go. France has a great, complicated history and they are experiencing repercussions from some of that history right now. I would like to experience it.
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[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1485118452163{padding-top: 4px !important;padding-right: 4px !important;padding-bottom: 4px !important;padding-left: 4px !important;background-color: #707070 !important;}”]Would you agree to participate in a “Buffy” convention again?[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]
I like going to conventions. Especially when they take place in places that I have never been or places that I long to return to. I like meeting the people who have so much emotionally and psychologically invested in the stories I have been fortunate enough to be involved in.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1485118630145{padding-top: 4px !important;padding-right: 4px !important;padding-bottom: 4px !important;padding-left: 4px !important;background-color: #707070 !important;}”]You are back in the last show season, How was it to resume your role after so much time?[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]
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[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1485119137027{padding-top: 4px !important;padding-right: 4px !important;padding-bottom: 4px !important;padding-left: 4px !important;background-color: #707070 !important;}”]What do you remember about “Buffy” and your character?[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]
I remember that Sarah was wonderful to play with: very responsive and creative, dedicated to telling a complicated story. I always think that Buffy and the Master could have had a very nice future together, but she just refused to cooperate and see it my way. The Master was older and wiser and a lot more experienced. I think he could have taught Buffy a lot and heightened her experiences in every way.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1485120051310{padding-top: 4px !important;padding-right: 4px !important;padding-bottom: 4px !important;padding-left: 4px !important;background-color: #707070 !important;}”]Where can we find you now ? What are your projects ?[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]
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