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Howlin’ at the Moon with ‘Blood and Chocolate’s Hugh Dancy

Imagine getting offered a movie that’s a cross between Romeo and Juliet and An American Werewolf in London, in which you’re the only human and most of your co-stars are actual wolves that are supposed to be hunting you. Would you do it? If you’re Hugh Dancy, hell yes!

The handsome British actor–who’s played a charming prince in Ella Enchanted, as well as the Earl of Essex in HBO’s Elizabeth I–took on the challenge of wolf wrangling when he signed up to play Aiden, a graphic artist who falls in love with a rebel werewolf (Agnes Bruckner) in Blood and Chocolate. Dancy talks to us about the whole wolf experience—and what it took to get the animals to take a liking to him.

Hollywood.com: Did you have to do any werewolf research on your own?
Hugh Dancy: No, not really. I mean I already knew the general mythology, I suppose. But what I quite liked about the film is that [Blood and Chocolate] felt free to pick up bits that it liked [about werewolf mythology] and discard bits that weren’t helpful. And essentially reinvent it, not necessarily dramatically, but you can do that with these kind of stories.

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HW: What are some of the myths the film changes?
HD:
I guess the real kind of classic stuff is still there, like silver, etc. And of course that the humans transform, but it’s not perceived as a disease that can be passed on by biting. It’s just more of a clan or tribe of [wolf shapeshifters or “loup garoux”]. Not humans, obviously, but individuals who have had to hide this particular characteristic from the rest of the world. They become almost victims. The transformation still happens but it’s more like a decision they have rather than just a slobbering beast they turn into once in awhile.

HW: I like the fact director Katja von Garnier decided to use real wolves rather than special effects.
HD:
Me too. None of us–me, Katja or any of us–wanted to do a movie with great, big lumbering animated or digital monster or whatever it might be. That’s not the idea. There’s a conflict in the movie but they’re not just meant to be a terrible hairy villain. A bit more interesting than that. And the actual wolves themselves are quite beautiful animals.

HW: They are–and apparently, you had to work closely with them.
HD:
Yes, I did. Katja was completely bonkers about [the wolves]. I think if she had her way, there would be no humans at all. Just have an entire cast of wolves. Wait, I think someone may have made that movie. Yeah, it was pretty incredible standing in a cage–an enclosure, really–with Zoltan, the Hungarian wolf trainer. He came down from Hungary to Romania where we were filming with, like, I think 23 wolves? And you have to be introduced to [the animals] by him, so they can see that you’re OK. He vouches for your character in a way. And then [the wolves] are just bouncing all around you. I guess it’s not the kind of situation you’d ordinarily expect to find yourself in.

HW: I guess not. How did the wolves respond to you?
HD:
They were sort of all over me. They’d jump on me, Zoltan would throw them on me. Basically, what I learned that if you are a wolf, you are motivated by one thing: your next meal. And when you’re not worrying about your next meal, you try to make sure the wolf next to you isn’t doing better than you with the boss. It’s very hierarchical. But essentially, it’s about lunch. Wolves are actually not very trainable. You can’t train them to do tricks like dogs. But as Zoltan puts it, I convince them. And the way he convinces them is offering them little bits of meat. When they had to be convinced to jump on ME, I’d have a little piece of red meat hidden about my person, which, as you can imagine, was a little…

HW: Scary?
HD:
[laughs] It can be, yeah. They’re not small creatures. I’m sure there are moments in the film where you can see more convincing levels of fear in my eyes. I mean, the moments were extreme at times. I’m standing there with a tight shin guard wrapped around my ankle, concealed under my trousers with a half a pound of raw steak stuffed into it. And then they throw a wolf at me. But Zoltan was pretty amazing with these animals. I didn’t ever really feel threatened.

HW: So I take it this was the most challenging part to making Blood and Chocolate?
HD:
Definitely the most extreme. I’m fairly used to interacting with humans. I mean, I haven’t necessarily perfected it. The rest of the cast [in the film] are actually playing wolves, so when the wolves are on set, they are off in their trailer or back in their hotel because they’ve been replaced by the wolves.

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HW: And you fall in love with one!
HD:
Yes, so I’m either being chased or I’m trying to make out with one.

HW: How did you and Agnes break up the tension?
HD:
Funny you should ask that, because suddenly I have memories of singing Def Lepperd songs. Wasn’t a decision we took, but it did happen. And I’m not ashamed to admit it. But that’s kind of what you do, spend hours of down time singing totally inane renditions of power metal.

HW: What are some of your favorite werewolf movies? I mean, mine has to be An American Werewolf in London.
HD:
Yeah, that’s definitely the benchmark. You can’t beat American Werewolf in London because it took the old myths and put it right, slap, bang into what was then a modern context. And makes it believable but with a serious kind of wink at the camera. A good sense of humor about it. I love that movie.

HW: Are you concerned your movie might be perceived as another Underworld?
HD:
I’ve never seen the Underworld movies all the way through but, although [Blood and Chocolate] is certainly a fantasy, there’s no vampires, and I’m not wearing a long, black trench coat or carrying a gun. I think the best I get is a piece of silver cutlery.

HW: And some steak stuffed into your pants.
HD:
[Laughs] Exactly, meat in my pants. A kind of low-rent type deal.

Blood and Chocolate opens wide in theaters Jan. 26.

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