The Watchmen‘s Matthew Goode (aka Adrian Veidt aka Ozymandias) on his character’s accent, sexuality and speed.
On playing the fastest man in the world.
“Well, I don’t want to suspend the disbelief, or rather I do, but some of it was me and some of it wasn’t. For the opening sequence, that was pretty much all somebody else … There was a lot of training … I am having an operation on my knee so it was obviously slightly physically challenging. I think that’s because I’m not really the right casting. It’s certainly a different way to go. I think Zack [Snyder] was all about [him being] a perfect specimen that it should be all about that so that’s why I was thin. If you are that bulky, you wouldn’t have that kind of speed so that’s sort of defensive about the casting.”
On Adrian’s German accent.
“Will he be seen – as we do when somebody who’s German turns up in any film – is he going to be the baddie? I think that’s what Alan Moore was sort of going at anyway, which is why we ended up giving him a sort of softish German [accent], even though he’s not meant to be. He’s meant to be born in New York. We liked the idea because it played into the idea – he gave all his money away possibly because his parents could have been Nazis. It was just sort of fleshing that out and it made sense to me.”
On using history to create undertones to the character.
“It plays with the idea I suppose that isn’t it funny that in a war situation, all Germans are considered guilty for what happened to the Jews, even though they’re following a government? And therefore, America seems to be very blameless about what happened to the Japanese when 1.5 million innocent people were wiped out from the bomb being dropped. That’s sort of what we are playing with with Veidt.”
On Adrian’s sexuality.
“Well, that’s another question, isn’t it? It’s suggested by Rorschach. “Possibly homosexual. Must investigate further”… some people could say if they’re psychologists that there’s a possibility that Rorschach might be a homosexual. You never know, and that maybe he fancies Veidt. I don’t think that was the case and I think it’s only suggested in our film.”
On the altered ending and missing squid.
“I think it would’ve been maybe a bridge too far for people, because although it’s an unreality, it’s a different ’80s where Nixon’s still president, you still have to make it real and that might have taken people out of it if you had a sort of giant squid. And also, we’re suggesting it’s not just in New York. It’s also several places around the world so it would’ve required more than one squid and that wouldn’t have been in the novel and that might have really confused people as well. So I think it makes a lot more sense.”
KEEP READING: More ‘Watchmen’ Interviews
