Priest
Last month at the annual Wonder Con in San Francisco the creator, director and some of the cast of the upcoming box office movie Priest – which opens in theatres this Friday, May 13 – gathered to participate in a roundtable interview, sharing their experiences on the film and the creative process involved in bringing the story to life.
The interviews started out with the creator – graphic novelist Min-Woo Hyung – who, flanked by his two interpreters – explained that he “couldn’t believe it when (he) was approached about (hiss novel being made into a movie,” including “it wasn’t real” to him until he saw it firsthand. And while the finished product was different from the novel, which worried him at first, he was relieved when he saw how the film turned out.
The graphic novel Priest, published by Tokyopop is a manhwa – aka a Korean comic – created by Hyung which fuses the Western genre with supernatural horror and dark fantasy themes. It is most notable for its unusual, angular art style. The basic premise of the comic is telling the story of humanity’s battle against 12 fallen angels, spanning three distinct time periods: modern times, the Crusades and the Wild West with the primary focus being on the latter.
Paul Bettany at Wonder Con Photo Credit: Jennifer Schadel
Meanwhile, the film version is set in an alternate world where humanity and vampires have warred for centuries. After the last Vampire War, a veteran Warrior Priest – portrayed by actor Paul Bettany – lives in obscurity with other humans inside one of the Church’s walled cities. But, when his niece – actress Lily Collins – is kidnapped by vampires, he breaks his vows to hunt them down.
For Bettany, the draw to work with director Scott Stewart was strong (as they worked together on the film Legion) and it was a challenge to play a character of such depth and physicality. In regards to the heavy action and fighting involved in the film Bettany said, “it was a really great working experience even (on) the days (where) I got injured”. He further explained that he fell on a de-acceleration line, which was quite painful; but he did “as many stunts as insurance would allow” him to do.
As for relative newcomer Collins – who is the daughter of Genesis front man Phil Collins – it “was daunting to be in a project with such a huge following,” but she rose to the challenge of playing a character (the kidnapped niece of the Warrior Priest) that was specifically created for the movie. It was joked about during the interview that she has been nicknamed “the screamer” because of all the screaming her character does throughout the movie, but she was quick to point out that while she “starts (out) as a damsel in distress, she has Priest blood in her, allowing her to be “kick ass” as the movie draws to a conclusion.
Lily Collins at Wonder Con Photo Credit: Jennifer Schadel
The Warrior Priest is not alone in his hunt for his niece, as he is joined by a former Warrior Priestess – actress Maggie Q from the television series Nikita – and his niece’s boyfriend – actor Cam Gigandet – who is a sheriff of the wasteland outside the Church’s city walls. While Maggie Q was not part of the roundtable, Gigandet was there. He explained that his character is “inexperienced when it comes to fighting vampires” but he and the Priest set out “to save the day”. When asked about being in another vampire film (he starred as James in the worldwide phenomenon film Twilight), he simply stated “everything is different about this project” and that Twilight “has opened so many doors” for him, making him very grateful.
To finish up the interview, director Stewart shared how challenging it was to design a “whole world” from that of the story of Priest and to take a much more “hands-on approach” with storyboarding and working with a large scope, landscape movie. And while he joked that it was “horrible” to work with Bettany again he actually gushed over how Paul has a “contemporary face,” making him a perfect fit to the Priest character.
You can judge for yourself when Priest opens in theatres this Friday, May 13. Check out the film’s official website for more details.
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