Source:Scott Huver

December 10, 2008

Liev Schreiber is about to get feral, sinking his teeth and claws into the iconic role of Victor Creed, AKA Sabertooth for next summer's prequel film X-Men Origins: Wolverine opposite Hugh Jackman as comicdom's most popular mutant. And as he tells ComingSoon.net/Superhero Hype!, he enjoyed vying with Logan to be the best there is at what he does, even if what he does isn't very nice.

CS/SHH!: Did you ever think you'd be doing a comic book movie like "Wolverine"?
Liev Schreiber: No, I didn't. I always hoped I would, but I never did. It was a sort of natural graduation from "Defiance," actually. It's true. It was a natural next step.

CS/SHH!: Why did you want to do "Wolverine"? What was the attraction?
Schreiber: I hope I'm not blowing anyone's cover here, but I don't think men really mature intellectually and emotionally beyond 22. Your bodies evolve, but nothing else, really. And so why should I stop wanting to be in a comic book movie?

CS/SHH!: What was your point of entry to the "X-Men" mythology? Were you familiar with the characters from the comic books at all?
Schreiber: I was a fan of the comic books. I just loved the character of Wolverine. I always have. That sort of deeply ironic and very urban sensibility in a superhero was something that I thought was really groundbreaking. And the style of writing was... particularly the very sort of editorial style. I just always loved it. And I think that we were able to capture some of that darkness in this movie, so I'm very proud of it.

CS/SHH!: So, what can you say about that film, just to touch on it a little, as a character, after...
Schreiber: I'm very excited about it. I've seen some footage, and I think it's gonna be really very good.

CS/SHH!: How bad-ass do you look as Victor Creed?
Schreiber: It's hard for me to say. But I'm really looking forward to people seeing it. I found it to be really intense. The character I play is incredibly brutal and feral, has blood-lust unlike any other character I've ever played. This guy is a real killer.

CS/SHH!: Did you enjoy working with Hugh?
Schreiber: I love Hugh. I mean, Hugh is the reason I did it. We'd been friends for a long time. And it's just so much fun to work with him…To do fight scenes with Hugh was really terrific, because as a dancer, he has that kind of discipline and choreography. And I always studied to be a fight choreographer, and always wanted to be a dancer too, but didn't quite have the feet for it. But we had some remarkable fight scenes together, and I'm looking forward to people seeing those.

CS/SHH!: As a veteran of superhero action, did Hugh have any advice for doing that kind of movie?
Schreiber: "Lift weights." [Laughs] I did. I lifted weights, and I ate an army of chickens.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine hits theaters on May 1st. Look for the new trailer in theaters with The Day the Earth Stood Still on Friday.