Last week, ComingSoon.net spoke with director Neill Blomkamp about his feature film directorial debut District 9, an original science fiction movie that takes place in a slum in Johannesburg, South Africa where thousands of alien creatures have been residing since their spaceship mysteriously arrived over the city 28 years earlier. Realizing they need to be relocated, the government assigns an unwitting employee named Wikus van der Merwe to help relocate them, only for him to become the center of an alien plot that might finally bridge the gap between humans and aliens.
Blomkamp told us about how, thanks to producer Peter Jackson, he was able to cast his long-time friend Sharlto Copley, who had never acted in a feature film before, let alone one getting a worldwide release, in the role of Wikus. This week, we get to talk to Sharlto, who has suddenly found himself on the cover of Entertainment Weekly… for his very first movie as an actor… which may indeed be a first!
In the exclusive video interview below, you can find out:
* How it came about that he was able to play the lead in Neill’s first feature.
* Whether he knew what he would be going through when he took on the role.
* About his previous acting experience.
* How it was interacting with the aliens in the movie.
* His take on the character of Wikus and whether he feels he’s a good person.
* How it felt to be in a movie that dealt (sort of) with race relations, having grown up in South Africa, and whether he sees it as a message movie.
And More!
Then see the results of their collaboration when District 9 opens everywhere on Friday, August 14.
