The population of Salem village recently increased by one.
Stephen Lang communicates from beyond.
This isnt the first time Lang has been brought back to life in supernatural ways.
He was the reanimated Tony Cobb inThe Monkeys Paw.
He will soon be resurrected in the upcoming sequel toAvataras Col. Lang is a top villain.
Anyone who has read my pieces knows I root for the villain.
But Lang also played the guy that shot Dillinger inPublic Enemies.
Langs character was pure determination.
Stephen Lang doesnt see his parts as protagonists or antagonists.
They are characters with personal motivations, history, and day-to-day lives.
Villains, after all, dont necessarily see themselves as bad guys.
Lang just wants to tell a story and savor the words.
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Laura SirikulofNerd Reactorkicked off the session.
How excited is it to be returning toSalemand what can we expect from your character?
So its nice to be among the living.
Im also glad Im back because I really enjoy working with Janet Montgomery and Seth Gabel.
Such a terrific group of actors; I had a good experience down there for the first season.
What should you expect?
Well, you know, Increase is Increase.
But hes still pretty feisty.
He hasnt lost his essential core of righteousness.
I think whats happened is he learned something.
A lot of what he had believed and lived, based his life on, his foundation on.
He has come to understand its not that simple.
Its not that black and white.
So hes been really taken down in that respect.
But by the same token, Increase is a very, very intelligent man and hes willing to learn.
But he also observes all these souls in the deepest despair.
He observes people who he loved there as well, and I think that affects him as well.
Its an interesting thing.
Den of Geek: As an actor, how does it feel to watch your own severed head talk.
Whats it like to see it act?
I just want my severed head to do a really good job.
But you get used to this bizarre thing when youre working in a show likeSalem.
Just strange thing just happened.
Last season, I did a whole variety of weird things.
But, you just want to verify that everything is, that the look is proper.
What does a character summoned back from hell do?
How does it manifest himself physically?
How do you carry yourself?
How conscious are you?
Does a spirit have to breathe?
All these sort of questions.
In fact, you end up making creative choices.
You answer them in any way that is useful for you and useful for the show.
I think this is the first time Ive played a ghost.
Well, I certainly never was the protagonist of the show.
What I did was certainly quite antagonistic last season.
Although the interesting thing about this show is the good is bad and the bad is good.
Everyone is defending their vision on what the new world should be.
But, clearly, Mary Sibley is the protagonist and I John Alden is as well.
it’s crucial that you have a strong powerful figure opposing them.
Thats certainly what Increase was.
Increases role changes so much because, in some peculiar way, he becomes an ally.
Hes summoned by Mary.
And she has him in a thrall.
But not really because hes got his own agenda as well.
I dont think antagonist or protagonist, either term, really applies to what he really doing in this.
He just becomes another spice in this stew, and a formidable one.
Increase is as formidable in death as he was in life.
Fangoria: Was it a cool experience to work with director Joe Dante on the set ofSalem?
It was nice to be with Joe.
I think it was wonderful.
I was absolutely delighted to work with him in this episode.
I think he did a terrific job.
Its never been something Ive pursued in reading about it.
Im interested in it but Im not obsessed about it.
Those experiences, that Ive had repeatedly there, have given me a healthy respect for another dimension.
DoG: Where does your tough guy swagger inAvatarcome from?
It comes from Queens.
Im the gangster geek atDen of Geekand youre the guy what shot Dillinger.
Well, you know I love Michael Mann.
Ive worked with him a number of times over the years and I loved the role of Charley Winstead.
It was interesting to me.
Special Agent Winstead was a really quite remarkable guy and a legend within the bureau.
We, all of us, want to be associated with classic films or classical moments.
The killing of Dillinger is a very important moment in American history.
It captured the publics imagination.
So, I kind of dig the fact that I played Charley Winstead.
I loved the role and Id love to continue on in the role.
I think Charley Winstead has a lot of great stories to tell.
Is there any chance of that?
Sometimes you feel youve done a role that youre not really done with.
But that doesnt mean youre ever going to get to do it again.
Theres no more I can do with him, like Stonewall Jackson, for example.
But Winstead, I think hes so bound up in that that he just cant die.
Hes such a powerful and quiet figure.
Thats what I like about him.
Increase is the same way.
I feel like I can continue to play Increase because hes fun.
Hes a lot of fun to play, and theres a lot there in that fella.
NR: You were described as one of the most missed characters.
Everyone missed working with you on the show.
Is there a character you enjoyed interacting with the most?
I think theyre all terrific.
I loved playing scenes with Montgomery.
First of all, shes a splendid actor who carries a tremendous power with her.
And, there is always this wonderful tension between Increase and Mary Sibley.
Its a tension that never gets explored, but always exists.
And thats a lot of fun.
Its something that Increase would never even admit to.
Its something he doesnt want us to know about, but he absolutely adores Mary Sibley.
All our scenes, Im always giving him a really hard time.
Increase loves Cotton to death, but he also is willing to kill him.
And the scene I had with Isaac the Fornicator?
Hes a marvelous actor, and I enjoy playing those scenes.
We really wailed away with those scenes.
But I dont want to short-change anybody.
I think they are all fine actors.
iChannel Magazine: Can you tell us about your audition forSalem?
Ill tell you the true story on this.
He offered me a series role, and I could not accept it because of my obligation toAvatar.
I read a couple scripts and smiled, and said Im in man, Im there.
Its just one of those things.
It doesnt usually work out this way in show business.
Just knowing the story a little bit, it did.
Thats how it happened.
The formidable characters that Ive played, thats the effect that they have.
If theyre interesting and varied characters, Im more than happy to do that.
I want to be human as well.
They wanted to bring in somebody who would take a stand on it.
Ive always been a character actor.
He played everything from leading men to really really shady guys.
Fred C. Dobbs inTreasure of Sierra Madre, he is not a good guy.
Bogart was a major movie star undertaking this really shady dude.
Which is what I am.
Not to compare myself.
Yeah, why not?
I sawDeath of the Salesmanin 1984, so I saw you live as Happy Loman with Dustin Hoffman.
There are technical differences.
When you do a play, its a living organism.
Youre doing it eight times a week and so you try things.
Things change and continually evolve.
So, you abandon that and just work in as fluid a way as you’re free to.
There are many differences between stage and screen.
Theres standard stuff, people talk about the size of the performance, but I dont know about that.
You look at an actor like Jack Nicholson, one of our greats.
That man, theres size in every part he does which is not to say theres not great subtlety.
But he knows how to do size.
Brando could be a very big actor as well as a very interior actor.
NR: Increase has come back from hell.
What would you consider to be your personal hell?
Youre talking about the Long Island Expressway, arent you?
Thats a tough question.
I think probably boredom.
Just being bored or unmotivated would be hell.
Thats when time just stops and slows down, and I think that is what it would be.
The thing is, it is a difficult thing for me to define.
What Hell really is is despair.
If you live in despair, in darkness with no possibility of light, then youd be in hell.
I dont believe in it as a religious thing.
That doesnt work for me.
Fangoria asked about Lang to compare his resurrection in Monkeys Paw to the period elements of his resurrection inSalem.
The Monkeys Pawwas a lot of fun to do.
The process was kind of okay, Ive been dead, what am I like now?
What I came up with was initially extremely confused, very confused about what was going on with me.
And it got interspersed with resistance with what had been done with me.
Being able to function in the world and finally in just trying to find some peace.
Just let me go, kill me off.
That was an incredibly cool project to work on.
The guy inMonkeys Pawis more along the lines ofWalking Dead.
Hes a resurrected dead body.
Increase is something else, entirely.
His whole spirit is there as well.
Is that an answer?
[Laughs]
DoG: James Cameron has a rep for being a tyrant, is that true?
Thats been dealt with a thousand times.
Jim is commanding a very large [production], and he does it with finesse and authority.
He does it as the situation requires.
What Ive said about Jim before and Ill say it again, Jim leads by example.
Nobody works harder than Jim.
Thats whats going to be required.
In no way would I characterize Jim as a tyrant.
A movie sets not a democracy.
Its not supposed to be.
It doesnt operate that way.
People have their roles and you have to fulfill that in a way that keeps things moving along expeditiously.
And if you dont, youre going to get called on it.
And that can happen, for sure.
Thats the way it is on a project of this scale that everybody cares so deeply about.
Its always up for negotiation.
Look, they killed him and now they are bringing him back.
So theres no reason they couldnt bring him back again.
That would be a subject for Brannon and Adam [Simon] to decide.
A lot of it has to do with where they want the show to go.
I suppose, to some extent, my own availability.
I feel connected to this show.
I feel that I am part of it.
No matter how long it goes, I feel like Ill always be connected to it.
I have such good feelings about it.
I really like the way the guys write.
They know I love words and wrote beautiful stuff for Increase.
He inhabited his own particular place, and I hope hell come back now and again to haunt Salem.
Well, hes got his own agenda.
But I dont think its so much against witches.
Ultimately what will happen will happen.
His agenda has more to do with his son.
Lets face it, Cotton is the most fucked up character in Salem.
He really needs help, I think.
I think that is a major part of the agenda.
Fangoria asked about acting through special effects, especially when coming back from the dead in a period piece.
Well, well see what they do.
That stuff is laid in, and you have a certain amount of faith that it will be cool.
But, on the other hand, we did some heavy duty make-up on this as well.
You want to confirm that you get that in a way thats pleasing.
Its become very difficult because, in the world of film, everything is possible now.
you’ve got the option to morph into anything.
Its very difficult to surprise people.
You see it on a show likeWalking Dead.
I dont know that weve become jaded to it, but weve certainly become more accustomed to it.
But now its become a matter of course.
So it becomes a question of doing something thats absolutely appropriate.
That is very specific and reasoned out that nails the character that youre trying to portray.
We work hard on that inSalem.
I hope weve succeeded.
If you look back atSalem, I dont really interact with many of the other characters.
I had very little with Anne.
Im not allowed to go gallivanting around the town which Id really like to do.
Increase would like to have a good walkabout, but hes bound by this glass shes got.
She keeps me in tow but I manage to break free from the constraints a little bit.
So, I wont be interacting with everybody.
Sadly, I will not be interacting with Isaac the Fornicator.
But I see the people I have to see.
Go off and write something beautiful.
