Tony Todd, is an all around nice funny guy that makes you want to invite him to a 20 inch pizza dinner. Best known for his work as Kurn in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Candyman in the 1992 horror trilogy, we managed to snag him away from his busy schedule for a quick interview at the premiere of Reign of the Supermen in Beverly Hills. In this film Tony Todd plays the role of the terrifying super villain Darkseid, one of the most powerful characters in the DC universe. In our interview we learn a bit about Tony Todd himself, where his inspiration for Darkseid’s voice came from, and cats. Yes… cats! While Tony is not new to the DC universe, he shows just how prepared he was to play the role of Darkseid as his excitement for the film comes out in the energetic way he speaks during the interview.
Host: Hi everyone, Machelle Noel here from GeekRockTV at the Paley Center in Beverly Hills talking to the cast of Reign of Supermen.
Host: You’re so tall.
Tony: Whoa.
Host: You’re so tall and you’re so handsome.
Tony: How are you to tonight?
Host: You know, 5 inches heels…
Tony: 5 inches heels?
Host: It’s 5 inches…I tried…I heard about your height, so I was like, ‘Ok I got this.’ Alright…
Tony: This already switched right?
Host: Already on. Ok, let’s do this. Machelle Noel from GeekRockTV over at the Paley Center in Beverly Hills, watching the Reign of the Supermen. And Joining me right now is Tony Todd. And he is playing Darkseid.
Tony (Darkseid voice): Darkseid.
Host: (imitation voice): Darkseid.
Tony (Darkseid voice): Darkseid.
Host: Damn. That was really good.
Tony (Darkseid voice): Hello America.
Host: I’m going to have that as my cell phone ringer.
Host: (imitation voice): “Darkseid’s calling”
Tony: No, you need to have him on your GPS.
Tony (Darkseid voice): Turn right dumbass.
Host: Oh, I like that.
Tony (Darkseid voice): Turn left. What’s wrong with you? You went the wrong way!
Host: This is what happens to you when you drive from San Diego to LA. I can see that.
Tony (Darkseid voice): Fuck is wrong with you? What city are we in? LA right? Take me…I wanna…I’m looking for a guy from Nerd Soul.
Host: I love that.
Host: What went through your mind voicing this character? Like, how did you come up with this particular voice?
Tony: A char…a guy that I grew up with. His name was Walley Mitchel. And he was a bully. He was so much of a bully…he was a mentor and a bully. He would come over to our house, ‘Ok guys we’re going to play football. We’re going to play touch football.’ We’re supposed to play touch football and the next thing we know he’s tackling us in the street. He said, ‘It’s only going to make you tougher. Get up.’ And for a couple years a bunch of us went along with that until we realized, ‘wait a minute. This guy is trying to get us to walk off a cliff.’ And we rebelled and we won. And unfortunately he’s not here with us anymore, but I’ll never forget him. Because he used to just randomly punch me in my stomach. Slap me in my face.
Host: I think he was a sign for you.
Tony: Why…why you slapping me in my face man?
Host: Because you’re going to play Darkseid someday.
Tony: One day! He knew! He knew!
Host: I have a feeling. I have a feeling.
Tony: So he said I’m going to slap you on the other side.
Host: That’s so funny.
Tony: Bam!
Host: What was so appealing about playing this particular character?
Tony: Are you kidding!? Darkseid!?
Host: You’re such a nice guy.
Tony: Well, I am, but that keeps me centered.
Host: That’s true.
Tony: I have a beautiful nice guy side. And when they called me in to wreak havoc; I have another side. Because I have 3 cats. So, 3 different personalities.
Host: Whoa. Ok.
Tony: My youngest one, Charlie Packer is a female, we though she was a male, is kind of like Darkseid. She doesn’t like to be touched, only give her her food, you know, and walk away. She walks by all cute and stuff; do not touch her.
Host: Leave me alone. Get out of my space.
Tony: Don’t touch my tail. I need my space.
Host: That’s so funny.
Tony: But I found an old cat toy last night and I was playing her, the little string and ribbon on the string, and she was cool. She wouldn’t jump up on me, but I got her to look me in the eye.
Host: Awesome.
Tony: Sorry if I got distracted.
Host: I like this because, I mean, would you ever play a nice guy ever again? Because I feel like this guy…
Tony: Yes, I got a couple of guys
Host: …totally spoiled you now.
Tony: No, no, I got a couple of nice…you know I do a lot of theater. That’s when you get to see me do 100% character you know. But I got a couple films coming out of fathers and stuff like that. So, I audtioned them out…yeah.
Host: Alright. I just want to be sure. We kind of miss you playing nice.
Tony : I’m not going…
Host: You’re really funny. I want to be sure everybody knew that.
Tony: I like being funny. I like being sweet.
Host: Going back to Reign of the Supermen, what can you tell us about your particular character in this particular film?
Tony: Superman is so sweet.
[Laughter]
Tony: Darkseid is cunning and he’s intellectual. And he can’t wait for this to drop on the 28th.
[Laughter]
Tony: Because the more they drop on them the more it rains on acropalypse.
Host: Oh my gosh, you know, if Superman existed today, given the climate that we’re in, what…I mean…do you think it would be as welcoming?
Tony: Maybe…maybe he could end this ridiculous federal government shutdown you know? Just stop it. Just stop. Stop. Children, stop. Communicate. You know how to do this? Communicate. When I was in kindergarten, they used to bring the graham cracker things, but they would always be 2 crackers short. And the teacher was just trying to get us to be survivalists and get to the crackers first. You could have orange juice or crackers. You can’t have both. But I like both. I like orange juice with my graham crackers. At least I did when I was 4.
Host: Superman, come save me first…you know…versus…
Tony: Yes. And you know, if the rest of them want to fall in line; fine.
Host: I think the world would actually be in much deeper trouble if Superman existed now.
Tony: Maybe, because you would only need 1 autocrat. You know, that’s kind of what we have, so…what do I know?
Host: Well Mr. Tony, it was pleasure meeting you finally.
Tony: And thank you for being my last one, but not the least.
Machelle: Oh ok, perfect. Well, be sure to catch Reign of the Supermen hitting in theaters this month and thank you so much Tony. Congratulations to you.
Tony: Thank you.
Host: And hopefully we get to see you again in the future. Thank you so much. Have a wonderful weekend.
Caroline Buendia | Writing Contributor & Film Producer
B.A. | TV, Film & Media | Cal State Univ – Los Angeles
Caroline is a senior at CSU-Los Angeles. Next up, she’ll be chasing her Masters. She’s a passionate storyteller, writing and directing are her tools to do it. You can find her stamp in anything she does as carolbcreates. She writes as much as she reads, meanwhile pursuing her goal to have her works on TV, Film, and published. She loves adventures and her stories always take her there. As a proud Latina, Caroline is ready to take on any challenges that may come her way. If it’s easy it’s boring. And she doesn’t do boring. | Instagram @CarolineBuendia| View My Articles
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