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I had the chance to sit down and talk with Lance Reddick, iconic actor from the ‘John Wick’ franchise, the ‘Corporate’ TV Series and the upcoming ‘Godzilla vs Kong’ film. Credit to the photo of Lance Reddick above goes to Storm Santos.
DISCUSSINGFILM: How did you first begin your acting career?
LANCE REDDICK: I started doing theatre while I was living in Boston back in the late ‘80s. I was actually struggling to make ends meat while I was waiting around to get my big break in music. I had dropped out of classical music conservatory as a composition major a few years earlier to pursuer my real passion – to be a rock star. My daughter was about a year old and I was working three part time jobs, seven days a week. Acting was really a move of desperation to try to jump start my music career, and it quickly became the creative focus of my life. A year and a half later, on a lark, I applied to the Yale Drama School, and got in. I’ve been working consistently pretty much since I graduated over twenty years ago.
DISCUSSINGFILM: How did you first land the role on ‘Corporate’?
LANCE REDDICK: It was an offer. I got the script for the pilot and my agent liked it. When I read it, I didn’t really get it, but she thought it was a good idea for me to do. She thought it was very smart, and really captured the fear of everyday corporate culture. So, I rolled the dice and went for it. It was a role that was originally supposed to be a series regular, but because the creators really wanted me, they were willing to make it recurring, in order to accommodate my commitment to BOSCH. After Comedy Central decided to pick it up to series, Amazon was gracious enough to allow me to keep doing the show, so it’s been a really fantastic experience.
DISCUSSINGFILM: What can you tell us about your role in the second season?
LANCE REDDICK: I’m actually not sure how much I can say about my story line second season. I can say you do get to see more colors to Christian, more of his personal life, which was really fun to explore and play with this season.
DISCUSSINGFILM: John Wick is a franchise you’ve been apart of in all three films, how has been to be apart of that beloved action film franchise?
LANCE REDDICK: It’s great. It really has been a fantastic experience to be a part of something like this.
DISCUSSINGFILM: You are said to be returning for ‘John Wick: Chapter Three’, what can you tell us about your role in that film?
LANCE REDDICK: Unfortunately, there isn’t much I can say of interest that wouldn’t be giving away spoilers. All I can say is that it’s going to be a fantastic thrill ride, and the story telling will be very tight like the first, but on a large scale, like the second.
DISCUSSINGFILM: They are also developing a spin-off TV Series for Starz titled The Continental, is that something you’d like to be apart of?
LANCE REDDICK: Yep. If there’s a way to make it work with my other television commitments, I would love to be a part of it.
DISCUSSINGFILM: Moving onto another upcoming franchise of yours, ‘Godzilla vs Kong’ which has just begun filming, the interesting thing I find about this project in relation to yourself, this isn’t your first venture in the Godzilla franchise. How is it to get to return to that same franchise, a franchise that was one of the first projects of your career?
LANCE REDDICK: It’s a completely different experience. In the first Godzilla, I had one line in a scene that was directed by the second unit director, and the scene ended up on the cutting room floor. So, I have the credit, but I’m not actually in the film.
DISCUSSINGFILM: What can audiences expect overall from ‘Godzilla vs Kong’ as I imagine this film is on many people’s most anticipated movies list for 2020.
LANCE REDDICK: All I can say is that it’s a sequel to the current Godzilla that’s opening this next year. And it will be full of incredible action and visual effects.
