Peter Mensah: “The greatest experience for an actor is working”

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You’ve seen Peter Mensah in tons of things but most notably 300, Hulk and Hildago. He’s usually the menacing or authoratative guy who gets in the way of the main character but in real life, he couldn’t be nicer. Maybe I shouldnt say that… I don’t want to ruin his authoritative cred!

Peter is starring in two great upcoming projects, James Cameron‘s Avatar and Spartacus: Blood and Sand.

In my exclusive interview I did at this summers Comic-Con, we talk about his Spartacus character (Doctore), working with green screens and he even offers up some advice to actors.

Is this your first Comic Con?
This is my first Comic Con. I’ve done some sci-fi fantasy. I did 300, etc., but I’ve not really attended, usually because I’m working somewhere else at the time.  This time around Rob [Tapert - Executive Producer of Spartacus] and the guys actually flew me back for this.

Tell me about your character.
I get to play a character called Doctore on Spartacus, and Doctore is the gladiator trainer.  And it’s his job fundamentally to bring up the up and coming new gladiators and also to prepare sort of the well-schooled gladiators for each and every fight.  And you know what’s fascinating about doing this is you sort of get to see how Roman society worked way back when, I think 73 B.C.  And the fact that these stadiums could house 80,000 people, would come in and watch these fights.  Physically.  They didn’t have pay-per-view.  They had to show up.

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Uma Thurman talks ‘Motherhood’

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Here’s another group interview group interview that my favorite mom blogger Jen (@mammamania on Twitter) was able to weasel me into.

I couldn’t ask questions but that was fine… it’s Uma Thurman. How could I say no?

I edited down the interview to things dealing with this website.. and to the parts where her cell phone didn’t cut out.

In an earlier conversation that we all had with Catherine she told us that she was really moved, moved to tears actually, watching one scene in particular.  It was you and Anthony Edwards sitting in a car towards the end of the film.  And she said that it was actually her favorite scene.  And we were just wondering if you could share anything about what was going on in that scene, what was it for you to act that scene, because it obviously made a real impression on her?
It’s a scene where I guess in a way the character of Eliza, which Catherine wrote, basically is explaining why she, what the source of her unhappiness is, and how she is basically is getting lost in the minutia of her domestic life, has lost herself in that service and has lost a sense of purpose.

I think something obviously drew you to motherhood and specifically Eliza’s character.  So, I’m wondering what do you feel is authentic about how motherhood is portrayed in the movie and how will we, meaning audiences, really be able to relate to that?
I think first of all, you know, this is a story where the mother is actually central to the experience, where she is the one being seen through her actions.  She’s not there to focus your attention in a role of how the mother relates to the person of interest who is either a man or a child.  You kind of have, you know, mothers are often used in narrative.  Filling in the blanks, per se, about another character, but it’s not really about them, themselves.  And I just think, you know, Catherine’s character was so honest,  you know, I mean she’s someone who’s chosen to be a stay-at-home mother and yet she’s struggling with that decision.  And feels fulfilled but at the same time compromised in a way at times by you know being in total baby land and not stimulating other sides of herself that are obviously important.  And I like that she has flaws, you know, I like that she has anger issues and yet she still loves her kids.  She’s funny and charming and she’s just sort of real.

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