In Paintball Massacre, old school friends go on a paintball trip, miles away from
civilisation. Things go horribly wrong when they discover a cold-blooded
masked killer is among them. Now they must fight to survive their school
reunion.
We spoke to actor Ian Virgo about his role as the masked killer in
the film, his life as an actor and his opinion on the horror genre.
Where do you call home?
I currently live in West Sussex with my wife and kids. So at present
this is my home. Caldicot in South Wales is the place I was brought up
so that is my home away from home, and I was born and lived in Los
Angeles so I like to think of one day being able to have another home
there too. I like to dream big.
Did you always want to be involved in the performing arts?
No, not always. I wanted more than anything to play rugby for Wales. I
was a good little player at a young age and played for my county and had
trials for Wales. Sadly my ankles proved my nemesis and I soon realised
I was not gonna get there. The only other thing I was good at was
singing and acting. My first role on the stage was at the age of 12 and
that was it, I was hooked. Never looked back since.
What was your childhood go-to film?
This one is easy for me. Willow is and will always be my
favourite movie. I wanted to act in films because of Val Kilmer’s part
of Mad Martagen. It’s such a fantastic film for every reason. Great
story, great characters, great score and beautiful locations. If the
lovely casting director Lauren Evans of the new TV series is reading
this, please please please cast me in this upcoming series. I’d do it
for free.
You trained at National Youth Music Theatre and at the age of 17 the
Royal Academy of Music. What was this experience like at such a young
age?
Invaluable. I had some of the best training by some of the best teachers
and worked with some of the UK’s biggest stars of our current time. The
NYMT is the best place for young talent to learn the craft surrounded by
like-minded individuals and the people involved in the NYMT are so good.
They became my family as a child. Training at the Royal Academy at 17
was tough as I was still very young and immature but I was looked after
by my teachers and my fellow class mates, who were all fantastic. RAM
speaks for itself. The talent that comes out of that college is
incredible. I was blessed to recently be awarded an ARAM of the college.
(Associate of the Royal Acadamy).
When you graduated you were thrown into the deep end on blockbusters
Band Of Brothers and Black Hawk Down. This must have
been surreal?
Very surreal. Band of Brothers was a huge disappointment
to me as my character was cut out of the script days before I was to be
on set to film. I was paid for my part and credited for it but never got
to work with the incredible names that were involved in that show.
Luckily for me the casting directors Suzanne Smith and Gary Davy kept me
in mind when the next project, Black Hawk Down, came up. I was brought in to audition but was currently in talks to
play Jesus in a production of Godspell in the West End having just done
the show at Chichester festival theatre. The show never happened and
that same week I was offered two films. One I won’t mention as obviously
I never did it and the other unbeknownst to me was
Black Hawk Down. I was unaware of the enormity of this film until I was greeted at
boot camp but the unreal cast line up that was involved. Then I was
explained that the great Ridley Scott was directing straight off the bat
of Gladiator. I’ve never been so nervous in my life.
You act, sing and dance. Have you ever thought about a role in a
musical?
I’ve played quite a few roles in musicals. I love a good musical and am
always open to them. Musical theatre is in my bones. My mum was a
singer. She beat the great Tom Jones in a talent competition years ago.
My dad loved just the acting on stage and my grandfather had strong
Welsh singing lungs. With regards to dancing... well that’s very
debatable. Ha.
You regularly perform in theatre and live shows on top of your film
projects. Which one do you prefer and do you have a favourite?
Oh gosh they are so different. I love them both for very different
reasons. I don’t have a favourite. I’m just always happy to be
performing. It’s a real tough time out there at the moment. I’m very
lucky and feel blessed to be able to do both. As long as the work keeps
coming and I can keep performing I will be happy to do either.
In Paintball Massacre you take on the role of a masked killer.
This must have been hard to perform behind a mask. How did you
approach the role?
I approached the role like I do every role. I learned all my lines and
studied every scene, then I got on set and I acted my socks off.
Delivering every line as true and as real as I could... Oh wait... I
have no lines. Okay, well I guess those dancing and physical movement
classes were coming into play here. Trying to be menacing and have
quirky little memorable movements was my go-to here. My scene with
Natasha Killip, who played Lauren Bryce, was approached like a dance.
Let’s pretend I’m seducing you under the mask then invite you in to
dance before the inevitable kill takes place. I just tried to imagine if
I had dialogue what would it be and how to incorporate it into
movements.
Any standout moments during filming?
Oh yes, standout moment for me was being lucky enough to be the only one
who really got to shoot paintballs. Ryan Winsley, who played Matt
Wilson, is a very good friend of mine. We have worked together on three
films. In one he played my brother, but in another he beheaded me. I
love him like a brother but to get to be able to unload the amount of
paintballs I did on him was just awesome payback and hilarious at the
same time. Ryan, if you read this, I love ya mate.
There are many famous masked killers such as Michael Myers, Jason
Voorhees etc. Do you think they would welcome your killer from
Paintball Massacre into their ranks?
Two awesome characters. I would love to say they would but I wouldn’t
wanna get on the wrong side of either of those killers. I was lucky
enough to meet Ken Kirzinger, who played Jason in
Freddy vs Jason, as I was sat behind him and Robert Englund at the film's premiere in
Los Angeles.
Are you a fan of genre films, and what excited you about
Paintball Massacre?
I’m a big fan of fantasy films. I knew I would have fun on
Paintball Massacre as every day would be the great
unknown. With no lines to learn, there was no pressure on me. I knew I
could turn up and no one would know what I was going to do. Once the
mask is on and a scene begins you just have free reign to create what
you like. No one knows what your thinking. No one can look you in the
eyes and no one knows if you're even watching them. It was fun to have
the mask on, sit back and just watch people. Creepy but fun.
When searching for your next film project what is on your tick
list?
I’ve started to want to push myself harder as I’ve got older. I want
characters that I can really get into. I love to dress up and make
myself not look like me. I like to be a bit of a chameleon. It’s much
more fun than looking the same and sounding the same in every role. I do
enjoy playing quite dark parts.
You recently acted alongside Harvey Keitel and Malcolm McDowell. Was
this a daunting prospect?
No, not really. As you get older and work with more and more incredibly
talented people you realise that these are just your peers. Like
yourself, they were once new or young talent and every actor becomes
just another person that does what you do and loves it. I respect them
immensely and try to learn from them when I can. Every actor has
different techniques and different ways of behaving. I love to watch
this on sets. Sometimes your next character might be based on these
people. I love people-watching and stealing other people's quirky
traits.
If you could work with any actor or producer on your next film who
would it be and why?
Another easy one for me. It would have been a dream come true to have
worked with the late Robin Williams as I am a big fan of that man. How
he could make you laugh or cry with his talent. So sad he is gone. Ron
Howard would be the director I would love to work with. Having directed
Willow he is top of my list. I just worked with
writer/producer Jean Pierre Magro on films
Blood on the Crown/ Just Noise and I’m hoping to work with him again very
soon. He is one to watch out for. Great writer and producer.
Your younger self is standing in front of you - what advice would you
give them?
Listen to your mum's advice. She knows what’s best. Don’t be a know it
all. You can achieve anything if you put in the work. Dream big.
Paintball Massacre is available now on DVD and Digital in
USA and Canada from Uncork’d Entertainment and is due for UK DVD and
Digital release on 5th April courtesy of 4Digital Media. You can
pre-order now from Amazon
here.