Exclusive interview with Daniel Cudmore: More than just a handsome face and burly body

It’s true. If you Google the name Daniel Cudmore, all sorts of descriptive words not fit for this article pop up. With muscles bulging through even a thick, tweed jacket, he is, in fact, difficult to ignore.

And yes, Daniel’s immense size have played a large (pun intended) part in the movie parts that he’s secured in his short, yet glamorous career. For the record, the enthusiastic Canadian actor reveals his true stats-- 6’7”, 240 pounds. Thus began our interview.

I asked Daniel, an obvious sports enthusiast, how he was drawn towards the dramatic arts.
“I started drama in high school. I've always been hyperactive, so in 10th grade I got to do it in the proper class instead of math class,” he chuckled. “In Canada, schools aren’t as intense about sports.”

Though he did some background “stuff” in a rendition of Grease, Daniel says he was immersed into a lot of theater shorts, small skits and improvisation designed to learn about acting. Says he, “In high school it was more fun to do comedy, but lately more dramatic roles are coming my way.”

He’s not kidding. His initial plunge into acting was for an Oxi Clean commercial. “I played a football player,” he laughed hesitantly, less than eager to spill his role. “There were a bunch of us football players in pink prom dresses rolling around in blueberry pies.”

“A far cry from that to working with multi-million dollar film budgets,” he snickers.

In a short two years, Daniel has muscled his way into flicks such as Alien vs. Predator Requiem (AVPR), played Colossus in X-Men movies 2 and 3, and most recently, Felix, the larger than life guard in New Moon and Eclipse, all of which proved movies that he could flex his athletic abilities and perform his own stunts.

“I like the fact that I can do stunts, but I don’t think of myself as a stunt guy. Those guys are really good at what they do,” he said. “I consider myself an actor who can do stunts. I like to do as much of a role as I can possibly can.”

In New Moon, the stunts on the screen are all Daniel, and mostly Robert, for that matter. Anxious to perform his own stunts, Daniel found out quickly that the stunt coordinator for New Moon was the same one he’d worked with in AVPR. “I hadn’t gotten the script yet, so I called him up. He was familiar with my abilities and said for sure I could do the fight scene.”

The burning question posed by fans who adore both Hugh Jackman as Wolverine and Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen: Which did you enjoy more- throwing around Wolverine or Edward Cullen?

No question about that one. “I definitely enjoyed throwing around Edward,” Daniel booms. “Wolverine was one toss.”

Daniel went on about working with Robert in the fight scene, and is proud of the fact that Robert took on a lot of the work himself.

“Robert and I worked together on a lot of it. He was a little apprehensive at first, but he enjoyed himself. Robert did one of the main sections of the fight.” Fortunately, Daniel and stunt man Simon had worked together on AVPR previously, so their rapport was intact. “Simon took some pretty hard hits on the ground, especially the ones where I'm throwing him on the floor from six feet above.”

When I asked if he created the illusion of slamming him from six feet above, making for a softer blow, Daniel simply chortled in response. “No, he took some really hard hits,” he said. “He was a good sport.”

Purist Twilight Saga fans can relax. Daniel worked hard to find the proper inspiration behind the rage in Felix, considering that the books provide little reference. Having Stephenie Meyer nearby to bounce ideas off of made for the perfect scenario.

“I read as much as I could to try and build the back-story, but it was great having her on set. I asked Stephenie as much as I could, and it all worked its way out. It made me much more confident.”

Daniel’s interpretation of Felix: “He has so much rage and jealousy, but an enjoyment of his rage and his anger of not having powers like the others.”

When asked about his perception of director Chris Weitz (New Moon) versus David Slade (Eclipse), Daniel’s answers mirror those of Kellan Lutz, almost to a tee.

“Chris has a very calm sort of mood on the set. After only three takes he knew he'd get it,” Daniel said. “David is really intense and really into the story. He’d have you do five takes and do them all different ways.”

Though he's not at liberty to discuss Eclipse, I asked Daniel if, in the future, he’d prefer smaller roles in larger movies, or having a larger role in a smaller budget film.

“If you talk to any actor, they’ll tell you that working is the best thing,” he admits. “I'm at the point that all I want to do is work. I don't mind what the role is at all; I just want to play cool characters.”

In that, Daniel, you have succeeded.
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