Interview with Actor Doug Hutchison of “The Burrowers”
Written by Elaine Lamkin
Doug Hutchison entered the horror genre in a BIG and completely unforgettable way. Back in 1993 and again in 1994, Doug introduced fans of The X-Files to one of its most memorable characters: Eugene Victor Tooms. And if you haven’t seen his two episodes, “Squeeze” and “Tooms”, you REALLY should! From there, Doug went on to play the despicable prison guard, Percy Wetmore, in Frank Darabont’s adaptation of Stephen King’s The Green Mile. Hard to forget THAT character. Now, between playing recurring character Horace Goodspeed (thanks for correcting my mistake, Doug) on ABC’s hit, Lost, Doug found time to play Henry Victor, a military man with a Napoleonic complex, in JT Petty’s The Burrowers (review)
Fatally-Yours.com recently spoke with the very amusing Hutchison about handle-bar mustaches, what REALLY happens at Cowboy Camp and how he “really” feels about his director, JT Petty.
Elaine Lamkin: Thank you so much for taking time to speak with Fatally-Yours.com about your new film, the amazing The Burrowers. How did you come to be involved in The Burrowers? And what was your initial reaction to JT Petty’s (interview) script?
Doug Hutchison: That RAT BASTARD made me audition for him! Can you believe it?? Doesn’t he know who I think I AM?! [ahem] Actually, truth be told, I would’a walked barefoot over hot coals to read for J.T. for The Burrowers. I thought it was one of the creepiest, most macabre and original horror scripts I’d ever read.
EL: Let’s talk about your character’s handlebar mustache. On the commentary, JT mentions how he tried to talk you out of that. What was behind your choice to have your character of Henry Victor so…flamboyant?
DH: Back in that era, handle-bar mustaches were all the rage. They were fashionable and symbolized class status [because they took extra care to maintain and the down-trodden, so to speak, didn't have the means to "keep" their hygiene intact as much as the wealthier folk]. With the help of some late-19th century photo books, I had an immediate image of Henry Victor as a Custer-esque character. I’m not sure why J.T. had such a prob with my handle-bar! Damned control-freak directors…
EL: Much has been made of you, Clancy [Brown] and William [Mapother - interview] being Lost alums. Obviously this wasn’t intentional on the part of the casting agents (or was it?). What was it like working with these guys (and, as was recently discovered on Lost, your character, Horace Goodbody, is the father of William’s character, Ethan. Did you ever get the opportunity to call him “son”?)?
DH: Horace GOODSPEED. Not Goodbody [but thanks for the compliment!]. That is pretty weird about the Lost connection, isn’t it? Perfect coincidence. Such an incestuous biz we’re in.
EL: What was it like working with JT? And had you seen any of his previous films: the disturbing Soft for Digging or Mimic: Sentinel?
DH: Haven’t seen Soft for Digging. I heard it’s awful. Just kidding! [Man, I'm really ribbing Petty pretty hard in this interview, aren't I??] I did, however, see Mimic: Sentinel which proved J.T. could handle the monster-genre with deft hands. His previous work aside, I just enjoyed the hell out of working with J.T. because of his passion. He was VERY passionate about The Burrowers and that kind of passion tends to rub off on the cast and crew.
EL: Clancy described you as the “rocker” on the set – the guy who just MIGHT be the instigator of any antics. Is that a fair description? Do you have any anecdotes you care to share about life on the set?
DH: Gosh. Was I drunk when we were filming? ‘Cause I don’t recall instigating any mischief on the set. I was too busy trying to get that damned horse not to throw me!
EL: You attended Cowboy Camp with everyone but Clancy, who apparently showed up, ready to ride off into the sunset. How was it, learning to ride a horse? Or have you ridden before? And what else was taught in the camp?
DH: Clancy Schmancy! That horse they gave me was called “Patches”. HA! They should have renamed him “Satan”! I HATED that horse!! He was the Devil. And he tried to screw up every scene I was in. I also detested Cowboy Camp! It was hot, dusty, smelly and uncomfortable. Buncha’ males in flannel and boots sitting around smoking and farting beans. Blechh.
EL: How would you describe your character, Henry Victor? On the behind-the-scenes, Karl mentions how JT gave everyone both their character’s backstory as well as that of the other characters. What did he tell you about Henry Victor?
DH: Basically, J.T. told me that Henry Victor would NOT have sported a handle-bar [!]. Other than that, I believe the operative adjective for HV was “dandy”.
EL: For the average horror fan, how would you sum up The Burrowers for them?
DH: The Abyss meets Bonanza.
EL: You seem to have made a successful career out of playing loathsome yet charming (and memorable) villains: Eugene Victor Tooms in The X-Files, Percy Wetmore in The Green Mile, possibly Horace Goodbody on Lost (never can tell how someone will turn out on that show) and now, Henry Victor. Why do you think you continue to be cast as the bad guy and do you prefer playing the “heavy” or playing the “hero”?
DH: Goodbody, again, eh? I like it, Elaine. I like it a lot! In fact, I’d like to propose “Eugene Goodbody Tooms” and “Percy Wetbody” as well. Whaddaya think? But back to your questions: Hell, I enjoy playing antagonists and protagonists. I’ve done both. It’s just that most of my mainstream movies have featured me in the villainous roles and casting directors, producers and most industry folk in Hollywood have very limited imaginations. I don’t mind though. I make a living.
EL: Much has been made about how to classify The Burrowers – is it horror? Is it a Western? For horror fans, what would you tell them that would allay their fears that The Burrowers might be boring, not enough blood and guts?
DH: Honestly, I don’t know WHAT The Burrowers is, which is why I like it so much. As for blood and guts: blood and guts are BORRRRRRRRRINNNNG. I prefer disturbing… And Burrowers DEFINITELY disturbs. It slowly creeps up on you and injects you with paralyzing dread.
EL: In another interview you did, you mentioned that you and Clancy “bonded” because you have both played evil prison guards in Stephen King movies (Clancy in The Shawshank Redemption). Care to elaborate on how the two of you discussed such pedigrees?
DH: Clancy and I mostly shared Darabont stories from our respective Frank Darabont films in which we both played bad guards. More incest. I rest my case.
EL: Being the veteran of several genre films, what is your opinion on the state of horror films today? All of the PG-13/CGI overload/20-something pretty kids stuff that the studios seem to think everyone wants to see (at the expense of brilliant films like The Burrowers which Lionsgate simply dumped straight to DVD).
DH: Most current horror bores the crap out of me. I’m not a huge fan of the Saw and Hostel flicks, for example. I’m not into torture porn. Remakes of Friday the 13th and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre are simply redundant. Splatter films are kinda lame. They just don’t have the teeth to scare me.
EL: What are your favorite horror films? And horror fiction/writers?
DH: A handful of my fave flicks are The Shining, The Abyss, The Devil’s Rejects, The Exorcist, Night of the Living Dead and Carnival of Souls.
A few of my fave fiction and writers are Shadowland/Peter Straub, The Shining/Stephen King and just about anything you can put in front of me by David Schow.
EL: Am I safe in assuming we will be seeing more of Horace in upcoming episodes of Lost?
DH: Don’t you mean Horace Goodbody, Elaine? [Ha! Ha! Ha] Who knows what they’re cooking up for the final season of Lost? Nobody does. I sure don’t!
EL: What other projects might you have on the horizon? Any more horror films? And I have read that you are a prolific writer. Books, screenplays?
DH: I’m co-starring in an indie feature called Give ‘Em Hell, Malone [with Thomas Jane and Ving Rhames/directed by Russell "Highlander" Mulcahy]. That’ll hopefully see the light of day at a theater near you sometime this fall. It’s not horror. It’s a film noir thriller. And, indeed, I’ve written several screenplays including horror. Currently cooking something up called The Devil’s Eye with my writing partner, Marco Mannone, about a group of con-artist ghosthunters who eventually end up contending with the real deal.
EL: Is there anything you would like to add that I haven’t covered?
DH: Yes. Speaking of horror: go check out my vampire webseries, “Vampire Killers” at www.vampirekillers.tv. I think you’ll dig it.
EL: Final question and everyone I interview gets this one so…What is one thing no one knows about Doug Hutchison that you think they should?
DH: I still have recurring nightmares of riding “Patches”, the Horse from Hell.
EL: Thank you so much for your time, Doug, and a BIG thank you for The Burrowers!
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