When Godzilla Vs. Kong arrives on HBO Max March 31, it will take a humanizing look at the monsters in its midst. But the humans of the film may be more villainous than the destructive titans they’re trying to stop – especially Walter Simmons, played by Demián Bichir.
Bichir spoke to Screen Rant about the layers that attracted him to his character, and what makes Adam Wingard the right director for the movie.
There's three monsters in this film: Godzilla, Kong, and your character Walter. What can you tell me about Apex's Walter Simmons?
Demián Bichir: I couldn't have put it better myself. What a monster this guy is, in every sense.
I think Simmons is just such a juicy character. It's one of those characters that, when you read it, is like, "Thank you. Yeah, it's gonna be fun to play this." And it was. When you work in this type of franchise, it's so great because they give you every tool and every necessary toy that you need to go into the playground and do your best. That's exactly what happened, and it was quite a ride.
I love characters that are tri-dimensional and that have so many different layers. I don't believe in villains or heroes; I believe in human beings, and you see that in this film and in every character.
Audiences have been enamored with Godzilla and Kong for decades. What is it about these two larger-than-life titans that audiences connect with?
Demián Bichir: The possibility of the impossible. Just imagining - that's why we get so happy and unexcited, and we get so emotional when we hear about the discovery of new dinosaur remains somewhere. Because we go back to that time that it actually existed; maybe not such a big creature as Kong or Godzilla, but they were here in this planet.
Just the idea that we could possibly find those guys somewhere deep down there, that's fascinating. And the way films are made nowadays, and the way this franchise does it?
Yeah, it was spectacular to watch.
Demián Bichir: It was spectacular to watch, because something that you think is not possible? Boom, suddenly it's right there. You can almost touch it, you can feel it, you can smell it.
Adam Wingard really understands Kong and Godzilla. How does he approach the humanistic side of these titans?
Demián Bichir: Hmm. I agree with you. I guess because Adam is very, very smart. He is such a clever guy and such a sensitive guy also. He's an artist, and he knows how to do this type of monster film, no pun intended. The same way he directs his actors, that's how he treats the monsters. That's how he approaches the whole thing, and when that's put together, that's where the magic happens.
Are you interested in diving into any of these comic book or superhero worlds? And if so, are there any characters that catch your eye?
Demián Bichir: I love that world. I think it's really, truly spectacular what they do nowadays.
And I still think we need a Latin American hero. We need a Latin American type of superhero to enter this world. Maybe I just gave him a million dollar idea - billion of dollars idea, and I will be out of it anyway. But anyway, I won't claim my rights. I think we need that we need a larger, bigger representation. Look what happened to Black Panther.
