Mike Vogel Gives Us the Lowdown on The Boy
Between his brief stint on “Bates Motel,” a long run on the successful CBS series “Under the Dome,” and an appearance in a film that acts as a front-row viewing of a child gone mad, The Boy (review), Mike Vogel has proven himself to be a popular commodity in the Hollywood scene these days, and we here at Dread Central were lucky enough to grab a few minutes with him to discuss the movie and some of his other projects – enjoy!
The Boy is available on VOD and in select theaters today!
DC: Mike, can you give us a description of the film, as well as your character?
MV: The film is essentially a study piece on the making of a serial killer – very in the vein of Norman Bates, but what fascinated me about what they were able to do was there are a lot of people out there that have sociopathic tendencies, and it’s kind of the perfect storm which has to occur to bring all of that out. It just goes into showing you how you take a kid that may have a tendency towards those things – the family life, the seclusion, the withdrawn attitude which helps into bringing these things out, and whether or not he’ll act out on these things later on in life. I know the plan is to possibly take this to a number two and a number three – sequels where we can watch him grow into an adult where all of these events will culminate into him becoming one of the worst serial killers of all time.
DC: Early word on the film has been very positive, but what do you think it is about this movie that scares the crap out of people?
MV: I think it’s eerie because they just let it breathe – it’s not overwritten and there’s not a lot of dialogue. You’re literally inside the mind of this kid and watching him piece things together. We shot the whole thing in Colombia for Colorado (laughs), and being in Colombia was interesting enough, and it gives the film a really gritty look, and you can see these really offbeat, witty characters that come into the boy’s life. Rainn Wilson is unbelievable in this, and David Morse is always incredible, and you just watch the different interactions he has. One day I come into town with my wife and son, and it’s safe to say that the motel is almost eternally vacant. So he kind of puts our son into a petri dish and plays around with him a little bit, and it’s all harmless at first, and in good fun – then you see the weird turns in his thinking pattern and actions, and for me just being on set and watching the actor doing those things and going to those places was frightening.
DC: You’ve split your time somewhat equally between TV and film roles over the course of your career – where is your comfort zone? Do you have a preference between the two?
MV: I do… I mean, the blue-collar worker in me loves television – you consistently get up and go to work, and usually you can get your weekends off (not always, though), and it feels like a job. Whereas film, you go hard for 6 months, maybe a year depending on the movie, but then there’s a lot of down time in between, and it moves at a lot slower pace. Creatively, it’s a more collaborative process – a lot more rehearsal time, more discussion and collaboration between the writers and the director and the talent just on developing the characters. Also in a film, there’s a beginning and an end, and how you get from one end to the other is one hundred percent based on your interpretation. Whereas, on television, you could be playing one thing in one episode, and based on response you’re playing something else in another episode. They’re both challenging, but my preference is absolutely towards film.
DC: Last one – after the release of the movie, what can we look forward to from you in the future?
MV: Friday we just wrapped up our third season of “Under the Dome” – really excited to get another one under our belts, and in December I’ve got a really awesome [show] coming out called “Childhood’s End,” based on an iconic science-fiction book written by Arthur C. Clarke, and it was actually his favorite, but it was never figured out how to be adapted to screen – so that was done in Australia, and it has a killer cast. We’ll be gearing up for press on that one soon, and it hits December 14th-16th on Syfy Network, so I’m really excited about that.
The Boy is directed by Craig William Macneill, co-written by Macneill and Clay McLeod Chapman, and stars David Morse, Jared Breeze, Bill Sage, Mike Vogel, Lauren Cohan, Zuleikha Robinson, Aiden Lovekamp, David Valencia, and Rainn Wilson.
Synopsis:
It’s the summer of 1989. Nine-year-old Ted Henley (Jared Breeze) and his father, John (David Morse), are the proprietors of The Mtn. Vista Motel, a crumbling resort buried in the mountains of the American West. Since Ted’s mother left, John has drifted into despondency—becoming a living ghost, haunting the motel—leaving Ted to fend for himself. In this isolation, unchecked by the bounds of parenting, Ted’s darker impulses begin to manifest. The arrival of a mysterious drifter, William Colby (Rainn Wilson), captivates young Ted, and the two form a unique friendship – setting the stage for Ted’s final, unnerving metamorphosis.
Categorized:News
