There are many similarities between Watchmen’s The Comedian and Batman’s Joker. As it turns out, the process of acting out such cartoonish sociopaths is similar for the actors too. Just as Heath Ledger famously talked about how difficult it was to shake the Joker, now Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who plays The Comedian in Watchmen, is talking about the difficulties he had both physically and psychologically.
Morgan says that The Comedian is more than just “this brutal bastard of a man”, and that the character stayed with him when he went home. Morgan also had issues with his costume, because the “sweaty, squeaky” thing took six hours to put on. PR Inside has more:
Watchmen star Jeffrey Dean Morgan didn’t have to dig too deep to play a twisted and psychotic crimebuster in the hit action movie – his uncomfortable costume made him feel like killing someone.
The Grey’s Anatomy star plays The Comedian in the new movie and admits he hated the outfit he had to wear to bring his character to life.
He tells WENN, “You quickly realize it’s gonna really take six hours to put this costume on every day. So I’d come out of the costume and I’d be ready to kick somebody’s ass, because it’s such a long painful process. It’s hard to move, it’s sweaty, squeaky.”
“There was always something but ultimately it helped so much to turn myself into the character. A lot of it had to do with the costume. He’s (Comedian) a very sad soul. There’s more to him than just this brutal bastard of a man. It was hard to shake Comedian at the end of the day. There were days when I went home and thought, ‘What did I just do?’ because he was just so sad.”
From PR-Inside
I have great affection for Jeffrey Dean Morgan, despite his sometimes unfortunate jokes. I really hoped that this film would make him a huge star, and he wouldn’t have to resort to always playing the dead guy. Watchmen was an opening weekend winner, but most “industry watchers” were very disappointed, and there are low expectations for the film overseas. People kept on comparing it to the director’s other film, 300, which was an explosive hit in America and abroad. It looks like Morgan didn’t get his career-making performance yet, but I’m still watching!
Photos are stills from Watchmen thanks to Allmoviephoto.
We just saw this movie last night. It was one of the most disturbing visual displays I have ever seen, and I never would have thought I was a ‘sensitive viewer’. I am glad to hear that this role was not easy for JDM. It was not easy to watch.
He has an amazing smile.
I hope he gets to stop playing dead people too, although I liked his portrayals of Denny Duquette in Grey’s, and Judah Botwin in Weeds. Maybe he just comes across like someone you’d really miss.
Watchmen was supposed to be disturbing, and I think he was the best in it. He really lost himself in the role, and he was great. Really evil, but great acting.
How could the costume take 6 hours??? There were no fake muscles (as I can tell) and make-up should have been a breeze. 6 hours???
There’s been so much prolonged hype about Watchmen that I’m probably not going to watch it until another five years from now, just on principle.
Too much drooling fanboying going around. If it’s a good film, it’ll be good five years from now.
I think you’re wrong about Morgan’s career. Even the people that hated the film praise JDM for his awesome portrayal of the Comedian. Whether the film is a bomb or not, everyone’s taken note of the very underrated JDM.
He should’ve used baby powder to get into his costume. lol
Not having read the comic book, Watchmen was a total surprise for me. It’s dark, the violence is graphic, and there’s even a profound message in it. It’s a great movie. (And as I said in the other thread about it, there isn’t a rape scene. It’s a “leading up to rape scene,” for those who wouldn’t see it due to that.)
I love this man. I first saw him on the cw’s Supernatural as John Winchester and I was stricken. I went and saw Watchmen last night and I was surprised that I actually liked the movie. JDM’s Comedian was amazing and I wish that there would have been more scenes of him in the movie.
Ga-ga for Mr. Morgan. May I call him Captain?
The guy was really well cast for his role as The Comedian along with the other strong characters in the film. Watchmen is a great film, something different and well worth a watch, even if you wouldn’t normally watch superhero films…
Oh PLEASE. That movie was the biggest waste of money. Did it make sense to you? It didn’t make any sense to me. It was a joke. Absolute joke. The story line was weird, it didn’t really explain the characters well and it was just non-sensical?? That’s all I can say… IT DIDN’T MAKE ANY SENSE!!
Jamine, if the movie didn’t make sense to you then go read the graphic novel.
I really liked him in the movie and horshack (sp?) I did not like the younger female silk spectre in it though, she could NOT act