Finn Wittrock talks about the canceled Green Lantern series and prep for playing Guy Gardner.
Finn Wittrock addressed his role as Guy Gardner in a cancelled DC Comics project. Back in the previous regime, it felt like there were 15 actors slated to bring some incarnation of the Green Lantern to life. Before Downtown Owl hit theaters, ComicBook.com talked to Wittrock about trying to prepare for a fan-favorite character. The actor told us he had purchased a ton of Green Lantern books to read beforehand. The Downtown Owl star had read through them and gained an appreciation for the character and larger mythos. However, he laments that his time as Guy Gardner was never meant to be. But, the entire process taught him a lot about what it was going to really crush a role like that.
“I had like 20 Green Lantern comics sitting in my closet. I was starting to read the comics, my five year old son, would find the comics and be like ‘Dad, what’s this?’ And I was like, ‘Research from a project that never was.’ But yeah, it gave me a great education, into Green Lantern already. And now, I’m kind of hooked on to the story. So, it was definitely, I won’t say it didn’t sting to find out the news that it wasn’t happening. But, I think it was nice because I got to realize what I would need to do to prepare for a role like that. So, hopefully, some other comic book role will, the one that’s supposed to be, will come my way. And then at least like have some kind of heads up about how to enter that world.”
Our interviewer asked about the famous bowl cut he would have needed for the role. But, Wittrock would have even went that far when the time came. He said, “Well, I knew, I knew the fans wouldn’t forgive me if I didn’t have the red hair and the bow cut. So, yeah, I was preparing, I was mentally preparing. Not physically. I was gonna wait till the last possible second for that. But uh yeah, that to happen, you know.”
Who Is Playing Guy Gardner Now?
In James Gunn’s take on the DC Universe, Nathan Fillion will be playing Guy Gardner. Funnily enough, Superman might give you a peek at this character next year. Collider spoke to Fillion about his take on the Green Lantern recently. The actor is excited to dig into some of the charaacter’s flaws along with the stuff that fans just really love about Gardner.
“The reality is that people have flaws,” Fillion told the outlet. “We all have quirks. We all have vulnerabilities. You could have the most wonderful family, but be like, ‘Oh, my God, my dad drives me nuts. He’s got this one thing.’ Everybody’s got something, and I love to lean into those faults and flaws. It’s what makes people real and what allows audiences to relate, because we all know what that is. We all have our own. We witness it in other people. Guy Gardner is 90% flawed and doesn’t care. That’s one of his flaws. I think there’s a real freedom in playing that. So, for a guy who likes to play flaws and flawed people, Guy Gardner is a gold mine.”
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