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Monday, February 21, 2005

CONSTANTINE'S GAVIN ROSSDALE

The Continuum continues its series of interviews with the cast of Constantine today with Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale, who plays Balthazar, Constantine's arch-nemesis.

Following is a transcription of that interview.

Question: How did you prepare of this role?

Rossdale: How'd I prepare? I really tried to imagine a person without compassion and without fear of causing trouble, someone who enjoyed pain, someone who enjoyed giving out pain. Balthazar is one of Satan's emissaries, and it's like I've got a stack of evil cards and I'm just out there handing them out and convincing people I've got the way to go when I patently haven't.

How I prepared, also, in line with the script, because the words do so much for you. They give you a sense, and there's a rhythm to them and a music to them that I could sense and that I could hear. It just try to keep it real and keep it evil. And the fact that I had the suit really helped.

Question: Was that you doing the coin twirling thing or was that a stunt double?

Rossdale: No, that's me.

Question: How long did it take you to learn that?

Rossdale: I had that coin in my pocket for a couple of months, I guess, and whenever I wasn't on guitar or stroking my wife or making food, I'd just get it going. And everyone would also want to have a go at it and everyone would just watch it fall to the ground real quick.

It's a knack. And the guy that showed me, the magician, was amazing obviously at it. I got it to the point that I could do it. It's tricky, the first scene, because gravity was downhill on the stairwell.

Question: How did you like doing the "finger-licking good" scene? Was it hard to keep a straight face?

Rossdale: Yeah, I really liked. I was very much keep a straight face on the set when you're in the moment because it just seemed so ... because the set was such a positive area, but really concentrated. And when you're off camera, it's a different story.

But I just knew that he (Constantine) hated me. Francis (Lawrence, director) gave me the room when we first began the scene and was jumping up and down going, "He hates you! He hates you! This is great! This is great"

The thing was just to play with him. I just tried to make it delicious, so that "finger-lickin' good" was just fun.

Question: Could you talk about your own religious background? Was it ever freaky for you trying to put yourself in a demonic frame of mind?

Rossdale: For me, I didn't grow up in any particular religious kind of way. My father, his family came from Russia in 1867, so there's this Jewish side. My mother ... I'm half Scottish, and they're Christians. I wasn't actually Jewish, but I had that blood in me. I'm a mixture of denominations.

Through my life, I felt an affinity and a spirtuality that's sort based on common sense. It's almost like it's as close to Buddhism as it is to Christianity, the idea of conscience, of contribution, of mindfulness of other people -- those kinds of simple rules of life that are basically common sense.

In reference to the whole Heaven and Hell thing, what was so interesting about the film to me was that there was this one man's journey and the tension that there is between good and evil, Heaven and Hell, to me it was not so much two doors, as it being this symbolism of tempation vs. not. And the concept of being selfish and selfless.

So it didn't affect me on a theological basis or obstruct me in any way. I just thought that it was an incredibly well-written, interesting film that I was really happy to be part of.

Question: Did you have to audition for the role? Or did Francis just call you?

Rossdale: Yeah, I had to. I was in the studio for a week. I was doing some recording. And I was on my way to Brazil to work on this other film, The Game of Their Lives. And they wanted me to go in and audition for it.

Because I was in the studio, I was trying to concentrate. And I said, "Can I do it when I come back from this two-week trip?" I'm really fatalistic, so I was like, "If the part is still there I'd really like to try out for it, but I can't interrupt I'm doing."

So I get on the plane to Brazil and I arrive in Sao Paolo for my change and I read the film by then and I was on the phone right away going, "Make sure they keep this open for me. This is something really special." And I got really excited about it. And I auditioned the day after I got back from Brazil.

Francis took a real chance, if you know what I mean. I had done two ther films on a small level in a small way, small parts. And it really was a leap of faith -- no pun intended -- from him to put me in this film. And I will be eternally grateful.

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