Angel

Vladimir called in this week to talk about latex, pitbulls, and how to avoid becoming Tim Curry.

One of the first questions I had for Vladimir concerned the gallons of latex rubber required to turn a ruggedly handsome actor into the goat-devil-thing that represents the Beast.

"Four hours for the face, another hour for the suit. Rob Hall (Angel’s makeup artist) has to be good conversationalist. If we have a six AM call, we have to be there by two AM at the latest in order to get it all done. I didn’t want to do it at first. When I read for the role, they didn’t tell me about the prosthetics, but then I thought, ’What the Hell?’"

Which begs the question, what the hell does one wear under all that latex?

"Talcum powder…and a t-shirt and boxers."

Rob Hall’s Beast looks an awful lot like Tim Curry’s beast in the spectacular Tom Cruise As Loin-Skin Wearing Forest Sprite flick, Legend. Vladimir agrees about the comparision.

"I was at a friend’s house watching an episode of Angel and he said the Beast costume looked like Tim Curry’s character in Legend. He wanted me to see it, but I didn’t want to watch, I didn’t want to inadvertently take on parts of Tim Curry’s character. I watched it very recently, and it was shocking, the horns, the makeup, the mouth was different, it was a very Rocky Horror grin."

And the platforms. I wondered if he had a hard time moving around in those shoes. Also had to tell him that some of the fans have taken to calling the character Big Rubber Disco Satan.

[Laughs]"That’s pretty good. The shoes were five inch platforms. I was 6’10 in them. They were comfortable, they’re like the ones KISS used to wear onstage, you know?"

Before his work on Angel, Vladimir was in Thirteenth Warrior. I asked if he enjoyed the medium of television.

"I don’t own a television. Television moves too fast. I like films and plays. There’s time to soak it all in and really enjoy it all. [However, Angel writer] Mere Smith is very bright, she takes 40 minutes of television and gives it so much depth, it’s like a film, yes."

We talked a bit about what character he would loved to have played, if he had a choice of any role.

He chuckled, "Lestat."

"I remember when Anne Rice took out a full page ad in the New York Times to protest the casting of Tom Cruise in that role, and you know, I thought, "Anne Rice likes men. Hollywood likes boys." "

This lead to a rant on Hollywood values.

"Everyone is so afraid to be an asshole. Everything has to be so perfect, perfect teeth, fake breasts, shiny hair…nothing is real. It’s like people are afraid of living a real life."

In his spare time, Vladimir gives his time to an organization that rehabilitates pitbulls that have been abused though behavioral psychology, and of course, continues to be a working actor in this godforsaken town.

Bless his heart. My only remaining wish for the Beast this season is that the next time he has the opportunity, he gets in the elevator, and tosses him out of the penthouse window. Your defenestration wish may vary.

Note: Vladimir Kulich will be attending the annual PBP in Los Angeles this February. If you don’t have a ticket, you can check out what he looks like under all of that latex at www.vladimirkulich.com.