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Casper Van Dien and Ryan Phillippe get down and dirty inThe 2nd , the new action flick from director Brian Skiba . Casper play " The Driver , " the drawing card of a team of assassins hired to kidnap the daughter of a Supreme Court Justice . The only somebody who can save the day is Ryan Phillippe ’s Vic Davis , whose boy is also being confine hostage . The basic premise is little more than an excuse to put Ryan Phillippe in a variety ofhigh - octane action sequences , culminating in a show - stop conflict between Phillippe and Van Dien .
Casper Van Dien is best known for his ace - crap part as Johnny Rico in 1997’sStarship Troopers , the insurgent sci - fi epic fromRobocopdirector Paul Verhoeven . A fully grown - budget activeness spectacle with a playscript that unsparingly satirize military finish and the knee joint - jerk ingathering of fascism ’s hatred of foreign concepts and order , the cinema is one of the most enduring cult classics of the 1990s . To this day , Starship Troopersmaintains a strong followers of fans who are in on the film ’s make ofblack comedy , as well as those who simply delight the over - the - top force depicted in the warfare between humanity and mammoth microbe .
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While promoting the release ofThe 2nd , Casper Van Dien sing about his work on the motion picture , from his friendship with co - star Ryan Phillippe to the playfulness he has playing a stoic villainous role . He also talks about his former day in Hollywood and hislove forStarship Troopers . Over the decennary , he ’s reprised Johnny Rico several fourth dimension within the enfranchisement , and Van Dien expresses hope that the character reference may return one more time in a television serial .
The 2ndreleases September 1 on Digital and VOD .
Hey , this is nerveless ! I was six year old , possibly a small too untried , when my dad took me to the movies to see Starship Troopers , and I have n’t been the same since !
You have an awe-inspiring pa !
He was the best . He would have loved to hear you say that , he just extend away earlier this Summer .
I ’m sorry to find out that , Zak .
He would have get such a kick out of this . He taught me so much about storytelling my postulate me to the movie and bear witness me how brawny graphics can be .
Paul Verhoeven is a genius , and so is Ed Neumeier , the writer . Your dad had keen taste , Isle of Man ! And I ’m glad he did that . What a style to be introduced to that crazy , insane filmmaking existence , with caustic remark and humor .
I need to encircle back to Starship Troopers subsequently , but I cerebrate we should talk about The 2nd first .
Yes .
Sometimes I ’ll go to a picture show , or they ’ll send me a screener , and I ’ll go in wanting nothing more than to see two handsome cat ticktock the southward * * * out of each other .
( Laughs )
And by the end of this motion picture , I beget that !
I meet Ryan a long time ago . We both were working on One Life to last . I met him about 150 billion years ago . Before I did Starship , before he did Cruel Intentions and the other thing he would do . But it was so much fun for him and I to throw down in those fights . That , I enjoy .
I also appreciate that , as far as I could say , aside from getting drift out of a windowpane , it was really you two blend in at it . Was that something where you had your stunt cat on the side and you were like , " No human being , I wanna do as much of this engagement as I can by myself ! "
We had bang-up stunt guys who really process with us and choreograph our fights , and we ’d go to the dojo and battle . Both of us had some scrap preparation before . One of my best friends is Garrett Warren , who is a stunt coordinator and 2nd unit of measurement director , he worked on Avatar and Logan . He was my Taekwondo instructor . He taught me how to fight for a lot of these moving-picture show . And Mark Dacascos is another one of my ripe friends . He teach me Muay Thai and motley martial nontextual matter . There ’s a fortune of guys who ’ve trained me . And then I get into this thing with all these stunt guys who were there for us . Anytime we needed something , they ’d stick out in . If there was something we could n’t do , like jumping out of a windowpane , which my character did , which I did not do , my stunt double did . He was awe-inspiring and I ’m grateful for that . But for the fights , it was really fun to switch down with Ryan .
Is it a blast act as that kind of stoic badass villain character , or do you prefer being the hero ?
I think I ’ve been playing a fate of villains lately , and I ’m getting better reviews for playing the villain than I do for playing the hero . I estimate that might be saying something ! peradventure , I do n’t know ! ( Laughs ) So maybe I ’ll stick to the villains for now .
This is not your first collaborationism with Brian , the director . Tell me how you know him and how you came to be work buddies .
Brian and I worked together on Chokehold , which is another scrap moving picture . I had a minor part in that one , but it was a fun and integral part . Then he called me up for this and say , " I ’ve got a role for you , and I think it ’s perfect . " And he told me he got Ryan and he was go to hire a couple of my other buddies like Richard Burgi and William Katt , and my wife is in there , another one of our friends is in there , a whole bunch of stuff , it was a destiny of fun . He ’s just a coolheaded guy wire . I really stab him and I ’m certain he and I are going to process together a lot .
I just realise you inJason Mewes ' pic , Madness in the Method , and that was a fun surprise .
( Laughs ) That was definitely a different role for me . When he called me up to involve me for that , he was like , " Snat ! Bap ! I ’ve catch a role for you ! " Jason was awesome . We ’ve been champion . We worked together on different thing . When he got his directorial debut , he wanted his buddies to total around for it . So , he and I have been pals for years , we ’re both from Jersey , so it just seemed like a born thing , " Sure , bro , I ’ll serve you out any time ! " I call up we like to stick together and avail each other out . I think it ’s crucial to do that in this industry .
It pay to be well-disposed . You never fuck when that karma ’s gon na come back around and get you a role , proper ?
And also , it ’s just a lot of fun to help corroborate your friends with their dreams , to facilitate multitude accomplish something . Whether it ’s going to aid out or not , I have no approximation if that would ever do anything . I do n’t know . But that was n’t the purpose of it . This was his opportunity . Sometimes , when you ’re directing , it ’s right to have friendly face around . Sometimes it is n’t . Sometimes it ’s better to have mass who are going to challenge you . But I just need to be there to plump for a good admirer .
That ’s peachy . You were recently on the Honest Trailers YouTube show , doing a take on Starship Troopers . I imagine that ’s a enfranchisement very nigh and heartfelt to your heart , still , right ?
For the rest of my living . If you saw my billet right on now … I have a couplet of Starship Troopers posting here , and I have a pinball machine out in the garage surrounded by Starship Troopers posters . I love that film . I loved the book when I was a little youngster , and then when I read the script , I was like , " How did I have no sense of humor ? " I was such a young kid when I read the book , I was 12 . And so I re - read the book , and there ’s no sense of humor in it ! It ’s just what Ed Neumeier write into it , and what Paul Verhoeven put into the film . They also did Robocop together . They had such a sinister , disturbed , perverse sense of humor . They ’re so intelligent , and I love that . It ’s a irony that went over a lot of people ’s head . Some people thought some of the cast members did n’t even know . I ca n’t really imagine that they did n’t , because we all had the opportunity to read the script , and if you read the script and the book , you ’d have it away they ’re two completely different work of art . The book is amazing , but it ’s not satiric at all . It ’s 100 % militaristic , but awesome . And the script , the movie … Ed and Paul are brilliance for make you to think and think off - color .
whole . Like I said , I see it when I was a kidskin , and so all of those message went completely over my head , but then I never stopped determine it . And as I re - watched it over the years , I ’d foot up more and more until I was like , " Oh , this movie is saying completely dissimilar from what you might think it is at a glance ! "
( Laughs ) And I thought that was brain ! And they came out with toys at the time . And I thought , this is n’t really a Thomas Kyd ' movie , but kid liked it ! The ones who saw it , because it ’s get things that appeal to kids , but that satire , that repelling sense of humour … If you were someone who translate books or kept up on politics , you ’d go , " Wait a second ! This is totally insane ! Why are n’t people getting it ? " But that ’s the genius behind Verhoeven and Neumeier . I mean , they did Robocop ! Another deucedly genius film .
Do you have a Johnny Rico action figure ?
I do ! I have several Johnny Rico natural process figures . There are two that were made when it first came out , and now there ’s a Johnny Rico Funko Pop . And there are , like , 38 different micro mini Johnny Ricos that can confiscate to a Tanker Bug , or a Warrior hemipteran , and a Dropship the Plasma Bug . They have a whole clump of different things . And there ’s a Funko Pop right now , it ’s of me after I blast the Tanker Bug and get all the orange goo all over me . And there ’s also a Funko Pop Tanker hemipteron ! They just came out last twelvemonth .
You ’ve returned to this role a few times . I retrieve the last clip was in the Traitor of Mars invigorate movie . Do you have a connection that keep on you come back , or is it as simple as giving back to the buff ? Or do you always require to see what ’s happening next with Johnny Rico ?
I will forever appreciate Paul Verhoeven and Ed Neumeier and Sony Pictures and Disney . multitude do n’t know that Disney worked on that . I ’ll everlastingly be indebted and thankful to all of them for open me the opportunity . It ’s something that ’s near and devout to me . I still get multitude yelling at me at the accelerator station or the supermarket , they ’ll go , " C’m on , you ape , you wanna live forever ? ! " " Johnny Rico , what are you doing here ? ! " Just yelling quotes from the picture show at me , yelling my name and freaking out . It ’s a positive yelling , though . If they were yelling something else at me , I might not value it . But they get so excited , and there ’s such exuberance behind it , so I sense honored , meekly . I ’m thrilled to be a part of it any time . And when they do n’t ask me , I ’m like , " WHAT ? ! " For the second one , they did n’t ask me back , so I was like , " Why did n’t you guy rope postulate me back ? " Or for Roughneck Chronicles , they did n’t ask me ! Like , when they asked me to do the voice over for the pinball game machine made by Sega , I say , " Yes ! " Then they say , " Okay , we ca n’t pay you , but we can give you one . " And I read , " I already said yes , but yes again . " So now I have a Starship Troopers pinball game machine with my interpreter on it , and it ’s awesome !
When I interviewed Jay Mewes , I ask him if he ’s over people accosting him on the street going , " Snootchie Bootchies ! " And he was like , " No man , I love it ! "
Yeah , he does . I can distinguish you : he fuck it . It ’s cool . I love that he ’s that way . He ’s a upright guy .
Starship Troopers was your recess . You ’d been knead a lot up to that degree , but that was " the one . " In those early Clarence Shepard Day Jr. , pre - Starship Troopers , did you ever think about packing it in , going back home , whatever ? Or were you always going to stick out there and chip away at Hollywood , no matter what ?
When I first pop off out , I was n’t an overnight achiever . When I got Starship Troopers , everybody said I was an all-night succeeder , but that was … It came out in 1997 , and I actuate out to L.A. from Florida and New Jersey in 1989 . So I was an overnight winner from 1989 to 1997 , which is n’t quite overnight . There were a couple of fourth dimension I might have thought that … I was working a whole clustering of dissimilar jobs . Security , barman , doing different things as I was bewilder quick for acting family and come pictures and everything when I first went out there . But I was so motivated . It was such a different existence and experience for me . Then I just start out work . Since I was 22 , I have n’t had to do anything but act since then . I ’m 51 now , so I ’ve been very lucky . I ’ve been blessed . I love this manufacture . I sleep with what I do . I love being around people . I love movies , I love talking about movies . When I ’m not film , I get to spill the beans to masses like you who also bed movies , and it ’s awesome ! I ’m doing exactly what I desire in life . It ’s just fun . I love all cast of amusement . If I was n’t an actor , I ’d question actors . It ’s just something I hump . Just being around it is infective .
For your next fishgig , we can tack . I ’ll asterisk in the flick , and then you interview me .
Yeah , we can do it that way !
Okay , last interrogation , and I ’d be remiss if I did n’t call for : do you opine we ’re going to see Johnny Rico again ?
I hope we are . I was really close to doing something . We were really tight to maybe doing a TV serial , but we ’ll see what happens .
I ’ll keep my ear to the ground .
face , if we get that out again … We were really cheeseparing last year to take that off the ground with a really awesome conductor .
Can you say what mesh it could have been on , or is it top mysterious ?
I ca n’t say any of that … I do n’t even know if I ’m suppose to say what I just said . But I ’ve forge with the manager before , and he ’s Brobdingnagian , so there you go .
Ooh , will I get in difficulty if I put that in the chronicle ?
If I get in trouble , what are they gon na do , fire me ?
Yeah , who ’s their " 2nd choice " for Johnny Rico , right ?
I do n’t be intimate … possibly some young cat to be a young Johnny Rico and they ’ll have me come in as Rasczak . Or have me as Old Man Rico .
I ’d watch that ! That ’s hot properly now !
That would be cool .
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