(CBR) The man behind the Mandarin – super-powered scientist Aldrich Killian – almost had a very different face.
Guy Pearce starred as Killian in director Shane Black”s “Iron Man 3,” but in a recent interview with Total Film, he revealed he nearly turned down the role. His reason is understandable: The indie-minded actor initially wasn”t allowed to read a script.
“When I watched the first one, I thought, ‘Wow, there”s something different here,”” he recalled. “Shane [Black], who directed the third, had been a fan of mine, apparently. He called up and I had a meeting with him and he said, ‘We”re not allowed to give you the script but I can tell you all about it.” He ran me through the whole story over lunch. It sounded really interesting. But I did end up saying to my agent, ‘I”m not going to do this movie until they show me the script.” And my agent went [sharp intake of breath], ‘They really don”t want to show you the script.” So I said I wasn”t going to do it.”
Ultimately, Pearce was allowed access to the script, but only for a couple of hours. “And it was fine – it was exactly what we”d talked about,” he said.
As for his thoughts on the final product? Pearce thinks “Iron Man 3” turned out “even better than I thought it was going to be; I think it”s a great movie.”
(via CBM)