Honest Abe was more than just the 16th president of the United States. He was also, naturally, a slayer of those fearsome fanged foes known as vampires. The upcoming “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” sheds some light on this little-known historical fact.
HitFix caught up with star Benjamin Walker, director Timur Bekmambetov (“Wanted”) and writer Seth Grahame-Smith (“Dark Shadows”) at WonderCon last week.
In the above clip, Walker addresses the film’s take on the ill-fated president’s personality, the heavy stunt work and, of course, that famous Lincoln beard. The stunts are real. The beard is not. Despite using top-of-the-line makeup artists, the New Orleans heat and humidity still wreaked havoc on Walker’s phony facial hair. He joked that there were times where he felt like, “We gotta finish up guys. Ben’s face is falling off!”
Below, Bekmambetov and Grahame-Smith talk about making changes to Grahame-Smith’s novel, the importance of historical verisimilitude and Steven Spielberg’s upcoming rival movie “Lincoln,” starring Daniel Day-Lewis (Grahame-Smith says he’ll be “first in line”).
“Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter,” executive produced by Tim Burton, opens nationwide in 3D June 22.