Interview: Zach McGowan on DEATH RACE: BEYOND ANARCHY
Jonathan Barkan
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Actor Zach McGowan is a genre powerhouse, having appeared in Terminator: Salvation, Dracula Untold, and The Walking Dead, as well as his beloved role as Captain Charles Vane in Black Sails. This year he will enter two new worlds, one being the maniacal slaughter that is Death Race: Beyond Anarchy and the other being the ancient and mythical times of Scorpion King: Book of Souls.
Today, we’ve got an interview with McGowan about his role as Connor in Death Race: Beyond Anarchy, which was directed by Don Michael Paul and written by Tony Giglio. We spoke about what fans can expect from the film, which car was his favorite, and what kind of killing machine he’d build, on top of much more!
Death Race: Beyond Anarchy came to Blu-ray, DVD, and digital platforms yesterday. McGowan stars alongside Danny Glover and Danny Trejo.
Don Michael Paul also directed Scorpion King: Book of Souls, which comes to Blu-ray on October 23.
Dread Central: What kind of Death Race are fans going to experience this time around?
ZACH MCGOWAN: This time around you’re going to experience what you’ve come to expect from Death Race. There’s going to be all of the violence, explosions, and the fights, but hopefully, you’ll experience a little soul that will hit you somewhere.
DC: What about the character and story drew you to this role?
ZM: Connor is kind of an archetypal, lone wolf character. That’s something I always I wanted to do. I kind of saw my childhood’s version of Kurt Russell when I was watching it with all the movies he did in the ‘80s where he played these types of characters. I saw that and wanted to be a part of this franchise, so I hope I did it justice.
DC: This series is all about adrenalized action and vicious kills. What kind of fun did you get to have on set?
ZMMCGOWAN: I got to have all kinds of fun. I got to have a lot of adrenalized action fun and I got to do a lot of vicious killing. I also got to do some great things with some great actors and have a lot of fun. So I had a massive amount of fun on set.
DC: Your work in genre fare has attracted a large fan base. What will they think of your character in this versus who you are in Black Sails?
ZM: I think people might draw some similarities between those two characters. I think that Charles and Connor share a lot in common. Both are kind of reluctant heroes who seem to do the right thing in the end even though they begrudgingly do it. So there will be a lot of similarities that people can draw, but also a lot of differences.
DC: Which car design was your favorite?
ZMMCGOWAN: I’ve always loved The Monster, it’s a great car design. And I got to work in the Camaro a lot, which was also cool because we got to do the scene building that. That was really awesome. But there were some that stuck out to me. I really, really dug the police vehicle and think that it kind of personifies the look and feel of Death Race to me. And the fire truck was great as well, I mean, it’s got a flamethrower and a harpoon. It’s pretty awesome.
DC: Even though the films are pretty serious, there’s usually a thread of humor in them. What’s something funny that happened on set during filming that you’ll always remember?
ZM: There was one time when Fred [Koehler] had a massive monologue where he’s explaining the entire backstory of what’s going on inside the sprawl and we’re doing a walk and talk, it was the first thing up on an early morning where it was negative seven or eight degrees Fahrenheit. The ground was just ice and I was walking being all tough and everything and I just slipped and fell right on my ass. It was one of those funny moments where you’re trying to be all tough and you just bite the dust.
DC: If you could design your item Death Race car, what kind of car would it be?
ZM: I feel like the Tesla X or the Tesla S might do well in the Death Race. I would love to see the electric car brought into the Death Race somehow. I don’t know how it’s going to be brought in; but that instant torque, as far as the speed goes, would be a benefit. Although, I think we’re going to have to put some armor plating on that, which might slow it down, but we’ll see.
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