During the hiatus, one of the biggest discussion topics in Supernatural circles was the choice of Rick Springfield as Lucifer. Mark Pellegrino will always be the original “Lucy,” but Rick is certainly doing a hell of a good job as the recent incarnation!
How were you cast as Lucifer?
They just contacted me and asked me if I’d do it. I read the first script and said I was in. I was in Italy on vacation, and it meant flying from Milan to New York to LAX to another terminal and then fly straight to Vancouver (a 23-hour journey), but I did it anyway. It made me meaner. J
Were you familiar with Supernatural before you were cast?
Not really. I don’t watch TV (I have ADD and cant sit still that long or focus on passive viewing for over 5 minutes) but I had certainly heard of the show. It’s been on for 12 seasons, so obviously they’re doing something the fans like.
Do you have any behind-the-scenes stories you can share?
Great cast and crew and SFX folks! They tried something new with my character when Lucifer has acid thrown in his face. They did a ‘blistered skin’ appliance on my face and then painted small areas green. Then they ‘green screened’ those areas and then CGI’ed it so that it really looked like my lips had burned off and you could see sinew and muscle and gums. It was pretty great I thought. It was nice to see the two guys get along so well behind the scenes. It’s probably what makes the show successful. I’ve been on sets where when the scene is over the actors go to their trailers and don’t even talk to each other. It’s like my band; we are all good friends, and that shows on stage when we perform.
What has your favorite scene been to film so far? Your most difficult?
I think the last scene which is quite a long monologue (by TV standards) while he is falling apart and the human body is dying. I wanted to not just play him as an angry, superior spirit. I really wanted to show his feeling of being abandoned by his father and I worked a lot on finding where that final scene would go. It’s so easy for an actor just to hit one level (anger, pain, joy) and carry that through the whole scene but Lucifer is a seriously fucked up ( by human standards) entity, yet intelligent and more aware than anybody of what could have been for him. I don’t know if I achieved what I wanted, but I gave it my best shot. I think Lucifer deserves that.
How did you prepare for the role?
Lucifer? Ha. I have enough darkness, neediness, rejection, anger and entitlement inside me, so it was just a matter of clicking into that. I tried to play him as the angry/righteous/abandoned child.
Do you have any current projects to share?
We are seriously looking for great new acting projects, and it is my main focus now. Acting has become something I want to explore much deeper, but it takes getting passed the “You mean the Jessie’s Girl guy?” thing. Which with parts like Lucifer etc., we are slowly doing. ONWARD!!!!