Alfred Molina, who played Doc Ock in Spider-Man 2 in 2004 and in Spider-Man: No Way Home in 2021, told Vanity Fair how much being chosen for that role and accepting it changed his career. He was already a veteran, but not in that kind of film.
The Doc Ock Of Alfred Molinatwenty years after his debut in Spider-Man 2three from the reunion of Spider-Man No Way Home, is one of the most popular comic book characters. Molina, who also took his first steps in Hollywood with Raiders of the Lost Ark in a cult scene, he had distanced himself from the blockbuster and he had never imagined being part of it in this way. She told Vanity Fair what that step meant in her career… and in her life.
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Alfred Molina and Octopus: “He’s a villain with an emotional life, that makes him more interesting”
Alfred Molinaborn in 1953, appeared when he was not even thirty years old Raiders of the Lost Ark: it was Satipo, the guide who tried to steal the idol from Indiana Jones, only to end very badly. He faced the world of blockbuster already at maximum power, complete with real, live spiders dumped on his back. Then things in his career took a different turn: years of theater, nominations for BAFTA For Fridaa path in medium budget or independent works (recently for example the role of the lawyer in crisis in A promising woman). But then where did his come from? Doctor Octopus Of Spider-Man 2 in 2004, a part then revived with gusto (and not without perplexity) in Spider-Man: No Way Home? From a bet by director Sam Raimi, who still thanks. Alfred says:
It was one big surprise for me, because it wasn’t the kind of movie I pictured myself for qualified. You always think these big action movies are looking for actors with a certain physique, and I certainly never had it. I had a great meeting [con Sam Raimi] but I kept saying, “Look, I’m all in, but I gotta be honest with you, I’ve never done anything like this before. Never worked on a film with so much technology, never done so many scenes in green screen or something like that. […] But then it took off when we did a audition, they gave me a rough costume, the trench coat, the harness. Then Avi Aradwho was the head of Marvel at the time, stood up sunglasses and he said to me, “Put these on.” And everyone in the room thought we got the character right. […]
Otto Octavius he has one in his life terrible tragedywhich changes everything. […] These things give these characters a real level of humanityof moral dilemmas to face, there is always a moment when they find themselves in the dilemma: “Should I continue to behave like this? Or should I retreat? Am I bad?” […] In practice it is a villain with an emotional life. That alone I think makes it a lot more interesting. […]
Coming back after seventeen years as the same character he especially amazed me. When they asked me I said, “You realize I am much older? I have crow’s feet, a wattle, that is, a double chin, my knees are what they are. But the director Jon Watts and the producer Amy Pascal they told me: “No, no, the role is yours, we want you back“. […] I was flattered, of course. Aside from the fact that he’s so much fun to act, playing him honestly appealed to me completely changed my life. Seriously. She took everything to another level, but she also exposed me to a whole other segment of the audience.
