Afgelopen maandag is in Amerika de TV versie van Snowpiercer begonnen die gebaseerd is op de gelijknamige film, waar van je zes jaar geleden hier op Eigenwereld mijn recensie kon lezen. De serie is bijna gelijk in opzet maar net even anders en is het even afwachten hoe het allemaal gaat lopen. Mocht je de eerste aflevering al gezien hebben (oooeh jij piraatje) dan is het je net als ik waarschijnlijk opgevallen dat er een hoop bekende acteurs en actrices voorbij komen. Maar het was Trevor... ik bedoel Steven Ogg die opviel omdat hij... nou... gewoon zijn bekende stereotype rol speelde. De website Coming Soon had dit interview met hem en daar uit kan je nu hier onder een klein stukje lezen.

CS: What drew you to Snowpiercer?

Steven Ogg: I had seen the movie. I don't know about right when it came out, but I remember the movie. I'm not a graphic novel guy myself, so I never had read those — I never gravitated towards graphic novels. I keep trying. They're just not my thing. So, when the opportunity came to audition for it, like all of these jobs, they start with the audition. And I was fortunate enough to book it and, yeah, you start filming. A lot of the stuff I was looking up was more about isolation. I think I rewatched the movie just to get a sense of it, but it was more about I was curious. And Graeme [Manson] and I spoke a lot about, especially being in the tail — my character, Pike, is in the back of the train treated like an animal. The show opens up seven years into this journey of being in the back of the train treated like an animal. So, I was really curious as to how that affects people. You know, solitary confinement, prison, surviving. Those were the things I was sort of focused and looking at. How do people behave when they're treated like an animal? Some people can lose it in a month! I have a panic attack in an elevator sometimes, so, imagine being on a New York City subway in the summer — it sounds absolutely so far-fetched now, doesn't it? — but imagine being stuck on a crowded subway, 110 degrees, stuck in a tunnel. And now do that for seven years. That'd drive you crazy!

That was the stuff I sort of focused on and looked at and was curious to explore.


CS: You play Pike in the series. What is his role in the story and how does he fit in with the other characters on the show?

Ogg: Well, Pike is someone who had to, like everyone in the tail, they didn't have a ticket. They couldn't afford a ticket. So, when the train was about to depart, he was part of this group that rushed the train — the tail, they're not bad people. They're not criminals. These are just people that literally couldn't afford the ticket. Or didn't purchase a ticket but felt that, hey, this is Noah's Ark. The world outside is ending. Why can't I do it? Just because I don't have the money doesn't mean I don't deserve to live. But then what happens is order is quickly, sort of — well, you didn't have a ticket, so you guys belong in the back of the train. And [these people are] kind of kept like prisoners. Like animals. And those people then become some of the working force. So, you know this whole class issue, right? In the front of the train you've got the rich people eating sushi, and then you've got the people in the back of the train that aren't bad people, but what happens when you cut people off? When you feed them literally bug bars, they're freedom is taken — everything is taken from them and they're treated like animals. Well, if you treat someone bad, they're going to maybe start acting bad. And Pike is, you know, one of those that thinks, hey, how come they have everything? And we are literally treated like gum on the bottom of the shoe. This needs to change. And again, after seven years, people are going to — if one thing doesn't work, you try another. And sometimes one thing leads to another. And after seven years you're maybe going to take some extreme measures. Not because that's who you are as a person, but because desperation leads to desperate times, right?