Tripwire Talks To Tyler Mane About Jupiter’s Legacy

The Mane Attraction

Tripwire’s editor-in-chief Joel Meadows just spoke to Tyler Mane, who plays Blackstar in Jupiter’s Legacy, about working on the hit Netfix series. Warning: a few spoilers if people haven’t seen the whole first season…

TRIPWIRE: How did you end up in Jupiter’s Legacy?

TYLER MANE: I actually was asked to audition for the role of Blackstar and with Jupiter’s Legacy and my wife being in the comic industry I had her pull the Jupiter’s Legacy comic books when I started to do my research. And just reading the character of Blackstar I immediately gravitated towards him. Blackstar is a cocky sarcastic, snide supervillain and intelligent and powerful. And that made him a formidable force.

pic: Brezinski Photography

TW: Obviously people know you from Sabertooth in the X-Men films but we haven’t seen you in a comics series or film for a few years. What made this time to come back?

TM: I have been working all the way along. I was Michael Meyers in Rob Zombie’s Halloween and I started my own production company Mane Entertainment. We did a couple of projects like Combat Factor and Penance Lane and when I was asked to audition for this it just seemed the timing was right and the character was phenomenal. So the character brought me back to the comicbook supervillain genre.

TW: Shooting through the pandemic obviously has thrown up a few challenges for you. What specific challenges did that throw up for you?

TM: We did start shooting right through the pandemic in Toronto and the visual effects were added. It took a while for it because they wanted to get it right. So I’ve been waiting and anticipating just like everyone else waiting to see how it turned out and I am just over the moon as to how it has turned out.

TW: It’s a pretty high profile series. Obviously you’ve worked on a number of other high profile things before but is there any trepidation working on a series that does have a lot of eyes on it?

TM: Of course. Filming it and reading the script, you think ‘My God, this is going to be epic and just to be a part of that is just fantastic. And to play a character like Blackstar was a dream come true.

TW: Obviously it’s quite a physical thing. How much physical work did you have to do on this? You always done a lot of physical work but did that throw up any new problems for you?

TM: The whole process of being Blackstar took about two and a half hours of make up to put the suit on. They had to add to my face and to put the suit on. And as well as making me up they also had to do Nate Andrade who helped bring the character to life. When I first put on the suit as Blackstar it was phenomenal but it is a physically draining thing. It is heavy and they are hot. I felt like I was pulling around an extra 100lbs of weight just to walk. And as soon as you put that suit on your energy clock starts ticking and you get to a point when you think ‘Ok I’m done for the day’. You can’t even move a muscle. It is a very physically demanding role but once you look in the mirror and you have the prosthetics and face on it helps bring that character to life. You become that cocky snide character.

TW: How closely did you work with the showrunner Stephen DeKnight with the current unusual shooting requirements?

TM: With my character I was trying to keep him separate from the other group. We did that training together for the fight scenes and then when it came to bringing Blackstar to life the first scene that I shot was the scene in the autopsy room. I think that once they saw what I was bringing to the table everybody was really happy with it and they saw I was having so much fun that they let me do what I wanted to do with the character. That was fantastic.

TW: I know that Frank Quitely visited the set. Did Mark Millar visit the set as well?

TM: I know Mark did. I didn’t meet him personally but I am looking forward to it.

TW: So all eight episodes have dropped now and you’re obviously excited. And we’re anticipating there’ll be another season of the show. Are you hoping to make a return visit to it?

TM: I would love to come back and explore Blackstar’s backstory and you never know. He could team up with one of the other villains.

TW: What is the appeal of playing the villain which you have done a number of times? Is it just more interesting?

TM: For me it is. And to this day I still feel like I have something to prove. And I think that’s what makes a good supervillain. With Brainwave I think we can relate. And I think that’s what Blackstar and Brainwave can relate to each other on an intellectual level.

TW: And I assume because they kept him under wraps until the show opened, that was obviously very deliberate to make sure that people were surprised when it was revealed?

TM: yeah it was a secret to keep the big supervillain under wraps and I am glad that they did.

TW: How does it feel now that the series has been released?

TM: It’s fantastic and I have just been sitting waiting to watch it. It’s not just that I am in it but the storytelling and the way that it was presented is just fantastic. The way that it cuts from the past to the present is brilliant and it gives you just enough to keep you wanting more.

Jupiter’s Legacy is streaming on Netflix now. Follow Tyler Mane on Twitter

https://twitter.com/TYLER_MANE