He-Man: Masters of the Universe is just days away from its India release. The Travis Knight directorial stars Nicholas Galitzine as He-Man and Jared Leto as Skeletor, among others.
Knight recently opened up about how Leto came on board and shared his experience of working with the actor.
According to him, an outlandish sense of humour was what landed the role for Leto, an Oscar-winner for Dallas Buyers Club who starred as The Joker in 2016’s Suicide Squad and Zack Snyder’s Justice League.
Knight said, “Jared was also a big fan of He-Man, and he understands the world, in addition to being an exceptional actor. What I think a lot of people don’t know about Jared is that he’s also really, really funny.”
While Skeletor is menacing, Knight said some sequences naturally tipped over into absurdist comedy. “We were shooting a scene, and I was laughing so hard that he brought me to tears,” Knight said of Leto.
Knight added, “He will make these choices that you don’t see coming, and that really does help to make Skeletor distinctive. He’s just an extraordinarily memorable villain.”
Post-production animators tried to mirror Leto’s onscreen expressions as they crafted the final visage for Skeletor, and the actor worked extensively with Knight to devise a voice that was unique, not an homage to any previous version of the character or other legacy villains. The filmmaker and actor ultimately came up with a deep, thundering resonance for this Skeletor, a contrast to his snivelling voice in the original animated series.
Knight described it as “both menacing and theatrical.”
Backed by Amazon MGM Studios and directed by Travis Knight, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe stars Nicholas Galitzine as Prince Adam, Camila Mendes as Teela, and Jared Leto as Skeletor, with Man-At-Arms played by Idris Elba. The film also features Alison Brie, Morena Baccarin, and Kristen Wiig as the voice of Roboto. The film aims to bring one of pop culture’s most iconic fantasy worlds back to life for a new generation.
It will be released in India on June 5.
Also Read: The Masters of the Universe: Nicholas Galitzine on intense transformation he underwent for He-Man
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