Bullet to the Head’s Villain on Stallone, Mackie and Marvel [Exclusive]

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, best known to many fans as Mr. Eko from J.J. Abrams’s Lost, is a really bad guy.Actually, he isn’t, but the soft-spoken, easy-to-laugh actor doesn’t want anyone to know that in 2013, as he takes on a trio of mustache-twirling villains in the comic book adaptations Bullet to the Head (out next week) and Thor: the Dark World, plus The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete, a smaller, character-driven drama in which he stars with Captain America: The Winter Soldier‘s Anthony Mackie.The actor, who plays Morel in Walter Hill’s Sylvester Stallone comic book film Bullet to the Head, joined ComicBook.com to discuss his role in not only that film, but the others as well…and about the surreality of going from fighting gods in Iceland to chasing truants in Brooklyn.ComicBook.com: With Bullet to the Head, was it something that you pursued, or did the filmmakers bring it to you?Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje: It’s the normal process; there’s interest and you go in and then you read for the part. I did the usual–I went in, I read and the producers and director responded to it immediately and I got the role.ComicBook.com: Were you familiar with the graphic novel before you went in to read?Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje: No, I wasn’t.ComicBook.com: I would think Bullet to the Head is a perfect storm–you get to play with a great cast and a lot of promise but it’s not a $200 million movie where you’re under the constant microscope. Is it nice to work on these mid-budget projects where you’re not spending every waking moment being molested by the press?

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje: Well, you know, a bit of press molestation is always a bit useful, but the truth is, yeah. It’s a smaller film and I was definitely intrigued by working with both Stallone and Walter Hill–both of whom are legendary. Walter’s vision and take on a modern throwback action-packed movie was something that really intrigued me. These guys are old school but they deliver in a contemporary way and it’s very no-nonsense.It was a really enjoyable process to work alongside Walter Hill and Stallone because they were very keen to develop a multi-layered and textured character. Certainly with Morel, they were not interested in a stereotype which is why I think they cast me. We made the character originally African who moved to America–and we made him a cripple, which automatically gives him multi-layered dimensions. I think that’s what they were looking for in a high-impact action film.When you watch the movie, you’ll see even though there’s a lot going on with action and shooting, each character has his own true arc. You get to feel them within that ninety minutes, which I think is a real accomplishment for that genre.ComicBook.com: Stallone, obviously, has been doing a lot of this type of movie. Was it nice to work with someone who’s so already in his wheel house?Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje: As an actor, you just assume the character, really. That’s your job–you get in there and you play the character so be it within whatever genre, that’s your job, to get in and play that character.Yeah, it helps that somebody is very experienced within that genre but it is another day in the office for an actor–and a good day in the office, I will say that.ComicBook.com: What’s your day in the office like with The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete?Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje: Basically, the story is very different from the movies that you’re about to see come out this year, from Thor 2, from Bullet to the Head. They’re the biggest tentpole movie you can have and the high-impact action and this is a really sweet, endearing story of survival and friendship within Brooklyn.It follows two kids who are basically homeless and how they survive in the hot Brooklyn summer. I play an enforcement officer who is bent upon taking stray kids off the street for their own good and putting them in homes. He’s ruthless about that, but his means are justified by his very well-intended ends.It’s a beautiful, redeeming story because you see with these two kids, the characters they meet in their journey of survival. It’s one of those stories that I think is going to tug on the heartstrings.ComicBook.com: Is it a nice palette-cleanse in between all the explosions and mayhem to do a quiet, thoughtful drama where you don’t have to spend hours in makeup getting to be a Dark Elf?Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje: [Laughs] Well, we love all of them but I think balance is crucial in your career, and as an actor who enjoys acting–I mean, you act in all of them but definitely the simpler stories and the heart to heart relationships with characters is always gratifying. Also, I always love to shoot in New York so if I get an opportunity to shoot in New York in the summer, I’ll always take it.ComicBook.com: I always have a hard time wrapping my head around going from Thor, where everybody’s wearing something that takes an hour and a half to put on, versus something like The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete, where you can basically wear your street clothes in. Is there an adjustment to your mentality, when you’re acting for a full day as opposed to all the prep time when you’re working on something like Thor?

Mister and Pete Bullet to the Head Thor ComicBook.com: Captain America: The Winter Soldier Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje: Mister and Pete Thor ComicBook.com: Bullet to the Head Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje:  Judge Dredd Rocky Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje: ComicBook.com: Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje: ComicBook.com: Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje: ComicBook.com: Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje: Iron Man Thor ComicBook.com: Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje: ComicBook.com: Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje: Thor Mister and Pete Photo at top courtesy of Dave Wise Photography