Television fans know Michael Chiklis well, from his title role on "The Commish" to another police drama, the Emmy-winning "The Shield." Plus, he took a quite a few lumps to bring the memorable "Three Stooges" television movie to life in the form of Curly Howard.
And while he's done feature films before, get ready for Chiklis to stomp some permanent impressions on the big screen in "Fantastic Four." Starring as the Marvel comic book icon Ben Grimm, it's pretty safe to say that Chiklis is going to be the Next Big "Thing" at the movies.
"Fantastic Four" examines the origins of the famed foursome, created by comic book legends Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in November 1961. Often referred to as "The First Family of Superheroes," the "Fantastic Four" film appropriately has a family friendly tone, unlike the darker comic book movie interpretations of late.
"You can bring all your kids and not freak out and have to close their eyes for them -- this is something that they're going to love, and you're going to thoroughly enjoy," Chiklis told me in a recent @ The Movies interview.
"What I really dig about this movie is that it's not pretentious. It doesn't pretend to be something it's not, it's just fun, in a word," the 41-year-old father of two added. "It's one of those movies you go to in July -- to eat popcorn and be entertained and have a fun night out at the theater."
While the film version differs slightly from the original source material, the story is still essentially about a group of four scientists (Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans and Chiklis) and their nemesis, Dr. Victor Von Doom (Julian McMahon) whose DNA structures are genetically altered after exposure to cosmic storm in outer space.
The foursome's brainiac leader, Dr. Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic (Gruffudd), suddenly finds himself with the ability to stretch and elongate his body at will, while his former girlfriend, Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman (Alba) can literally disappear and create force fields. Storm's brother, Johnny (Evans), calls himself The Human Torch because of his abilities to burst into flames and fly.
Chiklis' Grimm, meanwhile, turns into a misshapen rock-like creature, dubbed "The Thing." It's a character he was endeared to growing up, and he's ecstatic that he's gotten the opportunity to breathe new life into the character for a new generation of fans.
"One of the reasons I played Curly in 'The Three Stooges' is that he's a cultural icon. He's timeless," Chiklis said. "And whether you're 8, 18 or 80, you got to love The Thing. He's one of these selfless, reluctant heroes. He looks cool and he's strong, curmudgeonly and has his rapport with Johnny is just fun. They're always busting on each other. There are so many reasons to like this character."
With the "Fantastic Four" movie, Chiklis found himself in a unique position in that he's been a longtime fan of the comic book. In fact, while a teen, he told his brother that he one day wanted to play The Thing if there were ever a "Fantastic Four" movie.
However, in order to effectively play the movie Thing, Chiklis had to remove himself from the fan base. After all, fans have been known time and again to question the casting and story decisions of the filmmakers, and heavily scrutinize projects from script to screen -- especially in the age of the Internet.
"We really took the fans to heart. More than anybody I've ever encountered, comic book fans are very proactive -- I mean they are into this," Chiklis told me. "They're all over the process. I've never seen a collective group of people try to discover anything that they could about a project while it was happening like they did with this one. They amount of speculation and scrutiny this thing has been under has been extraordinary."
Slideshow: 'Fantastic Four'
And while Chiklis and his colleagues concerned themselves with fan observations at first, he said at one point, they just had to move forward.
"Frankly, all of us as a cast had to stop looking at it early on in the process and leave it alone because we had to focus our energies on the task at hand," Chiklis said.
Perhaps the biggest debate among "Fantastic Four" die-hards surrounds Chiklis' character, the ever-lovin' blue-eyed Thing. Not only do we see Chiklis' baby blues up there on screen, there's also his physique, encased in an elaborate body suit via the wonders of special makeup effects. The other alternative, of course, would have been to make the character computer generated, like Bruce Banner's big mean, green alter ego in "The Hulk" two years back.
"We made the big argument because of 'The Hulk' to make The Thing a costume so we didn't lose the humanity of the character," Chiklis said. "I think it really worked. And when you watch it in the context of the film it works great. Look at the shot of the lowering his shoulder into the 18-wheeler. That is money."
What's really special about The Thing, though, is that he's a tragic character. Once "normal" looking but now perceived as a monster, he's misunderstood by certain people -- some who were once very close to him. It gives the character a layer of emotion that's hidden within his rock-hard outer layer -- and for Chiklis, an experienced stage actor, the challenge of drilling from within and exposing those feelings on the surface. That's something Chiklis wouldn't have the opportunity of doing if the character was computer generated.
"This is very much like the Greek theater -- the theater of the mask. It has broad, epic themes " Chiklis observed for me. "But it also meets the modern day because it's very nuanced and very human. Some of the challenges include finding the balance between it being too kitschy and cheeky, and actually being buyable and real."
Effectively, the film echoes the way the comic book brought the characters to life in 1961 -- as it should.
"You'll see some people complaining that the film looks campy, and if you knew the 'Fantastic Four' you know that there are elements of it that certainly were," Chiklis explained. "My character's famous line was 'It's clobberin' time' -- that's a little bit of camp there. But then again, you don't want things to be too campy because you want fans to take the ride with you and you want the characters to be realized as people. It's a real balancing act."
There's no question Chiklis had a great time filming "Fantastic Four," as his enthusiasm, well, rocks the screen. But he also takes the business very seriously, and isn't afraid to admit that he could learn more to ultimately improve his performance. And it looks like he'll get another chance at The Thing to do just that.
"Look, I'm perfectionist and there are thing that I would go back and tweak here and there -- but tonally, the movie is very, very good," Chiklis said. "There's a tremendous learning curve in doing something like this. It's an origin film that sets the table for the next one in a big way."
No matter how many more "Fantastic Four" movies Chiklis does, it's likely that this first one will be the most memorable if for any reason, because he got to meet the man who started it all. In fact, Chiklis not only met Stan Lee, he got to share the screen with him during the comic book guru's cameo scene.
"He's one of the members of the greatest generation. If you talk with him, you know that," Chiklis enthused. "He's full of spunk and energy and just couldn't be more of a lovely gentleman.
"What thrilled me was that, when I came on set head to foot in The Thing's costume, he just came straight over to me and threw his arms around me and hugged me," Chiklis added. "He said, 'You know, to think I was sitting at a drafting table in 1961, drafting these comics and daydreaming, and here I am today, standing in front of the physical manifestation of the character all these years later and I'm just thrilled to meet you.' I hugged him back. I was just overwhelmed."
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