The Sorcerer’s Apprentice hit the big screen this week and is a magical adventure about a sorcerer and his apprentice who are swept into the centre of an ancient conflict between good and evil.
The films stars Academy Award® winner Nicolas Cage (National Treasure) as Balthazar Blake, a master sorcerer in modern-day Manhattan, who is trying to defend the city from his arch-nemesis, Maxim Horvath, played by Alfred Molina (The Pink Panther 2).
The film co-stars Jay Baruchel (Tropic Thunder) as Dave Stutler, Balthazar’s reluctant apprentice and Teresa Palmer (Bedtime Stories) who plays his love interest, Becky.
Molina is a seasoned actor who made his film debut in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Other film credits include The Pink Panther 2, The Da Vinci Code, Spider Man 2, Prick Up Your Ears, Enchanted April, Chocolat and Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. His stage work includes Speed the Plow and Art, for which he received a Tony award nomination.
- Can you tell as more about your character Maxim Horvathin, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice?
Maxim Horvath is a Morganian sorcerer, the arch-nemesis to Nicolas Cage’s character Balthazar Blake, who is a Merlinian sorcerer.
We were at one time very close friends as we were both protégés of Merlin but now we are under a spell until we find the next sorcerer.
As the story evolves we discover that something happened to sour the relationship between Balthazar and Maxim and find out how they became arch enemies.
So there are two struggles, not only to find the next sorcerer, but a struggle for dominance between the Merlinians and the Morganians. It’s the classic Merlin story.
We’ve been locked away for 1,000 years or more in the Grimhold and so our motivation is to seek and gain control of this Grimhold. Whoever controls the Grimhold, controls destiny. It’s a big adventure, set in the world of magic.
- Isn’t there something Shakespearian about the relationship of these two men? One goes light; one goes dark. Is that a classic character arc?
I think you’re right. If you deconstruct the story, you are left with the struggle between good and evil. I think that’s a classic element of the story.
- What kind of resources did you draw on for the role?
I phoned up a few sorcerers that I know! (laughs). You do what you always do, base it on your imagination and what is required for the story. Part of the great privilege of doing this for a living is that you get paid to use your imagination.
And when the story is as fictitious and fantastical as this, your imagination is boundless and where you go with it is limitless.
In terms of the character and how you create it, that’s really up for grabs, which is fantastic, because if you play someone more ordinary, then you can’t make certain character choices.
- How did you and Nicolas Cage determine your characters’ different approaches to magic?
What we discovered early on, almost by accident, was that because of the requirements of the characters and because of what happens in the script, it became clear that Balthazar (Cage) is a man with a great sense of responsibility, whereas my character is reveling in the mischief that he can create.
They have totally opposite intentions, so they each had a different kind of energy straight away.
- Do you believe in magic?
I believe in good magic and good spirits.
- Tell me about some of magic that you perform in the film?
We stop traffic, we fly through the air, and we transform ourselves into and out of animal forms. The very best of the latest kind of technology is at our disposal!
- Are all your costumes black?
Most of them are dark, yes. You can’t have a bad guy in a white suit!
- What’s with the spider pin on Maxim Horvathin’s lapel?
My character has different types of ‘bug jewellery,’ there is the spider pin and a cockroach one.
There are some fantastic effects in the scene where my character morphs into various animals so with the jewellery you get the sense that there is something else going on under the surface.
- Are you going to continue to play evil characters?
Yeah, there’s a wonderful freedom in it. I liked the idea of playing some kind of evil character with a bit of fun and the nice thing about this character is that there is a great deal of humour.
Not just in my character but also in Balthazar (Cage) and Dave (Jay Baruchel) in fact all the characters in this story have lovely shards of humour.
Not to make a direct comparison, but in that sense, it has the same style as Pirates of the Caribbean, which had a wonderful combination of action, adventure, comedy and great characters.
We are trying to create that same kind of interesting mix here. I could do ten of these movies in a heartbeat. I love this kind of stuff!
The Sorcerers Apprentice is in Cinemas on August 11th
Tagged in Alfred Molina