Thomas Haden Church takes on All Elite Wrestling‘s Samoa Joe in the new Twisted Metal series on Peacock.
Twisted Metal‘s Thomas Haden Church spoke with* WrestleZone Managing Editor Bill Pritchard. When asked about how he approached the role of Agent Stone, Church spoke about the research he did to play the character.
“Reading the first three scripts and then having really great conversations with Michael Jonathan Smith, who was our showrunner,” Church said. “Then doing my own research and going in and trying to find out as much about the origin of the game as I could and seeing various iterations of Agent Stone, but the other characters and other storylines and stuff that wasn’t represented in the scripts that we did.
“But just to kind of get a broader sense of what the essence of the show was, what the game was, and how that was translatable to the show. And then with Agent Stone specifically, I really liked the fact that they introduced him as a younger man who has integrity, has the rule of law as his guiding light. [But] then, the apocalypse crashes in, and he’s completely thrust into a world that he’s not trained or equipped to handle.
“And [he] is quickly taken advantage of by these sort of like the savage nature of society right away. Then when you meet him 20 years later, no, he’s not a villain. I never ever approached him as a villain, nor did Michael and I ever discuss him as a villain. He just sees himself as the hammer of justice. The hammer of law and order, and that it is entirely up to him to be the architect of bringing the divided states back together. Punishing those that deserve it, and rewarding those that don’t commit crime. That’s his center line.”
Samoa Joe
When asked what it was like working with Samoa Joe, Church said he was the perfect person to portray Sweet Tooth.
“Obviously, we are nemesis, to the extent that he attacks my truck and bashes in the windshield,” Church said. “I won’t go beyond that point in the story. But Joe, first of all, really gifted guy physically for as big of a dude as he is. I don’t know where he ranks in the world of wrestling, I don’t follow it too much. I’m kind of acquainted with Chris Jericho.
“We have friends in common I was on a radio show with Chris a couple of times on SiriusXM. But [Joe is] just a super nice guy. [I] had fun talking to him whenever I got a chance to talk to him. We actually do share an agent at our agency, so I was really happy that they got Joe. Because I think he’s the perfect Sweet Tooth, along with Will [Arnett’s] voice. But for Joe to be the physical manifestation was fun.”
You can check out our full video interview with Thomas Haden Church below:
*This interview was recorded prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike
What do you make of Thomas Haden Church’s comments? Are you going to check out Twisted Metal on Peacock this week? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit WrestleZone with a link back to this article for the transcription.
READ MORE: Anthony Mackie: Seeing Samoa Joe In The Ice Cream Truck Was The Eeriest Experience
