With a legacy rooted in low-budget chaos and cult-classic charm, ‘The Toxic Avenger’ is heading back to the big screen, but this time with a new cast and crew at its helm. The original—a concept from Troma Entertainment—amassed a following in the 80s, and grew to launch four more iterations, including the latest feature hitting theaters this weekend.
Starring Peter Dinklage, Elijah Wood, Kevin Bacon and Jacob Tremblay among others, Macon Blair is bringing Toxie back with a fresh spin, a twisted new villain, and a cast that’s just as excited about the madness as the fans. To dive more into the project, Metro sat down with Elijah Wood to talk all about his time stepping into the role of Fritz, and what he thinks about the resurgence of this gory story.
What elements of this project interested you into signing on?
I probably would’ve signed up without having read the script just because Macon (Blair) wrote it and was directing it. Macon’s a dear friend—we’d made a movie called ‘I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore’ a number of years ago. I love him, I love his sensibility, and he’s sort of one of those people that I’ll do anything for anytime. That being said, the package that was sent, this particular remake, this character of Fritz and the script…he sent the script with a rendering of what my character would look like, it was all really thrilling.
It would be quite a transformation, which was really fun. Then all of the elements within the context of the script that pay homage to the Troma movies of the past while it’s telling a new story—it was absurd and it was really funny. There were so many details. Each character sort of vibrated at [their own] fun frequency. And at the core amidst all of this sort of madness, there’s also this really great father-son story that is actually truly emotional and something that you connect with as a reader and I think now as an audience. The confluence of those elements made it something that I wanted to be a part of.
You mentioned your character being a transformation, and obviously, there are a lot of interesting looks in this film. What goes into creating the look?
It’s a fine tuning process. It’s funny because the drawing that was sent with the script was definitely a pretty strong template of what we were aiming for. So slightly hunched back, walking with a cane, almost a funeral director’s sort of outfit, very macabre, balding and stringy hair. That was the image. And so we were sort of heading in that direction and we were all pretty stoked on what that look achieved.
Then it just becomes about finding it in reality. Working out with the right kind of elements, trying different things, and then same with the makeup and hair team. But there wasn’t a whole lot of having to try things… it was zeroing in on the concept image and then just finding a way to make that look and feel realistic.
Your character is a villain, but there’s a lot more nuance to his personality than just being “evil,” which I find interesting. How would you describe Fritz and what he goes through?
Yeah, I’m with you. Characters that are three-dimensional and have nuance, especially evil ones that aren’t just simply evil for the sake of being evil, are far more interesting. And Fritz is no exception. I think he is who he is as a result of a number of elements. He got the short end of the stick genetically, and next to his brother (played by Kevin Bacon), he was probably picked on a lot as a kid, not really loved or nurtured, and is ultimately his brother’s punching bag.
So his role is to be his brother’s right hand man. I think that’s largely motivated by wanting to win his brother’s affections and approval. A lot of what he does comes from that place of probably having been bullied and pushed down. So his actions come from a place of wanting to fight against those things, and I think right at the core of it, is this deep yearning of wanting to be loved.
Macon has mentioned that he wanted to capture the spirit of that original film from the 80’s. For those who weren’t familiar with it, how would you describe the spirit of ‘The Toxic Avenger’?
It’s funny, I wasn’t familiar in the sense that I hadn’t seen the original film, but I was very familiar with what Troma films were and the iconography of them. I knew that they have these absurd, heavily violent, leaning on exploitation elements, but in a very comic put together with very limited resources kind of way.
So I’m familiar with their oeuvre and the other movies in that space. The essence of them, and with this movie in particular, it’s a fight against the man. It’s an underdog story couched in absurd, cartoonish violence. That’s a main element, a primary element to Troma — the films are fun, they have gore elements and over the top violence and cartoonish characters. They take themselves seriously, but they’re ultimately very funny and kind of wild and insane as well.
What do you think people love about Troma movies and what will they love about this remake?
It’s important, contextually, [to know] those movies were made for almost nothing. I think what’s so inspiring about those movies for filmmakers coming up having rented them at the video store when they were kids, is that they showed you that you could make movies. They felt handmade. There’s something about that that I think is just really special. There’s an element of that still within the context of this film and this remake, but I think the essence is, and what it’s paying homage to, is something that is absurd over the top, very funny, but ultimately also has some heart at its core.
What’s important too, is that this particular movie doesn’t rely on you having seen the original film, or to even be aware of what the Troma films are to be enjoyed. I think what’s great about it is that it’s very much is its own thing and can be enjoyed on that level, but it’s also a great gateway should you want to then explore those movies down the road. It’s a really fun movie that exists in its own universe as well.
‘The Toxic Avenger‘ hits theaters Aug. 29.
