He's Alive! Alive!

It never hurts to have an actor in your cast that is currently starring in a hit movie, but we had JOHN HURT signed to reprise his role of Professor Broom long before V for Vendetta opened at the box office.  We're set to record John at the beginning of next month.

He will record the present day Trevor Broom for our second movie. James Arnold Taylor provides the voice for the younger Broom who is seen in flashback sequences.  He also does a great impression of John, so much so that when he recorded dummy lines of the elder Broom, Doug Jones said, "I just closed my eyes and suddenly felt I was back in those wonderful days on the set."

John will remain in London when we record him on an ISDN line.   That connection allows me to sit in the recording studio here and listen to him through the speakers sounding every bit as good as if he was on the other side of the glass instead of the other side of the Atlantic.  Sometimes you can listen to a performance on a telephone and let the studio send you the recording.  It saves money but it only works with an actor who is very familiar to you and who has a distinctive voice.  When we recorded Gilbert Gottfried for Disney's Aladdin TV series, the performance really wasn't about nuance; the telephone worked fine. 

You'll note I refer to John's character as "Broom" and not "Bruttenholm."  In movies a character's name is what you call him.  Since we're not dealing in a written medium, having any reference to his "actual" name would probably be confusing and a waste of footage.  I don't think the live action movie referred to him as anything but Broom.  I asked Mike about dual names and he said that was a construct of John Byrne's in Seed of Destruction.  Byrne is evidently an Anglophile who knows about the nickname tradition in traditional English schools of the period, or something like it.

Mike was amazed by John Hurt's physical resemblance to his character.  It's so close that several people have asked him if he had based the character on John.  Mike also appreciated the warmth the actor brought to the role.  I think it's the one character who Mike is sorry about killing in the comics.  Our second movie centers on Hellboy's concern for Broom and an old adversary of the Professor's who has returned. The image on the right is the concept drawing by Cheeks.  I think it is one of his strongest translations of a Mignola character and I am absolutely delighted to have John Hurt play the part.  --Tad

Comments

[Ralph]

I'd say that's definitely a pretty solid interperetation of the character, and I'm excited to hear that Hurt will be providing the voice. He was excellent in the movie. You guys seem to be doing everything right! How can it be that something as awesome as an animated Hellboy movie is going right?

[spydaweb]

This animated version looks kinda like Price.

[Helen Chavez]

I can't tell you how thrilled I am that Mr. Hurt is voicing Broom. Perfection. I also always loved the Anglicising of Bruttenholm's name as 'Broom', it's a lovely nod to the idiosyncracies of the polyglot language that is 'English'. I loved Kevin Trainor's stint as 'Young Broom' in the film, so it will be interesting to hear James Arnold Taylor in the role - and if Doug says he's good, then he's gooooood ...

I like the interpretation of Animated Broom, and I know Mr Hurt will bring the warmth and intelligence that was so much a part of Movie Broom to his animated alter ego. I for one am tickled to bits about how everything is just falling into place. It feels so right.

[STEAMcrow]

Yeah, from my outside point of view, you guys are making the right choices, over and over again; honoring both the comic AND the movie.

This balance can't be that easy, but it sure is looking good from here.

I'm just hoping that the story will be nice and rich.

[hb]

s'funny how up till this point I've been completely satisfied with the characters...
this was sort of shocking for me, and I'm not as enthusiastic about his design..
but i think suttle differences might help...i.e glasses, or cane
either way it's pretty damn close
Good job

[seth]

I didn't even recognize Hurt in V untill I read about him later. Spooky. Anyway, this is awesome news.