Actor Mark Lutz

Mark Lutz; (pronounced "Loots") the man, the swimmer, the….Groosalugg? Behind every vampire, demon, and hell-beast is a person. Supporting characters can often come off as undeveloped or emotionless. However, in the final two episodes in the second season of the WB's drama ANGEL, Mark proved just how much life can be brought into a character in a relatively small amount of time. Unlike his naïve and sheltered counterpart, Mark Lutz is an extremely talented and well-versed actor. A veteran in the science fiction genre, and an extremely talented swimmer, Mark found himself drawn from his native home of Toronto to the vast city of Los Angeles. Finding a niche of his own in film and television, he soon discovered the world of Whedon and the world may never look the same again from this dimension. When talking with Mark he was extremely kind and excited to discuss his transition from swimming to acting and his post-vacation plans.

Lutz in Earth: Final Conflict

Making it in Hollywood these days can often seem like an unattainable dream. Larger than life "superstars" and blockbuster mega-movies create an almost overwhelming atmosphere. Yet the acting bug can still sneak up on the most unknowing of individuals, but not Mark. He always knew that the entertainment industry was in his future. "Pretty much since I was a little kid I knew that that's sort of the avenue I wanted to pursue," Mark began. He was a performer at heart since childhood, "I made my own movies, and radio talk shows on tape." Still, Mark did not initially pursue a career in acting, "I didn't really start pursuing it full time until probably about seven years ago. I swam for a number of years competitively at University and I wanted to pursue that as far as I could. Swimming four or five hours a day doesn't really leave you a lot of time, and school work, to pursue an acting career. So when I was retired from swimming is when I concentrated on becoming an actor". Upon entering the acting scene Mark's past directed him to the science fiction arena as he guest starred on shows such as La Femme Nikita, Relic Hunter, and Earth: Final Conflict, "I grew up on Star Trek and shows like that," he admitted. "I used to gobble those books up as a kid. I really enjoy any fantasy kind of genre."

From Toronto to Pylea

Joss [Whedon] and co. are notorious for developing clever, and often down-right weird characters on ANGEL. Still new in LA, Mark heard about the part from his manager, "My agent called one day and said they were looking for this guy, and my understanding was they were having a hard time finding him. It was the first time I had ever gone in to read for the casting directors on that show and I had only been in LA at that point in time like a little over two months. I just went in, read for the producers and a couple days later heard that I got the part." But Mark wasn't intimidated by the experience of standing before the decision makers, because his work in Canada had provided a wide range of acting experience, "I had been working in Canada for several years and I had done a series. I had worked fairly steadily up there. I think it was just a different city, it was different definitely moving here. LA definitely has a different energy than Toronto." However, Los Angeles was a bit overwhelming compared to his home city of Toronto, "Everything in LA is Toronto times 10. You know, the number of things, the projects going on, the number of casting directors, the number of shows, movies, everything." The industry-fueled city was a bit of a surprise, "It's all encompassing. The city is all about the industry," Mark said with a laugh.

"It was just some great writing on the show. Everything was on the page."

The sets of both ANGEL and Buffy are known for their pleasant atmosphere. The cast and crew have been said to work together like a family. This may be rare in television, but Mark has only had positive experiences, "In my experience I've been really lucky I guess. I have heard stories from other actors of certain things happening, but I've never had a bad experience on any sets." ANGEL, in particular was an excellent job that smoothed over his transition to LA. "ANGEL was fantastic to work on. I made some great friends, like I said I had only been in LA for a little while. I made some friends in the cast and crew and I had a blast. It was just a fantastic experience." Commenting on the cast and crew, Mark mentioned that they were "really genuine and really easy to get along, really super people," rather than being negative Hollywood stereotypes.

The Groosalugg

Mark's part as the Groosalugg was "definitely a challenge," especially his scenes with Charisma Carpenter. He had so little time to develop his character and yet still managed to create a magnificent energy between Cordelia and the Groosalugg. However, much of his ease with the part he feels he owes to the writers, especially Tim Minear and David Greenwalt, "It was just some great writing on the show. Everything was on the page. I don't want to say it was easy, it was just like you read and I knew exactly where I was gonna go with it." The writing was so crisp that Mark was immediately able to grasp the essence of the character, "There wasn't a lot of guess work involved. I think it was just so well written that I knew what I wanted to do when I read it. When I went in and auditioned for it the basic response I got was, 'Yeah that's exactly what we're looking for.' " Unique scripts and the quality of writing are very important to Mark when auditioning for a character, "a lot of times as an actor you can just tell when you read a script if it's good."