Back to the Scum Pits of Ur?

One of Mark's more memorable scenes was the Groosalugg's decisive battle against Angel on Pylea. While it looked extremely quick and furious on the screen, the actual process was very intricate "There was so much coverage and it took quite a while to shoot that scene." Mark tried to participate as much as possible in the scene, but as he said "there's some things that the stuntmen do, and there's some things the actor's do." Overall he felt that "it all came together pretty well." David Boreanaz particularly impressed him. "David was great" he said. "You could tell he's a real pro at the fighting because the stunt men came in and sort of showed us the choreography of what was gonna take place in the fight and he just sort of went through it once and said OK, I got it, and he did. He had it" Mark commented with respect. So it was a great experience. When I saw the episode for the first time I was like, 'Wow, it looks really great,'" he laughs.

"There's such an irony to the whole character, about his self-perception just because everything he's been told by the elders there"

Looking back on the entire experience of ANGEL, Mark was able to take away the best feeling anyone could from a set that requires so much of an actor. For Mark it was meeting a lot of the cast. "They're so good. I was so impressed by how professional everyone was. Everybody was just on the ball. Everyone knows their stuff and I was really impressed by it. It was my first American TV show shot in Los Angeles." Although he had done American projects shot in Canada. Luckier than most of the actors that land on Angel, Mark had actually seen the show prior to his audition. "Yeah," he admits, "I had watched the show before, and I sort of had an idea of what to expect reading the script, but not entirely because I hadn't seen the new dimension Pylea, what that all entailed." Even though Mark was able to grasp his character, Pylea was especially challenging to act in because it was so new and different. Filming for Pylea was on location at "a ranch about an hour North of Los Angeles" Mark explained. "I guess has been used for years for different shoots and dressed up different ways from Westerns to science fiction shows."

Groo courts Cordelia

Mark was quite taken by his character and would love to further develop him. "I think he's a great character," he began. "There's so many levels to him. There's such an irony to the whole character, about his self-perception just because everything he's been told by the elders there. I think there's great potential in that character to go so many different ways." The Groosalugg was definitely an interesting character to watch, and quite a surprise as well. Instead of having him be a completely hideous hell-beast, Grue is a naïve sort of Apollonian figure. Yet there is much more to Grue than his naivety as Mark explained, "he's naive in so many ways, and a fantastic warrior in other ways. Which are two kind of, I don't want to say opposites, but you don't really see the gladiators, the boxers, the athletes of our time being that much of a dichotomy." At the end of the season fans were terribly disappointed that the Groosalugg chose to stay on Pylea rather than follow Angel and the gang back to LA. Perhaps we will catch a glimpse of Grue and the recently liberated Pylea in the future.

Resting, Relaxing, and Stephanie Romanov!

Interstate 60

Coming up Mark had an appearance at Metro Comics with Stephanie Romanov. An excited buzz had been traveling across the Internet among fans, yet was Mark ready to face their onslaught of questions and praise? Initially he was taken aback by all the buzz, "Where is all this buzz taking place I got to check all this stuff out." However, after traveling to a signing with Andy Hallet, he feels he can handle it, "I was actually down in Santa Barbara a month or so ago with Andy Hallet and experienced a little of bit of what went on with his signing down there." However, he didn't downplay the mayhem. He described the signing as "complete pandemonium! It was quite an experience to witness". Regardless, Mark is "sure it will be quite an experience" and was "looking forward to it a lot."

Throughout his years as an actor Mark has balanced out his work between television and film. His most recent film, Interstate 60, is the story of a young man whose confusion about the future course of his life leads him on a wild journey on a road that doesn't exist on any map. Despite Mark's extensive work in both mediums, he has not found himself leaning towards one or the other, "Right now, I think, I'd like to try and find a balance," he began. He continued to explain that right now the industry is such that it is possible to be successful in both simultaneously, "I think the days are becoming further and further away where film actors stick to film and television to television. There's so many cross over actors now, and so many big film stars going back to TV and doing their own series in TV like Bette Midler, Gena Davis, and people like that. So I think there's definitely a good environment out there right now that you can do both successfully."

Lutz in PowerPlay

However when asked if he was currently working while most television series were on hiatus, he replied, "I'm relaxing, taking a little bit of a sabbatical. I'm actually doing some writing and enjoying the summer." Basically his summer has consisted of seeing America. "I've been to New England, and Florida and some places around California, just sort of taking it easy and hanging out with friends." Why not? The leader of a newly freed dimension is bound to need some time off. With plenty of depth and personality there is not much that this young and talented actor could not tackle in an industry where few succeed and fewer survive. There is much to look forward to in Mark's work and with a keen eye to the natural, he certainly has a promising future ahead of him. With fans to rally behind him, this growing support looks forward to more of Mark in the future. Perhaps he is recharging for an astounding, surprise reappearance on ANGEL? Regardless, Hollywood better be on its toes. Mark Lutz has only just begun.

Written by, CoA Staff Writer Jeff Ritchie

CityofAngel.com would like to thank Mark Lutz for being very gracious with his time in allowing us this interview. Check out his official site at www.MarkLutz.com.

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