Interview: Luke Ford of “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor”

Luke Ford is an up-and-coming Australian actor, starring in the award-winning Australian film The Black Balloon with Toni Collette, due to get a limited release in the States later this year, and his visibility will increase exponentially this weekend when audiences finally get to see his role as Alex O’Connell, the college-aged son of Brendan Fraser’s adventurer Rick O’Connell in Rob Cohen’s The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. He spoke recently about his buddy Brendan, his smelly crabs, his hairy tongue and masturbation for art.

How hard was it for you to get into the spirit of this, being the new kid on the block?
Luke Ford: It was not that hard, but that wasn’t to do with me, it was more with Brendan and Rob. Rob Cohen and Brendan just really made me feel at home. First day of filming, Brendan said “Luke, I am your father.” It all went down from there and we really got along. Because of the time limit and the amount of work we had to do, you didn’t really have time to think “oh god, I’m part of this big franchise.” You just kinda did your job.

Did you expect this to be your first American movie? What were you hoping to do when you got over here?
LF: I actually was not even thinking about that part. I just started building up a good reputation in Australia as a young actor, I’d done a film playing an autistic kid with Toni Collette, which took the Crystal Bear award at the Berlin Film Festival, and I said “let’s see what happens.” They told me ‘you’re going to fly to America and do a final test with Brendan.’ That’s a great opportunity, I’m not going to knock that back. The other thing is I love these adventure kind of films in my naughty side, so I really embraced it.

Brendan described playing Rick as sort of like playing Indiana Jones. What was your reference point?
LF: Young Indiana Jones (laughs). River Phoenix was a real interesting kind of role when I saw him in The Last Crusade. I wanted to do a version of that with a version of Brendan Fraser’s character, because he is my father in that movie. That’s the reference point, but then again, my reference point was more The Mummy 1 and 2, because that was what the films were…

Did you study him in those films as well?
LF: Very much so. I didn’t study him where I was imitating him, because I wasn’t playing him, I was playing his son, and therefore, my mother is in me as well. I figured out that American plus English equals Australian. That was my theory.

Maria Bello plays an overprotective mother and she’s a mother in real life. Did she give you any motherly advice?
LF: Yes. Maria and Brendan both. Brendan was more like my buddy, but Maria was very motherly to me. She was always making sure I was doing all right and I was handling myself. It was a tough role in some ways. It was a big role for the film and an important part. She was constantly very supportive. I really, really love Maria.

How was Brendan your buddy?
LF: Well, because he’s got a great sense of humor and a great personality. I don’t laugh at my dad that much. He was just a very fun man and he was very supportive, too. I remember one day, it was a hard day and I’d worked a 6-day week and they were shooting all my beginning stuff in the film. I saw a beer bottle on the table, I can’t remember the beer, but it was an Australian beer –

Fosters?
LF: No. No. Come on, Foster’s doesn’t exist in our country. But it had this little card, a Brendan Fraser card that said ‘stay strong.’ It was just one of those film sets that just had a great energy and a great vibe, and normally that’s a good sign of a successful film.

Could you talk about working in China? You were out there for two months.
LF: Yeah, we shot four months in Montreal, two months in China. China was my favorite part. I think it’s really interesting. The western culture and society doesn’t really understand or is not that educated on the eastern side of cultures, which is China and stuff like that. I think with the Olympics coming up, I think it’s an important part. If China stopped producing any of their importing and exporting, we’d be all poor. Western cultures would have a massive recession, so it’s really interesting to go and find out about that culture. I loved it. This film isn’t a factual example of eastern culture. Of course not, it’s a fantasy film, but Rob’s intention was just to get out those terracotta warriors and the forbidden city of Beijing and the Great Wall of China and really capture their culture so people will be inspired to do it again and maybe make a more factual film.

Was there a bit of a culture shock for you, being from Australia and going to China?
LF: Yes. Very much so. Especially the food. Then again, we all lost weight and that was a good thing, you know. Chopsticks were very, very difficult for me.

Did you try any food in particular?
LF: Crab. I’d never tried crab before – smelly crab or something like that.

Smelly crab?
LF: I don’t know. Rob Cohen loves his crab. He loves his crab. I remember Brendan got a little ugly there for a while with it. It was my goal to learn chopsticks. By the end, I got to picking them up. But everyone else was on them, and I didn’t want to go on the knife and fork, so I tried. It was a really good experience.

How was it working as Isabella Leong’s love interest?
LF: Well, she called me ‘Hairy Tongue.” (laughs) Our first kissing scene in the film was when we were in our Himalayan clothes, and I had to dip her, which got cut from the film. The big fur that went into the mouth, and I went in and said “well, I’ve gotta go in there, don’t I?” So I went in there. Rob Cohen said “Isabella, what was he like?” And she goes “Oh, he’s got a hairy tongue.” From then on, I was called Hairy Tongue.

Okay, the serious question. If you had a trio of Yeti at your command, what would you have them do?
LF: I’d be the United States president. I guess, the Yeti – I’d guess they’d be my bodyguards, wouldn’t they? Bitchslap everyone! Yetislapping! That’s what I’d call it. Yetislapping. What else? They’re not gonna be my sex toys. (laughs) You look mighty fine in that fur there, boy!

How did the guy from the western suburbs of Sydney become an actor? Why did you want to become an actor?
LF: Maybe because I was dyslexic. I was diagnosed with dyslexia when I was a kid, it’s a learning disability. I remember going and getting lessons, and my teacher said to me ‘listen, you know that because you’re dyslexic, the other side of your brain is quite creative?’ So I tried playing an instrument, and that didn’t work. I tried art classes, and I could only draw stick figures. So I thought ‘well, I’ll give this drama class a go’ and then I got an A. I thought ‘oh, god, I’m good at it!’ Then the best thing I ever did was drop drama in high school and I went out in the real world and started becoming an actor.

Was it easy or hard?
LF: The funny thing about it – it’s understandable and I’m fair about it - everyone thinks I’m an overnight success, but I’ve been doing this for ten years. I was held up in robberies, I was poor, I was broke – I went broke from doing the last film that won the Crystal Bear award, Black Balloon, because I spent six, seven months preparing for it and money’s not great in Australia for film. Not much you can do about it. It’s been a very tough run. A lot of times, I’ve come second for roles. I’ve been really working on it, plugging along.

Are you planning on moving to LA?
LF: It’s still up in the air. I’ve got a great reputation in Australia at the moment, and America seems to be very difficult. It seems like a ten-year kind of progress. If I’ve got films waiting for me or a chance to work with some – to be honest, wherever the role is.

Are you shooting something else in Australia right now?
LF: I just finished playing Australia’s first ever serial killer. It was a really good experience. It was based on a western Australian character called Snowy Rowles. He was killed for his crimes, but it was a really interesting role.

How did you get in the mind of a serial killer?
LF: Actually, I followed people. I saw a guy pull up in a Porsche Carrera 911 and he seemed a bit arrogant, so I followed him. He ended up having dinner at a Vietnamese place and I just sat down and watched him. Then I went in my room, locked myself in a cupboard and I masturbated a lot.

Oh!
LF: Well, that’s the truth! I’m a method actor and that was my character for Blood in the Sand. It’s what I did! Sorry guys! That’s my work! I’m a method actor!

Fabulous. You weren’t masturbating on the set of this movie?
LF: No, this was different. This, I went to Notre Dame, all the historical places in Montreal.

And masturbated there.
LF: (Laughs) Very much so! No, just tried to see if there were any trap doors, go down a level in Notre Dame, in the church or any historical buildings, anything. Just trying to find a way to break in. That was my character. That was just my mentality and how I approached it.

Obviously Rob and the studio are looking to this to restart the franchise. So are you guys ready for the sequel?
LF: Yeah, maybe. I’m not sure that it’s gonna be our responsibility. It depends on how successful the film is and all that. I’d like to still keep it within the family, if at all possible.

Are you signed up for another one?
LF: Yes, I signed for three. I did a three picture deal, non-sequel and sequel for Universal. That’s the way it happens when you’re a no-name. We’ll see what happens, but to be honest, apart from the special effects, Brendan is the franchise. So it’d be very hard to do a take-off, you know?

A non-sequel?
LF: To do either a spin-off or another Mummy movie. I really think that Brendan has to be a part of that film. The special effects is primarily what the Mummy’s about, but Brendan is the second-biggest integral part of the film.