These days, it’s very rare that a blockbuster credits scene doesn’t get leaked online weeks or even months ahead of a movie’s release, but Woody Harrelson’s surprise debut as Cletus Kasady in Ruben Fleischer’s Venom was kept impressively under wraps throughout the buildup.
Of course, it was all over the internet from opening day onward, but it was still a surprise to see the popular and talented actor locked inside a prison cell sporting a hilariously terrible ginger wig, but it at least set him up as the big bad of the sequel. Venom: Let There Be Carnage finally releases next weekend, and Andy Serkis’ 90-minute blockbuster will look to do the iconic comic book villain justice in his live-action debut.
Having discarded his original hairpiece for a much less distracting one, it’ll be a delight to see Harrelson chewing on the scenery, something he’s proven to be very good at. In a new interview with ScreenRant, the actor admitted that he was nervous on the first film, despite the fact he was only required to be on set for a day to shoot his brief cameo.
“I felt when I did the first one, I was a little bit … I mean, I think of Tom Hardy as one of the great actors. I really do. I think this guy is such a phenomenal actor. And just being in the Marvel Universe, and I don’t know, everything all put together, I was a little nervous when I did that first one. And so I wasn’t free enough to be able to … If you’re too nervous, you go into an audition, people who audition and they go in, they’re so nervous, they could’ve done a good job, but they were just so nervous. So I felt like I was a little … I never even told Tom this. So anyway, I’m revealing it to you. But I was a little nervous, and I just didn’t feel like I was free enough to be more creative.”
Now that his nerves are a thing of the past, seeing Harrelson go toe-to-toe with Tom Hardy in a battle to give the biggest, broadest and most unhinged performance is enough to sell audiences on Venom: Let There Be Carnage, which is poised to become one of the pandemic era’s biggest box office hits if it lives up to expectations.
