When it comes to playing Dr. Curt Connors – AKA the Lizard – in The Amazing Spider-Man , Rhys Ifans didn't want anyone taking away his ability to create the character.
“The Lizard is nine-feet tall. There was one day that I went on set and they had a double, a big, big guy, playing me, as the Lizard. I looked at it and I went: 'No.' Following that Marc [Webb] let me know all the physicality you'll see in the Lizard is my own."
Once he had the director's word that the Lizard would be all him, he was amazed at what the technology could do to help that: "I had a green suit on, and then this cardboard head and these big claws. It was the most fucking insane...”
A cardboard head! It doesn't sound that high-tech but Ifans isn't finished yet.
“Each and every time you see the Lizard, the technology is so advanced now that when the Lizard's eyes move, they're my eyes. If I frown or show any emotion, they're my emotions."
The Amazing Spider-Man opens July 2012.
