Throughout the history of comic book films, many actors who portrayed superheroes often said that, once they put on the cape or the mask, they felt like they became that character. For Jackie Earle Haley -- who plays Rorschach in "Watchmen" -- that feeling was no different.
"I remember one of the first days on the set there was a big 18 K light up behind [me]," recalled Haley, "and it was at the cemetery, and I'm getting ready to walk over to the grave, and [director] Zack [Snyder]'s calling roll and I looked down and there's Rorschach's shadow from that 18 K light just perfectly on the ground -- and it's me. I feel like I'm inside the graphic novel and I'm seeing Rorschach's silhouette but I'm not just seeing Rorschach's silhouette, I'm seeing my silhouette and it's Rorschach's! It was just wonderfully empowering."
Yet what stands out most to fans of the comic book series and from the clips we've seen so far from the film is Rorschach's trademark mask, which takes on a whole new persona in the live action adaptation. And rest assured that the effect seen on the mask not only knocked fanboys sweaty socks off, but Haley's as well.
"Oh, I love it," exclaimed Haley. "There was one thing that I saw a long time ago, it was one of the first tests, where Rorschach jumps up into that window and then the camera goes in for a close-up as he's looking around…I don't want to give too much away, but the blots were moving and it was just like, talk about empowering! And actually seeing it on a computer monitor was like, 'Oh, that's what's totally going on with the face, okay cool.'"
Which character from "Watchmen" are you most looking forward to seeing in the film? What do you think of the footage you've seen so far? We want to know in the comments.
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