Mark Strong Discusses His Character in "John Carter"

Strong says:

Well funnily enough, when you do things like that at the same time, they inform each other and also, it’s very useful because you’re playing so against the other one. In this instance, they are so different, it was great. Because I could literally play Sinestro against Matai Shang, if you like, and remind myself that he is really all about action and physicality. And Matai Shang, by the same token, is the opposite. Very knowing, very, as you say, ethereal, a very Zen-like character of the mind, rather than of the body. And it was useful actually, because although they’re both aliens and so they’re similar in that respect, their characters are so totally opposite ends of the spectrum. And I enjoyed playing them around a similar time.

Interestingly, John Carter’s had its titled changed. And there seems to be some kind of confusion as to why this should be, and I think the reason is brilliant. The reason is that he has to earn that title. Again, it’s a franchise or a number of books; a series of books that people may or may not know, but if you call him John Carter of Mars, I think at the very beginning, all the work’s been done and what Andrew wants to do, I think, is introduce people to this first film, and by the end of it, he becomes John Carter of Mars, but not at the beginning. In the beginning he’s John Carter, but by the end of the first film, he’s John Carter of Mars; so he’s earned that title to take it off should it want to go to further storytelling.

Plot of John Mars:

From Academy Award(R)-winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton comes "John Carter"--a sweeping action-adventure set on the mysterious and exotic planet of Barsoom (Mars). "John Carter" is based on a classic novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs, whose highly imaginative adventures served as inspiration for many filmmakers, both past and present. The film tells the story of war-weary, former military captain John Carter (Taylor Kitsch), who is inexplicably transported to Mars where he becomes reluctantly embroiled in a conflict of epic proportions amongst the inhabitants of the planet, including Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe) and the captivating Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins). In a world on the brink of collapse, Carter rediscovers his humanity when he realizes that the survival of Barsoom and its people rests in his hands.

The film is scheduled to be released on March 9th 2012.