'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' – Sam Rockwell tells all

The actor tells us what it's like to play an alien with two heads, who also just happens to be the President of the Intergalactic Government.

Apr 26 2005

Star of 'The Green Mile', 'Charlie's Angels' and 'Confessions of a Dangerous Mind', Sam Rockwell is playing his most insane role yet, as two-headed alien Zaphod Beeblebrox in 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'.

Time Out caught up with him last week to find out how he liked working on a very British blockbuster, what it's like to be President of the Intergalactic Government, and whether or not two heads are better than one?

How did you end up playing Zaphod?

I met Nick [Goldsmith, the producer] and Garth [Jennings, the director] and I volunteered to read for Ford Prefect, then I read a little bit of Zaphod and it just kind of happened. I did a sort of Gary Busey reading of Ford, then I said: 'What about the Zaphod guy? What's the deal with him?' I think they were thinking about comedians for the role so they said: 'Yeah, well we're thinking more for Ford but Zaphod… yeah, try it.' Then they hired me!

How familiar were you with the whole 'Hitchhiker's' phenomeon?

I read the book after I got the part and I saw a little bit of the series as a kid. I definitely heard about it as it's famous in the States.

And now you're a big fan?

Yeah, I love the book. I think it's incredibly inventive, imaginative and funny – it's got a lot of things going for it.

Did you watch the TV series to see the way Mark Wing-Davey played the character?

I actually talked to Mark Wing-Davey about the part and I watched a little bit of the series but it can be distracting so I stuck to the book. In fact Mos Def and I referred to the book a lot because there's a lot of alien stuff in there – we would throw stuff in there and surprise each other because we were both playing aliens. The book was really helpful – it has so many great descriptions of Zaphod.

Where else did you get your inspiration from?

It's the first time I looked at political figures for a part. I looked at Bill Clinton and there's definitely some George W Bush in there – the forgetful part, and the squinting, and the blind arrogance that Zaphod has. And Gina Bellman, my girlfriend at the time, suggested that I look at Freddy Mercury so there's a bit of him in there as well.

How did you choose the look?

Well, the hair was going to be dark and I told them: 'What about that 'Legends of the Fall' Brad Pitt look.' Because it says in the book he's a surfer. It also says that Zaphod was the most popular guy in the universe and that's how he got elected, so we had to realise that, and so we drew from a lot of American icons.

'Hitchhiker's' has legions of fans on the internet, so have you read any of the speculation about how you are going to play the part online?

You know, it was Douglas Adams's original intention to have Trillian and Zaphod be American, so I wasn't really worried about that. I really stuck to the book, the descriptions in there are pretty detailed. There were moments in rehearsals where there was a bit of panic where I was trying to find out what the second head was going to be like. That was tough. I even had a New York accent for the second head at one point.

Were you worried about pushing the character too far?

The thing is when I did get kind of scared about it I realised that Zaphod has to be theatrical and he has to be bigger than life. Watching Freddy Mercury was really important and I worked on that a lot – you have to have that rock star confidence – you couldn't be timid with Zaphod. There's no room for it.

Were you nervous about being directed by a first timer?

It's always a little scary but Garth is a really special guy. He's Peter Pan or something, he's just got this amazing energy. And he has great social skills – he just knows how to talk to people. You can't not like Garth, and he's an immensely creative guy.

And what about working in London – was that an enjoyable experience?

London is a great town, and you speak English. I like it a lot. You've got a really good work ethic here, although at the same time big actors don't really take it too seriously. It's fun and everybody seems to have a good sense of humour.

• 
•