EXCLUSIVE!!!!

 

CAREL STRUYCKEN

 

Carel Struycken, born on July 30, 1948 in The Hague in South Holland, graduated in 1973 from the Netherlands Film Academy in Amsterdam and has lived in California in America since 1975. In 1978 he made his debut with a role in the movie ‘Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band’. Between 1980 and 1983, Carel Struycken had roles in the films ‘Die Laughing’ and ‘The Prey’. In 1985 he played the role of Terak in the TV movie ‘Ewoks: The Battle for Endor’. Carel Struycken was in 1986 an editor and an associated producer for the film ‘Population: 1’. In 1987 he could be admired as Fidel in the movie ‘The Witches of Eastwick’. Between 1988 and 1990, Carel Struycken played roles in the films ‘Night of the Kickfighters’ and ‘Framed’. In 1991 he appeared as Kyle Barlow in the movie ‘Servants of Twilight’, as Lurch in the movie ‘The Addams Family’ and participated in the video clip "Hammer: Addams Groove" by M.C. Hammer. Carel Struycken played in 1993 the roles of Dallas in the TV movie ‘Journey to the Center of the Earth’ and again Lurch in the movie ‘Addams Family Values’. In 1994 he appeared as Gaunt in the movie ‘Oblivion’. Carel Struycken had in 1995 roles in the movie ‘Under the Hula Moon’ and the TV movie ‘Out There’. In 1996 he appeared again as Gaunt in the movie ‘Oblivion 2: Backlash’. Carel Struycken had in 1997 a role in the movie ‘Men in Black’. In 1998 he appeared again as Lurch in the movie ‘Addams Family Reunion’ and had a role in the movie ‘I Woke Up Early the Day I Died’. Carel Struycken could be seen in 1999 in the movie ‘Enemy Action’. In 2002 he could be seen as a Mortician in the TV movie ‘Fatal Kiss’. Carel Struycken played in 2004 the role of J.C./Cowboy in the movie ‘Agavé’. Since 2005 he has been active as a photographer and in that year he also had a role in the movie ‘The Fallen Ones’. Carel Struycken could be seen in 2007 as Mr. Vincent in the movie ‘Revamped’. In 2014 he had a role in the movie ‘Trophy Heads’. Carel Struycken played in 2016 the role of Roy in the movie ‘Another Brick in the Wall’. In 2017 he could be admired as Raymond Andrew Joubert in the movie ‘Gerald’s Game’. Carel Struycken played in 2018 the role of Shire in the miniseries ‘Two Minutes to Midnight’. In 2019 he had a role in the movie ‘Doctor Sleep’. Carel Struycken contributed to the short films ‘Tarzana’ and ‘The Vampire Hunters Club’. He guest-starred in TV series such as “Bigfoot and Wildboy”, “Hunter”, “Star Trek: The Next Generation”, “St. Elsewhere”, “Twin Peaks” from 1990, “Babylon 5”, “Star Trek: Voyager”, “Charmed”, “My Name Is Earl”, “Cold Case”, “The Blacklist”, “Gotham” and “Twin Peaks” from 2017. Carel Struycken has worked with numerous Hollywood stars during his career. Perry from Moov.nl had an interview with Carel Struycken for the internet site.

 

001.You sometimes hear that every character who plays an actor or actress contains something of his own. Can you mention an agreement as

       a big difference in character between yourself and Lurch from ‘The Addams Family’ of 1991?

       That may depend on the style of acting. English actors are more inclined to build a character and, thanks to years of serious training and theater

       experience, have the ability to adopt a wide variety of characters. In America you have many actors who have been trained in method acting. This

       means that one identifies emotionally with the role and uses similar emotions and experiences from one's own life. In such a case, there is

       automatically something of yourself in the character you play. Lurch has self-control and a poker face. I myself have neither. What we have in

       common is that we often bump our heads and that the world is generally not built for our size.

002.To what extent were you familiar with the TV series of “The Addams Family” from 1964?

       I have never seen the TV series of "The Addams Family". I once met Ted Cassidy who played the role of Lurch in the TV series. I was then visiting

       Tippi Hedren's ranch where a large number of lions, tigers and other cats were trained for the 1981 film ‘Roar’ (it was Jan de Bont's first film in

       America as a director of photography, ed.). Tippi played the role of Madelaine in that movie. But I didn't know then that Ted had played the role of

       Lurch in the TV series of "The Addams Family". I knew the Addams Family as a cartoon in The New Yorker magazine. When preparing for the movie

       ‘The Addams Family’ in 1991, we were asked to use Charles Addams cartoons as a reference.

003.At what point in your career are you most proud and/or do you keep the best memories?

       The production of the film ‘Population: 1’ from 1986 was a great adventure, which despite the many setbacks was brought to a successful conclusion

       by the enormous efforts of director Rene Daalder. To be in Lurch's shoes three times for the film series of ‘The Addams Family’ was a great honor,

       because Lurch is such an icon. In the 1970s I watched with great interest the rerun of the 1966 TV series “Star Trek”. From 1987 onwards, being able

       to play the role of Mr. Homn in the TV series "Star Trek: The Next Generation" was a great opportunity. I have been a long time a fan of the Star Trek

       series and Gene Roddenberry (the writer and producer of Star Trek, ed.). He was one of those who carried out groundbreaking work throughout his

       career that involved fighting battles with the studios until his death in 1991 so as not to let his ideas get watered down. Then there is the TV series

       “Twin Peaks” where I got to play a giant in the 1990 version and a firefighter in the 2017 version. I feel the most affinity with David Lynch (creator and

       director of the TV series “Twin Peaks”, ed.) and his work.

004.Over the years you have worked with many different Hollywood stars. Who impressed you the most?

       During the filming of the 1987 movie ‘The Witches of Eastwick’ was a scene in which Jack Nicholson (Daryl Van Horne in the movie, ed.) had to

       seduce Cher (Alexandra Medford in the movie, ed.). Due to technical difficulties with the camera dolly (this is a cart with wheels or a similar device

       that is used in film and television to create smooth horizontal camera movements, ed.) the shot had to be redone 25 times. Jack gave a different twist

       to his dialogue in every take, but in such a way that you could still cut parts of different takes together. Actually, no one has ever been disappointed to

       work with. This is because on a movie set, people are aware that every minute costs thousands of dollars. Everyone is jointly responsible for bringing

       everything to a successful end. That is why actors and the film crew do their best to be friendly with each other, even if it requires some effort. I think it

       would be great to work with director Rob Reiner (known as Michael "Meathead" Stivic from the 1971 TV series "All in the Family", ed.). Because in

       the past I once had the opportunity to participate in a film of his. But I felt obligated to keep a previously made commitment, despite no contracts

       being signed. Rob felt I had potential as a comedy actor. I would have liked to have explored that under his leadership.

005.You have several well-known roles to your name. But which role in your career appeals to your fans the most?

       On the street I am most recognized as Lurch, because he is such an icon that appeals to every generation. Often I get confused with Ted Cassidy

       who played Lurch in the 1964 TV series. Because of my role as Mr. Homn in the TV series "Star Trek: The Next Generation" I also deal with Star Trek

       fans. Those are the most loyal fans. Not only of the characters in the series, but mainly because for them Star Trek has created a better social

       worldview that is potentially doable.

006.Both in 1990 and in 2017 you could be seen in the TV series “Twin Peaks”. What was it like to be back on the “Twin Peaks” set in 2017?

       It was kind of like a successful reunion to see so many of fellow actors and director David Lynch again after all this time. At “Twin Peaks” from 2017,

       only the main characters were given a full script to read. Most, including me, only got a few pages. I received a lot of my dialogue on a piece of paper

       on the set. This was of course to keep the storyline of the series as secret as possible. Technically, a lot has changed in the making of a film and TV

       series between the 90s and now. In 1990's “Twin Peaks” I was usually on the set with dozens of fellow players, even if we weren't in the same scene.

       During the filming in 2017, David Lynch made extensive use of green screen and digital effects. As a result, I was often alone or with only one other

       actor physically present on the set.

007.Since what year have you been active as a photographer?

       When director Rene Daalder was filming the movie ‘Population: 1’ in 1986, we were working on a miniscule budget and I was constantly looking for

       money-saving solutions like a virtual set. Almost the same as when I got my first DSLR camera in 2005, I immersed myself in the world of spherical

       panoramas. My first intention was to investigate whether such panoramas could be used as a virtual set for video recordings. But I quickly became

       enthusiastic about the creative possibilities of the format for displaying paroramas on the internet. When I started you had to make a lot of equipment

       yourself. Normally, the photographer decides which part of a scene to view. This position largely represents the art and craft of the photographer. In

       spherical panoramas, it is up to the viewer to decide what to focus on and it becomes the photographer's job to offer something interesting no matter

       where the viewer decides to look. My brother Peter is a visual artist and in 2006 I made panoramas for him of his monumental work for a

       retrospective exhibition in a museum.

008.What can we expect from you in the showbiz area in the future?

       I will continue to do my photography work for the time being. There are also other things in the planning, but unfortunately I am not allowed to say

       anything about this.

 

For more information, visit http://carelstruycken.com/ and http://www.sphericalpanoramas.com/.

Look for the video clip “Hammer: Addams Groove” by M.C. Hammer at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqQwzgixHAM.

 

Photo: ANP

Interview: Perry Krootjes