Hairy Love

Dancy Runs with the Wolves in Blood and Chocolate

British actor Hugh Dancy has been a busy lad. His recent efforts have included such intriguing efforts as Black Hawk Down, Ella Enchanted, Shooting Dogs and Elizabeth I, the award-winning BBC movie which has picked up Oscar-nominee Helen Mirren both an Emmy and a Golden Globe. He was even in Basic Instinct 2 for a split second probably to his own relief, that disaster’s failure not remotely a fault of his own dashing charm or ravishing good looks.

Two traits which are decidedly on display in his latest effort the fantasy-horror-thriller Blood and Chocolate from acclaimed German director Katja Von Garnier (HBO’s Iron-Jawed Angels, Bandits). Dancy plays Aiden Galvin, a graphic novelist drawn into a world of werewolves and lovers, and this adventure was just the change-of-pace the in-demand actor was looking for.

“It was a combination of two things bring me to the project,” says Dancy. “It was different than a lot of other movies you would normally consider to be in the same genre and I liked that about the film. There were little bits of lots of different things within it and I like that. But the big thing was Katja. Her enthusiasm and her sincerity about the project really made me think all the things [I hoped for] the project might actually be realized.”

Still, Von Garnier isn’t particular well known outside of Germany, and even with the success the HBO production there had to be at least some apprehension on Dancy’s part about working with her. “Not at all,” states the actor. “There were definitely challenges to the production like there are in any film, especially in this one where you have like twenty animals. That alone is going to make it challenging. But her sincerity and enthusiasm, and her ability to win people over in those tense moments, really helped get the ball rolling in a good way.”

Olivier Martinez and Hugh Dancy in Blood and Chocolate.

Blood and Chocolate is a Romeo & Juliet style love story between a human man, Aiden, and a half-wolf woman, Vivian Gandillon (Agnes Bruckner), betrothed to her pack’s rule enforcing leader Gabriel (Olivier Martinez). Instead of typical werewolf transformations ala An American Werewolf in London or Underworld, this movie takes the myth to a more primal place, people turning into actual wolves instead of CGI or animatronic facsimiles. So was there apprehension on his part the fist day he had to work with one of his four-legged costars?

“I was pretty relaxed about it by that stage,” exclaims Dancy matter-of-factly. “Katja kind of had, has, this ongoing love affair with these wolves. She was just totally in love with them thinking they were just these darling, spiritual creatures. And then I would think, sure, they are, but they also have some really big teeth.”

We chuckle about that a bit before the sexy actor with the melodious accent continues on. “But by the time we filmed with [the wolves] we’d really spent quite a few days hanging out with them and with the guy who is really their, for want of a better word, leader of the pack. He’s a human, sure, but the wolves live with him and they really look up to the man as one of their own. So I was pretty comfortable.”

“That said, some of the crew were not quite the same way. It doesn’t necessarily stand that the toughest person isn’t going be scared of a wolf.”

We chuckle again for a few moments, the conversation somehow finding its way off of the fur-covered mongrels and back to his character. “For me it was nice to bring a spot of playfulness to [the movie],” states Dancy. “This is a werewolf movie. I am falling in love with a woman who is actually a wolf. Her entire family is trying to kill me. None of which, I guess, is not really very fun; well, some fun because you’re falling in love which is obviously great. The rest of lot is the problem.”

“So I tried to make some of those moments as light as I could. Make it kind of contemporary, even if it might be mythological, and to play it as an American was something of a change [for me].”

In order to make it fun and to make sure that love story worked for an audience it therefore became important that both Dancy and Bruckner shared at least a smidgen of chemistry. “We got on real well,” admits the actor. “I think chemistry is one of those words that actually gets bandied around quite a bit. For me, I don’t know, it’s about getting one with somebody. If you absolutely don’t get on with somebody than that is obviously a bad thing, but you don’t have to be completely crazy about them to produce onscreen chemistry.”

Agnes Bruckner and Hugh Dancy in Blood and Chocolate.

“That said, I really liked Agnes and we got along great. We had a blast. It was fun working with her.”

Fantasy and horror have been staples of art, literature and cinema seemingly since time began. Something keeps bringing people back and Dancy has his own ideas as to why that might be. “It’s escapism,” he states. “The good thing about these myths is that everybody knows them, but you can still put your own twists on them just about every time. You kind of know what world it is you are walking into but you can still make them a different ride.”

“The other thing, these werewolf, vampire, those kinds of myths, are all kind of romantic in and of themselves. There is something a little bit dark obviously about them, a kind of soothing unknown about them. They are really somewhere sitting between thrilling and romantic and I think audiences are drawn to that.”

“In this film, I rather liked the idea that I am the one pursuing the werewolf. We’ve all had experience where you fall for somebody and then you find out they’re not the person you imagined, just not quite to the same degree, one hopes.” Dancy catches his breath a bit before continuing. “So, while I am the one being chased around by a bunch of wolves ultimate I am the one chasing her down trying to persuade her we’ve got to make this work. I thought that was a new take on the myth.

And what about the film’s physicality? Did that weigh at all upon the British star’s mind at all? Any favorite memories he’d care to relate? “In a way the more miserable it got the more fun I had,” laughs Dancy. “I basically spend the whole second half of the movie chased, and jumping into rivers, and being beaten up, and rolling in the mud, and kind of the rougher it got the sillier we got.”

“I remember standing in the middle Bucharest waiting for this tram to cross and both [Agnes and I] singing ‘Kiss’ by Prince and then suddenly realizing we were wearing radio mics and that the whole crew could hear us. I don’t know if that is a favorite memory, exactly, but it does seem kind of representative.” An outtake for the DVD perhaps? “Almost certainly,” chuckles the actor.

Silliness aside, the second half of the film is quite the physical thrill ride for Aiden. Is that kind of exertion something the actor likes? “I really do, yeah,” says Dancy with emphasis. “There are always times when you just hit a wall – sometimes literally – and you end up going home beat. But I really like it, perhaps a little bit too much. It’s like that part of you as a kid that would go and dress up and play at being an explorer in the garden and just throw yourself around and get covered in mud. Doing this it’s like you’ve never grown up.”

As for audiences, Dancy knows exactly what he hopes they get from watching his efforts. “I hope they have fun,” he states. “Like we said before, it really covers a lot of categories. It’s an adventure, it’s a kind of a thriller, it’s a bit of an action movie, it’s somewhat of a comedy and it’s a love story. I hope that all of those genres come together and that people can enjoy [a movie] that isn’t just one thing. That’s what I hope.”