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Ving and Mekhi on Their Remake

of a Horror Classic

Finally, a scary movie where the brothers don't die first. In 1998, Ving Rhames won a Golden Globe for Don King. This year, Mekhi Phifer was awarded an NAACP Image Award for his work on NBC-TV's ER. Now, this pair of accomplished actors is among the ensemble appearing in Dawn of the Dead, a remake of the 1978 fright flick, which itself was a sequel to another horror classic, Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Besides his continued television commitment, Mekhi is working on Slow Burn (with Taye Diggs, Ray Liotta and LL Cool J), a feature film slated to be released later this year. And Ving is very busy, too, with four more movies, coming in 2004: Driv3r, Envy, Back in the Day and Poolhall Prophets. Plus, he'll be reprising the role of Luther in Mission Impossible III in 2005. Recently, these very talented thespians shared with Bean Soup Correspondent Kam Williams their appreciation of Dawn of the Dead.

How would you characterize Kenneth, the person you play in this movie? VR: [chuckles] I'm just a black man with a bat. That's all. An angry black man with a baseball bat. and for $250.99 you too can have your zombie bat. Call 1-800-987-6565. All the money goes to charity, though."

What interested you in this project?
VR: [sarcastically] For me, it was working with Sarah [co-star Sarah Polley], because I know the choices she's made in her career. She's never really done a big commercial film. I couldn't refuse the opportunity to work with a wonderful actress like Sarah Polley. Why, I turned down the film Secret Windows with Johnny Depp to work with her." [laughs]

MP: [tongue-in-cheek] "It's all love, here."

So, what was the real reason? The script?
VR: I read the script. What I liked about it was that it was bringing people of different ethnicities, of different cultures together who need each other. When you look at the world, unfortunately, we see that many times, in life, it takes an atrocity like 9-11 that forces us to come together as a nation. What really touched me about this piece was the idea that if we can put aside skin color and race and culture and ethnicity, and just work together after an atrocity occurs, then maybe I can love you and you can love me right now, and make the world a better place for our children. Maybe we don't have to wait for a disaster. Sometimes, I think God or the universe is saying, 'Okay, you guys still don't want to love one another? Here's an earthquake. Here's a famine. Here's a flood. Here's 9-11.' To me, that's the subliminal message of the film, and the most important reason as to why I decided to do it.

Were you attracted by the monster angle, too?
VR: I had no concept of what the zombies would look like. I just thought that it would be interesting to find this group of characters in the situation. I also looked at Zack's very good commercial reel [director Zack Snyder]. I turned down the volume and just watched how he moved the camera, and how the camera told a story. After that I thought he had a lot of potential and wanted to be a part of the project.

What sold you on it Mekhi?
MP: Well, in sort of the same way, I read the script first. I'm not a big horror film buff, but I'm a big fan of good movies. And when I read the script, I was really intrigued. I knew it had some in-depth characters and could present something different from what people were used to seeing. And, of course, I wanted to be a part of the remaking of a classic. And I wanted to make Dawn of the Dead a classic again.

Do you have favorite horror movies?
MP: There's a couple of films that stick out that I saw as a kid. The Omen... Poltergeist... Most horror films, I'm not a fan of because they're B-movies... terrible actors... silly situations... chicks running around with their boobs out. You know, nonsense like that.

VR: Wait, I like those films." [laughs] They weren't that bad, brother.

MP: But they weren't that credible, either. I'm just a big fan of our film. What I love about this film is that we have a really, really good movie. A character-driven piece with good actors. Everybody did a great job.

How did you like the original this movie is based on?
VR: I didn't see the original. In general, I'm not a fan of the horror genre. But from reading this script, I don't really put this film in that category, quite honestly. to me, it just so happens that our nemises are zombies. But it could be any life-threatening situation."

MP: Like Ving said, it could be anything outside those doors. That's what keeps it real. It's not about it being zombies, they're more of a backdrop. If we all got trapped in a situation, no matter what it was that would lead to our demise, we would have to band together.

Were you ever scared while making such a scary-looking picture?
VR: [jokes] "One day, Sarah threatened to kick my ass, because I forgot a line. That kinda frightened me."

Did you have any reservations about appearing in this movie?
MP: I just didn't want to be a zombie.

VR: Yeah, I find that, sometimes, you have to thank God for small favors. I'm glad that Hollywood has evolved to the point that we don't die in the first three minutes of the film. And I hear that in the sequel, I'll have a love interest, so Hollywood is really progressing.

Read the review of Dawn of the Dead

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