Greg Grunberg, best known for his roles as Matt Parkman on Heroes, X-wing fighter Snap Wexley in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and as Commander Finnegan in Star Trek Beyond, is what most would consider the perfect fanboy. Having appeared across a diverse range of shows in geekdom in memorable character roles, he’s the true cross-over guy. Speaking to Gulf News tabloid! at the Middle East Film and Comic Con, Grunberg talked about the prospect of playing a leading role, geeked out about Star Wars and enlightened us on his latest Kickstarter campaign. Excerpts follow:
On playing a leading role
“I love supporting a great role. But I wouldn’t turn down the opportunity to work on a big leading role. As long as there is a character that is deep enough — Marvel does it best. They take a damaged character and give them power. Take Jessica Jones — she has all these problems. She’s a drug addict, she’s had abuse issues, family trouble. And then she gets this incredible gift. As opposed to DC, who start from there and go about figuring out how to make the character interesting.”
On appearing in ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’
“That was absolutely surreal. I was working with JJ [Abrams, director], who is my best friend and just the greatest guy ever. But being on the set of a movie that I grew up with and shaped me and my tastes growing up, is just absolutely a dream — a kid’s dream of a lifetime. Just walking onto the Millennium Falcon. I couldn’t believe where I was. It was incredible.”
On JJ Abrams
“I’ve known JJ Abrams since I was four years old. We were in the sandbox together in elementary and we’ve remained close friends since. He’s a very collaborative person. He’s very prepared, so good at what he does and so creative. He respects everybody on the set. So if you have an idea, he wants to hear it. That just makes for a great leader on a movie or a TV show. He makes everyone feel comfortable enough to walk up to him and tell him whatever you want.”
Producing ‘Joyride’
“This is a story about Andre Kajlich. He lost his legs. Yet, he’s a tri-athlete, he’s an Iron Man. He competes in all these things and after three years of trying, he’s qualified this year for Race Across America. He’s going to handcycle across 3,000 miles [4,828km] in less than 12 days. We’re going to be following his incredible journey with cameras on him all the way. Please go to Kickstarter and support this project.”
