Martin Starr on Shooting ‘Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead’

A. Lawrence Dreyfuss

When the movie “Dead Snow” came out in 2009, zombie fans rejoiced – finally, a Nazi Zombie movie with equal parts action and comedy.  The Norwegian film quickly gained a cult following in the United States. In 2012 the movie’s director announced a sequel that would not only be more over-the-top than the original, but would also be filmed primarily in English. “Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead,” currently in select theaters and available through VOD, stars American actor Martin Starr.  Starr, famous for his role on the cult television show “Freaks and Geeks” and, currently, on the hit HBO show “Silicon Valley,” sat down with Entertainment Voice to discuss his role in the film.

Entertainment Voice: “Dead Snow 2” is a sequel to a 2009 Norwegian film. How did you come to be involved?
Martin Starr: I was sent the script by [director] Tommy Wirkola, read it, and immediately knew I wanted to be a part of it.

EV: Had you seen the original?
MS:I had not, but I quickly realized the cult status it had and decided to come on board.

EV: The movie has a lot of comedic moments.  How much were you able to improvise on set?
MS: The script was very tight so very little of it was improvised. One thing that comes to mind is after I kill my first zombie in the film, I improvised stopping to take a selfie with the kill, which made it into the final film.

EV: You have said in past interviews that one thing that is important to you is finding a group of people that you want to work with. What was your experience like on this set?
MS: It was great; they had such a good sensibility. I think I knew after Skyping with Tommy that I wanted to be a part of it.  I am rather particular about the people that I work with. It’s not worth it to go off and have a bad experience if you can avoid it.  I want to work with good, like-minded people that are trying to make something in a good environment.  It was a great experience and I am still good friends with all of them. The crew all spoke English from such a young age. From first grade they are already learning English. In all of Scandinavia, they speak English already so it was easy to communicate which I thought would be the biggest barrier.

EV: What was your experience like doing press in Norway for the premiere?
MS: Interesting. I’m certainly not a draw in Norway.  Kristoffer Joner, who plays Sidekick Zombie in the film, is like Norway’s Brad Pitt. He’s normally a very serious actor and cries in 9 out of 10 of his movies.  For him to be doing this kind of weird character in a zombie movie, to do something fun like this, it called a lot of attention to the movie. He’s such a sweet guy and he did such a good job in the movie. He got really into it.

EV: This film has more action than a lot of things you have done it the past. What was that experience like?
MS: It was a lot of fun, I really enjoyed it. They didn’t have a stuntman for me, so I did everything that you see me do in the movie.  It isn’t a ton of stunts, but any of the stunts we do in the finale or when we take down a group of zombies that surround me at one point, I got to do all that. We did some general training beforehand, went over it with the stunt guys. We also blocked it again inside the tank where the finale takes place because the space was very limited which required us to reconfigure a lot things. The larger attack scene was really fun where I’m fighting five zombies. I don’t know if it plays super well in the movie but I throw a hammer at one zombie in the movie, and then I step on him and the hammer pops back up for me to catch. I thought it was a weird small detail that I made happen in the film.

EV: A lot of roles that you take have similar identities.  You often play the confident social misfit. Do you feel like you are being typecast?
MS: No.  I certainly differentiate and distinguish the characters in my own head, and I don’t immediately see the similarities.  Only in the sense that since the beginning of my career on “Freak and Geeks,” there has been an ever-present “nerdom” in my work. If I ever had apprehension about doing this movie, it was probably that. Doing something in that same nerd category seemed similar, but this seemed like such a great opportunity and very dissimilar than anything I had done before. The character that I play on Silicon Valley feels most akin to Roman on “Party Down.” They are both grouches. I find it fun, but it can wear on you, and make you a little bit depressed. It’s like rainy days, like living in Seattle, where the rain can just make you depressed. That said, it’s still really fun.

EV: What would be your dream role or type of role?
MS: That’s a great question that I feel like needs a lot of thought to properly answer.  I just read “Why The Last Man,” which is a really good graphic novel. The main character is the last man on earth. I really enjoyed reading it and could see wanting to bring that story to life. I know Shia LaBeouf was going to make it at some point, but I think it has fallen apart. I want to do everything though. I look forward to directing, which I’m sure I’ll do at some point.

EV: What’s next?
MS: “Silicon Valley Season 2” will be the next thing I go out and shoot. “Amira & Sam” is a movie I shot just before “Dead Snow 2,” which comes out early next year.

“Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead”  will be in limited theaters and available On Demand October 10th.