BPS 356: From James Cameron to Steven Spielberg, the Life of Lance Henriksen

Today on the show we have legendary actor Lance Henriksen. I had
the pleasure of work with Lance on my film Red Princess Blues:
Genesis and if was a surreal experience.

Lance has been in over 300 films through-out his remarkable
career.He's mentored Tarzan, Evel Knievel and the Antichrist, and
fought Terminators, Aliens, Predators, Pumpkinhead, Pinhead,
Bigfoot, Superman, the Autobots, Mr. T, Jean-Claude Van Damme and
Steven Seagal.He's worked with directors James Cameron, Steven
Spielberg, Kathryn Bigelow, Sidney Lumet, Francois Truffaut, John
Huston, Walter Hill, David Fincher, John Woo, Jim Jarmusch and Sam
Raimi, but this is just skimming the surface.An intense, versatile
actor as adept at playing clean-cut FBI agents as he is psychotic
motorcycle-gang leaders, who can go from portraying soulless,
murderous vampires to burned-out, world-weary homicide detectives,
Lance Henriksen has starred in a variety of films that have allowed
him to stretch his talents just about as far as an actor could
possibly hope.He played Awful Knoffel in the TNT original movie
EVIL KNIEVEL, directed by John Badham and executive produced by Mel
Gibson. Henriksen portrayed Awful Knoffel in this project based on
the life of the famed daredevil, played by George Eads. Henriksen
starred for three seasons (1996-1999) on Millennium, Fox-TV's
critically acclaimed series created by Chris Carter (The
X-Files).His performance as Frank Black, a retired FBI agent who
has the ability to get inside the minds of killers, landed him
three consecutive Golden Globe nominations for "Best Performance by
a Lead Actor in a Drama Series" and a People's Choice Award
nomination for "Favorite New TV Male Star."Henriksen was born in
New York City.

His mother, Margueritte, was a waitress, dance instructor, and
model. His father, James Marin Henriksen, who was from Tønsberg,
Norway, was a boxer and merchant sailor.Henriksen studied at the
Actors Studio and began his career off-Broadway in Eugene O'Neill's
Three Plays of the Sea. One of his first film appearances was as an
FBI agent in Sidney Lumet's DOG DAY AFTERNOON, followed by parts in
Lumet's NETWORK and PRINCE OF THE CITY.He then appeared in Steven
Spielberg's CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND with Richard
Dreyfuss and François Truffaut, DAMIEN: OMEN II and in Philip
Kaufman's THE RIGHT STUFF, in which he played Mercury astronaut
Capt. Wally Schirra.

James Cameron cast Henriksen in his first directorial effort,
PIRANHA II: THE SPAWNING, then used him again in THE TERMINATOR and
as the android Bishop in the sci-fi classic ALIENS. Sam Raimi cast
Henriksen as an outrageously garbed gunfighter in his quirky
western THE QUICK AND THE DEAD. Henriksen has also appeared in what
has developed into a cult classic: Kathryn Bigelow's NEAR DARK, in
which he plays the head of a clan of murderous redneck vampires. He
was nominated for a Golden Satellite Award for his portrayal of
Abraham Lincoln in the TNT original film THE DAY LINCOLN WAS
SHOT.In addition to his abilities as an actor, Henriksen is an
accomplished painter and potter. His talent as a ceramist has
enabled him to create some of the most unusual ceramic artworks
available on the art market today.

His new film is called Alpha Rift.

Nolan Parthmore was just a regular guy, hanging with friends,
working his game store, flirting with his co-worker, then one day,
destiny came calling. A courier delivers a mysterious antique
helmet with no note or description. When Nolan puts it on, his
whole world changes. The helmet comes to life and calls out to an
evil demon, Lord Dragsmere, who was imprisoned by Nolan's deceased
father. Nolan soon discovers he is next in the bloodline, heir to
The Nobleman, destined to become a hero whether he wants to be or
not. Since the Dark Ages, the Noblemen have been guardians against
the 13 Devil's Apostles: dark forces escaped from hell and let
loose upon on earth. Generations later, it's the heirs of these
original knights that possess the power to open the Alpha Rift:the
only defense against these supernatural foes.

Enjoy my conversation with Lance Henriksen.

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