Rhys Ifans Lets His Hair Down

Rhys Ifans is part of a great thespian tradition: British actors playing Hollywood victims. In recent years we’ve seen him fight Spider-Man as the Lizard, orchestrate machiavellian politics as Otto Hightower in House of the Dragon, and even scheme to overthrow world order as Rasputin in The King’s Man. But in his latest role in Venom: The Last Dance, he’s doing something different.

“I wanted to let my hair down,” Ifans tells Inverse.

And let his hair down, he does. Ifans plays Martin, an alien-obsessed hippie who sells all his belongings, buys an old VW van, and drags his wife and two kids on a road trip across America to see Area 51 before it’s demolished by the military (because yes, that’s weirdly the plot of Venom: The Last Dance).

When a stranded Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) stumbles upon Martin’s campsite, he takes him in and treats him like one of the family, offering up a vegan BBQ feast and even treating our hero to a David Bowie sing-along. They sing “Space Oddity,” of course.

“For the entirety of the shoot, the crew would either be humming it or whistling it while they worked,” Ifans says.

Inverse spoke to the actor about why he was happy to play a less dysfunctional father figure in Venom: The Last Dance, the way he’d like to bring back his Spider-Man villain, and more.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

You play a pretty kooky guy in this movie, which may be a surprise to anyone who’s used to watching you in House of the Dragon. What appealed to you about this role?

I've been playing a lot of very dysfunctional fathers. So this was a breath of fresh air. It was an opportunity to play somebody who was just loving and curious and wonderful — and to play it in this franchise. I'm a huge fan of the Venom world.

I read the script and I just thought he's a cool, interesting character. And I sat and met with Kelly [Marcel], the director, who I really liked. We got on like a house on fire.

That's interesting. Being a good father isn’t the first thing I’d think of when describing your character, but I guess he is, in his own way.

He’s a little reckless, but he's certainly a fun dad.

One of my favorite scenes in Venom 3 is the singalong where you’re playing “Ground Control to Major Tom” by David Bowie. Was that always the plan, or did the song change?

I think in the original script it was, “Are You Going to Scarborough Fair?” which is not a song I love, I'll be honest. And then we were batting things around and Bowie seemed like an obvious, ideal, dream choice — any Bowie [song]. More often than not, when you say, “Can we sing a Bowie song?” no one can afford it. But in this case, we could, and Kelly thought it was a great idea.

I think the song works on many levels. Of course, it's about outer space and about solitude and loneliness and being removed from one’s planet and one’s community. And also, I think the fact that he's called Major Tom, there is a little nod to Tom [Hardy] saying goodbye to this world as we know it. So it worked on a multitude of levels.

And it's a great song. I was happy to sing that song at least 60 times during the week where we were singing it. Some songs, you are really tired of after 10 takes, but that's a song I still whistle. For the entirety of the shoot, the crew would either be humming it or whistling it while they worked.

You mentioned playing fathers earlier, and I wanted to ask about another role where you play a father: Otto Hightower in House of the Dragon. Do you think Otto is a good father?

Well, for the time and the world and the culture of House of Dragon, I’d say he was a good father. But if you compare it to what we've learned about fathering, he's terrible. He's absolutely awful. He's controlling, dominating, unfeeling. But you have to put these things in the context of the culture in which they're presented.

I’d say Martin in this film is the exact opposite of what Otto Hightower is in terms of parenting.

This also isn’t your first time in the Spider-verse. You played Lizard (Dr. Curt Connors) in a few movies including Spider-Man: No Way Home. What was that experience like? I’ve heard it was tough because of the pandemic. Did you get to be on set?

No. That was very Covid-restricted, the whole thing in terms of travel and being able to be on the ground. Plus the Lizard, when I'm with everyone else in that movie, it's a CGI character. So I didn't really need to be there. They just needed my voice and a very well-drawn animation.

Are you interested in playing that character again?

Oh yeah, for sure. I love these universes. I love the top kind of Baroque escapism that they supply. I'd always be open to revisiting.

On a personal level, I'd rather revisit Dr. Connors than the Lizard. I think Dr. Connors is a very complicated character. There's a lot more one could mine from that.

But the Lizard exists in the computer program for eternity, and I’d be more than happy to either turn into him or voice him again in any kind of capacity.

Nice. Well, those were my questions, but is there anything else you wanted to say about Venom 3 or anything else?

No, just that what drew me to the film was the two previous films. I really enjoyed the balance of humor and spectacle and pathos. And to work with Tom, who I think just gives such an exquisite performance as both Eddie and Venom, it's a deeply pleasing performance to watch as a member of the public, and as an actor too.

I think it's wonderful, and I just wanted to be a part of that family.