MORE YONDU! WAMG Talks GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY With MICHAEL ROOKER

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY opened today, and has already broken the record for box office midnight sales this year! To celebrate such a momentous occasion, check out my interview with Mr. Michael Rooker, who plays Yondu in the film, as we talk about GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY’s social media praise, Merle Dixon, and why James Gunn continues to cover his beautiful face.

From Marvel, the studio that brought you the global blockbuster franchises of Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and The Avengers, comes a new team—the Guardians of the Galaxy. An action-packed, epic space adventure, Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” expands the Marvel Cinematic Universe into the cosmos, where brash adventurer Peter Quill finds himself the object of an unrelenting bounty hunt after stealing a mysterious orb coveted by Ronan, a powerful villain with ambitions that threaten the entire universe. To evade the ever-persistent Ronan, Quill is forced into an uneasy truce with a quartet of disparate misfits—Rocket, a gun-toting raccoon, Groot, a tree-like humanoid, the deadly and enigmatic Gamora and the revenge-driven Drax the Destroyer. But when Quill discovers the true power of the orb and the menace it poses to the cosmos, he must do his best to rally his ragtag rivals for a last, desperate stand—with the galaxy’s fate in the balance.

Last night, (after the press screening) Twitter and Facebook blew up with positive reactions to the film. Did you ever expect such a big reaction? 

MICHAEL ROOKER : Yeah! [Laughs] I kinda did. I saw it last week, and wow… I went crazy over it. I thought it was really fucking cool! It’s really nice, and it’s all there. The guy’s a genius!  [Referring to James Gunn] What the hell is that all about? He put all of this together. The puzzling of putting all of these characters together, and molding them, and making them all make sense… Boy, oh boy! What are you gonna do, man? He did a really wonderful job with it.

James Gunn wrote this part for you. Is there an added pressure that comes with having a part written for you, as opposed to a role that you are simply cast for? 

MICHAEL ROOKER : Less pressure. I just gotta be me. Just be me and do my stupid thing, you know? [Laughs] Duh! I just have to do what I do. It’s me, so however it comes out, it’s right. It’s correct. I didn’t have to… We mesh really well. He wanted me to do it because there’s some weird thing that goes on where I can be really bad and people still like me… in some weird way. I do it in a lot of things, like ‘The Walking Dead’. People come up to me and they want to weep. They feel so sorry that they killed me off. They’re mad, and they feel sorry for me, and all this stuff, but Merle’s a dick. [Laughs] Come on! He doesn’t like many people. He likes his brother! That’s all he likes! He doesn’t care about anybody else, yet the audience, the fans, the people who watch this – they connect to that. I think they really, truly… No matter how anti-social you can be, or whoever you are… I think it’s natural that people will latch on to any cool thing, and they won’t give up. They have faith in you – that you are going to get better… and Merle did. In their eyes Merle got better. Merle redeemed himself by going and trying to take out the Governor, and giving his life for his brother, and hence, the group. People are invested in this group – in this ‘The Walking Dead’ group. This character of Merle Dixon is more popular now that he’s dead and off the show than he was when he was on the show.

Yondu is very similar. He’s a real tough love guy. Yondu is the surrogate dad / father figure for this young man who grew up to be Star-Lord. Whenever he steals from me, and cheats me, and does all this stuff I give him some tough love, beat his little ass and then I’m proud. It’s like, ‘God. He did that to me? That’s my boy!’ you know? ‘Wow. I can’t believe he did that!’ and I love him for it. I love him because of it. Even the last moment, when I don’t have the real thing – that last moment is so cool. It’s like ‘That’s my boy! He did it again! Oh, am I gonna get him!’ and I love it for it. I love him even more for it. It’s that kind of stuff. It’s good, and it’s fun. People like it, and I love it. I love doing that. You know what I like? I like the whole concept of being this bad, bad-ass, but the only person amongst hundreds who would run out and save the puppy when the semi-truck is baring down. Not a lot of people will do that. That’s, sort of, part of me. It’s also part of a lot of things that I do. It’s that kind of real gritty, tough… but with soft spots deep inside somewhere.

You were a monster in SLITHER… 

MICHAEL ROOKER : I was!

James covered in blood during ‘Scream Queens’, and you get attacked by the ladies. Now you’re painted blue with some incredible choppers. Why do you think James keeps trying to hide your beauty?

MICHAEL ROOKER : You know what? He’s just jealous. He’s just plain and simple jealous. [Laughs] He’s jealous of my good looks. He looks in the mirror, probably every day, and goes ‘Dammit! I wish I was as good-looking as Rooker! That damn Rooker! How does he look so good? And having been out until 5am! How is that possible?’ [Laughs] You know, his brother gets worse! ‘Humanzee!’… Come on! His brother gets worse. His brother’s been getting it all his life! I’ve only been getting it for about eight years. His brother’s been getting abused his entire life. ‘Hey, why don’t you do this… Climb up that tree and fall off. I’m gonna film it here… I’m the director!’ [Laughs] That’s what James does. That’s what he’s been doing all of his life… abusing the people he likes and cares about!

Where would you like to see Yondu in a sequel? What would you like to see?

MICHAEL ROOKER : Ooh! More! [Laughs] Just more! More! More Yondu! More Yondu, dammit!

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GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY is in theaters now