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Actor Derek Luke on Character and Clarity in ‘The Purge’ Season Two

Published

4 years ago

December 18, 2019

Actor Derek Luke has had quite a career since his first debuted in guest starring roles on sitcoms like The King of Queens and Moesha preceding his breakout starring role in Antwone Fisher opposite Denzel Washington in 2002.

Since that time, he’s appeared in a number of roles crossing genre lines from Madea Goes to Jail to Captain America: The First Avenger and Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why. In all of that, however, he’s never really stepped into the horror space. That is until this year, when he landed the role of Marcus Moore on season two of USA’s The Purge.

Based on the popular film franchise, The Purge TV series has expanded the overall universe, and especially so in its second season as it focuses on people’s lives and how they are affected by the annual Purge after the violent “holiday” ends.

For Luke’s character, an ER doctor who has spent his life trying to better himself and help those around him, that means trying to figure out why someone tried to Purge him which leads him on an incredible journey throughout the space of a year as a new Purge approaches.

The actor took a few minutes to speak with iHorror about what drew him into the genre space and what a character like Marcus meant to him. It was a fascinating journey for him both as an actor and a person.

**This interview contains spoilers for season two of The Purge**

“I grew up in a very spiritual, Bible-based Christian home,” he explained when asked about why the horror genre appealed to him. “The streets were appetizing to those who grew up without a dad. My mom’s answer was, ‘I’m going to put you in an environment to feed your spirit instead of feeding your head with foolishness.’ You see a lot growing up in churches like that. People being healed; people casting out demons. You come to accept that this is real. So when I would watch TV and horror movies, it wasn’t a stretch from what I experienced in my childhood.”

Derek Luke The Purge

Still, he avoided horror of any kind early in his career. It just did not appeal to him as much in his early days as an actor. However, in recent years he began to wonder what he would look like and sound like in that space.

What did he have in his acting wheelhouse that he could stretch by stepping into the genre?

“People who watch horror are like rock stars, man. They’re faithful,” he said. “I started to think I shouldn’t be so hesitant to step into that space. When The Purge came along it wasn’t as much a shocker to me as it was to people who had followed my career.”

The role of Marcus appealed to Luke for a number of reasons not the least of which were the character’s motivations.

Despite being surrounded by violence and being threatened by violence, Marcus does everything he can not to give over to that unless he’s absolutely pushed to it, and even then, he tries to talk his way out of a situation if he can.

“What I learned about Marcus is that anger can cripple you and blind you and I think Marcus was fighting with staying clear,” Luke said. “He knew that in order to be a dad, be a husband, be a healer, clarity was key. He also, what I like about him, is that he pulled himself up out of nothing and he thought that if he could do it others could too and he wanted to help them do that.”

This kind of clarity also changed the way that the character developed in the writing room.

Marcus lives in a very nice neighborhood surrounded by very white neighbors who, as it turns out, are the one’s who placed the hit on him. It would have been very easy to tell a story about race and to make the focus entirely on the fact that Marcus is a black man hated by his white neighbors simply because he’s black.

Instead, the writers told a different story, gave a different motivation to them, and ultimately created a completely different narrative for Marcus when he confronted them about what they had done.

“It was different than when I first set down with the writers,” Luke explained. “In Marcus’s neighborhood it was easy to go for the obvious, but I thought it was a stronger choice to go with the challenge being inside of him. Not being full of hate. Not being angry. Not becoming what others wanted you to become. That’s why I thought it was interesting.”

The season finale of The Purge aired last night on USA and with the season behind us, we were curious whether Luke would like to tread farther into the genre.

“Yeah I think what’s fascinating is [the idea that] the unseen affects the seen,” he said. “What I love about horror and sci-fi and those particular specialties is that it’s fearless in the exploration of the unseen.”

We couldn’t agree more and we hope to see Derek Luke make more movies and series in the genre space.

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Jake Gyllenhaal’s Thriller ‘Presumed Innocent’ Series Gets Early Release Date

Published

2 hours ago

April 26, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Jake Gyllenhaal’s limited series Presumed Innocent is dropping on AppleTV+ on June 12 instead of June 14 as originally planned. The star, whose Road House reboot has brought mixed reviews on Amazon Prime, is embracing the small screen for the first time since his appearance on Homicide: Life on the Street in 1994.

Jake Gyllenhaal’s in ‘Presumed Innocent’

Presumed Innocent is being produced by David E. Kelley, J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, and Warner Bros. It is an adaptation of Scott Turow’s 1990 film in which Harrison Ford plays a lawyer doing double duty as an investigator looking for the murderer of his colleague.

These types of sexy thrillers were popular in the ’90s and usually contained twist endings. Here’s the trailer for the original:

According to Deadline, Presumed Innocent doesn’t stray far from the source material: “…the Presumed Innocent series will explore obsession, sex, politics and the power and limits of love as the accused fights to hold his family and marriage together.”

Up next for Gyllenhaal is the Guy Ritchie action movie titled In the Grey scheduled for release in January 2025.

Presumed Innocent is an eight-episode limited series set to stream on AppleTV+ starting June 12.

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Movies

Trailer for ‘The Exorcism’ Has Russell Crowe Possessed

Published

21 hours ago

April 25, 2024

Timothy Rawles

The latest exorcism movie is about to drop this summer. It’s aptly titled The Exorcism and it stars Academy Award winner turned B-movie savant Russell Crowe. The trailer dropped today and by the looks of it, we are getting a possession movie that takes place on a movie set.

Just like this year’s recent demon-in-media-space film Late Night With the Devil, The Exorcism happens during a production. Although the former takes place on a live network talk show, the latter is on an active sound stage. Hopefully, it won’t be entirely serious and we’ll get some meta chuckles out of it.

The film will open in theaters on June 7, but since Shudder also acquired it, it probably won’t be long after that until it finds a home on the streaming service.

Crowe plays, “Anthony Miller, a troubled actor who begins to unravel while shooting a supernatural horror film. His estranged daughter, Lee (Ryan Simpkins), wonders if he’s slipping back into his past addictions or if there’s something more sinister at play. The film also stars Sam Worthington, Chloe Bailey, Adam Goldberg and David Hyde Pierce.”

Crowe did see some success in last year’s The Pope’s Exorcist mostly because his character was so over-the-top and infused with such comical hubris it bordered on parody. We will see if that is the route actor-turned-director Joshua John Miller takes with The Exorcism.

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News

Win a Stay at The Lizzie Borden House From Spirit Halloween

Published

22 hours ago

April 25, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Spirit Halloween has declared that this week marks the start of spooky season and to celebrate they are offering fans a chance to stay at the Lizzie Borden House with so many perks Lizzie herself would approve.

The Lizzie Borden House in Fall River, MA is claimed to be one of the most haunted houses in America. Of course one lucky winner and up to 12 of their friends will find out if the rumors are true if they win the grand prize: A private stay in the notorious house.

“We are delighted to work with Spirit Halloween to roll out the red carpet and offer the public a chance to win a one-of-a-kind experience at the infamous Lizzie Borden House, which also includes additional haunted experiences and merchandise,” said Lance Zaal, President & Founder of US Ghost Adventures.

Fans can enter to win by following Spirit Halloween‘s Instagram and leaving a comment on the contest post from now through April 28.

The prize also includes:

An exclusive guided house tour, including insider insight around the murder, the trial, and commonly reported hauntings

A late-night ghost tour, complete with professional ghost-hunting gear

A private breakfast in the Borden family dining room

A ghost hunting starter kit with two pieces of Ghost Daddy Ghost Hunting Gear and a lesson for two at US Ghost Adventures Ghost Hunting Course

The ultimate Lizzie Borden gift package, featuring an official hatchet, the Lizzie Borden board game, Lily the Haunted Doll, and America’s Most Haunted Volume II

Winner’s choice of a Ghost Tour experience in Salem or a True Crime experience in Boston for two

“Our Halfway to Halloween celebration provides fans an exhilarating taste of what’s to come this fall and empowers them to start planning for their favorite season as early as they please,” said Steven Silverstein, CEO of Spirit Halloween. “We have cultivated an incredible following of enthusiasts who embody the Halloween lifestyle, and we’re thrilled to bring the fun back to life.”

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Spirit Halloween is also preparing for their retail haunted houses. On Thursday, August 1 their flagship store in Egg Harbor Township, NJ. will officially open to start off the season. That event usually draws in hordes of people eager to see what new merch, animatronics, and exclusive IP goods will be trending this year.