We spoke to Michael Clarke Duncan – the bassoon-voiced behemoth who’s starred in the likes of Daredevil, The Green Mile and Armageddon – the other day. Ostensibly, we were meant to talk about the new videogame, The Suffering – Ties That Bind, in which he voices the bad guy, Blackmore.
It didn’t quite work out that way, though. Oh, we chatted about the game, but Duncan seemed more keen to talk about his upcoming slate of movies. And since that slate includes the likes of Will Ferrell’s untitled, unofficial follow-up to Anchorman, and Sin City 2, who can blame him?
The Ferrell film, first. Although not a direct sequel to Anchorman, we’re expecting that the NASCAR-set comedy, in which Ferrell plays a top racing driver who suddenly finds himself up against an arrogant French rival, will share the same spirit, tone and penchant for outright stupidity.
“Oh man, I’m just trying to keep up cause these guys are really funny. They're really funny. I'm hoping I'm holding my own,” he told Empire. “It’s going to be really funny. Totally different to Anchorman. I play the crew chief on Will Ferrell's racing team.”
Then, after he’d finished waxing lyrical about co-star Sacha Baron Cohen, who plays the French driver (“one of the funniest guys you will ever meet”), Duncan moved onto the much-mooted Sin City 2, in which he is scheduled to return as manipulative man-mountain, Manute.
Hang on, though… didn’t Manute die in the first Sin City? Well, yes, but the story that will form the basis for the Robert Rodriguez-Frank Miller sequel, A Dame To Kill For, takes place before Sin City: The Movie. So Duncan’s had a reprieve… now he just needs to get the nod from Frank’n’Robert that he’s returning.
“We’ve talked about it. Manute has a very big role [in that] and I certainly wanna be a part of it. You’ll think, ‘didn’t he get killed?’ but Frank doesn’t do it in order. True fans will understand that.”
For more from Duncan on The Suffering, life as a voiceover artist and more, click here.