Thomas Hayden Church on Sandman
Source: http://movies.msn.com/movies/hitlist/4-11-06
Church has been working for the past 13 months on another expected blockbuster, the eagerly anticipated "Spider-Man 3." Church was offered the role of the villainous Sandman in January 2005 but was sworn to secrecy by director Sam Raimi about revealing anything about his part. The two have since become good friends, and Church was brought directly into the creative process.
"Sam and I started having really involved sessions about who the guy was," Church says. "Clearly, it's taken from the fourth issue of 'Spider-Man,' which was when Sandman was introduced and which I now have framed on my wall."
Church is still sworn to secrecy regarding plot details (he might want to consider moonlighting as a CIA agent), but he wants to let fans know they won't be disappointed.
"I'm overwhelmed every time I'm around Sam," Church says. "He's been showing me [stuff] since the beginning of last summer. 'This is what we are going to be doing in this sequence, this is what Spider-Man is going to be doing and this is what Venom is going to be doing.' It is a massive, massive process."
Nothing though, prepared Church for what occurred when Sony Pictures released the first image of him as the Sandman on the web.
"They gave me a stack of printed out [posting-board mentions], and it was too much," Church says of the massive pile. "We were all sitting around like going through it and it was all like, 'Dude, that picture of Sandman rules! Church is perfect for the part!' [It makes me] think it's really the biggest superhero franchise."
Church might have thought the "Sideways" Oscar campaign was intense, but wait until this ride takes off.
"Spider-Man 3" wraps production this June.