By WILLIAM J. WRIGHT
With a voice that can level skyscrapers, Keith David has been an imposing presence in film, theatre, TV, animation, and video games for over 40 years. Equally adept at drama, comedy, and action, the versatile veteran actor is best known to horror and science fiction fans for his portrayal of Stiles, the tough-as-nails foil of Kurt Russell’s R.J. MacReady in John Carpenter’s 1982 classic The Thing. David re-teamed with Carpenter for the 1988 sc-fi parable They Live which would find him squaring off against an insidious alien invasion alongside pro-wrestler-turned-actor Roddy Piper (and against Piper himself in one of the longest and most intense fight scenes in cinema history).
With pictures like The Thing and They Live on his CV, it would have been easy for an actor like Keith David to settle into typecasting as an action movie badass, but Keith David isn’t the kind of man to settle for anything. An actor first and foremost, David has bravely chosen to go where the work has taken him. Whether appearing onstage as the legendary singer and political activist Paul Robeson or voicing The President on Cartoon’s Network’s adult animated hit, Rick and Morty David never brings less than the full power of his prodigious power to every role he takes.
With season two of the Shudder original anthology series CREEPSHOW just released on Blu-ray and DVD, Rue Morgue caught up with the perennially busy Keith David to talk about his devilish turn as the diabolical property developer Mr. Murdoch opposite The Walking Dead‘s Josh McDermitt and Hellraiser‘s Ashley Laurence in the segment titled “Pesticide” as well as get his insights into the horror genre and how it reflects the modern world.
Looking over your long list of credits on IMDB, you’ve taken on more roles in the last couple of years than some actors play in a decade. How do you stay so prolific without burning out?
I take care of myself. I got a great wife who takes very good care of me.
That kind of support makes a difference, doesn’t it?
It does make a difference. It makes a huge difference. And I stay prayed up!
Obviously, you’ve done everything from heavy dramatic roles in movies like Oliver Stone’s Platoon to off-the-wall comedy such as playing Cameron Diaz’s dad in There’s Something About Mary, but you always return to sci-fi and horror. Do you consider yourself a fan of those genres?
I am, but I’m mostly a fan of work! [Laughs]
What specifically keeps you coming back to horror projects like CREEPSHOW?
A good part, you know what I mean? Mr. Murdoch is a great character. I love that guy! When I read it I was like, “Oh, Yeah!”
What was it like acting alongside Ashley Laurence and Josh McDermitt?
Oh, Josh was great! It’s fun when you get to work with great actors and you get to watch them work. The fact that we got to play a little bit together makes it that much more fun.
How did you approach playing Mr, Murdoch?
Murdoch is the guy you like to hate. He seems nice enough at the beginning, right? [To Josh McDermitt’s character pest exterminator Harlan King] he’s like, “Come on in. Let me pay you to do a job. I’ve got a great job for you.”
Did you draw on any real-life figures in the media or politics for inspiration for your characterization of Murdoch?
In that fact, it was very political. [Murdoch] wants to get rid of [people he considers] vermin. Take it as you will. One of the things that did attract me to the part is we wouldn’t even have somebody like Mr. Murdoch thinking about people in that sense if we, as a nation, took better care of our homeless population. That’s a particular mentality of people who think that people are expendable. I don’t agree with that philosophy one iota. It’s unfortunate. There are people who don’t even have the means that Mr. Murdoch has who think that people are expendable. You know, this is America. Nobody is expendable. There is room enough on this earth and room enough in this country for everybody who inhabits it. The problem is that America has never lived up to its promise of taking care of people. As [the country] becomes more corporate-oriented and more corporate-run, people tend to get lost in that sauce—kicked to the curb. Kicked to the wayside. Human value becomes less and less and less as money and things get to be more valued.
Personally, I can’t remember a time when people have been more openly hostile to each other, at least in my lifetime.
You’re absolutely right. We’re going through a thing we’ve seen in history before, and we’ve seemed not to have learned anything. We’re certainly not embracing our collective humanity and what we can do for and with each other. We are still adhering to a “them and us” mentality…If we keep this up, there will be no human race. Man will wind up destroying himself and we will, in fact, live out some of this horror-fantasy that we’re so thrilled with seeing in the movies.
What do you think the horror genre can teach us about where are as a society?
Well, forewarned is forearmed. It gives us a glimpse into the possibilities of society and what could happen if we’re not careful.
You’ve worked with some of the greatest directors of all time. How does CREEPSHOW’s Greg Nicotero stack up against guys like John Carpenter, Spike Lee, and Oliver Stone?
I love directors who know what they want and go after it and create an atmosphere where I don’t have to act but just find the behavior the character. Greg was wonderful at that. He just gave us an environment and let us go out and do what we do. That’s the mark of a good director.
How has the way people of color have been represented in horror and science fiction entertainment changed over the course of your long career?
It’s certainly become more inclusive. And it has become less stereotypical. When we’re allowed to be in horror movies, it was only in stereotypical ways — being spooked out and scared and just not terribly human but caricature-ish. Nowadays, we are allowed to flesh out our full humanity. Again, corporate America being what it is, they have seen that it is also lucrative. If you let a man be a man whether he’s Black, white, yellow, or whatever, you can still make money.
What are your thoughts on the new wave of Black filmmakers like Jordan Peele who are changing the face of the genre?
Jordan Peele is my hero! I just did his last movie! I’m thrilled!
Can you drop any details?
Oh, I could, but then I’d have to kill you! [Jordan Peele] is definitely somebody to look out for. He is a force of nature and really wonderful filmmaker.
Creepshow Season 2 is available now on DVD and Blu-ray from RLJE Films
