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Mark Knight interview for 25th anniversary documentary

Posted: 04 Jul 2012, 19:22
by JamesA
Mark Knight will be giving an interview for the 25th anniversary documentary this coming Monday (9th).

If you have any questions that you would like to be asked, please post them here in this thread and I will consider them to be passed on for "Lord Fear" to answer.

Questions can be the same as or different to the ones that feature in Kieran's interview.

Also, can questions arrive no later than 12 noon on Monday.

Re: Information on Mark Knight

Posted: 04 Jul 2012, 19:31
by shadow6162
Ace! Okay, here's an obvious question:

Rayner Bourton or Clifford Barry? Who was more fun to work with?

Re: Mark Knight Interview 2012

Posted: 05 Jul 2012, 17:59
by Drassil
A fitting announcement for the fourth of July, given where Mark Knight moved to. I hope you enjoy the interview, James. Here are some questions:

In 2004, we got to hear from Lord Fear again, courtesy of your role in the Knightmare VR pilot. What was it like contributing to that?

Tim Child's History of Knightmare reveals that it was your idea to play additional characters: 'Mark demanded access to and contact with, the games-players in order to engage with the production. Obviously he could not do this as Lord Fear (save for Final Encounters), so together we created a variety of other dungeon characters for him to exploit.' Do you have any particular memories of co-creating those other characters?

Although you weren't with Knightmare from the start 25 years ago this September, the same month will also mark the 21st anniversary of Lord Fear's debut. Will you be celebrating?

If Lord Fear were recruiting minions in the 21st century, what would he be looking for on their CVs?

Was there anything you didn't do as Lord Fear (or any of your other Knightmare characters) that you wish you had done?

How does life in the USA compare with life in the UK?

If the 'American Knightmare' a.k.a. Lords Of The Game had been made, do you think it would have taken off? (Some American reviewers have criticised Knightmare as being too slow.)

Did your experiences on Knightmare teach you anything that has influenced your acting roles since?

In case your answer has changed in the past 18 years: are you ready to surrender?

Re: Information on Mark Knight

Posted: 05 Jul 2012, 22:30
by Canadanne
Great to hear Mark will be involved in the documentary!

Any favourite memories of particular scenes or co-stars?

Is it surprising / pleasing / weird that the show still has such a devoted following?

Was it as much fun to film as it was for us to watch?

Have his kids ever seen him as Lord Fear / would they watch Knightmare if it was on TV now?

Since we couldn't decide if it was him or not... did he do the voiceover for the TimeGate trailer?

Most importantly, get him to say something in character! Haha. I for one would love to hear His Lordship's voice once again. :)

Re: Information on Mark Knight

Posted: 05 Jul 2012, 22:55
by shadow6162
Oh! Oh! I just thought of two more!

When you were filming your conversation scenes with Treguard (e.g. when Alan just lost and you were trying to scare January) were you actually talking to them or was it pre-recorded?

If Knightmare was ever made into a musical, would you still jump in and play Lord Fear? (I can just imagine him having his own evil solo ;D )

Re: Information on Mark Knight

Posted: 08 Jul 2012, 13:21
by Canadanne
Oh, and based on his 2002 guestbook entry... what *did* Grimaldine used to smell of?!

Re: Information on Mark Knight

Posted: 08 Jul 2012, 13:33
by SpectralScorpion
I have a question for Mark:

Did you ever film any spyglass sequence only to see them go to waste as a Dungeoneer perished before they had a chance to see it?

Re: Information on Mark Knight

Posted: 09 Jul 2012, 15:47
by JamesA
Thanks to everyone who submitted questions for Mark, I was able to put quite a few of them to him and will post his responses within the next couple of days.

The interview itself was both fun and challenging, not just because I was tackling the leader of the Opposition.

And I can't really end this particular post without mentioning Mark's website and the Facebook page for The MacKnight Foundation.

Re: Information on Mark Knight

Posted: 15 Jul 2012, 22:57
by JamesA
Sorry for the delay folks, but at last - here are Mark's responses to those questions:

Any favourite memories or scenes with co-stars?
Every scene with Cliff Barry (Lissard) - he was good fun, always professional and would run with anything you would do. I also loved anything with Sylvester Hands, was such good fun as he was so funny.

What are your feelings towards the show still having a devoted following?
I'm amazed - I didn't think 25 years later people would still love Knightmare, but they get involved and I'm like "Well good, that's absolutely great". If they want to do another one, I'm ready - I can do it virtually from the USA!

Was it was much fun to film as it was to watch?
Yes it was - in the main, it was really good fun. You had short scenes to learn, which are easy enough to do. We often learnt them in the make-up chair in the morning. Then there was the improvisation, you could just get done up walk in and say something stupid, improvise as much as you like - it was great.

Did you film any spyglass sequence only to see them go to waste as a Dungeoneer perished before they had a chance to see it?
I can't honestly remember, I'm afraid. Its not something I would make a note of so I can't remember.

When you were filming your conversation scenes with Treguard were you actually talking to them or was it pre-recorded?
It was talking to them, it was all live. I would be in a set with some bluescreen there and Hugo would be in his set, but his set was real - mine was completely fake. They built a little set for him but all I had was that big bowl which I could see things in and the rest of it was computer generated.

Although you weren't with Knightmare from the start 25 years ago this September, the same month will also mark the 21st anniversary of Lord Fear's debut. Will you be celebrating?
Oh of course, yes! There'll be a few drinks and some messages to my old Knightmare friends, so celebrating definitely.

If Lord Fear were recruiting minions in the 21st century, what would he be looking for on their CVs?
I'd be looking for meanness, high IQ - that's very rare as most evil people are stupid, except for me of course. I'd go for a girl instead of a guy this time. It would be nice to look at someone who's cute as opposed to someone who smells like fish. Smart but not too smart as I can't have them smarter than me of course. Evil, that works with girls as they can do evil very well as I've discovered.

Was there anything you didn't do as Lord Fear that you wish you had done?
I wanted to sing something mean. I got to sing in a pantomine as I was famous as Lord Fear by then, so I got to sing an Elvis Presley song called "If You're Looking For Trouble", so that was fun.

Did your experiences on Knightmare teach you anything that has influenced your acting roles since?
I wouldn't say so because I haven't done anything like that ever since, so that was the first of that kind of TV and the last really - it doesn't translate to the theatre, so if you're doing theatre, it's not the same.

In case your answer has changed in the past 18 years: are you ready to surrender?
NEVER, I WILL NEVER SURRENDER!!!! No.

Re: Information on Mark Knight

Posted: 15 Jul 2012, 23:12
by shadow6162
Wow! Nice answers there :D

Re: Information on Mark Knight

Posted: 15 Jul 2012, 23:24
by Canadanne
Fantastic interview, that's really made me smile. :) Thank you James, and Mark!

Re: Information on Mark Knight

Posted: 22 Jul 2012, 20:35
by Kieran
I likes it :) Is great he's still doing this stuff for us. Ta Mark & James!