78 venicemag.com november 2009 Bruce Spence as his “Legend of the Seeker” character, Zedd

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november 2009 venicemag.com 79

BRUCE SPENCEOn Myth and Legend

BY ANDREW FISH PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY ABC/DISNEY

“Myth seems to followme,” smiles thetowering veteranactor. “Maybe Iswallowed it. I don’t

know.” We’ve traveled up the North Island ofNew Zealand to meet with Bruce Spence,who is fully garbed as the First Wizard of theFourth Era, Zeddicus Zu’l Zorander, on theAuckland set of “Legend of the Seeker.”“This is a great irony,” he muses, “because Igrew up in New Zealand, and I left here atabout the age of 20. I never thought I’d findmyself back in New Zealand, filming, letalone filming right across the road from thehigh school that I went to, where I never,ever dreamed of being an actor.”

Planning to work in the family businessas a winemaker, Spence studied horticul-ture before moving on to set design for theAustralian stage. “I was asked to fill in onenight for a guy who only had a couple oflines to do, and I did. And to make a longstory short, my set designing became lesssignificant. Acting found me, in a way.” Aftercutting his teeth with an experimental the-ater collective, Spence’s presence andintensity led him to the screen. He landedthe title role in the bawdy comedy, Stork(1971), which launched his film and televi-sion career, and went on to appear in suchfilms as the brutal Dennis Hopper-starringAustralian “Ozploitation” flick, Mad DogMorgan (1976). But it wasn’t until he pro-vided air support as the wily Gyro Captainin Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981) thatSpence entered into the epic.

“Since Mad Max,” the seasoned per-former recounts, “big stories, epic stories,that are locked in the pursuit of a mytho-logical journey, tap me on the shoulderoccasionally, and say, ‘What are youdoing?’ And I dip my fingers in that one,and that one, and that one. I’m amazed athow many I’m doing.” Spence reprised hisrole in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome(1985), then lent his shadowy gravitas toThe Matrix Revolutions (2003) as the Train-man; The Lord of the Rings: The Return ofthe King as the Mouth of Sauron (2003, inthe extended version); and Star WarsEpisode III: The Revenge of the Sith (2005)as Tion Medon. Continuing his tendencytoward trilogies, Spence is currently work-ing on the third installment of the Narniaseries, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, asLord Rhoop, scheduled for release inDecember 2010.

Spence expresses high regard for MadMax trilogy director George Miller, who pro-

vided the actor his first dip into the well ofarchetypes. “One of George Miller’s greattalents,” he opines, “even up to his recentwork like Happy Feet, is to create anabsolutely unique world. And to make allthe characters, and all the ambient charac-teristics that come together to make a film,all belong in that place. It gives a film a verystrong sense of place and identity.

“We didn’t know if we were making agreat film or a disaster,” Spence laughsabout his experience on the set of TheRoad Warrior. “But we really believed inwhat we were doing. George had the vision,and we broke a lot of rules on that film. Ithink that’s what happens with good film-making — you break the old rules and cre-ate new ones. There are films that have cre-ated their mark, and left a legacy that otherfilmmakers have built on, and used as a ref-erence point, and I think George is one ofthose people who has left a great legacy.”

In his travels from one myth to the next,Spence never developed a hunger for fameand celebrity. “Of course, you always pre-sent your best, “ he grants, “and you valuewhat you’re doing, but I don’t see myself asa highly ambitious actor, in the sense thatI’m quite happy doing what I’m doing. I likemy life to be uncomplicated. One alwaysthinks that this job is your last, but I’vebeen blessed. I really have been blessed.It’s a good life!”

His character on “Seeker” once sharedthis desire for a simple life, but was forcedto relinquish it in order to guide a younghero. “Zedd is the kind of chap who resentscompromise,” Spence tells of the irasciblemage he portrays. “It’s one of the reasonswhy we first found him locked away in theforest. He’d rejected all life, he’d rejected allthe other wizards. ‘If you won’t do it on myterms, then I’m not going to have anythingto do with you.’ Although now he’s made agreat commitment, because he’s exposedyoung Richard Cypher [the Seeker, playedby Craig Horner] to this world where he’s ona great adventure, and Zedd is now respon-sible for him. And, therefore, he has to carryout that responsibility. So whereas his lifewas quite safe and laid-back before, now itreally is an adventure.”

Spence has a great affinity for the ideaof the ageless wizard. “It’s part of a tradi-tion,” he explains. “It’s part of an institutionthat’s been going on for all time. It’s thegreat Arthurian idea, too. How old wasMerlin? How old were all of these charac-ters, who go back, and back, into time?They’ve taken on the mantle of ‘wizard,’

that goes way, way back. I like the idea ofthis mystery of time.”

In his wizard robes, Spence speaks withinfectious enthusiasm about the secondseason of “Legend of the Seeker,” the SamRaimi and Rob Tapert-produced adventureseries. “The stories are very, very rich thistime,” he says. “Even more so than lastseason, and I think the adventure is reallyheating up. This is really going to be one tobe proud of. There are going to be a lot ofsurprises, and I think they will be pleasantones. Season two is where we show theworld what ‘Legend of the Seeker’ is allabout.”

As the afternoon’s shoot approaches,Spence leaves us with his thoughts on thepower of myth. “Everyone, no matter howhumble their lives are, has a quest,” henotes. “Whether it’s just to get a job, or tofall in love, or to see out the next day insome degree of comfort and have a goodmeal. In fantasy, in mythology, we take thatquest far further. We expand on it. We’reusing a much huger canvas on which totake these journeys, but they’re all part ofour subconscious.”

“That’s the essence of a fantasy,” positsthe sagely thespian. “Fantasies are trying totell us that we are capable of doing extraor-dinary things.” ▼

“Legend of the Seeker,” produced byABC, airs Sundays at 4pm and 1am onKTLA in the Los Angeles area. Visitwww.legendoftheseeker.com to learn more,and for times and channels outside of L.A.

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