I think it's counterproductive for actors to come to the set with well-thumbed copies of the book their film is adapted from.
There are a lot of actors whom I love, who personalize their work. I want to know everything about them, like De Niro, like Gary Oldman.
When actors talk about research, they're just patting themselves on the back.
When I was cast in 'Batman v Superman,' I was sent a huge stack of comics. They provided a ton of information about Cyborg and how he has evolved as a character over the years.
If I get the walk of a character, that helps me find them. So I'm constantly looking at airports and train stations, registering walks.
I always get role models, people from real life who've lived the lives of the characters, and talk it through together, me, them and the actor, a lot. That helps. We certainly have our disagreements. But in the end we trust each other.
Few years ago I did a movie, Good Kill, about drone pilots and for four or five months I'm obsessed with the Air Force.
I'm not a method actor, but I'm a big research kind of actor.
Preparation is really important for actors; they need to know who they are, where they're from, and the experiences up to the point that we make the film.
I hadn't seen anything of 'The Originals' until I was down to the end for the role and I watched the whole fourth season, and then, when I got it, I did my proper homework.
I played a lawyer once, and I had about three or four weeks before we shot, so I was able to go to court and watch lawyers at work. Some were good lawyers and some were bad lawyers, but it was essential. The more time you have to prepare, the better. Always.
That's one thing I like to do before going in for a read - doing research once I actually have been granted the role - is to look up people's names.
I did a movie where my character was obsessed with Bruce Lee, so I learned everything about Bruce Lee, read everything, watched his movies.
I have six brothers, so I definitely was aware of Marvel more than I was of princesses, but once you're cast in a Joss Whedon Marvel show, you go and become even more of a bigger fan. You do your homework.
It's interesting - an actor's research is different to just historian's research. I'm looking for things that I can actually physically use in the movie.
Any sort of role requires a certain amount of research and embodiment of the character and psychological investigation.
I wasn't a huge fan of the comic book, but I definitely was of the cartoon series. I wasn't much for sitting around and reading as a kid, I preferred to be outside running around and playing sports, but I was absolutely thrilled to get the role of Colossus. I don't think I realised how popular the character was until I got the role and started doing some research; it was then that I really fell in love with the character of Colossus myself.
I don't really read any comics, but when I got casted on the show, I starting reading 'The Walking Dead' comics. I felt like I needed a better idea of the character.
