When people approach Grevioux and ask him how to go about entering the Hollywood world, his response is simple: "Find your best idea and do something about it. But, you know what?" he asks, "No one wants to hear that answer and that is actually the answer." He chortles and says, "If you know how to bridge that gap between talking about something and doing it, that determines whether you are really serious or just a pretender. That’s why there’s such a high turnover rate in the industry." Grevioux pauses for a brief second and then states pointedly, "If it was easy, everyone would be doing it."

Most Americans will recognize Grevioux from his supporting turns in Planet of the Apes, Men in Black II and, most notably, Underworld. In the latter film, Grevioux plays Raze, a soldier in the Lycan army. Grevioux stands out in Underworld for two reasons: he has an undeniable screen presence thanks to his smooth delivery and enormous physique ("The most I’ve ever benched is 420 pounds," he says, an amount that is more than Kristie Alley and Oprah Winfrey combined) and he has the most unique voice in Hollywood.

When I ask him how it felt to have his voice digitally altered in Underworld, Grevioux looks at me with a blank stare and then informs me that nothing was manipulated in the movie; he just used his regular voice.

"That’s funny," Grevioux says of my mistaken assumption and laughs. It’s my first experience hearing him laugh and the sound he makes is positively surreal. While his ‘normal’ voice is something of a cross between a very low growl and a clap of thunder, Grevioux’s laugh reminds me of a more baritone, menacing version of Jabba the Hut’s laugh. "It’s funny you say that," Grevioux repeats, "A lot of people tell me that my voice sounds [altered]. It’s not. This is it." He shakes his head and then says, "My voice might prohibit me from doing certain kinds of roles, but, as an actor, I understand that."

Thanks to his voice, bulging muscles and large frame, Grevioux is quite an imposing figure. As such, it is a surprise to learn that he is a comic-book geek and science fiction lover.

When we touch on the subject of his role in Planet of the Apes, his eyes light up and he says, "I had fun on that film. I really like working with [makeup artist] Rick Baker." The thought of sitting in a chair for four hours a day undergoing the tedious transformation from a human into a Tim Burton designed ape seems like it would be lengthy, tedious and miserable, not fun. "It does take some time," he says of the several hour long process, but dismisses this with a wave of his hand. "But you know what? When you’re a sci-fi guy like me, you’ve heard of Rick Baker and it’s like, ‘Man this is cool!’" He clasps his hands together and says, "Rick has this real enthusiasm for fantasy stuff and his yarns just amaze me."

Grevioux later confirms his status as a sci-fi guy by mentioning that one of the benefits of working out regularly is a superhero-like body. "What kid who grows up reading comic books doesn’t want to become a big, strong superhero?" he asks rhetorically.

With a background in genetic engineering (Grevioux used to work as a microbiologist at the National Institute of Health) and having started his own comic book label, it doesn’t particularly surprise me when Grevioux says, "To be honest, I didn’t come out to Los Angeles to be an actor. I came out here to be a writer. I ended up falling into the acting because of my physicality. It’s fun, it’s cool and you can make decent money, but for me, the writing is where the real moola is. My writing is a catharsis for that other side of my life"

Far from being one of the aforementioned pretenders, Grevioux has written a number of manuscripts that have been published or filmed, most notably that of Underworld. It does need to be noted though that despite his script work on the project, Grevioux only received ‘story by’ credit.

He remains unfazed by this and says, "It all came together with Underworld." He grins widely. "I was able to write myself a part and then play it." The part of Raze isn’t overwhelmingly large, but, as Grevioux is fond of observing, if he made the part too big, the producers would have insisted on hiring a rapper to fill the role. "That’s just what happens," he says flatly.

With his background, Grevioux barely considers his tenure on Underworld work. Even writing for the film’s female lead was intriguing. "Women are human first and female second," he smiles. "It might sound a little politically correct, but on another level it’s actually true. If I were writing a relationship movie–some chick flick–that would be a little different." He takes a deep breath and says, "But [at my age] you’ve had enough girlfriends to know women."

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ALSO IN THIS ISSUE OF STUMPED?
Actor Nick Nolte
Writer/actor Kevin Grevioux
Writer/actor Paul Reiser
Director Fernando Meirelles
Director Morgan Spurlock
Actress Bai Ling
Shrek 2 director Conrad Vernon
The Diary of Hollywood Starlet, Rachael Huntley
Hollywood Then (1985) and Now (2005)
Actress Alison Lohman
Location Scouting in Manhattan

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