For 28 Years Later fans who are chomping at the bit to see new sequel The Bone Temple, a warning for you to expect the unexpected – and that includes with returning characters.
The last film – part of a three-film continuation of the franchise by creators Alex Garland and Danny Boyle – saw youngster Spike (Alfie Williams) introduced alongside his parents, played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Jodie Comer, as well as new variants that had developed among the Infected since the Rage Virus first swept the British Isles: Alphas and Slow Lows.
Chi Lewis-Parry appeared as Samson, the striking 6ft 8in ‘King of the Alphas’ who left every human paralysed with fear – if he hadn’t already ripped their skulls from their body, spine still attached, to feast on their brains that is.
But by the end of 28 Years Later a new horror had been threatened with the arrival of Jack O’Connell’s Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal, a satanist psycho with his own cult of Jimmy Savile lookalikes.
That final reveal stunned fans but it’s par for the course in director Nia DaCosta’s follow-up film, served with lashings of blood, gore and violence – and in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, Lewis-Parry’s Samson shows a whole new side to himself as well.
‘I saw Samson as two completely different characters from the first film and the second film, obviously it’s the same man, but his behaviour was very different,’ Lewis-Parry tells Metro.
‘I got to be boldly physical in the first one, and in this film, I knew I had to put my acting shoes on and try to maintain the physicality but also express an array of emotions – and that was just really fun to do, to uncover it.’
And he’s keen to acknowledge the guidance of DaCosta, Garland, Boyle and his scene partner in this movie, Ralph Fiennes, who plays Dr. Ian Kelson.
‘There was a lot [that went] into Samson that doesn’t get credit and I’m giving them their dues now,’ the actor and former MMA fighter says of his largest role yet.
Last time we spoke – the morning after the 28 Years Later premiere where Lewis-Parry did an admirable job of giving away nothing for this latest movie – I asked him about a small moment where we saw Samson being cognisant of a pregnant Infected woman rather than simply a killing machine operating just on instinct.
Little did I realise at the time that it was a neat lead-in to The Bone Temple, where Kelson is attempting to use his medical training to build a bond with the otherwise still-terrifying Alpha.
‘I’d read the Bone Temple script, so I knew where we were going but I don’t suppose you really know how it’s going to turn out. You shoot one way and then it gets edited and that’s where it becomes what it is. But I knew what we were trying to achieve and I’m really glad that it’s happened the way it has because it’s been received so well,’ shares Lewis-Parry.
Having said this, he admits he doesn’t think he ‘appreciated the magnitude’ of his character’s full journey in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple and his new importance to the franchise. However, he’s more than happy to shoulder that responsibility because of his love for the films and his character.
Are you planning on seeing 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple?
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Yes - I'll be running to the cinemas like a rage zombie
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Nope, too scary for me!
‘There’s a big part of me in that guy. I I believe a part of Chi was left in the making of these two films and especially in The Bone Temple because it took a lot to make that character. But I take the responsibility with both hands – and feet. And I just hope that fans are happy with what I’ve done.’
It’s already been teased a little, but Fiennes and Lewis-Parry share a very unlikely dance to Duran Duran’s Rio, which was improvised by the Conclave Oscar nominee.
‘He extended a hand and we just developed it, it happened. It wasn’t planned. I went with it.
‘It’s a very touching moment and a very fun memory; I remember the day because we had a little laugh when we cut and I think, don’t quote me, but I think he might have said, “They’re not going to use that.” And then, there you go. You never know!’
Lewis-Parry reckons Samson seeks ‘safety’ with Kelson, even as the undisputed top dog of the food chain.
‘He represents almost a father figure that was missing, which is why he’s so drawn to him – because Kelson could have done away with Samson a long time ago and he didn’t,’ points out the actor of the doctor’s drugs stocks.
We also get a fascinating peek at Lewis-Parry without prosthetics in one scene too, where he relished in being in and out of costume and make-up in 40 minutes rather than the usual eight hours thanks to Samson’s skin being ‘riddled with scars and porous potholes’.
Because it’s not just that, um, one particularly eye-catching prosthetic for the nude character that launched a thousand memes – Samson has a stomach piece, neck piece, back piece, and a side piece.
‘There are even moments where he has feet because it’s very physical being out in the terrain of the Northeast and trying to run in the woods, so you can end up destroying your feet. So there were times where he had foot-shaped slippers,’ adds Lewis-Parry.
But for this prosthetics-free scene, ‘I look at Chi as I appear in that scene, and I’m trying to find who he was. And it’s a beautiful, fun challenge’.
‘I was excited when we got to do that because I didn’t know how it was going to end up in the edit, you don’t have a clue, but seeing the final cut I’m like, “Yeah!”.
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple also includes the longed-for (and already announced) return of Cillian Murphy, the original star of the 2002 original film, 28 Days Later, and an executive producer on this new trilogy.
Would Lewis-Parry like to see Samson team up with Oppenheimer Academy Award winner Murphy on-screen for the next one?
‘I mean, come on!’ he laughs. ‘I’ve had the honour and privilege of working with Ralph Fiennes, who I can now call a dear friend. I love the man, he’s a national treasure and one of the greatest to ever do it – as is Cillian. It would be an honour to share space with him and create. Dreams can come true because I’m living it, so you never know.’
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is in UK cinemas from today. It releases in US cinemas on Friday, January 16.
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