Exclusive: Rutger Hauer on His New Biblical Film and Most Iconic Role

Few actors working today have the eclectic filmography of Rutger Hauer.

He has worked with such acclaimed directors as Ridley Scott, Robert Rodriguez and Christopher Nolan, and at 74 years old, Hauer shows no signs at all of slowing down.

The actor currently stars in “Samson,” which is out in theaters today.

The film tells the biblical story of Samson, a legendary Israelite warrior who is given powers from God — but he strays from his path and is ultimately betrayed.

He eventually gets an opportunity for revenge.

Hauer stars as Samson’s father, and he was interested in the project and its take on the classic story from the beginning. However, the movie fell through early on, and Hauer was ready to move on to other things.

“I sort of gave up on it,” Hauer, who was born in the Netherlands and now works out of Los Angeles, said in an interview with LifeZette about “Samson.” When the picture came together again at the last minute, Hauer jumped onto a plane and threw himself into his character.

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“I think it’s a story that can be told many times because it has a lot of elements in it,” he said of the film, which is just the latest cinematic telling of this biblical story. Previous versions include a Cecil B. Demille-directed picture and a ’90s telefilm. “This is sort of like the history of where we came from, in a way.”

What makes this version different from previous ones to Hauer is its fast-paced style.

“He [co-director Bruce MacDonald] sort of shot it like an action film, I felt. Every scene is really compacted [and] short, so you can understand it. It has a drive,” said Hauer.

He added, “You kind of run through it.”

The adventure aspect of the story is ramped up in this version, but Hauer said it never loses the “good heart” at the center of Samson’s tale of redemption and loss.

“Samson” isn’t the only project viewers can catch Hauer in right now. He also stars in the latest installment of Syfy’s “Channel Zero” television series, and he has a variety of other projects in the works. He’s never slowed down and has always refused to be typecast or pigeonholed. It’s why he’s starred in everything from 1982’s “Blade Runner” to 2005’s “Batman Begins.”

Hauer revealed he does have a different approach now in terms of deciding the projects he’s going to accept — a knowledge that comes from experience. “I’ve learned to be more risky and more confident at the same time,” he said. “You have to try things before you really find out what it is.”

Try he has. Hauer’s IMDB page sports 170 credits.

Even with all of that work and his continued acting, Hauer is still arguably best known for playing the android named Roy Batty from Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner,” a science fiction masterpiece that has gained in popularity over the years.

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Just last year, Warner Bros. produced a sequel to the picture, which helped shine a spotlight once again on Hauer’s inspired performance. His final monologue in the picture, the famous “tears in the rain” speech, is studied to this day; amazingly, it was partly written by Hauer himself.

“It’s such a jewel,” Hauer said of “Blade Runner.” “I could talk for an hour about it.”

“I’m very proud of what I was able to give to Ridley and what Ridley took from me.”

He added, “I’m very proud of what I was able to give to Ridley and what Ridley took from me. It gave me a confidence that would last a lifetime.”

It’s that same confidence he employed in “Samson,” the type of film in which an actor’s imagination is his greatest asset as costumes, makeup, CGI, and sets do their best to transport the thespians to a different time.

Said Hauer, “In stories like this, you don’t really have much more than what your costume says and what your makeup is — and the rest is whatever you can bring to it that makes sense.”

Find out more about “Samson.” And be sure to check out our interview with lead actor Taylor James.

PopZette editor Zachary Leeman can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter.