Adrian Paul is best known for playing Duncan Macleod in the Highlander television series, but he’s been a prolific film and television actor for over two decades. Now, for the first time in six years, Paul steps back into the role that made him famous, playing Duncan MacLeod in Highlander: The Source. I recently had the chance to speak with Mr. Paul while he was filming in Europe, and I found him to be extremely warm, friendly, and well-spoken. Read on to hear what he has to say about Highlander, Duncan MacLeod, and what else he has coming up in the future!

- Mike Spring

Editor

ADRIAN PAUL: Hi Mike, How are you?

MIKE SPRING: I’m doing very good, thank you. How are you?

AP: Great.

MS: Terrific. Looking at Highlander: The Source, it’s been a few years since you played Duncan McCloud. How did it feel to step back into the shoes of this character you played for so long?

AP: Anytime you step back into a character, you kind of want to bring what you had before, but something different. So, that’s what I kind of tried to do, since I wanted the subject matter to be darker than it originally was. The world has become much more dark. It wasn’t easy, but it was easier stepping into the character and understanding it because I played him for such a long time. It’s… comfortable. And between 141 episodes and one film prior to now, I’ve done it for a long time and understood Duncan for a long time, so it was easy to step into the role after getting into it.

MS: It’s funny that you mentioned the film has a darker tone, because that was my next question. The film has a very dark tone, which was a little surprising for me. Was that an intentional decision to separate it from the earlier movies and TV?

AP: Yeah, it was a conscious decision that was made, which was interesting in a sense because I think some of the other franchised movies like Batman and some of the others, also have gone along that road, and I think that there was a consensus opinion for doing it, that we should take a look at that. In a sense, I understood it from Duncan’s standpoint because the crowd always hoped that he’d do something special. And now the world has turned to s--t, and his girlfriends and wives have all been killed, and everything is falling apart and looks like the world is coming to an end.

MS: So the film sort of raises the stakes little bit.

AP: Yeah it did. I think there were certain aspects of it I would have liked to see more of MacLeod be a little bit lighter in certain aspects.  I think the tone of the film was very, very heavy. A sense of betrayal, love loss and I think that lightness would probably come towards the end in the shoot. So, we never really fulfilled that end.

MS: Well, it seems as if there may be more movies to come that will be able to explore some of that stuff.

AP: Yeah, when I’m walking around with a cane. That’ll be good.

MS: Speaking of which, one of the things that I liked about the movie is that there are some good action scenes, but I really enjoyed some of the character moments between Duncan and his wife, and between Duncan and Joe. Do you have a preference as an actor? I imagine it must be fun with sword fights, but do you prefer doing that or getting into more of the real character-driven moments?

AP: No. I’m an actor. The funny thing is that people always think I’m an action guy, but I’m an actor and that’s what really gets my juices flowing. That’s really what my role as an executive producer was on this movie. I worked with the other actors for weeks before we started shooting. We literally scrutinized the script as to what the relationships were, and we really worked on that. And I think that part of the film went well. I personally think if you aren’t a Highlander fan, you wouldn’t know why MacLeod was so  caught up with Joe Dawson dying, because there wasn’t really enough time in the film spent as to developing what their relationship was about. But, I think the actors and the characters portrayed did a good job because there was a lot of underlying stuff that was being played in the scenes.

MS: What is it do you think, that keeps Highlander so popular? It’s such a popular franchise that has been around for decades now and you’ve obviously have been involved with it. Why do you think people connect with it so much?

AP: I think it speaks across borders in a sense, because it deals with human emotions as well as history. We all come from the same history, in a sense. We come from clans, battles and swords, honor and victory, death and betrayal. And I think all of that is partly what people like to see, because they kind of like to see some of their own history. And it crosses borders. It wasn’t just in England or France, or Asia, or America. It’s all the same and I think that’s why Highlander has such success. It encompasses all those different elements that are just human emotions. And we can identify with them now as we could identify with them 2,000 years ago..

MS: How has your experience been with the fans? They are a very passionate group. Is that something that makes the experience more enjoyable?

AP: Yeah, I have some great fans. People have been really kind to me and they have been very gracious. A lot of them have come over and helped me raise money for my charity, The Peace Fund. They support that and a lot of them spread that word, so I think there’s a lot of good people out there that have been fans of the series that have been kind and kind of taken the essence of what MacLeod is to their own lives in a strange way.

MS: I know you’re in Europe right now, what are you working on?

AP: It’s a film called Nine Miles Down. It’s a psychological thriller set in the midst of horror. It’s a really cool, scary, dark. There’s a whole range of emotions going on through this piece. The director has had this for nine years, so he has great visuals on it, and some good acting in it, and I’m kind of excited about it.

MS: Is there anything else you would like to share with you fans before I let you go?

AP: Well, I have a lot of stuff that’s going to happen soon. I have writing in the process, I have producing in the process, a couple of films I might be doing. I might be doing one very shortly. If people have any more questions like that you can go to my website for information on that and all the stuff I’ve just done, and the stuff I’m about to do, too. It’s www.AdrianPaul.net. So, my site will have a lot of stuff on it. I’m really kind of excited. In the past year I’ve done five movies. I’m like, “Where did that come from?” So I’m kind of interested to see how these movies come out. But, I’ve had fun doing them. It has been great for me and I’ve been enjoying the work so I hope other people enjoy it too.  

MS: We’ll definitely keep an eye out for them. I appreciate you taking the time to talk to us. Enjoy the rest of your time in Europe.

AP: Thank you very much.