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Through its first three seasons, Prime Video super hero series Invincible put forth an imposing rogues’ gallery for title character Mark Grayson a.k.a. Invincible (Steven Yeun) to contend with. Mark’s antagonists have ranged from weak Z-listers (The Elephant, Doc Seismic), to challenging but manageable apocalyptic threats (the Thraxans, Sequids) to terrifyingly powerful supervillains (Angstrom Levy, Conquest).
What the adaptation of Robert Kirkman, Cory Walker, and Ryan Ottley’s comics has been missing up to this point, however, is a “big bad.” That has all changed in Invincible season 4 with the introduction of Grand Regent Thragg. The new and all-powerful leader of the dying Viltrum Empire, Thragg is the monster at the end of the story. He’s the archnemesis, the final boss, the endgame villain. It’s against him that all other Invincible baddies, minor or major, shall be judged from here on out.
Though the show is already blessed with an impressive roster of voice acting talent, co-showrunners Robert Kirkman and Simon Racioppa knew they had to go above and beyond to find Thragg. Thankfully, they knew just the guy to reach out to.
“I’ve always wanted to work with Lee Pace,” Kirkman told Den of Geek. “I would run into him at events and things and admire him from afar. He just has this quiet power that he exudes with his voice that we thought would be absolutely perfect for that character. So the casting process was basically asking if Lee was available.”
A genre staple since 2007’s Pushing Daisies, the Oklahoma-native Pace has popped off the screen in projects like The Hobbit trilogy the Twilight saga, and Halt and Catch Fire. He’s also become something of a go-to man in the hyper-specific character category of “galactic tyrants,” having played Ronan the Accuser in Guardians of the Galaxy and multiple generations of “Brother Day” Emperor Cleon clones (it’s hard to explain) in Apple TV’s excellent Foundation.
Pace chatted with Den of Geek about why he took the role of Thragg, what drives the zealous leader, and how he differs from his other major sci-fi strongmen.
What was the process of getting this role like? Robert Kirkman mentioned he crossed paths with you during The Walking Dead/Halt and Catch Fire AMC days and thought you’d be great for Thragg.
They called and said “would you do it?” I did some poking around about the show and I saw how cool it was, this thing that they were making. I think Kirkman is not only a really fun person to spend time with but he’s made such an interesting world here and such a cool character with Thragg that I was like yeah let’s do it. This is a fun beast of a character. Let’s jump in.
What do you find most appealing about Thragg? What do you like most about him as a character, if not necessarily a person or alien?
I guess what I found fun about him is not only is he a real badass, he’s insanely durable and violent and that’s a fun thing to play. But he’s desperate. His people that he’s responsible for have been through hell and are almost on the brink of annihilation. And he’s got a lot of fight in him but he’s got a big fight ahead of him.
Obviously with something like this, so much of the story is told visually. We can bring what we can bring to it. I thought what I can bring to it is a sense of character with the voice that can hopefully go on that journey with the audience. They’ve got a relationship to this character. I just wanted to make him fun. Honestly I think the fight in him is a lot of fun. His violent “never say die” attitude. I will kill anyone I need to kill to get the justice I need to see – that’s a fun character to play. That’s got a lot of diesel behind him.
When doing the voice work, did you ever get to see any early animations of Thragg in motion? How does that help inform the performance?
I did a lot of my recording for this season [early] and then we don’t come back until much much later. I see how it came together and do a little bit of cleanup. But I researched the character and came in prepared so I had a sense of what I wanted to play. I also very much put my hands in Kirkman and Simon. I wanted to give them all the options they need to play the character. I’m gonna do it like this, I’m gonna do it like that, I’m gonna try to give you every color you might want to use to work with it.
When you have the other actors you’re playing with, the rhythm, the speed of the scene, the intention of the character – all those things are what you’re working with as an actor. In a situation like this where you’re alone in a booth I thought the best I could do was give them options. But now I’ve seen my voice with the animation and I think, going forward, there is a definite sense that I’ve learned something about it – that I’ve settled into the character.
Having now seen Thragg in action, are you surprised at how still he is? I think maybe that’s why Kirkman thought of you for the role: the ability to express power with little kinetic motion.
One thing we talked about, which I enjoyed seeing expressed in the animation, is that he’s a pretty cool customer. He keeps a lid on it. And he has for a very long time. He’s playing a very long game. When he loses his temper, he really fucking loses it and becomes a sociopathic, rageful beast. Until then he’s very clever, he’s very strong. He understands the power he holds. Because he’s earned it. I think the stillness communicates a lot. The calmness I wanted to bring to these beginning scenes is in line with that. We’ve got a long way to go with the character. I want to pace it. [Editor’s Note: The interview then made a “You want to Lee Pace it?” joke that Mr. Pace politely chuckled at. I am so sorry.]
I don’t always love the “Did X role help inform how you play Y role?” question but I think it’s apt here. Has playing multiple generations and iterations of Cleon on Foundation helped you better understand Thragg or at least give you a toolset to better capture this tyrant?
I can’t say “no” because you never know what’s gone into the machine and become a part of the software. But I guess the way I approach the Cleons is they are very messy humans in a world where you’ve got stuff like incredible intellects, very sophisticated robots, and a fourth dimension; and they’re just these bloody animals who are doing the best they can. They’re holding onto power the best they can and standing in their own way. They’ve got blindspots, they’ve got mistakes that not even they’ve made but their ancestors or previous iterations of themselves have made. I just think about them as increasingly messy.
But Thragg is not a mess. He’s got his shit together and he’s fighting an impossible fight. When we find him there are like 50 Viltrumites left. He still has the ambition to bring them all back. He’s got nothing. He’s playing with no cards in his hand and he still thinks he can win it. That’s who he is. There’s nothing but fight in him. He’s coming to this at the right time. Coming to Mark, coming to Omni-Man at the right time to figure out what his endgame is. And it turns out to be… well, you know, but he comes to it with a lot of fight. He’s ready for this. He’s expecting this.
All eight episodes of Invincible season 4 are available to stream on Prime Video now.
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