What would you do if you had the power to turn yourself into 10 different entities with 10 different superpowers?
For Lee Majors, the American television icon who played Steve Austin in the series The Six Million Dollar Man, dreaming of having superpower is a thing of the past. But given a chance, he would rather have a peek of the future or perhaps go back in time and see some old folks.
“I was a superhero in a television series before so I have the idea what a superhero can do, but if I had real powers, well, I would like to see the people I really like; go back in time or have a peek of the future,” said Majors who was in the country for the promotional tour of Cartoon Network’s first live action TV movie Ben 10: Race Against Time.
Majors, 69, is chiefly known for his major appearances on TV during the ’60s and the ’70s. He initially graced the boob tube as Heath Barkley in The Big Valley, and continued to endear the audiences in Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law, The Fall Guy, and Raven.
In an interview with Standard Today, Majors showed his enthusiasm for doing the movie and his unforgettable experiences with Ben 10 young actors Graham Phillips and Haley Ramm.
“My role here as Grandpa Max is pretty close to my personality in real life, I raised children. With this movie, I play the good-looking grandfather on the show. This is the first time I’m playing a grandfather,” said the American actor. “Graham, the kid who plays Ben, is really cute. He’s very attentive on what the director says and he has experiences doing a movie unlike Haley. Although both of them are really good, Haley needs a little more experience,” he added.
The movie for television he promotes was shot entirely in Los Angeles. It took them three weeks to make the movie. “The shooting period is quite short but the longer process is the post production, doing all the graphics and all,” he said.
Ben 10 landed in the Philippines in October 2006 to become an instant hit, achieving Cartoon Network’s highest rating for boys 7 to 15 on cable. The series has reached almost three million Filipino viewers since its debut and has become one of the most-watched Cartoon Network Originals for boys.
The animated series is also now being aired in more than 160 countries around the world. In Asia Pacific, the show is seen in 118 million households in 23 countries. These facts serve as challenge to the actors and to director Alex Winter because the movie is anticipated to equal the success of the animated version.
“There are challenges in doing the movie. You know, from animation it is made to a real-life action so the actors had to do all the stunts. It’s tough because you have to act with aliens who aren’t there. All you have is a green background and some markers,” he stated. “One of the most unforgettable experience I had with the movie is when we did a scene shot in a basement. The place was really hot and they filled it with smoke so it was hard to breathe. I wasn’t concern about myself, I was thinking about the one who plays Eon (the major antagonist in the movie), he’s a kid and his costume is a torture, he’s all in black,” he recounted.
Majors said that Ben 10 opened him to a whole new audience. “I was on a cruise about a month ago when a kid about five years old came to me and said, ‘Mr. Majors, can I have your autograph?’ I looked at him and said, ‘How do you know me?’ He said, ‘You’re Grandpa Max.’ At that point, the kid held up his wrist to show his Omnitrix and said, “Ben 10 was the greatest movie ever made for a five-year-old,” Majors revealed.
Ben 10 and the movie
For grown-ups with discriminating taste, Ben 10 is not an animated series for them to watch. It is all about Ben Tennyson, a 10-year-old boy with the ability to morph into different aliens using a strange alien device called the Omnitrix. The movie, however, is about Ben and his extraterrestrial nemesis Eon.
In the movie, Eon shows up to claim the Omnitrix and destroy the Earth. Eon was the first alien ever captured by Grandpa Max’s secret organization, “The Plumbers.” The now-escaped Eon is trying to locate the doomsday device that was taken and hidden when he was captured. The device is capable of opening a gateway to Earth and signaling the start of an alien invasion that would mark the end of humankind. Now, Ben, Gwen and Grandpa Max, with some help from The Omnitrix, are on a mission to stop Eon and save the world from total destruction.
Ben 10: Race Against Time is scheduled to air in the Philippines on Cartoon Network tomorrow, Sept. 26 at 8 p.m.
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