Angus Scrimm
Birthday: 19 August 1926, Kansas City, Kansas, USA
Birth Name: Lawrence Rory Guy
Height: 193 cm
The evil screen villain Angus Scrimm, most famous as "The Tall Man" in Don Coscarelli's Phantasm (1979) and its sequels, grew up in Kansas City, but in his teens moved to California and ...Show More
Playing the Tall Man is definitely an acting challenge. On the one hand, he's a character that must Show more
Playing the Tall Man is definitely an acting challenge. On the one hand, he's a character that must be played with consistency. But I've also had to take great pains to giving shading to his sinister qualities. It would be very easy to fall into the trap of playing him in a one-dimensional manner. Hide
The MPAA has cracked down pretty badly on the Phantasm pictures. Censorship obviously is necessary, Show more
The MPAA has cracked down pretty badly on the Phantasm pictures. Censorship obviously is necessary, and I'm all for it. I just don't like it when they cut my pictures. Hide
If I did the Tall Man once more, I think I'd like to make him darker and scarier again. Seems to me Show more
If I did the Tall Man once more, I think I'd like to make him darker and scarier again. Seems to me he softened up a bit in the last episode. I'm quite happy though with the existing quartet of films as a complete and final entity. Hide
I still want to do that drawing room comedy. If they ever revive that.
I still want to do that drawing room comedy. If they ever revive that.
[on reprising his role as The Tall Man] I'd jump at it. I'm a little protective of the Tall Man. I'd Show more
[on reprising his role as The Tall Man] I'd jump at it. I'm a little protective of the Tall Man. I'd be reluctant to make a "Phantasm" that wasn't up to the other four. I think it's a very good quartet of motion pictures. If we did another picture it would need to be just as original and just as sparkling in its ideas and freshness as the first and as the subsequent ones. That would be the deterrent and then of course getting it financed in today's film industry would be a challenge. Hide
The Tall Man is a much deeper role than most people realize. There are many ironic bits of humor tha Show more
The Tall Man is a much deeper role than most people realize. There are many ironic bits of humor that lay in the character's subtext. There's also extreme drama. It's a role many people would give their right arm to play. Hide
[from an interview in 1988] In real life, I've never had the opportunity to be very sinister. When I Show more
[from an interview in 1988] In real life, I've never had the opportunity to be very sinister. When I was growing up, I was usually the kid everybody beat up. It looks like I'm finally getting a chance to get even. Hide
The Tall Man has an ironic glint of humor hidden beneath that horrifying exterior. There's also an e Show more
The Tall Man has an ironic glint of humor hidden beneath that horrifying exterior. There's also an extreme sense of drama to the things he does. There's much to like about the Tall Man that goes beyond his ability to scare people. Hide
[on playing the Tall Man] I like the idea that people think that I give myself so totally to the cha Show more
[on playing the Tall Man] I like the idea that people think that I give myself so totally to the character. The horror side of this character is a fascinating one to explore. It's so totally unlike my true nature that it's fun to submerge myself in the Tall Man and see what develops. Hide
[Describing the making of the Phantasm trilogy] In the end, it was all great fun.
[Describing the making of the Phantasm trilogy] In the end, it was all great fun.
I probably shouldn't confess to this, but I groove on being recognized. But it seldom happens, possi Show more
I probably shouldn't confess to this, but I groove on being recognized. But it seldom happens, possibly because I rarely go anywhere dressed in a tight-fitting black suit and boots with two-inch lifts in them. Hide
At a 30th Anniversary screening of the original Phantasm (1979), one fan approached me and said, "Yo Show more
At a 30th Anniversary screening of the original Phantasm (1979), one fan approached me and said, "You did such a fine job on this movie, you should have played 'Emperor Palpatine' in Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)." For me, that was a deep honor. Hide
Angus Scrimm'S roles
