Meet Czernobog, the nicest god of darkness
For how the mighty have fallen, look to Czernobog.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: So, are you actually any good at checkers?PETER STORMARE:Not really.
My iPad always beats me.
Credit: Starz
If I play on level one, I can win.
Level two, no.
Checkers is a hard game!
I want to do it fast, and Im very impatient.
But you have to think, like chess.
Impulsive, you could win, but sometimes you have to just stare your contender down.
If Im going to smoke in the second season, I need life insurance from Starz.
I was so sick, man.
I smoke inevery scene.
Herbals, though, right?Yeah, but the thing is, the paper is the worst.
And it gets into your nostrils.
No matter how smart you think you are, it gets into you.
And then you eat lunch and you throw up.
All for the art!
But David Slade is such a great director.
Hes gotta smoke!
Hes gotta smoke in every scene!
I want a close-up on the cigarette when you inhale it.
And now through your nostrils!
Hes like a Stanley Kubrick.
It was like being at Six Flags.
Im not just evil.
Were built of both darkness and light, and hopefully the light will survive and conquer the darkness.
So I consider Czernobog a torch-bearer.
But I think he has a hard time separating the two.
The same kind of person with the hammer, and creating if not thunder, then hurricanes and devastation.
When one is destructive, the other one is trying to build up.
So its very interesting.
And he has roots that go way back into China, too, and Mongolia.
Its interesting, finding out about all our mythology linked together.
Its amazing, learning about anthropology and different tribes and people on this earth.
Theres a twinkle in his eye that makes you laugh all the time.
He has kind of a charm and a humor that he puts into his characters.
So you have to look elsewhere.
But hes super fun to work with.
A real old-school pro.
And Cloris Leachman?You play her…Nephew?
We dont really know.
The Slavic people are all a big family.
But yes, extraordinary, extraordinary.
God, shes over 90.
I hope I can do the same thing.
She invited me to her trailer after a couple of days.
I had done a couple of scenes where she had improvised a couple of lines off camera to me.
Man, you stink.
Youre handsome, but youre so ugly.
I dont want to sit next to you because its reeking.
And I said, Yes!
Im the same way.
She was a real prankster.
The first time she did it, though, I really thought, Jesus, maybe I do stink?
It makes me smile or it makes other people smile on set.
So I do all my touch-ups in a mud pool.
Has being part of this show changed the way you think about faith?Absolutely.
How brittle life is yet its been going on for thousands and thousands of years.
Maybe we should sit down and pay tribute to life instead of just destruction.
