Zack Ward was kind enough to take time away from his very hectic schedule to answer a few questions about playing the Postal Dude.
GVK: Prior to being cast, had you played any of the Postal Games?
Zack: I’d never played nor heard of the Postal video games.
GVK: The film is sure to raise some eyebrows over content. While some are likely to understand it is a dark satire, others may have a different reaction. What are your thoughts on any controversy the film has, and were there any segments of the film, that you thought were really pushing buttons?
Zack: I think the job is to push buttons and entertain at the same time otherwise it’s boring. Look at Dr. Strangelove, Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, Hugh Hefner, Hunter S. Thompson! These people pissed every one off at one time and they had a point. No matter what, you die. If you want to ensure that your existence offends no one, teaches nothing, affects no one, then you’re a sofa cushion and I have no use for someone that wants to waste the fleeting moments of his or her life being tepid bathwater.
GVK: As a follow up, you had said in an interview and I am paraphrasing, that if people do not get the humor or the film, they can F’ off. Do you think that after so much attention was placed on content and censorship in recent years, that films are finally starting to push the boundaries once again?
Zack: The double standard is that we can have Americans act like inbred idiots on Jerry Springer or amoral whores on Howard Stern, but the minute we have an opinion, a thought out formulated and structured opinion, that differs from the Enron status quo of our Christian “moral” majority, we’re “bad” people! Fuck that. I am proud of the KKK. Half my family is black as my stepmother is a black woman (Hi Mom) and I am proud that in America we let the people of the KKK who believe in all the bizarre backward-ass rhetoric of their institution march in public and express their beliefs. But the movie “Postal” should be apolagetic? Are people fucking high? “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance”.
We have a responsibility to ask questions and push our government to be better than it is.
“People shouldn’t be afraid of the Government, the Government should be afraid of the People”. Look at the film “V” with Natalie Portman. People got all pissed off ‘cause they thought it was saying the Bush administration caused 911 on purpose to control the country through fear, when in fact the story was written about England during the Thatcher administration, but so fucking what! It’s the same ideas. What if I said Bush is a magic Billy goat that walks on his hind legs and speaks Arabic and pisses crude oil! I thought this is what we were fighting the “ war on terror” over, our freedom. If we aren’t willing to fight for it then one day it will be gone. So go see Postal, ‘cause soon “they” won’t let you.
GVK: How was working with Uwe, as during my set visit, it seemed like you and everyone were having a great time? As a follow up, what were some of your favorite moments on set?
Zack: Working with Uwe is like going to film school. He includes you in the entire process. He’s not a hand holding Director, which allows for a lot of leeway. He’s forthright and blunt, which lets you know where he stands but he’s also bullheaded. He runs the company so you can’t really negotiate with him once he’s made up his mind. Only time will tell if that’s a pro or con. I like Uwe very much and after doing 2 movies with him I think we have a good friendship.
I wish I could speak German as the language barrier is also a cultural one and I’d like to bridge that. Uwe is still young at 42 and has already made a lot of films. Many believe that Postal will be his best film yet. I sure hope so. I hope it’s mine.
You never know till you see the final cut. My favorite moments were working with Dave Foley. I grew up in Toronto and The Kids in the Hall were my heroes. They were the shorthand that my friends and me spoke in during high school, the imitations we did during lunch hour. So to be tearing up scenes with Dave Foley was a dream come true.
GVK: The Postal Dude is very much a unique anti-hero character. How did you envision the character and his motivations, as at first glance, he may come across as a person who is angry at the world, yet has more to him then simple rage and mayhem?
Zack: With any character, rage is pain and pain is usually sorrow. The postal dude just wants to be accepted and liked. He wants to be loved. Ahhhhh, so sweet, I know, but you can pretty much define any character with a one-word feeling. With Postal dude I didn’t base him on the video game as that was just reaction and this is the story that causes it. Plus, to get to the point where the audience believes he’ll pop, he has to suck it up and take it on the chin. Otherwise there is no sympathy and no one gives a shit. I think the hyper reality of the video game comes across in the building tensions created by the other characters and that’s what drives the Dude to snap and why the audience (hopefully) will be on his side when he does.
GVK: What were some of your favorite scenes in the film?
Zack: All scenes with Dave Foley.
Making out with 2 crazy chicks at the same time.
Uwe Boll getting shot in the nuts.
Vern Troyer getting raped by monkeys.
The job interview scene.
All scenes with Chris Coppola.
The big shoot out and the “love thy neighbor” monologue.
GVK: I am sure gamers would love to know that since the Postal Dude has an amazing array of weapons in the game, what is your weapon of choice for the film?
Zack: The SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon). It’s belt fed and has a cyclic rate of 750 rounds per minute. Good clean American fun. And the flying elbow. Catch it in the jaw – Hee Haw!
