Divinely Vampiric Snipes

Wine isn't the only thing that gets better with age I thought to myself as I watched Wesley Snipes walk over to my chair. Last time I interviewed the charismatic actor was in 1998, and at the time I was struck by his gorgeous complexion and expressive hazel eyes.

Four years later, and approaching 40, Snipes is in the best shape of his life sporting his signature bat-combo of black leather on black slacks and turtleneck. Yum.

One of the most bankable African-American male actors in the movie business today, Snipes has managed to command more colour-blind roles than, say, Denzel Washington and Will Smith. And this has everything to do with Snipes' choice of parts, not always good ones but certainly profitable enough to allow him to produce movies such as The Big Hit, Blade and, more recently, Blade II.

The dark half-human-half-vampire superhero is back, but this time aligning himself with his enemy vampires in order to destroy the terrifying Reapers, a new race of immortals that feeds on vampires as well as humans.

Blade II is that rare example of a sequel that actually surpasses its original. And this has everything to do with the recruitment of Mexican wunderwind Guillermo Del Toro (Cronos, The Devil's Backbone) who directed the pic.

"We knew that the movie had to have a director who understood special effects, and who wanted to elevate the level of horror in the movie from the first one," says Snipes about Del Toro. "That's what he's very very good at. So we screened all his movies and we said, 'Hey, this guy's a filmmaker, he understands special effects, he understands how to build suspense. And I understand all the action stuff.' A good combination made this happen."

Indeed. While Blade was a by-the-book martial-arts action movie about vampires, Blade II fares more intelligently with its sharp characterizations and stunning atmospherics.

"Blade II is just ridiculously good compared to the first film," agrees Snipes. "I have to put my hands up. Blade one was a good shot, and surprisingly good with mystique and interest. But in terms of a complete package, the vision of the kind of movie that I would like to see, Blade II is it. Hands down."

"This movie is a like real good peach cobbler," he adds. "You have that first taste, feels good, and later on you're going back for more. There's no pressure in going back for peach cobbler a second time. That's the way I looked at it at this movie. I was like, wow, we had a good shot at it the first time, but getting a second shot at it, man... but we're going to fix it this time."

As to his qualms about embodying the dark one again... "I get to live out a fantasy of being a superhero," he smiles. "Blade is the kind of guy you would love to hang out with. He's relaxed, he's energetic, he's passionate, dangerous and he's fun. I like that. It gave me a lot of chances to do a lot of different things in acting, like trying to flesh out something as abstract as a comic book character. I gave it some depth."

Born in Florida, Snipes attended the New York School for the Performing Arts before studying drama at the prestigious theatre program at State University New York Purchase, where he was one of only four African-American students. He landed his first movie role in Goldie Hawn's Wildcats, following with an appearance in Michael Jackson's "Bad" video which brought him to the attention of Spike Lee who cast him in Mo' Better Blues. Lee would eventually write the main character in Jungle Fever with Snipes in mind.

Although he first became famous for his work in White Men Can't Jump, it was his breakthrough role in Mario Van Peebles' New Jack City that made movie studios take notice. Since then Wesley has shifted from action fare (Passenger 57, Demolition Man, U.S. Marshals, The Money Train, The Drop Zone) to comedies (Major League, To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar) to complicated dramas (The Waterdance, One Night Stand).

Divorced and the father of a 12-year-old boy, Snipes admits that in the past he's been reckless and irresponsible citing his 1993 motorcycle accident which got him busted for carrying a concealed weapon, and the Florida police chase down a highway which ended up in an offramp crack-up. Today he's mellowed out, a proud father of a baby that was born days before the September 11 attacks in New York City last year.

"I was in my home in California when that happened," he remembers. "My own loft in New York was totally destroyed when one of the Twin Towers came down. I think it was fate that I wasn't there at the time."

A deeply spiritual man who works on his martial arts religiously, Snipes believes that his fame and fortune is a preordained fact. "Everything I do is spiritually motivated and divinely inspired," he says. "It helps me keep working. There's a lot of examples that suggests that my being in this business at the level I'm at is a very unique experience. There's something divine about it. I don't take it for granted.

"In my personal life I assessed the quality of films I made and what social impact those films have. It's really wonderful to be able to do what you do well. I never really wanted to be a movie star but it turned out that way. But at the end of the day there's more to Wesley than being a movie star. Since September 11 things have been put into perspective. If the movies do well, great. If they don't do well, great, I'll do it better next time. But it's not the end of the world. My life won't be governed by a big box office weekend."

Wise words indeed.

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