Avatar’s Miles Quatrich ( Stephen Lang, the character’s real-life counterpart) has been known for roles of extreme masculinity. He discovered that he belonged to the same club as performers like Jon Bernthal and Frank Grillo, who, through their on-screen personas, radiate a particular alpha male, macho energy. He discusses his views on masculinity.
“I left the man club some years ago,” he adds. “My sons are beautiful guys, and my daughters are extremely amazing humans, as is my wife. I have no interest in promoting some idea of masculinity that is either aggressive or more important than anyone else. I play it. I love playing it. I enjoy it. But I, I don’t want to ever be thought of as some lunkhead male who’s promoting some form of alpha masculinity ’cause that’s not who I am and not what I want to do.”
He goes on, “It’s not who Quaritch is either. He acknowledges his Avatar persona, “He acknowledges the power of the women in his life, acknowledges Mrs. Sully as one tough cookie. His former partner, who is the mother of Spider [Jack Champion], she was a tough cookie. If I’m getting typed in some way, I don’t mind it because the roles are good. But as I’m, in a way, segueing into older roles, for obvious reasons — and I like that too! I don’t mind getting old. I just want to stay old for a really long time.” (via Entertainment Weekly)
Although Stephen Lang has portrayed a wide range of characters, he has become well-known for his portrayals of tough villains, frequently those in positions of authority. He states, “You sell an illusion, an image as they call it. If I have an image of a hard-ass man, there are worse things to be. But I hope that the audience can watch me on screen and then realise that I am different out in the world.”
In Avatar: Fire and Ash, Quaritch is compelled to aggressively confront Spider, the son he had off-screen before his Na’vi transformation and who has subsequently joined the Sully family, as his last link to his human existence. “There’s all kinds of ways to go with that character,” Lang says. “I just love playing him. I guess the criteria [for doing sequels] is, ‘Is there more to say?'”
