Twisted Metal: An Interview With Stephanie Beatriz, Thomas Haden Church, And Samoa Joe

Twisted Metal premieres on Peacock this week, and if you’ve read my review of the first season, I think it’s actually pretty entertaining. The show premieres on Peacock this week, and I got to talk to three of its main actors about their experiences in this world of post-apocalyptic deranged auto combat. 

Stephanie Beatriz (Encanto, Brooklyn Nine-Nine) portrays Quiet, the revenge-driven partner of protagonist John Doe. Thomas Haden Church (Spider-Man No Way Home, Divorce( brings a cold, ruthless ruthlessness as the antagonist Agent Stone. Lastly, All Elite Wrestling/Ring of Honor’s Joe Seanoa, AKA Samoe Joe, dons the iconic mask of Sweet Tooth, bringing an intimidating physical performance to compliment the voice work of Will Arnett. In my conversations, I picked their brains about the elements that drew them to the series, their familiarity with and thoughts on the video games, and how they approached their respective characters. 

SAMOA JOE

Game Informer: What’s your history with Twisted Metal, and how did you approach playing Sweet Tooth?

Joe: As a child, I used to play Twisted Metal. I know who Sweet Tooth represents and how he is. This is where it all begins, and it continues to try to make this character real and give substance to the crazy story. Needles Kane’s past is never fully explored, and with the new series we hope to learn more.

Sweet Tooth or another character?

Twisted Metal is the franchise’s iconic character. It would be hard for me to portray any character from the series. Every time I mention Twisted Metal to someone, they say, “Oh yeah, that ice-cream truck and the clown are right?” There it is, we have arrived. [laughs].

You’re in a unique position of sharing a role with Will Arnett, who voices Sweet Tooth. How was the process? What is his role in your performance? 

The decision was based on his expectations. After that, I spent time understanding his work, listening to his other roles and trying to grasp his inflection and timing. Will was also very supportive and helped me with the process.

What is the best piece of advice Will has given you in your life?

It was important to him that I give more, and tone it down than to not give enough. That’s the kind of mantra I followed.

Which games have you played to prepare yourself for this role?

Then I returned and played [Twisted Metal]It was easy to start up Black, simply because I didn’t have to go through all the emulator work. [laughs]. No, the original PlayStation is not anywhere else but my back closet. Then I replayed Black to reacquaint myself with what the people had come to expect from the game, the world it was set in and its characters. This was what I wanted to do most when it came to revisiting games. 

This series has borrowed many elements from Black, which is the darkest episode of this series. What was your reaction to injecting humor into this formula?

It was great, dude. The whole thing was great fun. You know, the realm of Black, for the most part, the great meta thing about it’s all taking place in Sweet Tooth’s mind, so I guess Black as a whole kind of informed me as far as how dark things get in his head. It’s fun watching the show with the comedy and the throwbacks that are in it.

Anthony Mackie claimed in an interview with another magazine that you had thrown him about like a potato sack. How did you feel when you beat Captain America?

Oh, it’s great because I’m whipping him right, and then the whole time when I’m at home, my kids are with me, and I’ll say, ‘So you see what daddy did to Captain America? Can you please get the trash out of there? [laughs]. Anthony has helped me to keep my house in order and I really appreciate it. It was rough but he did it for me. Anthony, he’s a giving guy like that, he’s that type of dude.It is a great idea.

THOMAS HADEN CHIRCH

What is your background with Twisted Metal?

Twisted Metal, the video game: no church. I knew the name, but only in a peripheral way. But both my daughters they’re kind of like a generation way beyond when the game was introduced in the ‘90s. Both of my daughters are teenagers. When I first got involved last year I asked both my daughters. [if]She said that she hadn’t played the game. She said, ‘No, but I know a lot of guys that love it.’ [laughs]. 

Then I read through the scripts, and then talked to [Twisted Metal showrunner]Michael Jonathan Smith. Then, I began to do my own research on the different iterations that the game has been released over the years. Twisted Metal Black and Twisted Metal This. The pantheon is my scripts, and the conversations I have had with other creative voices about just who. [Agent]Stone has. Stone is. He has an extremely harsh appearance. 

What attracted to you the Twisted Metal series in particular? 

It’s a great setting. It was nice that the setting wasn’t some unknowable future. The Last of UsBut I like that it’s Y2K. However, I love that this is about Y2K. The year 2000 was the culmination of everything extremists believed would happen. Now we are almost twenty years on and in the present day, America. In the 23 years that have passed since Y2K, everything seems to be out of control. This was appealing, especially as a law enforcer in the midst of that madness.

You may find that preparing for an adaptation of a videogame is different from preparing more traditional pieces.

Not really. I mean, I play every character like it’s a real human being, whether it’s Sandman, whether I’m in a Western, I just try to play a real man, whatever his integrity is, his moral center, his sense of character and judgment. I tried to portray every character like a man.

STEPHANIE BEATRIZ

What’s your history with Twisted Metal?

Beatriz : “I don’t have one at all, to be honest.” The game was new to me until I read the books. Then I went online and started researching the game. There are a lot, many, many fans. I have multiple friends from high school that, when I told them I’d booked this job, lost their s**t. They were like, ‘No way! Show me pictures, tell me everything, send me the scripts.’ I was like, ‘No, no, and no. But I’m excited for you to watch it on Peacock when it drops.’ But it truly felt really exciting because people love these games, so I’m pumped for people to see it. 

Since landing your role, have you been playing the games?

Online, I have watched many interstitials. You can find so many things online. YouTube is a great place to watch videos and see people enjoying the game. The interstitial stories are definitely something I have watched. However, I’ve never played the game.

Quiet is a word that you would use to describe the quiet.

She looks like she’s a badass, ferocious car thief. You need a car in order to survive, but she does not. So she has to go out and buy one. In essence, she’s out to get back at John Doe and is desperate for a car. This situation could be life-or-death. Sweet Tooth accosts her when she steals John Doe’s vehicle. It’s really funny to see them butt heads.

Twisted Metal is a series that you are interested in.

The Gallows Humor is exactly what you’d find in games. It’s a dark, dark humor. That’s what I like. It’s funny if you get it right. You can laugh at things you shouldn’t, even if you don’t. My favorite is that dark comedy. It’s the dark comedy. It’s dark comedy. To balance the comedy with action, and to bring out the humanity of the characters and their real moments of human emotion, that’s what we have done on the show. The humaneness of the characters, their real humanity and moments that they all have is what I believe. [Michael Jonathan Smith]Our writers have done a great job in crafting this story. It was a real blessing to work with an incredible crew that helped us to tell the story in just 10 episodes. It’s really exciting to have people see our work.

Twisted MetalThe premiere will be on Peacock on 27 July.