Police Academy star Steve Guttenberg turns to lava-breathing spiders in SyFy’s Lavalantula
HE passed on the lead role in Sharknado, but when lava-breathing spiders came up, former Police Academy star Steve Guttenberg couldn’t resist.
JUST when you thought it couldn’t get more ridiculous and out-there than 1980s franchise Police Academy, funnyman Steve Guttenberg has gone one better — with a starring role in SyFy’s latest schlockbuster, Lavalantula.
Yes, we’re talking giant spiders — spewing lava — in the latest creation from the people who specialise in combining CGI with the laughably unbelievable.
Guttenberg, 56, knew exactly what he was getting into when he took the role of washed-up former A-list action star Colton West in the movie.
Three years ago he passed on the role of Fin Shephard in Sharknado — the SyFy phenomenon which became a social media smash hit.
“Yep, I passed on Sharknado,” Guttenberg says. “I was smart enough to say yes to this one.”
The Sharknado role ultimately went to Ian Ziering — who makes a cameo in Lavalantula when Guttenberg’s West, frantically trying to save the citizens of Los Angeles from lava-spewing spiders, meets him in the street.
Ziering’s character would like to help, ‘but I’ve got shark problems right now’.
Lavalantula reunites Guttenberg him with Police Academy co-stars Michael Winslow, Marion Ramsey and Leslie Easterbrook: “We had a blast”.
“When I saw the script I knew it was line with what the audience generally wants today — creature features and heroes,” Guttenberg says.
“In real life, I don’t mind spiders. But ones that are bigger than my head, that’s different.”
Completing the stretch from sublime to ridiculous, Guttenberg’s Lavalantula turn comes just after he completed something even scarier — his first shot at Shakespeare in the adaptation Henry 4.1, in New York.
“To do that, which is purely artful, and Lavalantula which is purely commercial, at the same time was kind of cool,” Guttenberg says.
“But as an actor you use the same tools for each.”
LAVALANTULA
SATURDAY, 9.30PM, SYFY
A-listers with ‘bad attitudes’ called out
Chris Pratt has ripped into celebrities who have been difficult to work with on movie sets as he promoted his new film at Comic-Con.
Actor’s awkward Swift audition: ‘Intimate’
Eddie Redmayne has opened up about his “intimate” screen test with Taylor Swift – and how it all went so wrong.
Trouble as star tries to sell Sydney apartment
This month, two highly-anticipated auctions were set to take place in Sydney, but both were pulled at the last minute. Here’s why.