Casper Van Dien

This was Ed Neumier's directorial debut. He's obviously got a lot of experience as a writer but what was he like to work with as a director?
For me he's a brilliant director, and one that we all loved working with. He's had a learning experience that most first time directors don't have. He's done these amazing films like Robocop and I remember in the first Starship Troopers movie that he was there every day, he was on set and he was seeing how it was to direct so he had this enormous opportunity to learn how to get the best out of people. He got to witness Paul Verhoeven and learn from him - and what an amazing guy. He got to put the political satire back in the film as well, which was great. I mean, he obviously wrote the first film off the back of Robert A Heinlein's novel with all it's political satire, and he was able to bring that back to this movie and add a religious twist, which is this film's sense of humour in a way. It was just great and I just love Ed.


I was going to say, the first movie is a great action movie and a great sci-fi movie but it also has this biting satirical edge to it.
Yeah but this one has really brought the politics back. It's even more satirical than the first one. The first one even, I don't think got to express its satire as much as it wanted to and I wouldn't say that satire even features in the second movie, but this one is more satirical than even the first and its put the humour back in as well. Ed is great with it though, he loves political satire and has this great, twisted sense of humour. He's just really capable of understanding satire and he nails it. He's great, he's just amazing to hang out with and has this incredible sense of humour.



So tell me about the bugs this time around. Talk about the 'scorpion' bug that's described as your nemesis in this movie? How do the creatures differ this time around?
Oh the bugs are amazing this time around. I mean, we've always fought with budget constraints but things really do look incredible this time. We had the special effects guy who worked on the Alien movies and he just did this incredible job. A lot of the bus from the first movie, he added his own twist to them and he added a sense of humour to the killing that these bugs do. The scorpion bug was amazing and he put his two cents into that and more and the outcome is just wonderful. The brain bug from the first movie is reintroduced too and we have this wonderful twist with that one too. The bugs are fantastic.


How was the shoot itself?
The shoot was entirely in South Africa and it was amazing. I got to work with my wife [Catherine Oxenberg] which is something we love to do whenever we can. The whole family came down and we went on safari after the shoot. But everyone was so enthusiastic about the movie and I can honestly say that we got one of the best crews we could get. Everybody was so proud to be part of it and they all came up with ideas and put in so much more work than they were asked to - which is just such a thrill to find. It was amazing to work on this movie with these people. I couldn't have asked for a better crew or a better experience so it was just great to be there, definitely the most enthusiastic team or experience I've ever seen - it was a blast.


Do you enjoy getting involved with the DVD extras side of things?
I've been doing this job for 20 years now and I enjoy every side of the job, you know?. I started when I was 19 and I love making movies, I love the interviews, I love getting to talk about it, I love the DVD extras, I love every part of it. I'm doing exactly what I want to do with my life, it's silly and its fun and I love every part of it so it's a thrill for me. Having someone look back over what I do is the most exciting part for me.

You've obviously worked with Paul Verhoeven on the first film. He has a reputation for being quite an eccentric, but what do you think of the guy?
I love Paul. He, for me is one of the most passionate and incredible film makers out there. To make a film with him, let alone to watch one, is just one of the most amazing things. I mean, look at his films, whether its Robocop or whatever, I mean Black Book, what an amazing film. I love him and I've learned so much from him, by listening and by talking to him and by watching. And you know he'll scream and yell and it's crazy but he's just passionate about filmmaking. He's just exciting to be around. I'm still awed by his ability to make amazing films.


You've worked on a lot of sci-fi and genre material. Does it hold a particular appeal to you?
As an actor you get all these offers, all these different scripts and I just love every different opportunity. I got offered a lot because of Starship Troopers, a lot of sci-fi stuff and you know what, films are difficult to make so every time I get the chance to do it, I do it. I love sci-fi and I know all the Dutch stories like Sleepy Hollow - I grew up near there anyway and I got to work with Tim Burton and it's all just amazing to me. It's always a thrill to me and I've been so fortunate to have these opportunities. I'm having the best time of my life because of this job.


And what's coming up next for you? You've just finished work on Mask Of The Ninja so what else is in store?
Yeah, Mask Of The Ninja is great. I play a cop who is called to a scene and I get there and there are all these dead bodies and I don't know what's going on and then there are these two Japanese families at war and they don't want to deal with me, But right now I'm waiting to see what happens with this strike but I'm keeping on promoting Starship Troopers 3 which is just a joy and a pleasure.