Mark Dacascos as Eric Draven/The Crow in The Crow: Stairway to Heaven. Photo copyright of Alliance Communications.
In today's Sci-Fi Blast From The Past, actor/martial arts expert and Iron Chef MC Mark Dacascos talks about his work in the syndicated action/adventure series The Crow: Stairway to Heaven.
People once believed that when a person dies a crow carries his or her soul to the Land of the Dead, but Eric Draven has returned to Earth to seek the justice that will grant him eternal peace. The Alliance Communications television series The Crow: Stairway to Heaven picks up the story line from the 1994 feature film The Crow starring the late Brandon Lee. When Eric, a brilliant young rock musician, and the woman he loves, Shelly Webster, are brutally murdered, Eric’s spirit is possessed by The Crow, an unstoppable force against evil.
World-renowned martial arts expert and actor Mark Dacascos brings a powerful physical presence and a smoldering sexuality to his portrayal of the rocker-turned-crime-fighter. “Eric is an extremely passionate individual and, obviously, very much in love with Shelly,” explains Dacascos. “When he comes back, of course, all he wants is revenge. As The Crow he wants nothing more than to visit upon the muggers exactly what they gave to him and Shelly. As the series goes on, however, Eric comes to see that it’s not about just him and Shelly. He realizes that everybody and everything is in some way connected directly or indirectly and that his every action affects others and, ultimately, the universe.
“The cool thing about the show is that if you want to watch it just for the action or the music or the special effects or whatever, all of that’s there in every episode,” he notes. “If you dig deeper, though, you’ll discover that the story lines also contain underlying themes examining our philosophical values and various religious and moral beliefs. So the programme appeals to a wide audience, it just depends what you’re into.”
Dacascos was on location working on a movie when his manager and agent were contacted about the Eric Draven/Crow role by one of the show’s executive producers Edward R. Pressman and its co-producer Jeff Most. “We met with them and a few executives from PolyGram Television [the series’ American distributors]. We discussed the concept of the show, how they would handle character development and numerous other issues relating to its production.
“It all sounded great to us,” continues the actor. “They wanted me to come back to audition and that was quite exciting. We actually did it on film. They hired a director specifically for the audition and also brought in a makeup artist, hair stylist and wardrobe specialist to give me the look of The Crow. I read four or five scenes with a couple of different actors in as many hours. It was like a normal shooting day on the set only I wasn’t required to do any action sequences. I guess they knew I could handle the physical demands that went along with the role but had to be sure I could carry lines and so forth. So I did all that and a short time later they offered me the part.”
Steve Eramo
As noted above, photo copyright of Alliance Communication, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!
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