Danny Boyle’s28 Years Laterhas become one of the most talked about movies so far this year, and for a number of valid reasons. Unlike many other zombie-type films,28 Years Lateris full of surprises. Not only is it terrifying, but its emotional undercurrent and deep, meaningful messages were probably its most unexpected. Even itsending has fans scratching their heads in wonderment about its Jimmy Savile/Power Rangers-styled clan. Also, there probably aren’t many zombie films where the audience leaves the cinema sobbing, and this is what has made Boyle’s film so compelling.
However, amid chatter about what28 Years Later’s cliffhanger means forBoyle’s next movie,The Bone Temple, another hot topic is circling the film, and that’s the huge Alpha infected with a mutated version of the Rage Virus that made him super-strong. Standing at 6-foot-8-inches and named Samson (for a very good reason), viewers can’t get over how terrifying this fast and seemingly calculating new infected type is, as well as his eye-watering prosthetic attachment. The actor who plays Samson sheds some light on the Alpha leaders' possible backstory, as well as revealing the painful injury he sustained in real life while running through that heart-pounding train scene.
28 Years Later’s Samson Actor Recalls Painful On-Set Injury That Made Him Cry
In an interview withVariety, 41-year-old Chi Lewis-Parry, otherwise known as Samson, AKAThe Alpha Zombie in28 Years Later, reveals that he suffered an injury in one terrifying chase scene. Just after Isla (Jodie Comer) helps to deliver a baby from an infected woman, Samson shows up to claim the newborn. While ripping the head and spine out of poor Erik, Samson then chases Isla and Spike through the train carriage, but what fans didn’t know is that Lewis-Parry ended up catching his skin and tearing open a flesh wound. Although Parry says that the injury was nothing for Samson, it did make him cry.
“I’ve actually got a cool story about that scene. It was filmed in an actual reservoir in a tunnel and it was incredibly dark. And I managed to incur a little flesh wound. It was nothing for Samson, but made me cry! It was my own fault. I was running very fast and got to a point a little too early and got caught by one of the rifles on my leg. So I’ve got a nice bit of memorabilia, a little scar on my leg, which I’m very proud of.”
Parry, who wanted to be an actor since seeing the poster for “Big Trouble in Little China” in 1986, said that he had an idea of what he thinks Samson’s backstory is, even though nothing was stated about who he was before the outbreak. Parry said that he wrote a backstory in his notebook, which helped him “visualize his intentions and for him to be an Alpha”. Parry said that Samson would have helped to save other people when the Rage Virus first began and “sacrificed himself to protect others, thus he became an infected. It made him less of a monster for me.” Parry also touched upon his naked scenes, stating that he was legally required to wear prosthetics: “They were prosthetics. There’s a law that states, I think, because he’s [Alfie] a child, you’re allowed to have nudity, but it has to be fake nudity,” continuing, “It was to protect him. And, as well, I’m really friendly and am always hugging people. I wouldn’t have been doing that if I was fully in the nip!”.
Recently, speaking toThe Hollywood Reporter,Danny Boyle said that fans of Samson will get to see much more of him when the sequel,28 Years Later: The BoneTemple, arrives next year. “The character you saw at the end of the first film, Jack O’Connell, he’s a major character in the second film, with Ralph Fiennes — and the big Samson guy,” Boyle said.
