When it comes to actors who really understand their characters, Steve Agee is one of the best. Currently playing John Economos on HBO’s Peacemaker, we first met him as two separate characters in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad. But now, we’ve spent the first season of Peacemaker watching as Chris Smith mocked him and called him “dyed beard” all because they had to dye Steve Agee’s actual beard and he hated it, and more.
We got to talk with Agee about the series and the upcoming episodes and it’s an incredible look into how Agee understands both Economos and King Shark and what makes him so talented.
Steve Agee loves his characters
John Economos is the kind of character who doesn’t get to really do much but be the guy in the chair. But when he murders a gorilla with a chainsaw, he brings it up enough times for everyone to know that he murdered a gorilla with a chainsaw. And Agee talked a bit about that development for Economos as a character.
“Yeah, it’s the highlight of his career, I think,” He said. “Like John Economos, he’s the guy at the computer. And you can see in an earlier episode when Adebayo comes walking in and she’s super amped up cause they got shot at and she’s like, oh my God, they shot at us. Have you ever been shot at, and it cuts to Economos really bummed out going, no, like you can tell he wants the adventure. He wants to be a hero, but that’s too far outside of his comfort zone. So like he’s really gonna hold on. He holds on to the fact that he killed a gorilla with a chainsaw and then he beat down Judomaster after Judomaster kicked Peacemaker’s ass.”
And while Economos is a fun character for Agee and one that I love watching him play, it isn’t his only DC character. He was the on-set double for King Shark and who we see onscreen when we’re watching it. Now, for someone like me, my love of King Shark is weird. I’m terrified of sharks and frequently have a very physical reaction to seeing one. But I saw King Shark and said, “I would die for him,” which has resulted in me getting a Funko—the same one that Agee has, which he gladly shared. But he also shared his hope for more King Shark in the future.
“A hundred percent. I had such a good time shoot shooting as King Shark. I became very attached to him and watching the finish project, I became more attached because I was watching my mannerisms, you know, like every time you see him running and pulling up his shorts, that’s me pulling up my shorts, like, you know, it’s really disturbing to see a giant guy in just a unitard. So they gave me shorts to wear over it,” Agee said so now picturing him in a leotard with those little plaid shorts can delight us all.
You can see our full interview (and Funkos) below!)
Peacemaker airs on HBO every Thursday.
(image: HBO)
