JAMES WOODS (Hades) serves up a sizzling performance as the quick-scheming, acid-tongued hot head in charge of the Underworld who concocts some rather grand plans to take over Mount Olympus.
"Doing a voice for a Disney animated film makes you feel like you're a kid again," says Woods. "It makes you feel like the first time you were an actor and you were so amazed at what you're able to do and that somebody was actually paying you to do it. This experience has been as fresh and as new as any I've ever had in my career. It's just been fun since day one and I'm really glad that this magic has touched my life.
"I never realized how much the actors get to create their roles," notes the actor. "We get to create and ad-lib and come up with crazy lines. Everybody knows it's working if we're laughing. And if we're not laughing, then we think of something better. When I first came in for the part of Hades, I was feeling kind of silly that day, so I did him like a big Hollywood agent selling some guy on a bus-and-truck tour of some cheesy play. And for some reason, it stuck. And the more we did this kind of insane, loopy 'from-the-hip' stuff, the funnier it became to us. It's a great group effort and the Disney team is a great family to be a part of."
Throughout his numerous recording sessions, Woods got to work closely with Nik Ranieri, the supervising animator responsible for Hades. "It was funny actually creating the character with Nik, who is doing this wonderful, magical part," says
Woods. "We had this nice rhythm going together where I would say the lines and he would supply those extra animation gestures that make character so entertaining on screen."
As far as working by himself in a recording booth, Woods jokes, "It's rather difficult because you have to respond to things that aren't happening. On the other hand, it's every actor's dream to have the stage all to himself without the other actors to work with."
A veteran of such acclaimed films as "Casino" and "Nixon" as well as telefilms including "Indictment: The McMartin Trial" and his tour de force performance in HBO's "Citizen Cohn," Woods has had much experience portraying controversial real-life figures -- a penchant which began with the role of a cop killer in "The Onion Field." He most recently received an Academy Award® nomination for his portrayal of a quintessential bigot/murderer in last year's drama "The Ghosts of Mississippi" and strong reviews for his work in "Killer: A Journal of Murder." His upcoming films include the Martin Scorsese-produced comedy "Kicked In The Head" and Robert Zemeckis' sci-fi thriller "Contact."
Woods began his acting career while attending the fine arts college -- Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As he studied political science on full scholarship, he still managed to appear in over 36 plays at M.I.T., Harvard and the Theatre Company of Boston. He made his Broadway debut in "Borstal Boy" and followed up with "Saved" (for which he won an Obie Award and the Clarence Derwent Award for Most Promising Actor) off-Broadway. Other New York stage credits include "Finishing Touches," "Green Julia" and "Moonchildren."
In film, he made his debut in Elia Kazan's "The Visitors" followed by a small, but memorable part as Barbra Streisand's college boyfriend in "The Way We Were." His early major starring roles were in "Alex and the Gypsy" and "Night Moves." But Woods' breakthrough role was that as Gregory Powell in "The Onion Field" which earned him a Golden Globe Award. Other film credits include "Eyewitness," "Once Upon a Time in America," "Videodrome," "Diggstown," "Against All Odds," "True Believer" and "The Specialist."
On television he has also appeared in Hallmark Hall of Fame's "All the Way Home," "My Name is Bill W." (won an Emmy Award), the landmark event "Holocaust," "Badge of the Assassin" and "The Boys."
For his work in "Citizen Cohn," one of the most enthusiastically reviewed performances in TV history, he was honored with the first American Television Award for Best Actor and a Peabody Award. His other accolades include an Academy
Award® for Best Actor nomination and the Independent Film Project Spirit Award for his work in "Salvador"; the Golden Globe, Golden Apple and Emmy Awards for Best Actor in "Promise" and also a Golden Globe nomination for NBC's "In Love and War."
