Legendary thesp Malcolm McDowell is quite the busy man these days, with no less than six upcoming films and Adult Swim series “Metalocalypse” (not to mention his recurring role on “Entourage”) keeping him on his toes. Yet he still had time to attend last week’s Saturn Awards in Burbank, and he stopped to talk to B-D about new indie horror/comedy Suing the Devil, in which he plays the titular character himself. Where did he find his inspiration to play the Dark Lord? Read on to find out.
“From my point of view – I play the Devil – [the film] is about a loser that can’t get his act together or his life together and blames everybody else for his loser-ness,” said the grizzled actor, sporting a pair of the most intense blue eyes I’ve ever seen. “He’s a big loser, and so he of course blames the Devil and he goes to court to sue the Devil. And I answer the summons. And so it’s really a comedy in a courtroom.”

According to McDowell, though, this being a comedy it allowed for a lighter interpretation of the pitchfork-wielder:

“You know, I’m not into the religious connotations of what good and evil are. In fact the Devil I played is not really evil. I mean, the Devil really is charming, seductive. I mean, it’s like Naziism…charming, seductive, all these things. It’s just the underbelly of angst…but it was really actually a terrific script and I had a ball.”

In the film Luke O’Brien, a washed-up janitor turned night law student, decides to sue Satan for $8 trillion dollars. On the last day before Luke files a default judgment, Satan appears to defend himself. On Satan’s legal team are 10 of the country’s best trial lawyers. The entire world watches on Legal TV to see who will win the Trial of the Century.