Michael Rooker Discusses 'Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer'

Actor Michael Rooker appeared at the Egyptian Theatre for a 25^th anniversary screening of his debut movie, "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer." Even with the passing of time, the movie remains as disturbing as ever. Rooker discussed how he got cast in "Henry" and of what went on during its making. He also remarked that this was the first time he had seen the movie since it came out.

Michael said he started out as a theater actor in Chicago having graduated from the Goodman School of Drama. At the time casting began for "Henry," he was in a play called "Sea Marks," and its director was doing the prosthetics for it. Michael said he didn't care if the script was good or bad, and that he just wanted to do a movie. Doing "Henry" was a test for him to see how working while shooting out of sequence would work for him.

For research, Michael said he read several books about serial killers that were written by doctors, but found them to be "mostly crap." He ended up getting more from the Texas Rangers who interviewed the man "Henry" that the movie was more or less based on, Henry Lee Lucas. Also, the movie's director John McNaughton asked him and the other actors to write character sketches. Michael didn't want to do that though because he did that endlessly in college and was now "sick of writing stuff down." Instead, he recorded an audio tape of himself speaking in character.

During shooting, Michael tried staying in character all day long. This led to a lot of strange times on set as actors and the crew were not sure if they were talking to him or Henry. McNaughton also got Michael a room to hide out from the actors and crew, and it was filled with mirrors which Michael later covered with trash bags. He stayed in the room all day until he was called to set.

The budget for "Henry" was a mere $120,000 according to Rooker, and the guy selling him cigarettes towards the movie's end was the one who financed it. Being an independent film, they had no permits and had to hide whenever the cops were in the area. Once they were gone, the crew went right back to filming. They did however get busted during a pivotal scene when Henry is throwing a body into the river. While shooting, 4 police cars came out of nowhere, and the policemen got out and asked:

"Are you throwing bodies into the river?"

Once they looked in the bag Michael was about to hurl over the side, they started laughing uncontrollably and left the crew alone.

"Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer" opened a lot of doors for Michael Rooker, and it even scored him a role in John Sayles' "Eight Men Out." His terrifying performance is still embedded in the minds of so many filmmakers, and they can't get it out of their heads. But he's had a great career which has allowed him to play both good and bad guys. Michael still has many great performances left to give, but don't count on him doing a "Henry" sequel (unless they can turn it into a musical).

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