An ‘Overnight Success’ 20 Years In The Making, Chukwudi Iwuji Steals The Show In ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3’

“I have a keen awareness of the fine line between getting a bite of the apple and not,” explained Chukwudi Iwuji, the seasoned actor who steals the show as arch-villain The High Evolutionary in Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. “For all the work we’ve put in, you see the product of the 20 years of experience in The High Evolutionary. I hope you see that in every part I’ve played, but you still need that slice of luck, that subjective unicorn who could drag you from the shadows into the light. Mine has been James Gunn, and there’s no bigger person to do that.”

Gunn previously worked with Iwuji when the actor was cast as Clemson Murn on the acclaimed HBO Max show Peacemaker. Having starred in many TV shows, films, and stage productions over the last two decades, the DC IP catapulted the actor into the spotlight. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 takes Iwuji’s success to a whole new level.

“There’s nothing like 20 years of experience for you to understand how lucky it is just to have that one person decide, ‘Okay, that’s the person I want,’ and in my case with James, twice,” he added.

With the final Guardians film in the trilogy landing in theaters just days after the start of the Hollywood writers’ strike, Iwuji was happy to highlight the importance and value of scribes.

“My work begins and ends in the scripts,” he affirmed. “James is an extraordinary writer, and that’s a big part of why this works. It’s more than 50 percent of it, and I really hope it gets resolved soon because writers are such a big part of the creative process.

“As someone that has come through Shakespeare, I look for the same clues in the writing, whether it’s the classics or James Gunn with Peacemaker and Guardians or Barry Jenkins with The Underground Railroad. I know how reliant I am on the scripts, and I can never deny that. I hope that they come to an agreement soon so we can keep making magic.”

Audiences and critics have praised Iwuji’s standout performance, something he’s aware of, although he has stopped short of reading reviews. However, the actor will do it eventually.

“Coming from the theatre world, I fear nothing more than reading reviews when doing a play. You can have 20 great reviews, but you’ll fixate on the one person who thought you weren’t anything special,” he mused. “Even the good ones, God help you if you read those and someone mentions how well you do a certain moment in a play and that moment will never be good again because we are aware of it. I’m so aware of my emotional fragility around how my work is received that I prefer to give a distance before I delve in.”

Iwuji continued, “It has nothing to do with reviewers or critics or audience’s response; that’s just my reaction. I’m aware people find this guy terrifying because friends have been reaching out to me and, whether I like it or not, sending me reviews. I’m aware that he’s having an impact, but I am surprised at the level of impact, although that’s how it should be. You want it to go down well, but you don’t know how well it will go down, so I’m pleasantly surprised.

“I want to give the movie some time, space, and distance with maybe have a job or two in between, and then I will delve deeply into reading what people felt, but right now, it’s enough to know that it is having an impact out there in the zeitgeist.”

In a recent press conference, Iwuji revealed that he used classical music to find his machiavellian character, The High Evolutionary. However, there were other inspirations.

“Gary Oldman, Alan Rickman, Denzel Washington, I looked to all of them,” the classically trained Nigerian-British actor enthused. “I’m on record as saying that my early childhood games weren’t imaginary creatures and that kind of thing; they were reenacting things I’d seen on TV and film. Richard Harris, Richard Burton, I just watched these guys, and without consciously doing it, like Trigorin in The Seagull, I was storing this treasure trove of experiences in the back of my head.

“There were moments when I was doing The High Evolutionary, and I would think of Gary Oldman in Léon: The Professional or Dracula or Alan Rickman’s stillness in the Harry Potter films. Look at Sir Anthony Hopkins and the lyricism of his voice as Hannibal Lecter too. Also, James wrote this amazing character, I wanted to bring it to life, but there’s a subconscious, the imagination of that child who gathered all these wonderful blueprints.”

Writer-director Gunn rightly knew Iwuji was perfect for the pivotal role in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and while showrunning Peacemaker, asked the actor to audition for it. The process was a surprise but an experience Iwuji described as “amazing.”

“I wish every screen test audition could be like that,” he enthused. “James basically said, ‘I want you to do this. We’re going to get together and do a tape and send it to (President of Marvel Studios) Kevin Feige so they can all look at it.’ It took several weeks to set up and initially felt like it would be a very intimate thing,” the actor recalled. “I thought it would be James with a camera, we’d some scenes, and he’d send it. When it came to the time, it turned into this whole production number of contracts and NDAs, and they built a set on the Warner Brothers. Television set for Peacemaker for this Marvel project. All those people who think they don’t work together, that’s not the case.”

Iwuji continued, “What was great about it for me was that it was a screen test for one. It was mine to lose. It wasn’t like walking into a room and seeing several versions of you, and it’s down to the last three or four; James had decided I was the right actor, and this was a chance to show them exactly why. For me, it was like two and a half hours of workshopping, so almost like doing theater again.

“We did about three scenes. James gave me direction, and an actor was reading with me, so it was all as close to the real thing as possible. I know it’s logistically impossible, but if only every audition were like that. My biggest dream would be never to have to audition again, but if I need to, I’d love it to be like that because it was wonderful.”

Marvel revealed Iwuji’s The High Evolutionary to fans at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2022. While other cast members wore regular clothes, James Gunn brought the actor out wearing his costume and prosthetics, and the crowd went wild.

“We had finished filming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in April, so I put him to bed, but it was good to be back in the suit. I thought I’d be turning up with my denim jacket and jeans,” he confessed. “The recall for the character wasn’t difficult at all because I lived with him for several months, but it was bizarre, sitting in the hotel room and having that prosthetic back on. Being in that half-world of reality and filming was genuinely terrifying.”

Getting Iwuji from A to B without spoiling the surprise was a feat in itself.

“They moved me under this massive cloak,” the actor laughed. “I know it’s old hat for some people, but I found it exciting and cool. I was surrounded by bodyguards, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is as important as I’ve ever felt.'”

The actor remains hopeful that Marvel’s Multiverse will mean that it’s not the last time he will have the opportunity to be The High Evolutionary or some version of the character.

“You’ll have to speak to Kevin Feige about that, but would I be open to it? Absolutely. Could we see another version? Like you said, in the multiverse, absolutely. Do I know if we will? I have no idea.”

Iwuji concluded, “I’ve just scratched the surface with this guy. I’ve had this opportunity that has gone extremely well, and I’ve thoroughly loved doing it, so there’s no way I wouldn’t jump at the opportunity of donning that outfit again.”