Anyway, I was also able to ask William Hurt a few questions, so of course I asked about “The Incredible Hulk.”

While I didn’t get anything major on Hulk, I did find out some very cool info nonetheless. It seems that William is talking with his “Vantage Point” director Pete Travis about doing a Nelson Mandela movie, and it looks like they’re going to try and get Morgan Freeman to play Mandela. He also mentioned that Don Cheadle might be in the movie.

After we spoke to William Hurt we talked with director Pete Travis. While everyone in the room tried to find out more info on the Mandela project, he wasn’t talking. It’s possible that William Hurt let more info out than he should’ve, but with the writer’s strike hopefully getting resolved, perhaps official info on this project is just around the corner.

Anyway, here’s the selected quotes that I pulled from the full interview. If you’d like to listen to the audio click here. Just know the audio is the entire interview, not the selected quotes.

Question: So you’re going to Europe to shoot a movie?

William Hurt: Yeah, I’m going to work with Julie Delpy on her next film which is called The Countess.

Question: You play the bad guy in that?

William Hurt: I don't know. In the feudal ages, I think everyone was pretty much basically bad. Or maybe we're all still bad and pretending that we’re not, I don't know.

Q: Well you’re the bad guy in Hulk.

William Hurt: In The Hulk he's not a bad guy either.

Q: He’s not a villain?

William Hurt: Nooooo. He's conflicted (laughter).

Q: And you loved the Hulk when you were a kid.

William Hurt: I did, I did. I loved it. I didn't blink. I jumped right at it and then I find out after I signed up that it's one of my children's favorite…he knows every version, every edition, every episode —

Q: So you’re the cool dad.

William Hurt: I don't know if I'm cool. It depends on the day when your kid's a teenager.

Q: How old is your son?

William Hurt: That one. He's 18. I have 4 children.

Q: So did you always want to play a comic book hero?

William Hurt: I love broad characters. I love the broad strokes. It's fantastic, as long as you get a 360 degree turn. It doesn't matter — it's like a different painting. I was asking a friend of mine — give me a subject to paint and give me what paints you want me to use, what platform you want me to paint on, what form do you want, what style do you want. She just started talking. Same is true of acting. And a cartoon can be great. Great. In fact Hulk was great.

Q: Could you talk a little bit about your character in the film?

William Hurt: In Hulk. General Ross, father of the paramour of Bruce, so-called nemesis of The Hulk. Wants Hulk's power but is humiliated by Hulk's conscience. He actually sees and occasionally recognizes that it's more developed than his own, even though he's a patriot and a warrior for his country, has sacrificed immensely for that purpose, but at the expense of — at times all of his humanity, which he occasionally recovers glimpses of. Interesting, you know.

Q: So do you know what you’re doing next?

William Hurt: The Julie Delpy movie.

Q: Is your beard for that?

William Hurt: Yeah. And then, actually Pete Travis and I are talking about doing a film on Mandela in South Africa and I'm really chomping at the bit to get started on that.

Q: Is that the one that Morgan Freeman is going to be doing?

William Hurt: I hope so.

Q: Cause he’s been talking about that for ages.

William Hurt: And Don Cheadle.

Q: Who would you be playing?

William Hurt: I would be a poly sci professor who was involved in the back scene negotiations which took place mostly in England before Mandela was let out of prison.