Laz Alonzo has gone full-on conspiracy theorist. The D.C. native and Howard University graduate is theorizing on how aliens constructing Egypt's Giza Pyramids is not a zany concept.
“The French came up with a study where they say that the biggest pyramid has these columns that goes three miles deep into the Earth's core,” says the 51-year-old thespian. “What human created that?”
He’s got the homework to support his theory stating that a museum, less that 30 minutes away, displays hieroglyphics of beings with elongated heads and oval eyes. Those certainly aren’t homosapien characteristics.
His theory is somewhat in jest, but not off-brand for someone who is finding success with superheroes and the supernatural. Alanzo, who plays Mother’s Milk on popular superhero series The Boys, is reunited with Guy Ritchie in Fountain of Youth (The two previously worked on 2021's Wrath of Man). The action-adventure film is about a crew of art history buffs who have been hired to find the eternal fountain for a terminally ill billionaire. What ensues is exactly what you expect to see when everlasting power and everlasting life collide.
LEVEL sat with Laz to discuss the film, his favorite piece of art, and the impossible task of choosing between Steven Spielberg classics Goonies and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
What is your favorite work of art?
I would say nature. As much as man tries to replicate what God created, that was the one true, perfect artist — the ocean, all the animals that live in the ocean, plant and herbal medicine and science, how everything is intricately connected. Nature is perfection, and it's alive and breathing. Without it, we cease to exist. So to me, that is my favorite work of art is what was here before we put our thumbprint on it.
What jumped off of the page for you about your character, Patrick.
First of all the page that it was written on, because the fact that Guy [Ritchie] was doing a film and invited me to come play with him on this action adventure movie after having done another film with him a few years before called Wrath of Man, that meant a lot to me. But also I get to be in this phase of his life where his storytelling has become a lot grander.
How has his work expanded?
His earlier work was very gritty and grimy; it was grungier. As he has evolved and grown as a director in this industry, his movies have gotten bigger, more colorful and more beautiful. We were in four or five countries — Thailand, Vienna, London, I think they shot in Scotland, Egypt. We were in Egypt for almost a month.
What’s his directing style?
He's in constant search of the reality in a scene. He wants the scene to feel as real and as unrehearsed as possible.
Sort of improvisational?
When you're in a situation in real life and you have to figure things out on the fly, it's usually pretty messy. And you might drop something or you might break something or it is frazzled. He's a master at being able to authentically create that on set. And the same thing goes with the words. If you study his films and his scenes, the actors always look like they're searching for words. They're searching for dialogue. They might be a little nervous or they have to think about what they're going to say.
There’s a section in the film where the goons can’t penetrate the structure and are on the verge of using dynamite to break through. It reminded me how callous humans are with beauty.
Giza [pyramids] are not in dilapidated shape because of Mother Nature. Those things were built to survive the test of time. They're in dilapidated shape because throughout thousands and of years, all the way back to Napoleon, people have been trying to blow it up. There are chunks of the pyramid that are missing. That didn't happen because they weren't built properly. That happened because they were blown up by dynamite. And so there's a historical relevance to that example that you brought up, and that's how strong these things continue to stand in spite of humanity's greed.
There’s a line in the film regarding the Fountain of Youth: if you’re not ready for everything, don’t drink. What does that mean?
That line means that there is a responsibility for everything that you do. And it could be positive or not. You look at all these pharmaceutical commercials on tv, and they have these people dancing the Macarena while this guy is reading six pages worth of side effects for this one drug that's supposed to alleviate one symptom, but potentially harm 30 or 40 others. And that's basically the message of the Fountain of Youth: you finally got it, and you can drink from it, but just know anything is possible.
Last question: you’re introducing your kid to action-adventure based in history. Are you showing them Goonies or Raiders of the Lost Ark first?
You're using two of my staple movies against me. I would have to go with Raiders of the Lost Ark. Harrison Ford, to me, is one of the OGs that defined what a leading man [should be], confident, strong, quirky, funny, can laugh at himself, be vulnerable, but still get the job done with his fear. He had this fear of snakes. He wasn't Superman, but that wouldn't stop him from jumping in front of a moving train to save one of his pals. I would say John Krasinski mirrors a lot of what [Harris Ford did]. I don't know if you've seen him in person, but he's probably about six three. He's solid. But when he talks, it's like he's cracking jokes. He's not imposing. He leads with a smile. And that's what reminds me of Harrison Ford and Indiana Jones and Raiders of Lost Ark.