Ray Fisher suits up for ‘Justice League’

In life imitating art: 29-year-old American stage actor Ray Fisher is just as elusive as his onscreen alter ego, the half-human, half-machine superhero, Cyborg. Justice League trailers tell us very little about the character, as he alternates appearances with the Flash’s comic interjections, Aquaman’s badass-ery, Batman’s brooding stills and Wonder Woman’s overall awesomeness. DC fans, of course, know exactly who Cyborg is. A genius-level, half-robot technopath born from a freak explosion at S.T.A.R. Labs, Cyborg, also known as football player Victor Stone, may just be the most relatable of the ensemble. He’s struggling with being glued to technology and being constantly connected to a stream of information he never really asked for. Sound familiar? But that’s about all we know about the character — the part he’ll play in the upcoming Justice League film is still a mystery, even to Ray himself, who, as of press time, hasn’t seen the final cut. In this interview with Supreme, we get to know more about the actor behind the ‘borg and his newfound Borg Life.

He’s a comic book fan — and likes Marvel, too.

“No brainer, DC!” obviously, was his response when asked the ultimate geek question. “But I like a lot of Marvel characters. I was huge fan of most of the animated series growing up in the golden era of ‘90s superhero animation. I didn’t care who was producing — it was much more about the specific heroes that I connected with. I’ve become more of a comic book fan in recent years, especially after landing the role of Cyborg. Growing up, I didn’t have many comics, but I grew to love these characters through their film and television universes. I’ve been geeking out about these superheroes ever since I could tie a towel around my neck like a cape and jump off my grandmother’s porch. It’s wild to see how the world has changed for the betterment of geek culture. I’m proud to be a part of it.  

 His theater background prepared him for all that green screen.

“I think it really dawned on me that I wanted to be an actor when I got out of high school. I did high school musicals during my last couple years in school and developed a liking for the sense of community that came along with it. I always enjoyed performing and decided to give it a serious try. I completed a theater conservatory program in New York City and started grinding away at it.”

With Justice League being Ray’s first film straight out of theater, all the onstage training is still pretty fresh and came in handy during filming. “Theater definitely prepared me for Cyborg in the best way possible. All of the green screen definitely takes me to my minimalist theater days. You really gotta draw on your imaginative resources when someone says, ‘You see that the orange tennis ball? That’s a Parademon, okay? GO!’

 He auditioned for the role of a half-robot hero called Oscar.

“I auditioned specifically for Cyborg, but at the time they were using a code name for the character...I think it was Oscar,” he said. Director Zack Snyder called him personally to tell him that he got the part. “I think I almost scared him off with how loudly I was screaming into the phone when I got the news. The process was really painless on my end, but I think that had a lot to do with the way Zack ran things. The process always felt like a fluid conversation, which can be a luxury in this business.” 

 He is now 223 lbs. — definitely in quarterback-slash-superhero fighting form.

Before he became a metahuman, Victor Stone was a football quarterback just seeking his dad’s approval. Ray had to bulk up for the role —something that’s not necessarily outside his comfort zone. 

He said, “I looked forward to the training a lot. I’ve had asthma since I was a kid and excercise has been one of the ways for me to keep it at bay. I’d heard rumors about how rigorous the training processes for Zack’s films were, but I was up for the challenge. My motto in the gym was, ‘It may not get it done quickly, but I’ll get it done.’ The football training for the film was the biggest learning curve for me. I had never really played football growing up, but Zack’s son, Eli, helped choreograph the football sequence you saw in the trailer and really got me acclimated to the game. We even had the London Warriors, one of the UK’s premier American football leagues, come and help out with the shoot and they absolutely crushed it!

“My trainers, Mark Twight and Stu Walton, put a lot of focus on building mass and strength. I was coming off a long hiatus from weight training —I was down to about 190lbs. Getting back into the flow of things was rough at first. I had been running and doing cardio in the months leading up to it, but this was a completely different beast than I was used to. I was eating five meals a day and was in the gym five days a week for about two hours. By the time we were done, I was 223lbs — definitely large enough to portray Victor Stone in his all-star college quarterback prime.” 

 He took cues from another experimental Victor.

“The most interesting thing I learned about Cyborg is that his story is eerily reminiscent of Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein. You have two highly intelligent beings — brought back to life with the aid of science — who despise and condemn their creator’s scientific egotism. Not to mention, Cyborg’s real name is Victor. *wink, wink* The difference between the two is that Frankenstein’s monster exacts revenge on his creator and Cyborg decides to try to do good and save the world with the cards he’s dealt.

I tried to bring as much of that as I could into the portrayal of the Cyborg to really give him somewhere to go over the course of these films. What appeals to me are characters that change by degrees over time. I feel that if you grow a character too much and too quickly, you run the risk of depleting specific material for their journey which can make them stagnant or sitcom-ish pretty fast.”

 Cyborg may be half-robot, but he has a lot of feelings.

When asked if Cyborg was going to be “fun and witty” or “brooding and dark,” Ray said: “I haven’t seen the final product, but I trust what will be put together will have a bit of all of those qualities. Cyborg is juggling a lot in this film: dealing with the loss of his mother and his body in one fell swoop, mending his relationship with his father, getting accustomed to his new and mysterious powers, intergrating himself into the Justice League, re-intergrating himself into the world, and, not to mention, defeating the intergalactic being that threatens to destroy all life as we know it. Easy, right?”

 While playing a half-machine superhero, he was also half-blind.

“Practically, the toughest thing about playing Cyborg was not being to use my left eye during the shoot. The eyepiece they had me wear would cast the cybernetic red light, but the device itself would almost completely impair my vision on that side. The irony was that I had to play that eye as if it was all-seeing when, in reality, it actually made me pretty blind!”

 Cyborg is so relatable, Ray drew emotions from his own experiences.

“I think it’s impossible to draw from anything other than your own emotions when acting. Even if you’re choices are inspired by other people/things/situations, the interpretation and emotionality of the situation still has to flow through YOU. You are the instrument. What I had to do for Cyborg was break down as much of the character as I could into specific and relatable ideas and go from there, the most relatable being picking oneself up and rebuilding. He has lost more than most people will ever know, but he still has the courage to stand proud and face the troubles of the world head on.”

 Cyborg may just be the hero we need right now.

“Cyber-terrorism is sited as being one of the world’s most prevalent issues. If people wanted to knock over a bank or steal from you, they can do it online with the click of button. Cyborg could put a stop to all of that with a mere thought! I really believe our heavy and continued reliance on technology will make Cyborg one of the most relevant superheroes of the 21st century.”

  Batman or Superman?

“Wonder Woman.”

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Justice League is showing in Philippine Cinemas on Nov. 16. AsiaPOP Comic Con 2017 is ongoing until tomorrow, Aug. 27. Photo courtesy of Warner Brothers Pictures.