Actor John Fricker

Heidi Vella caught up with Your Highness actor, John Fricker, to find out
how it felt working alongside the likes of James Franco and Natalie Portman in
his first blockbuster movie and why it was fun playing a wild five-headed hydra
yielding sadist.

If you had to compare Your Highness to another film what would it
be?

Somewhere between Labyrinth and Meet The Feebles – an odd combination, but
hilarious all the same.

Tell us, in your own words, the plot for your new movie Your Highness…

The movie is based around two brother princes: the perfect, damsel-rescuing, cyclops-fighting
Fabious and his not-so-perfect younger brother Thadeous. When Fabious returns
from his latest quest with his future bride, Belladonna, in tow you can tell
the perfect picture of happiness is going to go a bit wrong!

You play a rather unusual character.

Marteetee is the king of a race of strange mountain folks known as the ‘White
People’. He is definitely something of a sadist, with his special arena
for battles to the death, his strict policy on semi-nudity and love of the
finer things in life. It was fantastic to play such an untamed, wild dictator.

Tell us more about this ‘five-headed hydra’ your character wields…

Well, he’s a little bit magical, Marteetee. I wouldn’t want to spoil the
surprise of exactly how the hydra is created, but it involves a cauldron of
magic goo and some flexible fingers.

You star alongside James Franco
and Natalie Portman, were there any star struck moments?

It was immensely exciting. It still is. To see my name in the same cast
list as these household names is such a compliment. I got wobbly knees meeting
everyone for the first time. I do recall calling my dad after my first day on
set and saying, “I’ve just spent the whole day shouting at Natalie
Portman.”

What was it like having your fingers lopped off by Portman?

If anyone was going to lop them off I’m glad it was her. I couldn’t have asked
for a nicer person to mutilate me.

Can we expect to see you in more similar
roles?

I’ve just finished filming a British comedy, called How To Become a Criminal
Mastermind, which I’m really excited about. And, like James Franco and Natalie
Portman, I’ve gone viral and involved myself with a couple of comedy outfits –
Dillan Rankin and CAFLT TV. Two very different styles of comedy, but both with
some fantastic output.

Can you give us any gossip from the set?

Actually, for a film that’s full of naughty rudeness, everyone was unforgivably
well behaved. Terribly disappointing, I know!