Constantine (2005)

For the brief but critical role of Balthazar’s boss, Satan himself, Lawrence found that his take on the character synchronized perfectly with that of internationally known Swedish actor Peter Stormare, right down to the white suit. 

“The devil has been depicted so many times in literature and art that we all recognize him instantly,” says Stormare. “He usually has hooves and he’s a bit hairy, dark and horned. In my first conversation with Francis I said let’s do it without a lot of makeup and prosthetics; let’s just use my face and let the audience use their own imagination. When he walks down the streets of Los Angeles or any other city in the world he should look like the neighbor next door – a little odd, perhaps, if you look carefully, but nothing overtly dangerous.”

This echoed the director’s own sentiments. “What I felt I’d never seen was simply a bored, unemotional, kind of creepy guy along the lines of Fagan in Oliver Twist – in a word, insouciant,” says Lawrence. “He doesn’t need to get angry, he doesn’t need to make a scene or call attention to himself – he’s Satan, after all.”

Rounding out the main cast is Max Baker, who recently starred in Simon Wells’ sci-fi adventure The Time Machine, as Constantine’s friend Beeman, a scholar with a talent for acquiring ancient religious artifacts with powers to heal, protect or destroy. 

Procuring such obscure items as a strip from Moses’ cloak, a screech beetle from Amityville or stones from the road to Damascus, he presses these potent relics into Constantine’s hands because, not being a warrior himself, it’s the only way he can help. “He’s a bit like Q is to James Bond,” remarks Lawrence, “the research guy, the one who keeps him stocked with one-of-a-kind supplies.”

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