A little over 30 years after it hit theaters, Paul Verhoeven's Total Recall continues to capture the imagination of science fiction fans. The film, based on a Philip K. Dick story titled "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale," takes place in a far-flung future where humanity has settled on distant planets. Despite the war raging on Mars, Arnold Schwarzenegger's Douglas Quaid finds himself inexplicably drawn to the red planet, only to discover he is caught up in a web of lies and deceit that leaves him questioning his very identity.
Speaking to CBR, Total Recall star Marshall Bell -- who plays a dual role as George and Kuato, the mutant leader of the Mars resistance -- reflected on his experience with the film. He detailed the complex prosthetics work that went into his role, as well as how he ended up voicing Kuato. He broke down how the film's grittiness cemented it in pop culture and recalled what it was like to work alongside Schwarzenegger in two back-to-back films. He also revealed why he will always follow Verhoeven, what modern viewers can take away from the movie and more.
CBR: When you got the role, did you even suspect the film would take off the way it has?
Marshall Bell: You know, to be perfectly honest with you, I went in to interview for the role. I auditioned for the role of George, and I'd met [director] Paul [Verhoeven] before, on Robocop, just sort of briefly, but he didn't know me. We were in this room, and back then, audition rooms, they were big, wide rooms with no camera or anything. All I saw was about eight words for George. I mean, it was all -- you know, there was this long script, and then there was George.
To tell you the truth, when I auditioned for George, I didn't even have a vague clue that it was really all about Kuato. So that's the answer. In other words, I thought George was -- I couldn't conceive of Kuato at that time. So I came up with Kuato. I mean, it was there. [laughs] But the script was all kind of -- it's not like, if you read the script, it doesn't look like that, and it doesn't look like it looked in the movie. It's impossible to kind of extrapolate what was going to happen. So the answer is I had no idea about anything. No.
What do you think it is about Total Recall that makes it a sci-fi staple?
You know, what I think is special about it is, up to that time, with some exceptions, even in very horrible space stuff, space was kind of clean and very sanitary. Total Recall was very funky and dusty and everything. I think that the kind of the funk-ication of science fiction was something new and endearing to the public in some way, I think.
Even by today's standards, Total Recall's prosthetics work is pretty incredible. If you could, tell me a little about what that process looked like for you and how that animatronic was operated behind the scenes.
Well, the guy who was in charge of the prosthetics is really a lifelong friend of mine and a genius. A lot of people I knew knew him because he was pretty famous, as he'd done The Thing: Rob Bottin. When I got hired, I still didn't really have any concept of what I was getting into. [laughs] I'm being absolutely honest.
So I drove out to Azusa to his Let's Make Things studio out there and I went through this long, grueling process. I mean, I had to do a lot of prosthetics, and I'm not very good with live casts on the head. So they did a good job; that went off okay. Then the other stuff, which most people would have had trouble with, I had to douse myself here. You know, it was really elaborate -- extremely elaborate. I was out there a long time. Then, when I was out there and I realized what was going on, I realized, "Whoa, this is way bigger than I had anticipated when I was at the audition! Way bigger."
Then, when we got down to Churubusco, which was the studio where it was filmed, I played George for the first section of the film and I had no clue what the Kuato thing was gonna take. It was a week-long ordeal of getting into that apparatus. On the first day, I was in the makeup chair for nine hours, because it had to be very -- you know, it got less and less, but the amount of sleep I got that week, I think, was about an hour. So I was like gaga by the end of it. Yeah, I mean, the prosthetic thing was the thing that I most remember about about it. From the work standpoint, I remember it as much as I remember anything I've ever done.
How did you end up developing the voice for Kuato?
Paul interviewed other people! One actor, that was an age-old, venerated actor -- I'm not gonna say, because I so venerate him myself -- and then they decided to use me for Kuato. I was very honored and pleased that I can say that I was, when they say, "You're Kuato," and instead of just saying, "I'm George," I can say, "Yes, I am Kuato." [laughs]
It meant a lot to me to do that. We just went into the studio when I had to do Kuato and, you know, Paul's very specific about what he wants. So, if it's not what he wants, you're very aware of it immediately and you have to keep doing things until it is, and we kind of got it just by collaborating with Paul -- which there isn't any other choice but to collaborate with Paul.
George and Kuato meet a pretty brutal end. I'm interested to hear what filming looked like for you that day in particular.
Okay, that's very easy. The first time I went down there, I'm lying on top of the table, and I think it was my first work in the movie: I had to lie on top of the table, dead. You know, that's kind of hard, because you have to keep your eyes open and all that stuff. There were a lot of actors that I have great admiration for in the room -- a lot of actors. I had to be there, lying on the table, and then he comes in and kills Kuato. That was how that first happened.
Then, when I got shot, that was quite different. That was the action shot. I remember that too. Yeah, same guy. Listen, it was a lot of hard work, all of it and I hadn't realized it was going to be nearly. I'm really pleased that I'm able to say that, because we get confronted with hard work and I did it! All of it was a little bit grueling, actually except for the part when Kuato gets killed while I'm lying on top of the table. That's pretty easy.
You worked with Arnold Schwartzenegger basically back-to-back between Total Recall and Twins, which are two very different films in which you play very different roles. How would you compare those experiences working with him?
That was one of the reasons I wanted so much to go in on Total Recall and work on this, because... I love Arnold. I did at the time and I still do. I mean, I haven't seen him in many years now, because he's had other pursuits and all that stuff, but I was very keen on working with Arnold.
I'd just started at a very old age to be an actor, and for me to be in a movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger like Twins was a big deal! I mean, a big deal. And then for me to be able to get that kind of role where I was actually challenging Arnold Schwarzenegger like that, and various other people, it was just one of the big moves of my early career, really. Of course, he was very -- there was one moment in Twins where Ivan [Reitman], the director, was telling me to -- you know, at the end of the scene, I was supposed to kick a bag shut with my foot, and I forgot to do it about four times in a row, and they got kind of furious. Then the fifth time in a row, Arnold did it for me! [laughs] So I have nothing but good feelings toward Arnold, if that's what we're going toward.
If you could, tell me a little about working with Paul Verhoeven on both this film and Starship Troopers.
Well, I didn't work on Robocop. He saw everybody on Earth for Robocop, and I just went in and I met him that time. Then I met him again at the interview for Total Recall, and then I met him again on Starship Troopers. I mean, by that time, I knew him and my wife [Milena Canonero], who's a very well-known costume designer, who actually has four Oscars, she was gonna do the Crusades with him. She won an award at Berlin; they gave her an award. I think she's the first costume designer they ever gave the Golden Bear for Lifetime Achievement or something over there. Amazing Film Festival in Berlin. Paul was the presiding judge at the film festival, and he was very much a part of my life. I mean, I still consider him a huge part of my life and, you know, I'm devoted to him. So I would go in under any circumstances to see Paul Verhoeven, but in those days, I would have because he was a very interesting, huge factor, but I didn't know him and love him, because I didn't know him, but I do now.
Can you share a favorite memory from your experience with this film? Anything from your time on set to a fan reaction to the movie later on.
I mean, my favorite moment, I wouldn't be able to say! Everybody was working very, very hard, and my main -- let me see -- I had some very consequential moments. Well, my favorite moment might have been where I was wearing the apparatus for Kuato... Bottin says, "This is your apparatus." I said, "Well, okay, do I have to wear this whole heavy thing all day?" And they said "Well, no, you could put the head and everything on and then you don't have to wear the whole thing." I thought that was a good idea, and I said, "But here's the problem. There's no place for me to take care of my -- you know, when I drink water, I'll have needs. I have to go to the bathroom!" And so he says, "I'm afraid I can't deal with that." I said, "All you got to do is cut a hole in this foam wherever! Nobody's gonna see it!" Then there was a considerable amount of hand wringing and everything over that, and then that's what we did, and that was one of my favorite deals. So there was that.
Let me see -- there were so many favorite moments! I mean, one was nothing to do with the movie, but we all got in a van -- I mean, we didn't really have much time often. We went out and saw the Tenochtitlán and all that in Mexico City. I really love Mexico City because of the movie. Good Lord, I mean, I'm working with Arnold Schwarzenegger and eating Sacher tortes in his trailer, was one of my favorite moments. Being able to work for Paul Verhoeven was one of my favorite moments. I had a lot of favorite moments! Watching the beautiful puppeteers off with the wires hooked up to Kuato was one of my favorite moments.
Now, with 30 years of hindsight, what do you think fans today could take away from this film?
Oh, I think a lot, because as I said, it had a different approach towards style, and that was that it wasn't trying to -- it de-slick-ified space. You know, it was funky. There were a couple of -- Alien, The Dark Star had some of that. I mean, there was a funkiness to it, like you're out there and things aren't exactly hooked up properly and things kind of don't work with the gag in it, which is -- that's a bad word for it, because it's better than that -- which generates the Total Recall theme and everything. Things kind of don't work very well, and I think that's underused. I think, in life, things don't work very well sometimes, and I think Total Recall was just about life.
What's next for you?
I did a series a few years ago called Good vs. Evil, and I've worked with these twin brothers who were half my age at the time. Now they're not, they're a little older than that, and they do a series on Netflix called Outer Banks. I did an episode of that and was very happy about that. I play some old junkie doctor. I did a Geico commercial, which I'm very happy to say that I did, because everybody wants to do those. I'm around!
Released in June 1990, Total Recall is directed by Paul Verhoeven and stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rachel Ticotin, Sharon Stone, Michael Ironside and Ronny Cox. The film will be released in a three-disc 4K Ultra HD combo pack on Tuesday, Dec. 8 in honor of its 30th anniversary.