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Ahead of the epic finale to the six-year-long Tales of Arcadia franchise, Colin O’Donoghue reflects on Douxie and the magic of Guillermo del Toro.
Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans is the final chapter in Guillermo del Toro’s overarching Tales of Arcadia storyline. The animated film brings together the franchise’s varied heroes to face off with their greatest threat yet — a mystical menace that could spell the doom of all life on Earth once and for all. One of the primary defenders of the world is, once again, the wizard Douxie, who finds himself and his loved ones pushed to the brink to save everyone.
During an exclusive interview with CBR, actor Colin O’Donoghue reflected on the growth of his character Douxie, the joys of this fantasy franchise and how it changed his life.
Douxie has appeared in all three previous shows of the Tails of Arcadia storyline. A former student of Merlin who has lived into the modern-day, Douxie’s magical capabilities make him a formidable protector of the world and a chief member of the Guardians of Arcadia. O’Donoghue revealed that taking on the role for three shows and six years “was brilliant because I kind of knew signing on to it that that was the trajectory.” He added, “The writers teased it out really, really clever, really perfect… And then it’s not until the series of Wizards that you really realize, ‘Oh, this guy is … He’s something completely different. He’s a 900-year-old teenager.’ So it was great because I knew that that was going to be coming.”
O’Donoghue was quite familiar with fantasy storytelling when he joined the Trollhunters series. He recalled his time playing Captain Hook on ABC’s Once Upon a Time, stating, “I played Captain Hook for six years. So I knew all about the fantasy world, you know what I mean? It wasn’t anything new, but what was really great about [Tales of Arcadia] was to play a wizard on this, and get to play Captain Hook in my day job. It was kind of a surreal experience. I grew up sort of a bit of a geek and a nerd, and I’ve always loved fantasy shows, fantasy movies, and comics and stuff like that. So I was really thrilled to just get to be a part of both sets of worlds, to be honest.”
Reflecting on how he’s spent over half a decade in this universe, O’Donoghue admitted that what he’s going to miss the most about his time on the series. “Working with [franchise creator Guillermo Del Toro] and the crew,” he shared. “I think that’s going to be the thing I’m really going to miss because I really enjoyed getting to go into the recording studio and get to play … I’m a ham at heart, so it’s nice to get to ham it up even more for animation.
“I love when something like this comes out. When we’re recording the lines and stuff, obviously we’re not really seeing any of the animations. So I remember when Wizards came out, I was just so blown away by the scale and just how incredible the animation is. That’s the thing with Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans, I really think the scale of it, the work that they’ve done, I think it’s absolutely better. I’m so excited for people to get to see it.”
O’Donoghue spent much of the previous year in lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic — much like the rest of the globe. Looking back at the franchise and the impact it had on him during an admittedly difficult year for everyone, O’Donoghue revealed, “Wizards came out last summer, and we were in full lockdown… I live in Ireland and I’ve got two young kids, and what was the most amazing to me was I had something that they were able to watch with me, and sort of appreciate, and watch it fresh, and we could watch it together as a family.
“That, to me, was the most incredible thing. I do think that the show and, obviously the movie, we needed to appeal to everybody all across the board, not just the kids. It’s for everyone. I think that was the most amazing thing… I love getting into the recording studio and doing all that, but I think when you see the final product for the first time, it’s kind of breathtaking.”
Rise of the Titans is the epic finale to the Tales of Arcadia storyline, bringing the cast — including Douxie — into one final battle that decides the fate of the world. The film takes the scope of the franchise onto a bigger scale than ever, even considering the amazing lengths its characters have been forced onto in the past. “I think people are genuinely going to be blown away by the scale of the movie,” he said. “It’s bigger than most huge franchise comic book movies. I think that that’s the beauty of stuff. That’s the beauty of Guillermo del Toro. He’s masterful at creating these universes, really… These worlds where you just fully invest yourself in the lives of the characters and fully believe in everything that you’re watching, no matter how crazy it is. I think that that’s what he really is incredible at.”
Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans arrives on Netflix July 21.
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