Dan Payne talks ‘DC’s Legends of Tomorrow’ and ‘Descendants’ [Exclusive Interview]

There’s a new superhero in town!

I recently spoke with Dan Payne, who plays Obsidian on  DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, about how he became an actor, his experience filming the show, and his other notable roles on Star Trek Beyond and Descendants.

For Payne, acting begins with family.

“I grew up with a brother who was within two years of my age and a sister, who my brother and I protected like she was the queen of the universe. We all stuck together pretty well, created our own little world, and had a lot of fun. I think that was like the absolute beginning of it because as I grew up I always wanted to perform, for my parents or whoever.”

This desire to perform translated into sports. Payne was a professional volleyball player in Holland, but transitioned into acting when his “body decided to retire” from the sport. He moved to London and soon began booking roles.

Eventually, his career led him to Vancouver where he’s worked as an actor for 15 years.

His most recent role is playing Obsidian on  DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. The biggest challenge for the role? Figuring out who Obsidian was.

Payne explained, “I’m going to admit a secret that I don’t want to — I didn’t know who Obsidian was. I’m a superhero fan, but unfortunately, I stick to the main guys — Superman, Batman. So, I had to dig deep into that world, which is fun. I remember discovering comics and superheroes as a kid and it was just intoxicating.  To be able to do that again, but for work was just unbelievable.”

“I found out all this information about the darkness of this character, the bipolar nature, the horrible youth he grew up in, and the fact that he’s the son of the Green Lantern.” Payne continued.

“I don’t know how much or how little I’ll be able to inject into the character, but it was fun to do the due diligence to be as prepared as possible.”

Payne calls the DC’s Legends of Tomorrow cast “a crazy talented group of people.” Perhaps the one stand out for Payne was Dominic Purcell. His favorite memory from filming was the farewell scene at the end of  DC’s Legends of Tomorrow Season 2 Episode 2 “Justice Society of America.”

Payne said, “Dominic Purcell’s character [Mick Rory] and my character, Obsidian, they have a little bit of a love hate relationship. There’s a rivalry there, but there’s a comedic kind of acknowledgment of each other at the end. I just had a lot of fun. Dominic Purcell is an unbelievable presence. He’s quite the character in real life. So getting to hang out and chatting with him, getting to know who he was, it was just a fun moment.”

Payne performs most of his own stunts on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, but the character of Obsidian requires a lot of special effects. He plunges the whole battlefield into darkness when the Legends and JSA face off in “Justice Society of America.”

The special effects only added to the world of play for Payne and it allows him to dive into his imagination.

“That’s the job of the actor is to create that world in your mind, so it translates to those watching. I’m sure every actor would give a different answer to some extent, but I believe the universal truth would be we all get to play.”

“I think it was a good thing I was wearing a mask because I was grinning like a fool. How dark is this character when you’re wearing a giant Joker grin?” Payne continued.

Payne is playing the younger version of Obsidian. Lance Henriksen has been cast as the older version. Dan hopes that  DC’s Legends of Tomorrow‘s time travel will allow these two versions to meet someday.

While he wasn’t able to spoil anything specifically for the season, Payne promises the show is only getting bigger and better.

“The stunt team creates feature like scenarios on a tv show with tv budget and timeline. So all I can tell you is stay tuned. You’ll be riveted by all of it. The performances, the stunts and the fighting, it just keeps getting better.”

Payne is also well-known for his role as Wadjet on Star Trek Beyond and the Beast on Descendants. He doesn’t have a preference when it comes to making feature films or television. Payne just considers himself lucky to be an actor.

“I love working. I don’t want to sound like a goof, but I absolutely love my job. Every day on set is a good day is what I say. Even if I’m flying into a wall. I understand how fortunate I am and I’m extremely grateful.”

Still, there was some pressure with playing such an iconic Disney character. However, director Kenny Ortega and Disney made Payne feel at ease.

“The beauty of what Disney and what Kenny Ortega and his team did is say, ‘Listen. We’re doing our beast.  We’re not trying to recreate The Beast, we’re not trying to reimagine The Beast. We’re going to honor the classic heritage character for who he is, but do our version,'” Payne recalled.

It allowed Payne to have some fun. “The favorite moment [on Descendants] is the one where I start doing a “Dad dance” while the kids are performing an actual choreographed, beautiful moves. I was actually just goofing around on set. Kenny caught me and said, ‘Hey! That’s in the movie.'”

Be sure to catch Dan Payne on Descendants 2 where he promises there is more “Dad dancing.” Hopefully, we will see the return of Obsidian to  DC’s Legends of Tomorrow soon as well!

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow airs Thursdays at 8/7c on The CW.