28 Years Later Alpha Zombie Actor on Prosthetic Penis and Train Injury

Danny Boyle‘s terrifying zombies — sorry, the infected — are back, and with them, a truly enormous and terrifying specimen.

“28 Years Later” proved a critical triumph for the director and co-writer Alex Garland, almost a quarter-century after their genre-redefining original “28 Days Later,” hailed for reviving yet radically evolving the 2002 horror hit. Among the new additions to the franchise are the so-called Alphas, massive berserker variants of the infected for whom the rage virus has had, over the last nearly three decades, a steroid-like effect. The most fearsome and brutal of all those roaming the quarantined wasteland that was the U.K., the Alphas’ signature move is to rip off human heads with the spine still attached and swing them around like a flail.

One such Alpha — given the name Samson in the film — is a colossal beast, described to Variety as the “king of the infected” by Chi Lewis-Parry, the 6-foot-8-inch actor and former MMA fighter who plays him.

A committed horror devotee (favorite director: John Carpenter), joining the cast of “28 Years Later” was an “absolute joy” for the Brit, who only quit fighting to focus on his acting career a few short years ago. As it happens, the 41-year-old’s first gig was with Boyle on the TV series “Pistol,” but the pair got on so well he was keen to work with him again, eagerly signing up to audition for what at the time he only knew as “Untitled Danny Boyle Project.”

“Terrify me,” was the solitary request from the Oscar-winning filmmaker. And so, not even knowing who or what he was supposed to be playing, Lewis-Parry — who also starred alongside Paul Mescal in “Gladiator 2” — dug deep to conjure up what he now describes as the “Samson bellow.” So impressed — and, probably, terrified — was Boyle that he didn’t just cast him as his leading Alpha in “28 Years Later,” but got him to voice the film’s other Alpha as well.

While Samson has been drawing plenty of attention for his ferocious and hulking on-screen presence and monstrous roar, something else has caught the eye of critics and online commentators alike. With the infected all now naked (their clothes have effectively disintegrated since the first film), he’s been generating headlines for sporting a rather impressive prosthetic manhood, which the camera doesn’t shy away from.

Speaking to Variety, Lewis-Parry describes a “flesh wound” (and subsequent scar) he incurred while shooting “28 Years Later,” having an epiphany while holding aloft a head and spine and why playing Samson is just one of two on-screen baddies he’s had in his sights.

What sort of conversations did you have about Samson, beyond him simply being huge and terrifying? He’s a mutated Alpha infected, but he seems to have a much greater status among them than that.

I suppose you could don him as the “King of the Infected,” especially how I played him. There are things that didn’t make the cut, but he’s very much in charge of everything. You get to see that with the interactions that the other infected have when they’re around him. They’re like hyenas, and he’s the lion. He will have his feed and you will have what is left! But the biggest standout thing was the physicality. I threw myself at every wall. That scene in the train gave me more bruises than my fighting career. But also, I was in quite lean shape when I was cast for it and Danny made clear that he wanted the muscle to be incidental and not look like he worked out. So I was bigger than I am now.

You’re an athletic guy, so how was it not working out and putting on weight?

Not working out is a nightmare for me. Training is kind of like my prayer.

Did you have any discussions with Danny or Alex about what Samson might have been before he was infected or did you come up with your own backstory?

We never really sort of dug into that. But I created a backstory. I’ve actually got a little notebook. In my head, what I did to help visualize his intentions and for him to be an Alpha, is have him saving others. He sacrificed himself to protect others and thus he became an infected. It made him less of a monster for me.

Monster or not, Samson does enjoy ripping the heads off people and swinging them around by their spinal cords. It’s something you do in spectacular and gruesome fashion. Can you talk about that scene?

I’ve actually got a cool story about that scene. It was filmed in an actual reservoir in a tunnel and it was incredibly dark. And I managed to incur a little flesh wound. It was nothing for Samson, but made me cry! It was my own fault. I was running very fast and got to a point a little too early and got caught by one of the rifles on my leg. So I’ve got a nice bit of memorabilia, a little scar on my leg, which I’m very proud of. Because I can’t go less than 100% — if it’s my body on the line, I don’t really hold back.

How easy was it to do the head-ripping off move and what were you actually holding?

That was one of the incredible bodies created by [special makeup effects supervisor] John Nolan’s team. The realism is insane. But I had to hold it up with my left arm. It was heavy, so I wedged my elbow into my hip to support the weight. It looked like he was standing, and then I removed the head with my right arm. It’s tough to do, but it had to be heavy — if it was light, it wouldn’t look light. But being physically strong allows you to do certain things, so it’s always good to do that work.

One thing about the infected in “28 Years Later” is that you’re all mostly naked. So there’s a lot of full frontal nudity when you’re all running around. I understand that what you see is actually prosthetics, and it’s because your lead star, Alfie Williams, was only 13 when you shot it. Is that right?

Yeah, they were prosthetics. There’s a law that states, I think, because he’s a child, you’re allowed to have nudity but it has to be fake nudity. It was to protect him. And, as well, I’m really friendly and am always hugging people. I wouldn’t have been doing that if I was fully in the nip!

There’s been quite a bit of talk about your own prosthetic. Not even sure if I should be asking this but …. was it in proportion?

Well, I’m 6′ 8″. I’ll say no more!

There’s a great photo of you at the premiere of you with your arm around Ralph Fiennes. Did you have a special bond on set?

Me and Ralph have become best buds. We go to the gym and work out together a lot. It’s a special connection I have with Ralph, because I grew up watching the guy and in my very early days, around 2009 or 2010, I was actually a stand-in for Hagrid on “Harry Potter.” And Ralph was there in character and I remember standing next to him and just admiring and watching how he worked. And I shared this story with him while working on this and it brought us close. He’s a very special man and I love him dearly. And I truly mean that he’s done so much for me just by being present in any moment. He asks how you are, he supports you if you need something.

How’s his training? I’m assuming he’s not on the same weights as you?

I’m not joking with you, but I can’t keep up with him. I’m heavy. I can lift heavy, but I’ve got an abused body. I did professional sports my whole life. There are things that I just can’t do without experiencing excruciating pain, so I just stay away. So there’s things where I can’t keep up with him. He’s in tremendous shape and he never complains and he’ll always push to his limit. We trained a couple of weeks ago and I said, “Dude, you’re inspiring. Because you’re much older than me and you’re not just keeping up, you’re setting the pace.”

And you were also recently in “Gladiator 2” as Phoebus, one of the gladiators?

Yes! I met my end via a rhino horn!

So you were in the coliseum fighting alongside Paul Mescal?

Yeah, I’m the cocky gladiator who thinks he can do it all in his own. And it ends badly.

Did you have any lines?

I had a confrontational scene with Paul that sets up his demise, but that got cut. So he became just the cocky guy who’s got lots of energy. But everyone got what they wanted. The guy got killed by the rhino, and then Paul has an epic fight and wins.

Between Phoebus and Samson, who was your favorite character to play?

Not to take anything away from Phoebus, because he’ll always have a special place in my heart. But it’s definitely Samson. If I look at the brow of a hill, I’ll see him. I feel like he’s real, like he’s out there somewhere now. And I love the idea that somebody can create something that feels so real. Maybe other people might be out camping or something and see people on a hill and it looks like that scene and have little bit of fear. I like that. That’s what’s special about this film.

You were an MMA fighter before. How long were you doing that and how did you move into acting?

I fought for about 12 years and had a good career. But since 1986 I knew that I wanted to be in film, because that was when I saw the poster for John Carpenter’s “Big Trouble in Little China”. I was in the video shop and remember seeing the poster and just knew I wanted to be involved in films. But it was just, how do you do it? I didn’t go to acting classes. But I was always a good sportsman and fighting allows you to express yourself in a persona, because you’ve got to find ways to sell tickets. I got to express myself with the volume slightly turned up and that allowed me to connect with an audience and build a fan base, which set me up for doing this. So it was always gonna be a transitional period. I said, I’m gonna do this full time now. So I had to quit fighting. My last fight was just coming out of lockdown, and I did “Pistol” shortly after that. It didn’t just walk into the job — I did a lot of auditions. But I remember doing the “Pistol” audition and getting a call 15 minutes later saying, “Hey, could you do it in a different accent?” And boom, got a job.

Who were you playing?

It was based on a guy called Glenn Allison, who was the personal security of the Sex Pistols when they went on their U.S. tour. There was this famous story about him having a fight with Sid Vicious, played by the wonderful Louis Partridge. He’s such a trooper because I really am throwing him around. But he took it all and did it with a smile on his face.

What else have you got coming up?

I just worked on “The Running Man” with Edgar Wright. I’m one of the runners and he’s a very specific runner. I don’t know how much more I’m allowed to say. But it’s a really fun role.

I noticed on Instagram you posted a picture of yourself alongside famed Bond baddie Jaws. Have you been lobbying to be in the next Bond?

Listen, if there is an ultimate role, it’s to be a Bond villain. This journey to work in film actually started properly in 2005, not long before Martin Campbell’s “Casino Royale” came out and it sort of ignited that fire in me to be that character. Back then, I remember thinking, “What are the two roles I’d like to play?” I was quite narrow-minded, but because I’m big and thought my way in could be as a creature actor, I was like, “Oh, I want to play the Predator. And I wanted to be a Bond villain.” And I actually had a big realization moment in that tunnel when I was holding the head and spine. Because I realized: I was the Predator, but my own version. And that was a real turning point for me, because I realized: You made this happen in 2005 because you thought about it and started the process. And I’ve done more than think about being a Bond villain.

Have you had any conversations?

I haven’t had any official discussions, but I’ve definitely put it out there.

I love the idea of you having an epiphany while holding a severed head and spine.

Imagine that, right? It’s crazy!