“He’s On The Wrong Side Of The River...”

Mads Mikkelsen is Kaecilius

How were you approached for this movie? the director, scott Derrickson, pitched it to me, and he ended up saying, “magic and flying kung fu.” i said, “Hold it right there. i’m on.” it’s a world of a 15-year-old boy’s fantasy. everything we ever dreamt of when we were kids is what we’re doing right now on this film.

Who is Kaecilius? He is part of Kamar-taj but has a different viewpoint. if the majority is looking for the truth here, he’s looking over there for the truth. so he’s caught up on the wrong side of the river, in a sense. He believes if he’s going that way, then the world will be much more beautiful and all his questions will be answered eventually. He’s trying, like anybody else, to make this world much more beautiful and make this world make sense. He does believe that it’s the door over there and not the door everyone else is opening.

Why is Benedict Cumberbatch right for Strange? He’s the perfect choice in the sense that strange is a character that transforms from one thing to another and Benedict possesses the ability to do that. He can be very physical and very direct. But he can also be very intellectual. and he can also play very arrogant. this character has a fair amount of arrogance in the beginning of the film and his journey is obviously to figure out what purpose that arrogance is serving.