Afterlife 100 Lou Ferrigno

The Hulk in The Incredible Hulk

Cit, Afterlife is 100 issues old! And it barely looks a day over 40. To celebrate we spoke to genuine sci- fi icon Lou Ferrigno about his defining role, the Hulk. Ferrigno shot to fame after featuring in 1977 body- building documentary Pumping Iron, and was cast as the mean green muscle man in The Incredible Hulk TV series the same year. Five seasons of enraged shirt- ripping between 1978 and 1982 were followed by three TV movies in the late ’ 80s. Ferrigno’s time as the Hulk didn’t end there though – he voiced the gamma- infused strongman in the 1996 cartoon, the Edward Norton- starring Incredible Hulk movie, Avengers Assemble and the upcoming sequel Avengers: Age Of Ultron. He can next be seen as axe- wielding warrior Skizurra in The Scorpion King 4: Quest For Power, available on DVD and Blu- ray from 23 March.

Would you like to play the Hulk again?

Well, I do the voice of the Hulk for The Avengers, so I’m still playing him in some ways. But of course, definitely. People still love the series.

What’s the strangest request you’ve ever had from a fan?

Women come to the table when I do autograph signings sometimes and they want me to sign private body parts and it’s hysterical. One woman came to me and she had me sign my signature on both legs. She came back to me two years later and she had the signature tattooed on both legs – her husband wasn’t too happy about it!

Would any of the Hulk’s attributes have been useful i n real life?

The strength, of course, but not his short temper. After the Hulk I did King Of Queens for seven years and they always made Hulk jokes, and jokes about my strength, so it helped me get a job! The Hulk will be with me forever, even though I’ve done over 40 films. I still embrace the Hulk because it’s a part of me.

I s there anything you think was unfinished about the Hulk’s story?

In the TV show he was supposed to come back with The Return Of The Hulk, but then Bill Bixby passed away. We were going to continue doing movies of the week. It’s amazing after 40 years that the legacy of the Hulk is more popular than ever. Everyone loves the Hulk.

Did you get any souvenirs from the set?

I never got anything from the show, but I do have one of the largest collections of Hulk memorabilia in the world. I’m going to have a big auction of it. I have toilet paper, wallpaper, bicycles, you name it.

What wo uld i t say on the Hulk’s gravestone?

We left an impact in this world, I will never be forgotten.

Would you have liked to have any of Darth Vader’s skils in real life?

I think I’d like to have his skills to shut people up. Just point to them and you’d see them choke a bit, keep them quiet for a while. I’d like to have been able to do that.