BEING HE-MAN

What’s it like playing the most powerful man in the universe? Chris Wood knows the answer

You’re playing a truly iconic character. How does it feel shouting “By the power of Grayskull!” – and meaning it?

It’s got to be up there with the top few greatest moments of my career so far. I mean, this is not just iconic for the series, this is pop culture iconicism. That line surpasses the property in terms of how well known it is, and yeah, it feels amazing.

Do you approach playing Adam and He-man differently?

Obviously He-man is a much bigger guy than Adam, and when you’re that big I guess you have different concerns. Adam is a little bit higher in my register, and his urgency kind of pushes the language forward, because he doesn’t have that stoic calm that He-man has. He-man is all visceral power and he’s got that broad chest, so the voice drops down as low as my register can handle.

There’s more romance between He-man/adam and Teela in Revolution. Did you enjoy exploring that side of the character?

Oh, it’s great, and getting my wife [Melissa Benoist, who’s taken over from Sarah Michelle Gellar as Teela] to join the season made it even more fun. I think adding the romance package in and then having a sort of pay-off in Revolution was essential. They really stuck the landing for me.

Do you think He-man can exist without Skeletor as the yin to his yang?

I feel like his answer would probably be that he doesn’t need Skeletor, and he would love to destroy him, and the evil that he’s bringing to Eternia. But in reality I think that He-man needs his call to action as much as Skeletor needs his call to destruction. We’ve seen Adam without the sword, and he is always like a lost puppy, right? He needs that balance.