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Italian actor Giovanni Lombardo Radice, who is also known as John Morghen, has shocked his audiences
by appearing in some of the most violent, disgusting horror movies of all time. From first appearing in
Cannibal Apocalypse (1980) as a Vietnam POW who has contagious by a disease that makes people
want to consume human flesh. Then moving on to Lucio Fulci's City of the Living Dead (1980), Ruggero
Deodato's The House on the Edge of the Park (1980) before appearing in another cannibal cult classic
called Cannibal Ferox (1980) which is directed by Italian director Umberto Lenzi. Today we have a
chance to ask John Morghen a few personal questions, which regards his acting career from the 80's to
present.
Hi John how has things been mate, i just like to say for the record you are one hell of a talented actor.
Your first 4 movies you appeared in, you done an outstanding job with your characters and i feel that a lot
of people will probably agree with me when i say that, to this very day i am proud as fuck to own them on
DVD. But on with the interview, our first question is a simple question.
What drove you to want to become a actor when you were growing up?
I don’t know, it was there since early childhood. I was attracted by puppet theatres, little soldiers, whatever I
could use to tell a story whilst I was playing. I always knew the stage would be my business. At the beginning I
was attracted by the ballet and could have been quite a good dancer, but an accident to my back in class forbid
me to continue on a professional level. So acting (and directing as for theatre, it was).
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How tough was it to break into the acting business?
As for the theatre I used the little money I had from my family to start my own theatre company and it was quite successful from the very beginning (at
least from an artistic point of view, as for the money….less so). As for the movies I was lucky and my first role (House At The Edge Of The Park) was
already a big one. So, all in all, not that difficult.
This is a bit of a personal question, but i got to ask. Why did you change your birth name from Giovanni Lombardo Radice to a more of a
Americanised name such as John Morghen? Was it to with being more recognised by you audience and the media of the western world as
John Morghen rather than Giovanni Lombardo Radice?
I changed it because I was asked to do so at the very beginning and the reason was Italian productions pretending to sell American stuff, even if there
was only one American actor (as in House At The Edge). In any case I was always called Johnny in the family (or John John, as President Kennedy’s son)
and Morghen was my grandmother maiden name. So it sounded familiar and surely easier to pronounce for foreigners than my real one.
Did you get into much conflict with your family from Italy, when they realised you changed your name and the movies your were being cast
in?
On my mother side, yes, definitely. The Morghen were an ancient family linked to the aristocracy. My great uncle Raffaello was a worldwide known
historian. They were absolutely shocked and furious. My father instead, a very sweet man, and a great intellectual himself wanted to see my first movie,
even if I warned him not to go, but he had a bad heart and couldn’t stand it to the end. He was of course prouder of my Shakespeare productions, but not
complaining for the movies, only advising me about money not being the only thing to be considered.
What is it that attracts you the most to take on a major role in a movie? Is it the script? The director shooting the film? The amount you get
paid or is it something else?
My dear, only big movie stars can choose what to do. I am happier if the script is good, the role interesting and the director stimulating, but I generally
say yes because of the money. The theatre never paid enough and as for stage business I am very choosy. I only appear in or direct stuff I really like,
with people I trust and freedom to have a word in whatever connected to the production. It’s not easy to get. And to be choosy on one side you have to
be resilient on the other. As to say accepting movie or Tv work even if it’s not my cup of tea.
Did you attend any acting colleges before landing your role in Cannibal Apocalypse?
If you think Cannibal Apocalypse was my first movie you are wrong. It was my third, because it followed House At the Edge and City Of The Living Dead.
Anyway the answer is no. I never attended an acting school, but started on stage very young and was already experienced.
What did you exactly end up doing, the day when you scored your very first motion picture deal?
I went home and started studying the script, because I was terrified to start in the movie business with a big and difficult role such as Ricky in the
Deodato movie.
I know this is going back some time now, but do you have any memorable moments to this very day that you can still remember that
happened behind the set of your first 4 movies?
I have many and I told a lot of them many a time. I don’t want to keep repeating the same old anecdotes. But I’ll tell you one story I don’t think I ever
told in an interview. I was shooting Cannibal Apocalypse in Atlanta, Georgia. It was the long and complicate supermarket scene. And unfortunately at that
time I was on cocaine, a sad and stupid habit I luckily quitted ages ago. But at that time I really needed it from time to time, most especially before
shooting something difficult. So, one morning, I checked that I wasn’t due on set for the next twenty minutes and looked for a bathroom further away
from the one everybody was using. The supermarket was huge, so I found another one at the other end of the building. It was deserted, so I didn’t
bother to go into a toilet and put the little “stone” I had on a marble shelf close to one of the washbasins. I started cutting it….and froze, because I saw in
the mirror the door opening and a big policeman in uniform coming in. I tried the worst friendly and casual smile of my acting career an…can you believe
it? The policeman smiled back and started rolling a joint!
Where exactly do you get all your inspiration from, when creating a character and bringing it to life?
Most generally I use an acting technique known as “zomorphia”, which means studying the behaviour of the animal you think is closer to your character.
At times I mix it with recollections of people I met. I observe people a lot. It’s essential for an actor.
Cannibal Ferox is one of my most favourite cannibal films of all time. What was it like to actually play your role, in that type of rough terrain
and dense jungle?
As you probably know I loathe the movie and shooting it was surely very hard. To stand the jungle you should be directed no less than by Oliver Stone,
and to stand Lenzi you should be shooting no less than in a five stars hotel in Switzerland. Lenzi and the jungle together were a lethal mix, believe me.
Their was a full body nude scene in Cannibal Ferox with the beautiful actress Zora Kerova and yourself. What runs through a actors mind
from keeping himself from getting a hard on?
Oh…either you are quite native, very horny, or born to be a porno star. It’s the other way round in my opinion. How could one get an erection with stage
lights on you and the all crew watching?
As most directors they tend to try and push the cast into doing things they rather not want to do. Did any director ever try you to do
something that you weren't really to keen on doing?
As I told many a time, Lenzi wanted me to kill the little pig in Cannibal Ferox. I refused and he told me that Robert De Niro would have done it. I answered
back that Robert De Niro would have kicked him in the ass and that was it. I was less successful in the movie I made, years later with Fabrizio De Angelis
(Deadly Impact). He wanted me to be in any kind of dangerous scenes in cars and even helicopters, whilst the American actors (Bo Svenson and Fred
Williamson) had stunts even to light a cigarette. You see, in the “cocaine years” I had earned a reputation as a fearless actor….So I had to pray the Virgin
Mary and do it.
You played a cocaine addicted psychopath in Cannibal Ferox. Obviously you went snorting real cocaine, but i am curious to know. What was
the white powder you were actually snorting, and did you get any reactions from it?
Sorry to disappoint you, but it was flour and the only reaction was a strong tendency to sneeze.
Today standards its becoming a trend to remake old classics, which surprisingly are making a killing in the box office. Now we have just got
word that Ruggero Deodato, is going to do a remake of Cannibal Holocaust which is soon to be released in 2009. If director Umberto Lenzi
was to ever to agree to do a remake of Cannibal Ferox, would you consider doing a cameo in the movie?
After all the bad things I told about the poor man I don’t really think he would call me, not even to sweep out the set. Anyhow…when my bank account is
in bad shape I consider most anything.
Which actor would you pick to play your character Mike Logan, if there was ever to be a remake of Cannibal Ferox?
There’s not a fellow actor I hate to the point of whishing him to play that stupid jerk puppet.
What was it like to work on the City of the Living Dead set with Italian director Lucio Fulci? Could you describe to us what type of
director/friend he was when he wasn't behind the camera?
He was a very nice and cultivated man not easy to give confidence to people, but very nice if he did so, which luckily was my case.
In your first very 4 films you have appeared side by side with so many well known actors and actresses. What was it like to hang out on a
daily bases with such likes of David Hess, John Saxon, Fiamma Maglione and Elizabeth Turner ...etc?
Every actor is a different human being and in any case I didn’t actually met all the actors who were in my movies. Only the ones I had scenes with. With
some I learned a lot and had a good time (David Hess to name one). Others, like John Saxon were very professional but not really friendly. A few were a
pain in the ass, like Anthony Quinn (God bless his soul), who behaved like if he was the king of some African tribe and Bo Svenson, who tended to drink
too much and become rough. But I am very patient and I don’t like arguing. So I never had real problems. As for Fiamma Maglione I catch the occasion to
remember her as a very sweet woman. Her death was a real sorrow.
Looking back on your career, which movie do you hold closest to your heart, and one that you wish you regret ever doing?
I surely regret doing Cannibal Ferox and the closest to my heart is maybe Cannibal Apocalypse, also because I was very fond of Antonio Margheriti. But
House At The Edge Of The Park is also one of my favourites.
An actor tends to learn a thing or two every time they work with a new director/crew. What strengths, and weaknesses have you achieved
over the years from working on so many blockbuster movies?
I achieved the strength to always do my best, on whatever conditions (awful weather, terrible makeup, long waits…) and maybe the weakness of
repeating myself if the director is not stimulating enough. But fortunately I lately worked mostly with young directors (John Moore, Darren Ward,
Domiziano De Cristopharo) and they all had a good energy.
Over your career, which director did you enjoy the most working for the most?
Antonio Margheriti, also because he was a very charming man. Deodato because of his stamina. Fabrizio Costa, who directed me in European period
productions, because his smart and stimulating use of the camera.
Can you describe to us a typical day in your life of John Morghen?
Not very exciting, really. If I am not shooting a movie or rehearsing a play, I am very much home. I walk my dog three times a day, I listen to music and
I read a lot. I don’t like tv much, nor going to the movies, let alone parties and so on. A very simple and maybe boring life.
Would you like to tell us something most people don't know about you?
Willingly so. I am a skillful physiotherapist and from time to time I still use the diploma I got when I was very young. And…ready for that? Leonardo Da
Vinci’s Monna Lisa was an ancestor of mine. Her name was Lisa Gherardini, married to a man named Del Giocondo (from that the name of La Gioconda).
And my great-great grandmother from the Morghen side was the last of the Gherardini family. Not to be surprised if they weren’t excited about my horror
movies….
What do you think you would of be doing for a living, if you never got into acting?
I would have liked to be a physiotherapist full time or maybe a doctor. I love human beings and the idea of doing something for their health.
We all eventually get to leave this earth one day, what mark would you like to leave on the world?
Translating the Shakespeare sonnets into Italian, with full respect of rhymes and verse. I only translated half of them by now, but I hope to complete the
job before dying. And I would like to be remembered as a person who always tried to be good and often succeeded in being kind.
If you could say one thing in an interview to be read by Giovanni Lombardo Radice fans, what would it be?
That their affection and esteem is vital to me and that I hope to keep making movies, possibly better than the ones they already love me for.
Thank you John for allowing us to interview you. We all here at DVD Resurrections wish you great success in your future career and especially your
health. Keep up the great work mate, you will always have our full on support here at DVD Resurrections. Cheers.
Thanks to you. I keep smoking forty cigarettes a day, but my health is great and I really hope to accomplish your wish and be in a lot more movies.
My last one, House Of Flesh Mannequins by Domiziano De Cristopharo is very promising. You can already see a trailer on the web. Love to you all.
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