A Cursed Professor and a Comic Set-Piece
Lee Pace's first day on the set of Practical Magic 2 involved extensive prosthetic tattoos and no clothing at all. He found himself lying on a bed, naked, as Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman entered the room to perform magic. In the sequel to the 1998 fantasy film, the two actresses return as witch sisters who travel to England seeking help from Pace's character, a professor of magic immobilized by a curse. For Pace, a longtime admirer of both stars, the scene was a challenge: he had to keep his eyes shut while listening to their distinctive voices, and he admitted that peeking was impossible to resist.[S1]
The immobilization gave way to a rollicking comic sequence in which the sisters use their powers to revive him. Pace, who was cast over Zoom and arrived on set only days before, suddenly found himself thrashing about nude with two actresses he had adored from afar. He described the experience as a moment of realization that something remarkable was happening. The scene also highlights a shift in his career: known for intense or villainous roles, Pace now gets to be grounded, wry and, once his character wakes up, yearningly romantic opposite Bullock, whose character is cursed so that any man she loves will die.[S1]
A Relentless Schedule and a New Kind of Stardom
Pace keeps up a punishing pace of work. During a multi-day pause between filming in Prague and New Zealand, he sat down with a journalist in New York in mid-July, fresh off completing the fourth season of Apple TV's Foundation, in which he portrays a series of interconnected, powerful figures. Next up is the 2027 Lord of the Rings follow-up The Hunt for Gollum, helmed by Andy Serkis, where he again plays the elf-king Thranduil. At 47, he seems poised for a fresh level of fame, long after breaking ground as a queer leading man following his Emmy-nominated turn on Pushing Daisies from 2007 to 2009.[S1]
Across his career he has taken on franchise-friendly roles of many shades: a hero in Lord of the Rings, a villain in Guardians of the Galaxy, and a morally ambiguous antihero in AMC's Halt and Catch Fire. Broadway audiences saw him in revivals of The Normal Heart in 2011 and Angels in America in 2018. Practical Magic 2 lets him demonstrate one more skill: comic timing. Much of the comedy stems from the gap between his imposing physical size and his character's relative powerlessness beside the sisters.[S1]
Height, Voice and the Art of Falling in Love
At a favorite restaurant in lower Manhattan, Pace's size is the first thing one notices, even before his flowing garments. He demurs when asked about his height, saying he has only ever been himself and does not always feel tall, but then he sees a picture and thinks he is a monster. He speaks in a surprisingly soft-spoken cadence that makes listeners lean in, and once they do, they find broad references to film, theater, literature and philosophy. His friend Colman Domingo describes his voice as sensual, disarming and frightening at the same time, and says that when Pace speaks to you, it feels as if he is speaking only to you, always a little naughty.[S1]
Early on, using his body as an acting tool proved difficult. His breakout screen part came in the 2003 Showtime movie Soldier's Girl, playing Calpernia Addams, a transgender woman in real life who becomes involved with an Army private. Pace admitted to director Frank Pierson that he had no idea how to make his large frame convey that, and Pierson told him to believe he was a woman and to genuinely fall in love. He drew on that lesson again while filming Practical Magic 2 at Leavesden outside London, noting that although craft is involved, it is enjoyable to fall in love, to see the good in someone and have them smile back. Unlike performers who grumble about them, he considers kissing scenes wonderful.[S1]
Early Friendships and a Houston Theater Program
Acting shaped some of Pace's earliest bonds. Growing up in suburban Houston, he belonged to a demanding high school theater program whose students approached plays seriously and immersed themselves in Uta Hagen and Stanislavsky. He and his peers pored over reviews of Broadway productions they had no chance of attending, including the 1993 mounting of Angels in America and the 1995 revival of The Heiress, celebrated for Cherry Jones's star-making performance. Jones is set to join the upcoming season of Foundation next year, a coincidence that struck Pace as funny.[S1]
