The British actor guest-stars as Baldur, the Norse God of Light, in the next episode of the hit fantasy show. To find out more we dropped Croasdell a quick call…
TV.com: You were offered the role in Supernatural a week after moving to LA, is that right?
Adam Croasdell: Yes, I feel incredibly lucky. Any actor will tell you: it's time and place most often and, for whatever reason, my stars were in alignment and a week into arriving here I got the part. I was very grateful and relieved about that so yes, very, very happy.
And so soon after EastEnders as well, what prompted your move Stateside?
I've always thought that I'd like to come over here and give it a go. I really like the quality of the writing and the size of American projects; They're not afraid to think really big and really go for it.
American television seems to be undergoing a sort of golden age: there is such fantastic writing going on at the moment and it seems to be a really good time to be out here. Also, of course, there is a recession on so it's biting fairly deep in the UK. It's biting deep here too, but there certainly seems to be more audition opportunities out here at the moment so it makes sense to be here.
Have you had much attention from fans over there yet?
The Supernatural fans here are incredibly loyal to the show, so there has been some really great feedback since it aired here. I think the next thing to do would be to get something a little more regular but certainly the feedback seems to have been positive.
So what can tell us about your Supernatural character?
Well, his name is Baldur and he is the Norse God of light, love and knowledge. The thing about Supernatural is that they will take a mythological character, a pagan god or some deity and then, very cleverly, make what we think we know about them counterintuitive. They provide interest that way. Obviously I'm not very Scandinavian looking but I am playing this Norse God.
In Supernatural the story of Balder isn't traditional: it's different, slightly darker and they do a re-jig of what we think we know about it.
Were you familiar with the show before you got the role?
I was. Mainly through a friend of mine who I think I can safely say is probably the biggest fan of Supernatural in the world. Yes, it was just great calling her from LA, she lives in London and just saying "You will never guess what my first job in the States is?" It was an unearthly shriek of delight from across the pond, so it was great to tell her that.
In this week's episode Baldur has a rather painful encounter with Lucifer, what was that like to film?
Really cool. I love action so it was great doing a fight scene with Lucifer (played by Lost's Mark Pellegrino). Filming it is always interesting; I've always been fascinated with special effects and prosthetics.
Part of it was me, and part of it was a mannequin who fought with Lucifer, and I think cutting between the two looks pretty gruesome. I find it very, very interesting; I hope the audience likes the effects when they see what happens.
EastEnders must seem like a really tame show in comparison for you now?
I think you can't really compare them, but as we know EastEnders is grittier than London's East End. And Supernatural, what is it? It's glossy, mythologized, Americana. They are two completely different beasts but you are right: they are worlds apart, absolutely worlds apart. They each have incredible casts and great writers, so it's been a joy.
What was it like to work with Mark Pellegrino (who plays Lucifer)?
He is an interesting fellow, I like him a lot. He is a long term student and now, I believe, teacher of The Meisner acting technique and we talked a bit about that.
I saw him first in Dexter--I'm a huge fan of that show and when I realised it was Mark that I would be doing that scene with I was really happy. He is a quiet guy, but there is a lot of depth to him.
He came on set and he was wearing all of his Lucifer make-up so he was really looking pretty intimidating. He stood there in front of the cameras and, before we went for a take, he just went through a mixed martial arts routine quietly to warm up. I just thought "Hmmm, yes, I wouldn't really like to get into a tangle with him." Hell of a nice guy though.
I've got to ask about the main leads, Jensen and Jared, too. What are they like to work with?
They are great--naturally very funny. Both of them were a little bit distracted, especially Jared at the time, he was in the process of getting everything ready for his wedding and heading off to Vegas on his bachelor party. So between takes he'd whip out his cell phone and be busy organising stuff.
They're warm guys and gracious; obviously they have been doing the show for about five years now. That could make them a little less than caring with new people on the job, but there were a lot of us newbies for this episode and they couldn't have been nicer.
Are there any plans that you know of to bring Baldur back at any point?
None that I know of currently, but it's not unheard of in Supernatural for people to come back. I would love to come back, I think it's a hugely enjoyable show and it's great fun to film.
What about EastEnders? Would you ever want to return?
I wouldn't mind going back to EastEnders but there is nothing harder than playing just a purely nice guy, and Al Jenkins was that. It's very tricky to keep him interesting, to keep him real. I think people are much more interested in the darker aspects of human nature. The villains always seem more fascinating: the Larry Lambs of the world or people who are troubled, like Stacey Slater. These are the storylines that I think any actor wants to get.
So if Al was written a little more three dimensionally I think I would jump back. But he never really managed to get past that initial "I'm a nice guy" thing. They would have to reconsider his character before I would go back.
We've had a question in from Twitter for you: Who do you think would win in a fight between Sam Winchester (Supernatural) and Phil Mitchell (EastEnders) if no weapons were allowed?
[Laughs] That's a very good question. I was having this discussion with a mate of mine the other day and we kind of arrived at the unanimous opinion that British scary is scarier than American scary when it comes to hard men. So I think it's going to be Phil Mitchell. I think the Winchester brothers are good looking and they are not going to want to get punched in the face are they?
So are you working on anything else at the moment?
I've just got back from the UK; I was just out there for a week working on a project that has been ongoing, unfortunately I can't tell you about it which must be hugely frustrating, I do apologise. Maybe when that comes out we can talk again and discuss it a little more.
Besides that I have got a couple of irons in the fire over here. Hopefully we will know pretty soon about a couple of projects that I'm working on.
The Supernatural episode Hammer of the Gods, in which Croasdell stars, airs on Wednesday June 9th at 9.00pm on Living. Will you be watching?
I loved this episode.