WANNABE: Brandon Molale as the Big Red Cheese
A self-professed "kid at heart," actor/stuntman Brandon Molale wants the Hollywood gods to know he’s ready to say "Shazam!"
"There’s no character in the Marvel or DC universe I look more like than this guy," actor and stuntman Brandon Molale pronounced to Wizard's Mel Caylo. "I’ve had so many fans come up to me saying, 'We hope you get Captain Marvel. We want to see you play him.' So hey, if I’ve got to don the red tights and play the Big Red Cheese, I want everybody out there in Wizard land to know, I’m ready."
Molale has such an uncanny resemblance to DC's Captain Marvel that, when rumors of him being attached to New Line Cinema’s big-screen Shazam! surfaced over a year ago, many people were convinced.
"People approached me back in April of 2006 about this," the muscular performer remembered. "They said, 'Hey, Peter Segal is [directing] this movie. Are you going to play Captain Marvel?' That was the first time I heard anything about it."
And since then, there have been no major casting announcements. But that's not stopped Molale, who appeared in Segal's remake of The Longest Yard, from campaigning for the role he believes he was born to play.
"I’m blessed that people want to give me work, but I haven’t been given the opportunity to sink my teeth into something that really shows off my acting ability. I’m confident in my acting ability. I know if given a chance, I’ll be able to do this."
In preparation for that chance, Molale has been doing his "homework," reading up on C.C. Beck's good captain and his youthful alter-ego, Billy Batson. Such study is no chore for this life-long superhero and comic book fan. Growing up in the 70's and 80's, Molale followed the adventures of G.I. Joe and the Transformers, Indiana Jones, TMNT and, especially, Batman.
"I have three brothers and sisters," related the college-graduated actor. "We didn’t have a lot of stuff growing up, so we had to share everything. For my birthday, I got my Mego Batman and Robin. But I was a little selfish and I didn’t want to share them. I ended up burying them in a field and I figured, 'If I can’t have them, no one’s going to have them.'"
While that sounds like the genesis of a successful stalker, Molale explained it as dedication to his comic book heroes--a dedication he'd bring to the World's Mightiest Mortal. But casting ultimately is in the hands of the studio gods...and the fans.
"The fans speak volumes," he said. "The more they voice their opinion about wanting me as Captain Marvel, the better my chances. I think the fans want to see somebody that has [a Billy Batson] inside of him. I may be big, tall, 6-foot-5, all grown up, but inside, I’m still that kid at heart. I’m still a geek."