The Spirit is a 2008 action film based on the newspaper comic strip of the same name. It tells the story of a former rookie cop who comes back from the dead as the Spirit (Gabriel Macht), fighting crime in Central City’s shadows.
It also follows the story of his arch-enemy, the OCTOPUS (Samuel L. Jackson), who aims to destroy the city to own immortality. Unfortunately, this movie ended up being the biggest box office failure. It also landed on the list of the worst comic book adaptations.
Even though the film made its lead actress ScarJo feel uneasy, Gabriel Macht had a different experience with Frank Miller’s movie, which was obviously positive.
Gabriel Macht Expressed Enjoyment Working on Frank Miller’s Film
Gabriel Macht (who played the titular role in The Spirit) told to The Georgia Straight that he had the best time working on Frank Miller’s film:
“I have had some of those in my career, I think this has the greatest potential. I am involved in Frank’s vision, and I don’t think there is a better opportunity for a young actor than to play the Spirit. I had the best time working on the film, so hopefully people will come and see it and we can make a couple more.”
The film gave stardom to Gabriel Macht, who is now most famous for his role as Harvey Specter on Suits. The actor said that he saw the character of Spirit as an ordinary man who becomes confused after he is brought back to life.
Macht put in a significant effort to get into this difficult character (who maintains his identity as a cop even with superpowers). Even his co-star Jackson noted that the Behind Enemy Lines actor embraced total immersion to prepare for the role.
It looks like Macht had a great time working on the film, but the fact can’t be denied that it made Johansson “queasy.”
Gabriel Macht Enjoyed Making The Spirit, But Scarlett Johansson Felt Uneasy
Even though Scarlett Johansson was never a comic book buff, she was dying to work with director Frank Miller on The Spirit. But later, there was one aspect of the film she wasn’t eager about was wearing a Nazi uniform. It was a challenging situation, given her Jewish background. She admitted to FEMALE.com.au:
“Of course, I felt squeamish, yeah. When I first put it on, it was like, you never think you’re going to wear a swastika armband.”
It was uncomfortable for her, but she ended up wearing it in the film anyway. “I mean, the costume – it was very bizarre to put it on at first. Eventually, it was like, ‘Oh, my grandfather’s rolling over in his grave right now,’” she joked in the same interview.
