Clark Gregg
Clark Gregg
Robert Clark Gregg, known professionally as Clark Gregg, is an American actor, screenwriter and director. He has played Phil Coulson in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, appearing in Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor, The Avengers, and the television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. He also voices the character on the animated television series Ultimate Spider-Man and in the video games Lego Marvel Super Heroes, Lego Marvel Avengers and Marvel Heroes...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMovie Actor
Date of Birth2 April 1962
CityBoston, MA
CountryUnited States of America
I'm just an actor who happened to love these [Marvel] comics when I was a kid, and got to rediscover them.
I'm not secretly on the board of Marvel.
When I was backstage at Comic-Con, about to go out and do the panel for Thor, and Joss Whedon ran up and introduced himself, I already almost passed out, right then. And then, he said, "I've been meaning to call you. You have a big part in The Avengers. Can we introduce you as part of the cast?" It was pretty Make-A-Wish Foundation. I was pretty sure I was dying and nobody had told me yet.
There's a different set of writers and a different director for the films, but Marvel has turned it into a pretty spectacular job.
I'd be just another Marvel fan, only with a little bit bigger smile, when I would get the script and be like, "Oh, my gosh, Agent Coulson knows that?
No matter how tight the shot is, if I'm narrating it too much, there's a barrier between you and the experience, because the process of reading a book, or watching a movie, or watching a play is that you're watching a dream.
It was cool to me, as a fan of the comics, to see some of the villains that end up finding them there, and the way that they abuse Coulson before the superheroes come. I'm always, in the movies or in the animated series, getting into trouble that a superhero has to bail me out of.
With the tone of the show, like a lot of the films, the Marvel creative team has found a way to bridge really exciting stuff that has real stakes. They balance some of the action stuff that the fans of the comics really want to see with characters that people can relate to and who are very human.
There's very few people, who really thrive creatively under great stress and conflict.
I've never seen a movie director who was happier to be directing a movie than Dave [Mamet]. His sets, everyone who's ever been involved with one of them will tell you of the funnest, funniest sets you can be on.
I feel like I've had a number of roles in suits, which is hilarious to the people who know me, because it couldn't be further from who I am and what I wear. I think that Aaron Sorkin is, to a certain extent, responsible.
I don't think Aaron Sorkin can write a character who isn't really funny.
You know I grew up on the Batman movies, and they had some terrific actors in, but you know a lot of the other ones - it wasn't always the case that you had people the caliber of Jeff Bridges or Robert Downey, so to kind of show up and work with Jeremy Renner or Robert or with Mark Ruffalo, any of them, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, the caliber of people you're acting with, to me, is really fun. From the first day I started doing scenes with Robert, it's been one of the funnest experiences I've ever had.
What I think is incredible about what Marvel has done and with Jon Favreau I think really maybe helped come up with, is what the template is.