JONES: Well, again, another question that I had for Guillermo was this very thing. She doesn’t know this about herself until the end, but do you think your character already knows, and that’s why he’s drawn to her?

You’re Charlie Tuna.” “Ah, got it.”ĪX: We find out at the end of the movie, when “Charlie” rescues Elisa by taking her underwater, that Elisa actually has gills. My name on the call sheet was “Charlie.” So I finally asked Guillermo one day, “Did I miss something in the script? Does somebody refer to me as Charlie?” And he said, “No, no, no. But my on-set chair and trailer had “Charlie” written on them. JONES: I don’t think he has a name for himself. But the Amphibian Man did, because he was more organic-looking from the actual wild.ĭoug Jones at the premiere of CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER | ©2011 Sue SchneiderĪX: In the movie, we never learn the Asset’s name, but do you have a name for him? Does he have a name for himself? Abe Sapien would not have fit in this film as a fishman. I knew from the story and whose direction we would be under, and as we were filming, it’s like, “Oh, my gosh.” I saw a few sets, and the color palette, and how he had us prepare, and just the emotional connection, the onscreen chemistry, the bold choices that he made, and doing something fantastical in a very real setting. It was fantastic, and I walked out of that office thinking to myself, “This is next trip to the Oscars, after PAN’S LABYRINTH.” And it looks like I called it. And I sat there, just like a kid listening to story time. So behind closed doors, just the two of us, he didn’t have the script yet, so he verbally told me the storyline, and what he wanted me to play in it. He wanted to discuss another movie with me, and that was THE SHAPE OF WATER. On a day off, he asked me to come to his office during lunchtime. Back in 2014, long before was made, I was playing two of Guillermo’s ghost ladies in CRIMSON PEAK. Jones also talks about his work on FX Networks’ WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS, how he’s dealing with fame at this point in his career, and more.ĪSSIGNMENT X: With THE SHAPE OF WATER, I’m sure you all knew you were making a good movie when you were making it, but did you anticipate the level of response and success it got?ĭOUG JONES: I did. Jones, in heavy prosthetics and costume, played Amphibian Man, aka the Asset, aka “Charlie Tuna.” Jones’s character and mute office worker Elisa (Sally Hawkins) fall passionately in love with one another as she attempts to rescue him from evil captors. In the second half of our exclusive phone interview with actor Doug Jones, he reflects on his work with filmmaker Guillermo del Toro in the Best Picture Oscar-winning THE SHAPE OF WATER. THE SHAPE OF WATER poster | ©2017 Fox Searchlight

Doug jones the shape of water