Interview with Carel Struycken: Lurch in The Addams Family

This is an interview that I conducted with sci-fi & horror genre actor, Carel Struycken. He is best known and most recognized for his role in the three 1990s "The Addams Family" movies, in which he played Lurch, the giant of a butler for the Addams family (played by Ted Cassidy in the 1960s version). He is also well-known for his recurring role as Mr. Homn in "Star Trek: TNG." Other roles includes parts in Dean R. Koontz's "Servants of Twilight" (1991), "Charmed," "The Vampire Hunters Club," "Star Trek: Voyager," "Babylon 5," "Twin Peaks," and "My Name Is Earl."

A man of many talents, Carel has written a few screenplays. Outside of acting and writing, he also works witch computers and photography. In the early 90s Carel developed some virtual reality systems and now is trying his hand at spherical panorama photography.

Check out Carel Struycken's Personal Website and his Spherical Panoramas site.

On with the interview!

John: How did you feel about your role as Lurch in the "The Addams Family" movies and taking on the role made famous by the original series' Ted Cassidy?

Carel: I always considered it a great privilege to play Lurch. Ted Cassidy had a better Lurch voice, but I look more like Lurch and was not allowed to speak anyhow because of legal wranglings between the Addams estate heirs.

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John: Being a part of the first two "The Addams" Family movies (The Addams Family, 1991, & Addams Family Values, 1993) with Raul Julia as Gomez, how did you feel after he passed away and was replaced with Tim Curry?

Carel: The film budget for the third "The Addams Family" movie was about 1/20th of the first two. It was shot as a pilot by a different outfit and considering the limitations I think they did a decent job. I am a fan of Tim Curry, but Raul was better typecast. The two first Addams Family movies were both very slow shoots, where we had to stand on the set for eternal stretches of time, waiting for the special effects rigging and lighting. Raul would entertain us all by singing the most fantastic opera excerpts.

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