INTERVIEW: Mark Rolston talks Aliens, Shawshank, and Spider-Man 3 at Fan Expo Chicago 2025

Fan Expo Chicago 2025 was one for the record books, with a fantastic guest list and a lot of exciting things to see and do. One of the highlights of the entire con came when we had a chance to interview some of the cast of Aliens, who we'd had the pleasure of seeing together in their Friday panel.

For this task, we enlisted Antal Bokor, an editor, combat veteran, and lifelong fan of Aliens, to take on the herculean task of interviewing people who quite literally influenced all of our lives growing up.

Enjoy!

Mark Rolston, appearing alongside cast members including William Hope at Fan Expo Chicago 2025. Photo: Marielle Bokor

CULTURE COMBINE: Obviously, you played an iconic sci-fi role in Aliens. And you have been an inspiration for hundreds of soldiers -I don't know if you're aware of this.

I was in the Army. I was an infantryman, and my dad was in the Army. I probably would have joined the Marines, but there were no Colonial Marines, obviously.

 So, you know, I met him halfway and joined the Army infantry. And, we were either, you know, quoting Kubrick from Full Metal Jacket or Aliens, and you're obviously one of the most iconic Aliens Marines.

How does it make you feel knowing that we’re quoting you, and that when I think of, badasses you’re one of the faces that comes to mind?

MARK ROLSTON: I - I'm honored. I appreciate it…but you know, you all are the real deal.

You know, we're just we're playing at it. We were lucky to have people like Al Matthews on set. And we had guys that were British SAS. So you know, anyone who's a soldier knows, what you, what you went through. 

And luckily, they imbued us with the real reality.

You know, we've had numerous former Marines and soldiers come up and say, “hey, you guys are an inspiration,” or, or “you're the reason why I joined the corps,”

 and I quickly reply ‘I can’t be responsible for that.’

(Editor’s note: Al Matthews, who portrayed Gunnery Sgt. Apone in Aliens, was a member of the US Marine Corps who spent six years in service, during which he not only won thirteen combat awards, but was also the first black Marine in the 1st Marine Division to be meritoriously promoted to the rank of sergeant)

CULTURE COMBINE: Good answer.

MARK ROLSTON: It's amazing, you know. In Aliens, we formed bonds over a two-week rehearsal period, and then we went through a mini boot camp when all the guys from Hollywood arrived, and I think all of that preparation just, not only complements details, characterizations, and script, but, you know, obviously, also our performances. 

CULTURE COMBINE: That boot camp you went through, uh, with the SAS guys, that's famous. Everybody talks about that. I fought alongside those guys, and I know they’re tough as nails.

Was that your impression?

MARK ROLSTON:  I mean, well...yeah.

So, first day when we had the group boot camp, the Hollywood guys arrive, and you know, we have a five o'clock a.m. call and first thing out of the gate was a five mile run.

CULTURE COMBINE: Oh my.

MARK ROLSTON: And I was in incredible shape because I had been training at Pinewood Studios for three and a half months prior to that because I had to go from 182 pounds - to - eventually  I was close to 230, in 3 ½ months. 

CULTURE COMBINE: Yeah, i was going to say…

MARK ROLSTON: I was just pumping, working, doing running, doing all that and eating like a fiend. So all the guys arrived, of course.

I'm in the lead, just kicking it out, but pulling up the rear was (Bill) Paxton going

 “Oh hey man, I just got here. Like, you know, uh, do I have to do this? Like, I think I’ve got jet lag” 

and they were like “MOVE SOLDIER!” 

I mean, they were up his ass…

CULTURE COMBINE: That's hilarious.

MARK ROLSTON: And yeah, just memories like that. And some of the guys who played secondary roles: Tip Tipping, Trevor Steedman,who played Wierzbowski, they had served.

We were surrounded by guys who had experience.

Yeah I’m lucky Jim Cameron saw what he saw in me, and when he offered me the role he said,  ‘I'm offering this to you with a mandate,” he said. “You know, you gotta bulk up.”

So I wasn't doing HGH or anything, but I was drinking this Bragg's amino acid, and what it did was it increased my metabolism and, you know, I’m working out, but I was hungry all the time.

And I - my first wife, you know, I'd come home from the day of working out I’d hit the door sometimes, and I'd be, you know, so into character, you know, 

I was just like

‘What's for dinner!?’, you know, and she was, like, 

“Oh no, no, no, no. Go outside and let all that go and then come in and say,  ‘Hello, honey! Is there dinner?’

I mean, great memory.

CULTURE COMBINE: Amazing.

The cast of Aliens at Fan Expo Chicago 2025. William Hope, Mark Rolston, Ricco Ross, Jenette Goldstein and Paul Reiser

MARK ROLSTON: I mean, Jim Cameron is probably the most prepared director I've ever worked with. I mean, Scorcese’s prepared, but I, we, witnessed it.

Like, the day that I was offered the role I went into his office, and plastered on all four walls of his office in sequence was his storyboard, and it wasn't - he doesn't do stick figures. Jim is an extremely fine artist. They were fine art storyboards.

I asked Jim a couple of years ago

I said. ‘Jim, you know, do you still have your storyboards,’

He goes

“Yeah, they're in a box somewhere,”

and I said, ‘Dude, you should create a coffee table book with your storyboard. I'm telling you. The audience will flip out.’ 

CULTURE COMBINE: I can't imagine, especially with collectors.

MARK ROLSTON: And I bet a million bucks that what he drew on those pictures is exactly what he shot. I'll bet I bet a million bucks. Seriously, I would.

CULTURE COMBINE: He (James Cameron) sounds like an impressive man. It's amazing that you got to work with him. I've never met the man, but I know he's rumored to be extremely, you know,  intense, on set. I know he has his methods.

Did you feel like you were being directed a lot by him singularly, or did he direct you guys more as a whole?

MARK ROLSTON:  Pretty much as a whole - as a team. Uh, you know, because we were always on point whenever we were deployed

And you know, Jim was interesting.

If you were in the zone of what he wanted, he didn't mess with you. He didn't mess with me a lot. And I also wasn't a type of character that was going to, you know, scene steal, whereas Bill Paxton was always improvising and trying to get a joke in, and Jim sometimes had to say, ‘Oh, Bill, keep that, or ‘Cut  it out. Don't say that.’ 

So if you were in the pocket of his vision, he didn't mess with you.

CULTURE COMBINE: Well, sir, your screen presence. You don't need to try to steal the scene because you are the scene. A lot of times, you're standing in it. You are incredibly intimidating. 

In fact, you've kind of had a reputation for being villains, and you were on Shawshank Redemption as Bogs Diamond.

That man - that man scares me. In fact, every time I think of the consequences of going to prison, I see your face. 

And I don't know if that's the best thing to admit, but you are an intimidating person on screen.

MARK ROLSTON:  Well, you know, I'm a classically trained actor. I've been blessed with the presence.

 I mean, I can. I can stand on a stage, and I mean, I toured playing Richard II for a year early in my career out of New York, and, uh, you know, I've stood on the stage in front of 5000 people. Using my voice, no microphones.

That's a gift. And Morgan Freeman was very instrumental. 

And I mean I did it before, but really in Shawshank there was the quiet stillness, which makes it even more menacing, but also in film, you can just hang in the gap, you hang in the frame. 

You can't be doing a whole bunch of stuff. So when I was studying acting, I used to do little student films and stuff. 

And my son's godfather - he was a camera man. I remember we were on a roof in London and doing an extreme close-up. And you know he was one of the first people to say “Mark, I don't want you to turn and look. You can't do this when we're extreme.'

So yeah, my very best buddy, was the first one to give me the lesson on stillness.

CULTURE COMBINE: Well, you are a menacing person when you want to be.

MARK ROLSTON: I have had people say. You're the reason I never went to prison.

CULTURE COMBINE: Yeah, you are. Yes, sir. You're the reason I would never go to prison. 

But, back to Aliens. 

Your death scene is shocking - probably one of the most shocking beside Frost's death scene in the film, because you're a badass. You've got it all together. In fact, you’re in a situation where your boss, you know, doesn't know what he's doing. So, ‘we're going to take it in our own hands.’

Even for me as a soldier, we emulated you guys, because you're taking initiative.

You know, our higher ups don't know what they're talking about, and they didn't sometimes. And so, we would take the initiative, and uh, pretty much take your role in that. 

But when you died, it was shocking. And obviously, it's a script and it's all pre-decided. 

What's your thoughts on that as the actor or as the character in that moment, when you take the acid to your face?

MARK ROLSTON: It was -I mean, I just watched it again. I was a guest at a film festival in Spain, and they played that whole sequence. I mean, talk about action packed.

I mean, that was - the actual fall, the firing of the flamethrower and the acid was the very first shot we did in the movie and then all the rest of the action was later on: a couple of days later, a week later…

But, it's one hell of a sequence of action.

You know, Drake is bringing up the rear. I'm just blasting away, and I think I remember the armorers giving me an extra long ribbon of dummy rounds, just so I could blast off with the area I had to cover. And you know, they were 50 caliber rounds. They made a hell of a lot of noise.

And you wouldn’t do that today. Well, you wouldn't get away with it. 

They don't do it on set anymore. 

Now, if I think about the coolest thing, Jim had the armorer drill the muzzle of the gun in random ways so that we fired the flare -the light would refract, not just go out the end of the muzzle. Next time you see it, you’ll notice it.

CULTURE COMBINE: I have noticed that, in fact. And that was James Cameron, who decided that?  I keep getting so much cool insight from you guys, 

When I spoke to Jenette earlier (Editor’s note: More on this later!) I was nervous. But I’m a huge fan of hers and yours, obviously and was kind of star-struck when I talked to her, so I didn't get to ask her this question, but you guys are kind of a duo on screen - a partnership.

How did that dynamic come to be between you, because it almost looks like you two could just talk without words?

MARK ROLSTON: Almost, yeah. I mean, we were in rehearsal, and Jen and I just took ourselves aside, and we were talking about things like,  ‘What do you reckon our background was?’

We came up with the fact that we were in a forced service role. And this opportunity came, and we were lifers that we weren't going to get out, and we took the opportunity to get out of the hell hole, even though we were going to take on a mission and we could die. But even if we died it was better than where we were.

And she just came to me and said, “Look, you know, you've always had my back here, and vice versa, so cover me on this mission."

And it was strictly platonic. There's no romance. But yeah, it's mainly because we made a pact.

CULTURE COMBINE: 

Well, it was conveyed very well on screen. You did an excellent job with that.

I didn't realize how much of a fan I was of yours at first, because I know you portrayed Drake. and Bogs Diamond, but I didn't realize how many voiceover roles you did. 

MARK ROLSTON: Yeah!

CULTURE COMBINE: I guess my journalistic pedigree, so to speak, is that I'm a games journalist. I started with video games, and I noticed you, you were in Blade Runner - that old, old Blade Runner video game and you've done stuff as recent - well, I could be wrong and there’s things that are even more recent, but I know you're doing like Spider-Man 2, too because you're Norman Osborne. 

MARK ROLSTON: And we’re about to start number three.

CULTURE COMBINE: Oh, okay!

What's the difference between, I guess? Blade Runner and Spider-Man 2 as far as voice acting.

MARK ROLSTON: In the Blade Runner game, I was a voiceover, but for Spider-Man, I do complete motion capture, voice, and everything.

CULTURE COMBINE: I didn’t realize that. That’s very cool.

MARK ROLSTON: Same thing with the Batman Arkham Shadow VR game. We're about to start another one of those.

I play Commissioner Gordon.

CULTURE COMBINE: You were also Death Stroke/Slade Wilson for the Arkham franchise Your voice for that is amazing, and you are pretty much 'my Deathstroke' in my head the same way Kevin Conroy is Batman for me. It’s iconic.

I don't really see people talking about that much. I know you were on a podcast during Spider-Man 2 for Norman Osborne, I believe. 

The Behind the Voice podcast?

Do a lot of people recognize you for your voiceover work? Do people talk to you about that a lot? 

MARK ROLSTON: Yeah, yeah people mention it a lot. We're a big fans of the game. Spider-Man 2 was - both of the games got great reviews. The company we work for, Insomniac Games, are really a great group of creatives who are determined to top themselves with each iteration of the game.

CULTURE COMBINE: Do you have a different process for a voice role?

MARK ROLSTON:  Yeah, because we’re on a stage and we’re doing a scene, and so the

fascinating, thing is, when we do the next virtual reality game, I won't have to wear a suit and I can just wear street clothes, but I'll have glasses whereby when I look at you, I see your avatar and you see, mine, my avatar itself, and we'll be acting to avatar

CULTURE COMBINE: That’s so cool

I’ve got just a couple more things to ask about your voiceover work. When you did Norman Osborne - your voice is very iconic, and unique.

But it sounds like, and I guess I should ask you - it sounds like you’re channeling a little Willem Defoe in that, from his performance. 

Now, whatever, I think, it’s because I think there’s overlap that just comes from the type of character you're portraying anyways. 

Just all Mark Rolston?

MARK ROLSTON:  I am gonna watch Willem's performance as Green Goblin before we do the next two games, because I haven't seen a script yet to say whether number three…

Number three, I have a feeling what’s gonna happen is is number three is going to show how, because it was a cliffhanger at the end of two.

I let Otto Octavius out of jail and we form a pact to get Spider-Man, so I think most of the game may be us - what kind of pact we make, how…

And after the cliffhanger, I imagine, might be a suggestion of being Goblin, or of my face, and I'm just trying to pad my pockets, you know, and make some more money. It's quite possible that the studio is going to have it all happen in the next game, and I'm - and I'll be involved.

They have told me to be - continue to do my yoga, remain limber, because when you do the games like, I'm not gonna have to do all the stunts because you’ve obviously got to fight a lot. I just have to, you know, maintain, and get into a position. And then the stunt guy comes in. He takes the air and flips around. I’ve done a lot of stunts in my career but yeah, I'm not doing that. 

CULTURE COMBINE: Besides your other upcoming video game voiceovers, do you have any other projects that are in the works coming up?

Yeah, you know, I've got a film in development we're really excited about. It's a drama set in Massachusetts. My son, who is a producer, is running with it. It looks like we may get backed by the agency, and you know, we'll see. It’s an extremely well written story, so ask us. And other than the game, that’s all right now. 

CULTURE COMBINE: Well, thank you. I hope to see you again soon. I've been a huge fan my whole life. Thank you so much. Like I said, you've been an inspiration for me. It's surreal that I got a chance to talk to you. So, thank you so much again.

Don't miss all the Fan Expo Chicago fun with our cosplay galleries and even more celebrity news from panels, and watch out for a few more amazing interviews with some of the cast of Aliens coming soon!