Shuler Hensley talks Van Helsing

"The book was one of my favorites growing up," Hensley, a respected stage actor, said in an interview. "I just found it really interesting that this script and Stephen's take on the Monster were a lot closer to the book than the old films were in terms of the Frankenstein Monster being articulate."

The actor added, "He doesn't stomp around screaming and moaning. He's an important part of the story. Like anyone else, though, I'd seen some of the films. I'd seen the Kenneth Branagh version with [Robert] De Niro. Our film, in passing, deals with what's in the book, but because Stephen has thrown all of these characters [also among them Dracula and the Wolf Man, with star Hugh Jackman's titular monster killer on the hunt for them] into a storyline, the storyline is unique. The movie establishes the character from the book and it takes off from there."

Hensley went on to note that he was thrilled to reunite with his friend Jackman. They'd worked together in the London production of the musical Oklahoma. "The [Van Helsing producers] called him to let him know that they were wanting me to do it, and he was ecstatic," Hensley said. "Hugh called me immediately. Any time we can work together it's like summer camp. We have a great time. So it was a lot of fun. I had no clue that he'd signed on. I auditioned and they told me that Van Helsing was going to be played by a guy named Hugh Jackman. And I said, 'Oh, you're kidding me.' It was fortuitous and a total coincidence."