Tim Roth has received acclaim for his acting work over the past few decades, but has rarely aligned himself to big Hollywood blockbuster films such as The Incredible Hulk. Speaking to Wizard Universe, Roth explained why he accepted the role of the Abomination in the latest Hulk movie.

Asked why he accepted the role, Roth's answer was simple. "When I met with Louis Leterrier, his original ideas for the film were very dark and very interesting. He wanted to cast actors, not 'glossy' types. So I said, 'That's kind of intriguing.'" Roth also revealed that he was cast before it was revealed that Ed Norton would be playing the role of Bruce Banner/The Hulk. "I knew he was one of the ideas floating around at the time. I don't know if they had met with him yet. I don't think so. It wasn't that it was Ed, although I think Ed was a great choice for it. It was just that, that's the caliber of person they were after. If Banner doesn't work, then none of it works."

Roth also revealed that he was a big fan of The Incredible Hulk TV series, starring Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno. "Oh, yeah! When I was 14 or 15, I worked in Tesco, which is a supermarket chain in London. And my mate was a bodybuilder-I was a complete little wimp of a guy. We became fast friends. One of his ideas of fun was to paint himself green and put on purple pants and jump out of the trees in front of people in parks. We became quite obsessed with the Hulk. We thought he was brilliant."

That said, Roth said that he avoided watching Ang Lee's Hulk movie. "I started to watch it, then I stopped. I felt the film I was making was this one, and I didn't want to make a comparison. I'd worked with Jennifer [Connelly] and I'm a big fan of Ang Lee's, so I just thought I'd put that [film] to sleep and not worry about that. I know there's a lot of controversy about it, whether it was a good film or a bad film. I didn't want to watch it for precisely this reason, these questions, which I know will be coming at me. I just felt like while I was working on it, I didn't want to have anything else in my head. Our piece is probably very different."

Additionally, Roth discussed the differences between the version of Emil Blonsky/The Abomination and the one found in the pages of Marvel comics:

He's not Russian anymore. He's an English guy that works with the American Special Forces. The reason I played him with my own accent is because they didn't want to get a dialect coach. He's a Special Forces guy brought on by General Ross to track down Banner. He becomes fascinated with how he becomes the Hulk and basically ODs on that substance. He's really a lot of different things. He's a great monster, I think.

The Incredible Hulk, starring Edward Norton, William Hurt, Liv Tyler and Tim Roth smashes into theatres on June 13, 2008.