The first scene Lee Pace filmed for "Practical Magic 2" was a vulnerable one. His character, professor Ian Wright, is lying unclothed and unconscious, under a spell when Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman's witchy protagonists find him.
"I could hear their voices entering the room," said the actor, 47. "They both have such memorable voices, but beautiful. The sound of their voices is hypnotic. So I was laying there, just thinking, 'I cannot believe I'm about to have this experience.'"
Pace added that he believes witches exist in real life-and he's able to spot them. Both Bullock and Kidman, he said, have good witch elements about them. Asked to expand on wicked witches he's encountered, Pace said, "You don't want to talk about them because you don't want to get their evil eye on you."
The actor has played many other mythical beings, from an elvenking in "The Hobbit" to a vampire in "Twilight" to an alien warlord in the Marvel universe. He lives in New York City and upstate New York with his husband, Matthew Foley. Here, he discusses life on his farm and the magic of stage acting.
What time do you get up on Mondays, and what's the first thing you do after waking up?
I wake up at about 6:30, 7 a.m. and lay there for about 30 minutes and worry about things and then I get up and start the day, make coffee.
I read an interview where you talked about how much you love sleep. How many hours are you aiming for a night?
If I'm lucky, I get 10. Ten to 12. That's the dream.
What do you do for coffee and breakfast?
I make a Moka, one of those stovetop things, and I make kind of a big one. It says it's for six people. I don't do it for the caffeine, because I don't notice caffeine in coffee. It's just the ritual of it. I eat just about anything. I have toast. I like boiled eggs, fruit, a croissant.
You just wrapped the fourth season of the sci-fi series "Foundation," where you play a different cloned version of the same emperor in each season. For each of them, you've worked with your trainer to give the character a different body. What kind of exercise did you do this time around?
Well, Monday is chest day, so you start the week with the bench press, all the chest exercises so you can get the pump. I always look forward to chest day because I take Sundays off and, well, Saturdays too mostly.
During "Foundation," working out is a big part of preparing for the character. I love Ian Benson, who's the trainer I work out with for this show. We can spend an hour and half gossiping. I like a relaxing workout. I want to lift a lot of weight but I also don't want to get angry. When I'm not doing the show, I work out in a lot of different ways. I love a run. I love to swim, I like yoga.
I have to ask, what's the haircare routine? What's the secret?
I don't really give a lot of thought to that. I only cut my hair if I'm working, otherwise, I let it grow. I've usually got a pretty messy head of hair that requires no maintenance.
You primarily live on a farm upstate. Are you taking care of many animals? Do you spend a lot of time outdoors?
The only animals I keep are chickens, because I don't have good fences. And a dog. There are yearly routines, because you do different things with the garden at different times of the year. I have these paths that I maintain all through the farm so we can run around.
In late August into September, the goldenrod kicks off and it's like I've got a big wild meadow. It's probably about 10 acres, this particular meadow, and when I have nice paths mowed through it, it's one of the coolest things that farm does throughout the year.
Do you have any rituals in your life, either around acting or otherwise?
A lot of times, [acting] is just listening-to what the director needs and what they find enjoyable, or being aware of what the other actor needs gives you the information you need to play the scene. So I don't know that I have a set ritual. When I've done a play, the warm-up is the ritual. It's nice to get your voice together, think about, "What the hell is going to happen tonight?"
Do you want to do more Broadway?
Oh, I'd love to. There's nothing like it. Every night it's different. There are some nights when you're like, "What the hell happened to [the audience]? Did they meet in the lobby beforehand and conspire against me?" But then there are some nights when you feel like you're in a room with 1,400 of your best friends.
Your first credit is on "Law and Order SVU" where you play a bad guy behind bars. Do you remember getting the call that you'd gotten the part and what it was like being on set for the first time?
We call it the New York City Yearbook because all the actors in New York do "Law and Order" at some point. I knew nothing, I actually knew nothing. It was the first time I was really in front of a camera. I remember Mariska Hargitay kind of crouched so that her eye line was close to the lens. And I was like, why is she doing that? I realize now it was to keep my eyes closer to the lens so I could see what I was doing better.
What do you do to relax or find calm?
Swimming. If you swim for an hour, you're exhausted, which is a nice feeling. And it's quiet. Finding quiet is a calming thing.
What's the last great book you read?
I'm reading a lot of Henry James. "The Bostonians" is so much fun.
What's a piece of advice you've gotten that's guided you?
"Not my pig, not my farm." Which is basically to say, that's not my business.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. You can also listen and watch the full interview on The Journal podcast.
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