Actor Lou Ferrigno
I was raised in a dangerous part of Brooklyn. Due to an ear infection, I acquired shortly after my birth, I had a severe speech impairment and 80% hearing loss. I had to wear a hearing aid and rely a lot on lip-reading. I grew incredibly withdrawn after being referred to as “Deaf Louis” by children.
I was able to flee thanks to superhero comics like Superman and The Hulk. They provided me with the feeling of well-being I required. I wanted to be like The Hulk because my father rejected me because I wasn’t the ideal son; this fantasy is what got me into bodybuilding.
Despite never having acted before, I was offered a role in the Arnold Schwarzenegger film Pumping Iron. When I had an audition for The Incredible Hulk, I had just relocated to California and was preparing for the 1977 Mr. Olympia bodybuilding competition.
Richard Kiel, who portrayed Jaws in the James Bond films, had already begun filming the pilot episode when a young viewer on the set remarked that Kiel didn’t have the necessary kind of muscles to look like the comic book characters.
When I appeared for the screen test, I was painted green and instructed to display emotion. Since I was aware of how the Hulk felt, it came effortlessly, and I was hired. They enquired as to which Marvel superhero I preferred. None of them, I thought. I arrived first and left last at the shooting location.
My eyeball was numbered by the hard, white shell of the contacts I had to wear. So as not to have an infection in my eyes, I would pull them out right after a scene. An hour and a half were spent on makeup.
I would stand there in green underpants, arms extended in the crucifixion position, as they painted on four coats of paint. I had to stay inside my RV with the air conditioning on in a bathrobe during warm weather. Even though I was in a terrible position, I thought I looked lovely when I looked in the mirror.
I became incredibly famous thanks to the show, which gained instant success. People could identify with The Hulk since he faced a new challenge every week as David Banner, the superhero’s human alters ego.
They could tell he was evading something, and we have all experienced that. Everyone possesses a small amount of the Hulk.
Producer Kenny Johnson
Despite having movies in my thoughts, I trained in classical theatre. I relocated to California, where I worked on The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman. I suddenly found myself a member of the Universal team and the lot’s youngest director.
We have obtained the rights to five Marvel comic superheroes, the boss, Frank Price, called me up to his office and informed me of this. Which do you prefer? “None of them,” I said. Simply put, I didn’t relate to spandex and bright colors.
I sat at home that evening attempting to formulate a kind refusal. I was reading Les Misérables and picturing the book’s protagonist, Jean Valjean, as well as the idea of being on the run. I pondered whether I could combine elements of Victor Hugo, Jekyll, and Hyde, and this ridiculous character called The Hulk into a psychological adult drama about a hubristic guy who, in the ancient Greek tradition, lays the curse upon himself and then must live with the repercussions.
I spent seven days writing the pilot. Stan Lee, who is also credited with creating Marvel, noticed that the main character’s real name was Bruce Banner when I submitted the script. However, I had wished to choose a name that wasn’t overtly associated with comic books in order to distance myself from the likes of Peter Parker, Lois Lane, and Lex Luthor.
So I gave him the name David Bruce Banner. The Hulk should also be red, in my opinion. Why is he green, I questioned Stan? Is he the envious Hulk? The envious Hulk? Red is the color of anger! I failed to achieve anything.
The opening sentence of the pilot was, “Within every one of us, oftentimes, there lurks a vast and roaring rage.” I wanted to establish a tone. The goal of Banner’s mission was to develop self-control so that he would not be terrorized by demons.
With him, it was wrath, but it could also have been an obsession, greed, sexuality, or drug use. For the audience to understand that we had reached the tipping point, I also gave Banner piercing white eyes like The Hulk’s when he had been triggered.
While we were filming the pilot, Bill Bixby, who played Banner, emerged from the makeup-wearing the corrective lenses. Holy crap! I yelled out loud. This program is a hit.
