J. August Richards reveals he did not know he would play Deathlok on 'Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'

J. August Richards is a veteran of the "Whedonverse," the series of movies and films created by Joss Whedon. He starred on Angel, the spinoff of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, for nearly the show's entire run and then returned as the super-powered Mike Peterson in the pilot episode of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. The actor now portrays Deathlok on the show, but apparently Richards himself had no idea that he would step into the role.

Richards told Hero Complex from The Los Angeles Times that it took him a while to learn the truth when asked how far in advance he knew that he would be coming back.

"Not far in advance at all. Everything with Marvel is on a need-to-know basis, so I didn't officially know until the second episode I did, which I think was the 10th episode in the season. Information is carefully guarded over there. I definitely didn't know that I was Deathlok. I even had a costume fitting, and I didn't know what I was being fitted for!"

Richards also described his preparation for the role, for which he read multiple comics about Deathlok. The character has been a soldier and a pacifist in the source material, and the site asked where Richards would place Mike Peterson.

"Definitely, in my reading, I was drawn more to the Michael Collins version because this character is such a good man, such a good moral, decent person. For [Peterson] to do the things he's asked to do as Deathlok are very difficult for him. When I showed up to play the character for the first couple of days, I was still trying to find it. Obviously these are circumstances that I can't relate to, but I had to really use my imagination to get at what it would be like for Mike Peterson to be turned into Deathlok. Once I figured it out, it was like night and day, just a huge epiphany on what was going on internally for this character. I feel blessed that I've been asked to play this character because I always want to play the person behind the superhero. Even when I'm playing a lawyer or a doctor, I want to play a person. A human being. It's challenging physically, mentally, emotionally and even in the circumstances of the production. The makeup and the costumes. It's a huge challenge, but it's something that I love so much."

What do you think of this? Let us know in the comments below.