Stephen Lang: Avatar Superstar, Hollywood Journeyman, Local Guy, and FilmColumbia Honoree
Film Columbia pays tribute to Lang's impress body of work, spanning five decades.
When FilmColumbia rolls out the red carpet at the newly reopened Crandell Theatre in Chatham this week, the festival’s 2025 honoree will need no introduction. Around Columbia County, Stephen Lang, the journeyman actor turned international household name for playing the lead villain in the Avatar series, is just a recognizable neighbor and Crandell regular.
“We came up here in 2008,” Lang says. “Friends of ours had bought a home up here. We came up one October. It was just, wow, beautiful. We found a home we really loved. I’m here as much as possible.”
Lang, 73, laughs about how the time has passed too quickly. “For many years I was kind of conditioned to be the new guy in town,” he says “Which you are when you come to a small town. But there’s been such an influx of folks, particularly since the pandemic. For all they know, I’ve been here for 200 years.”
Lang is quick to downplay any celebrity status, happier to walk through Chatham than down the red carpet. But this month, the Crandell, freshly restored after a yearlong renovation, will turn its spotlight on him.
FilmColumbia 2025 opens Friday, October 17, with programming dedicated to Lang. The celebration begins at the Crandell Theatre with a 1pm screening of Last Exit to Brooklyn, featuring Lang in one of his most powerful early roles. The tribute continues at 3:30pm with a showing of his newest film, Sisu: Road to Revenge, followed by a Q&A with the actor. The day culminates with a 6pm Kick-Off Party at the home of Jack Shear in Spencertown, where festivalgoers will toast Lang over food, drinks, and a fundraising auction.
A Career on His Own Terms
Lang’s filmography is as varied as it is long: Manhunter, Tombstone, Gettysburg, Gods and Generals, Don’t Breathe, VFW, and of course Avatar: Fire and Ash, coming out December 19. He’s performed on Broadway, voiced video games, and worked with storied directors like Michael Mann and James Cameron. “I like the idea of doing everything,” Lang says. “Sometimes you agree to do something and you kick yourself—why the hell did I agree to do that? But you do it, and almost invariably you’re glad you did. I’m an actor—it’s what I do. I love to work, and the more diverse it can be, that’s cool.”
The FilmColumbia program underscores that range, screening two films from very different moments in his career: the 1989 drama Last Exit to Brooklyn and his new Finnish-American action film Sisu: The Exodus. Lang personally suggested Last Exit for the festival. “It’s a film I worked really hard on,” he says. “I always felt that the film never quite found its audience, never got its due. But that’s one of the great things—with care and preservation, movies last. They can come back. So I’m really pleased they’re going to show it.”
He recalls co-stars like the “luminous” Jennifer Jason Leigh, and working with Sam Rockwell as “a kid.” Though the film was overshadowed in its day, Lang sees its return as a small victory: “I saw it with one eye closed because I was so kind of worried,” he says. “It’s a difficult film.”
A Man of Action
Lang speaks with wistful satisfaction about his early career. When reminded of his turn as sleazy journalist Freddy Lounds in Michael Mann’s Manhunter (1986), he’s quick to defend his distinctive mop, “That was just my hair! beautiful, messy, curly. My talent was in my hair.” He’s still quite talented in that department, arguably Hollywood's leading silver fox.
His latest project, Sisu: The Exodus, will premiere in Helsinki just days after his appearance for FilmColumbia. Lang is quick to volunteer that the neo-grindhouse WWII action spectacle isn't your standard festival fare.
“This film is a hoot,” Lang says. “There’s nothing quite like it. I looked at the director’s first film and it knocked me out. It’s got a little bit of Mad Max, a little Tarantino, a little Sergio Leone, a little Chuck Jones Looney Tunes, and Buster Keaton in it. The filmmaker, Jalmari Helander, he’s the next guy. He’s spectacular.”
The Last Stand
There’s a blue-collar artistry to Lang's appeal, as an actor and a man. Despite his blockbuster credentials, he continues to do small local performances and readings, and lend his presence to regional arts causes. “I like being up here,” he says simply. “I love my town. I live in a really lovely place. Got great neighbors. This is where I figure to make my stand, as it were.”
Still, the world knows him best as the indestructible space colonel turned giant blue alien in James Cameron’s Avatar saga. “I love being part of the Avatar family, team, and world,” Lang says. “It’s a remarkable turn of events in a life. I hope it will go on for the rest of my life. I’m totally cool with that.”
For an actor who’s played everything from Shakespeare to science fiction, this weekend’s celebration feels like a local party with friends as an accolade. “I like the Crandell,” he says. “I’m glad the Crandell likes me.”
