Ian Ziering says DC Universe series 'Swamp Thing' is a Halloween must-watch: 'People are going to be blown away'
Ian Ziering is confident fans are going to be "blown away" by the drama series he is starring in, "Swamp Thing."
The actor, who rose to fame as Steve Sanders on "Beverly Hills, 90210," plays Daniel Cassidy, aka the Blue Devil, in the DC series, which hits the CW on Tues., Oct. 6 for a 90-minute premiere at 8 pm ET. He describes the show as "pure horror and science fiction on a level that's never been delivered to TV before."
"Swamp Thing," executive produced by impressive talent including James Wan ("Aquaman," "Saw," and "The Conjuring), Gary Dauberman ("Annabelle" films and "It"), Len Wiseman ("Underworld" films) and more, originally premiered on the DC Universe streaming app in 2019.
Ziering told "Good Morning America" that it’s been a lifelong dream of his to take on a superhero role and playing the Blue Devil "appeals to the 8-year-old boy" inside of him.
"Just to audition for something like this, I dreamed about being a superhero. I used to have capes when I was a kid, I was a superhero," he said.
"To be able to play a superhero for DC -- I never even put it on the bucket list because bucket lists things are for things that I thought would be attainable. This was all fantasy," he added. "To be able to play Daniel Cassidy in a project that far out distances anything that I've ever done in terms of quality content, this is top of the food chain film production."
Ziering said the producers and the cast of "Swamp Thing" are two of the elements that make the show so special.
"These people are so compelling, so strong," he said about his co-stars. "I've never worked on a project where everyone was at the top of their game ... everybody knows that everyone's at the top of their game, and everyone showed up on set every day and grabbed the rope and put their shoulder into it and just pulled this project to make it something that is exceptional."
The legend of the fictional DC Comics swamp creature has been seen and explored in film and TV before, including in a TV series of the same name in 1990, Wes Craven’s 1982 horror film and Jim Wynorski’s sequel in 1989, among other projects.
However, Ziering believes this television adaptation is like no other.
"It's grounded, it's not campy," he said. "When they made the ‘Swamp Thing’ movies years ago with Adrienne Barbeau or Heather Locklear, there was a bit of camp and kitsch to that. This is very grounded. This is reality in an imaginary circumstance. This is pure horror and science fiction on a level that's never been delivered to TV before."
The show was cancelled shortly after its premiere on the DC Universe streaming app last year, but Ziering is hoping that new viewers will embrace this "Swamp Thing" adaption on a new network.
"To have spent so much money on this content and not have the eyeballs see it, made it not cost effective, so they pulled it from the streaming service," he explained of the show’s departure from the DC streaming app.
The actor feels viewers will be "moved" after seeing the 90-minute premiere.
"Your typical intake of scripted programming is going to feel shallow by comparison because the writing is so masterfully crafted, developing the characters in the midst of all these amazing set pieces and story scenarios that are explosive, literally explosive, or scary," he said.
He says the horror drama is the perfect Halloween watch or a great program to use as an entertaining escape.
"In a time where there's been so much global sorrow -- for social unrest or the pandemic or the fires in California … all of a sudden there's a ray of hope, of normalcy," he said. "This project has just pulled me out of the doldrums of a crappy Groundhog Day that I'm living every day -- that we're all living to a certain extent -- and reminded me of the passion that I derive from being in this business."
"It's not just your ordinary gig," he added. "This is not just a TV show. This is the highest-quality content that I've ever been associated with in my entire life. This raises the bar on so many different levels."
