Willem Dafoe is getting ready to pack up and head overseas to prepare for John Carter of Mars, the film based on Edgar Rice Burroughs’ science fiction novel. Dafoe revealed at a press day for Daybreakers, that he’ll be leaving for London next week to train for the role of Tars Tarkas, the first alien John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) meets when he arrives on the Martian planet.

Dafoe explained, “I can tell you that next week I go to London and start to train to prepare for it, and I think the 18th is actually the beginning of the production. I don’t think I’m shooting until February but I start preparing next week.” The action has yet to begin for Dafoe, but filming began in a Utah desert in the fall. Just the other day his co-star Mark Strong confirmed that shooting is underway.

As for what Dafoe’s training regimen will be, he didn’t really know. When asked he replied, “Well, I play a 10-foot Martian warrior.” Naturally the follow-up question was if he knew how this 10-foot Martian warrior fights, to which he laughed and said, “I don’t. Or speak, or move and what kind of rigs I’ll have on and what kind of rigs I won’t have on and all that.”

So no juicy details, but it’s great to hear that production is humming along. Perhaps this is one of few films we’ll actually get to see sooner rather than later!