'28 Years Later's' Chi Lewis-Parry Makes his Mark for What's Swinging Down Below

"28 Years Later" brings director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland back to the franchise as they bring the zombie franchise into the 21st century. Their gamble that audiences wanted to revisit their dystopian scenario has paid off: The film grossed $30M in the U.S., with an additional $30M overseas in its first week of release. Additionally, it has a 90% positive rating on the review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes.

But it isn't so much the film's horror effects that have captured the imagination of social media. It is the appearance of a new zombie species called "alpha," who are led by an imposing character named "Samson" played by Chi Lewis-Parry. Not only is he 6'8", what has made Samson go viral is his "distractingly large penis on prominent display in all his scenes" (as it is put in Vulture under the headline "We Need to Talk About the Massively Hung Zombie in 28 Years Later."

"Seeing the well-hung zombie, however, does raise a number of questions I found myself fixated on while watching the movie," writes Louis Peitzman in Vulture. "Did the rage virus enhance Samson's natural endowment? (We're told it has a steroidlike effect on some of the infected, but steroids are more associated with shrinking testicles than lengthening shafts.) Does he have enough self-awareness to consider it a source of pride? Is he the alpha because he has a big dick, or does he have a big dick because he's the alpha?"

Speaking to Variety, Lewis-Perry explained how he created his own backstory for Samson, in which, before he was infected, he "sacrificed himself to protect others and thus he became an infected. It made him less of a monster for me."

He freely admits that the massive penis seen in the film is not his, but a prosthetic. While he says his own was screen-worthy ("Well, I'm 6′ 8″. I'll say no more!" he tells Variety), there were legal reasons why Lewis-Perry (and all the naked zombies) wore prosthetics. One of the film's leads, Alfie Williams, was only 13 when the film was shot. "There's a law that states, I think, because he's a child, you're allowed to have nudity but it has to be fake nudity. It was to protect him. And, as well, I'm really friendly and am always hugging people. I wouldn't have been doing that if I was fully in the nip!"

Lewis-Perry recently made the move from being a MMA fighter to an actor. He previously appeared in the Coliseum in "Gladiator II" opposite Paul Mescal, where he played a "cocky gladiator" who is done in by rhino horns. He said "had a confrontational scene with Paul that sets up his demise, but that got cut. So, he became just the cocky guy who's got lots of energy. But everyone got what they wanted. The guy got killed by the rhino, and then Paul has an epic fight and wins."