Patrick Wilson recalls going ‘hog-wild’ for toys

Patrick Wilson in “A Gifted Man”

Patrick Wilson, who stars in “Aquaman” as the villain Orm, aka Ocean Master, has his own action figure out. Decades ago, he started collecting toys with his two older brothers, who were into the original “Star Wars” action figures.

“I shifted my obsessions from ‘Star Wars,’” Wilson told SyFy Wire. “I started going hog-wild into ‘G.I. Joe’ [action figures]. I had every single figure … and still do. Although the rubber band inside [each of] them is now disintegrated, so a lot of them just pop apart.”

The versatile stage, film and TV actor, whose credits include the play “The Full Monty,” the movie “Watchmen,” and the series “A Gifted Man,” also recalled facing a turning point when he felt he was getting older—should he stop collecting, or continue as a toy geek?

“I remember about five months later going, ‘You know what? It’s what I do. I collect G.I. Joe; I’m going to embrace it,’” recounted Wilson, now 45. “So I brought it all in [for a school project] … and I rocked it. I was like, ‘See? I’ve got every G.I. Joe there is!’”

Wilson’s official Ocean Master figure is a 6-inch toy with 23 points of articulation, a trident, and part of a Trench Creature, which can be completed with a set of “Aquaman” toys.—OLIVER PULUMBARIT

Wilson as the villain Orm in “Aquaman”