|
Quotation
I just have high expectations. Every time I see a movie I'm in, I go,
'Fuck it! That scene was supposed to be good, and it's terrible.'
They do everything for you, they even brush your teeth. I don't need
that. I feel fine when I can shoot. Shooting can be quite exhausting but
then comes the moment where you know how it works. Like a electric
shock.
The isolation was important for my role [in Buffalo Soldiers].
The soldiers somehow lived in their own world, too. When we didn't
shoot, there was only the hotel. There was also a falafel snack bar just
round the corner. I am a vegetarian you know, and I thought it would be
difficult [in Germany]. But falafel, yes, mmm.
Forget the Oscar nomination [for Gladiator]. The real pinnacle is
that I'm playing an animated character in a Disney film. Isn't that the
greatest? I play a native American transformed into a bear. Don't call
me a leading man. I don't care about that. I'm a leading bear. I am
content!
When I first heard about [To Die For], I thought, what a terrible
idea — a teacher seduces this kid and he kills her husband? That's
awful. About a month later my agent calls me back and says, 'Read the
script!' And I was like, 'Joaq — what are you doing? You've ruined
it.' I drove up to New York, went in for an audition with Gus, and that
was it.
The part I love about this job is the acting itself. Obvious, I know.
But there are those brief moments when you actually tap into something.
And for about thirty seconds, you almost feel invincible.
I really hate when people put that label on a film, that it's 'dark.' I
don't know what that means. What people call dark, to me actually makes
it more interesting.
We all had active imaginations and since we were little we would act out
in performances. But later I got tired so I left it. Then I came back
and left it again. When I turned 17 I asked myself what most people ask
themselves: 'What am I doing with my life?' I was older, I wanted to
find myself and find something I liked doing. I remember feeling like
something was missing, there was a void. I started thinking that void
could be filled by performing. I came to New York and started actively
auditioning to find employment.
The Oscars, to me, was a recognition of my work, and in a way it was
saying, 'You're not alone.'
I didn't let myself enjoy [the Oscar nomination] and have fun with it. I
felt like Miss America, I started weeping. An Oscar-nomination; it's the
thing.
[Merrill Hess] is the kind of guy who would have beaten me up in school
for eating tofu.
I'm not the indie kid, and I'm also not the John Grisham novel hero, but
I am all of those things. I do whatever excites me at the time. I'll be
in some huge $80 million buddy cop movie, I don't care, and I'll also do
some wild independent movie. I refuse to have an agenda.
I don't know why I always get to play these guys who have few redeeming
features. But don't knock it. Villains are much more fun.
I've always felt when I was younger that there was something missing. I
guess you go through that growing up — you want something. As soon as
I started working as an actor, I just felt this void had filled.
As I'm reading a script, I start to see the character. I always seem to
do something to my hair. A lot of stuff I do for a part, people don't
even notice, but I notice, and it makes the character whole for me.
I mean, I get nervous in restaurants! I'm still figuring it out. Once
the cameras are rolling, I'm right there, I'm comfortable, I just let
go. In between takes, yeah, I'll get self-conscious. It's the process of
film-making that I enjoy, not the stuff that comes later. But if you
work as much as I want to, your face is bound to get out.
I love acting. It makes me feel good.
I guess I feel I'm being productive and creative when I act. Everybody
needs that: photographers, writers. I feel so happy when I'm working.
It's what I want to do. Other than that, I can't analyze it.
It's really a glorious feeling. I'm absolutely addicted.
The minute I read To Die For, I knew that I wanted the character
to have that Billy Ray Cyrus sort of hair. So I had them put in some
extensions and pierce the ear. I thought this was a really ridiculous
hair style, and I still do. But it's funny, in Canada, I'm walking to
the set laughing about it, and I look up and like 60 percent of the crew
has this haircut — the hockey cut.
I would do one of those huge movies because I want to experience it. I
think it's probably a lot easier for me to do a scene in which I'm
having an intimate conversation with someone on a quiet little set than
it is to scream at a blue screen because I think a giant dragon's penis
is trying to swallow me. That, to me, is going to be a challenge.
I'm not in this business for the lifestyle, to get into places and have
free drinks.
I hate acting acting. I try to be.
I like to find the heart of characters that in other people's hands
would be the dupe.
I really think that the greatest fear for actors is reaching the point
at which they go, 'God, I'm good at this', because I think the work will
really suffer.
The reason I keep making movies is I hate the last thing I did. I'm
trying to rectify my wrongs.
I don't do many big studio films. I've been offered a few but nothing
like Gladiator. Those films are usually loaded with lines like,
'Johnny, get the gun!', the sort of stuff that just makes me go, 'Oh
God!'. But Gladiator offered me everything I could possibly want
in a film.
Once you get into the wardrobe and you get on set, you really forget
about how much money is being put into your production. It's just you
and the director and the actors.
I love the pressure of making movies. I hate rehearsing. I can't
rehearse. But when you roll that camera, there's something about it,
it's magic. I'm gone and can't be held accountable. I'm a maniac for
work. When I'm working, everything works. When I've got nothing to do I
go a bit kooky.
For River, as it is for me, acting and movies were a need. I can't
explain it.
In some ways it can be therapeutic. I think when you go through a really
intense scene you just feel like such a sense of contentment and calm
that kind of washes over you. Ten hours and you're shooting the scene
over and over again, crying or screaming or whatever, it's so intense.
You know we all feel better after a good cry... Try it for 10 hours.
More
Quotes
.
|
