Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with an interview I recently conducted with actor Guy Pearce. He’s had star-making roles on at least 3 occasions I can think of… In THE ADVENTURES OF PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT, LA CONFIDENTIAL and MEMENTO, yet he’s still not a super star. Amazing. Shit, I even love RAVENOUS… Anyway, I had the opportunity to talk to him about his new flick, FIRST SNOW. I interviewed Mark Fergus, director, last week (CLICK HERE FOR THAT!) and I hear Capone broke some legs to chat with a few other actors involved with the flick. I couln’t pass up the chance to discuss a few really geeky things with him, so a long-standing rumor has been debunked and another project that’s near and dear to my heart has been broached with him. All that is discussed, plus some ponderings on the ideas of fate and destiny, the core elements of FIRST SNOW. Enjoy the chat!
Guy Pearce: Hey mate, how are you?
Quint: Hey, how’s it going man?
Guy Pearce: Good.
Quint: Good to talk to you. I really dug the film. I really liked it.
Guy Pearce: Oh thanks, thanks a bunch.
Quint: Now, you live in Australia right? In Melbourne?
Guy Pearce: Yeah.
Quint: Yeah cool, I’ve never been there. I have some friends that live there and they keep trying to get me to come out.
Guy Peare: Yeah, it’s nice, you know…
Quint: I’ve spent more time in New Zealand than I have Australia but I really…
Guy Pearce: It’s beautiful isn’t it?
Quint: Yeah, I love it. I love that part of the world. I just love the people there.
Guy Pearce: Yeah, I like it, the fact that it’s kind of away from everything in a way.
Quint: With FIRST SNOW… I see in your career you seem to… how do I put this… find films that are different, sometimes very small films and you like to join up with projects with young directors…
Guy Pearce: Well, I think it’s because, you know, I just find the things that I like really and any sort of bigger studio stuff that I get offered is generally not particularly good, so the ones that I find that are decent are generally smaller productions with, I guess, first or second time directors that don’t seem to have a lot of pressure on them from executives to kind of tow the line or do something too conventional, because there’s not usually a lot of money at stake.
Quint: Do you also think they’re hungrier and have maybe more passion to get into the business and to tell a story?
Guy Pearce: No, that’s kind of a generalization, because there’s clearly great directors out there making studio films, but those films tend to go to actors of a slightly different caliber than myself. You kind of take what you can and try to find the best of the arena of stuff that you’re… that you kind of fit into in a way.
Quint: So what made you want to attach yourself to FIRST SNOW? What was it about the project that you liked?
Guy Pearce: Well the idea and how well executed it was I suppose and ya know, Mark [Fergus] certainly seemed like somebody that was decent enough to want to work with. He just kind of had an interesting take on this idea of control and how much we try to control our lives versus how much the universe seems to do things to us that we’re not ready for or we don’t think we’re ready for and that we’re trying to sort of have some control over. It’s something I think that affects everybody everyday, even on the smallest level. If you… ya know, you might think about somebody and then you get a phone call from them the next day and you kind of go “wow, what a strange coincidence…” Those kind of connections, I’m generally fascinated with and I just think Mark and Hawk [Ostby]… Mark who directed the film, but also wrote it with Hawk , I think they just did a really sort of nice job of weaving those ideas into the story and that’s all I’m ever really after. It’s just how or whether something seems… I want to say original, but it’s hard to find clearly original ideas, but sometimes its just about the originality of how an idea is sort of presented or the originality of the dialogue or the way in which something is kind of realized and I think this has sort of a fresh quality to it and it just felt… it’s like your imagination gets bugged and it just felt realistic to me in a way.
Quint: The whole central theme of the movie is a guy trying to change his fate, trying to change his destiny. I’m curious, because even though it clearly… the movie sets up his fate being kind of set, with his car breaking down and everything being put in front of him, but do you think that his fate was set or do you think he could of chosen to not go into that trailer and learn about his impending death?
Guy Pearce: I honestly don’t know what the answer is, ya know…I guess you’re asking me what I believe and I don’t know what I believe. I think it’s too monstrous a concept for any of us to actually get our head around… And it’s unusual for this guy, because he’s clearly a non-believer and he gets told a few things and a couple of them seem to come true, so he then has to sort of emotionally make the decision whether he’s actually going to believe the final bit of information or not, which is kind of what I feel like happens for me. It’s like I kind of want to believe there’s something bigger at play, but I also believe that we do have a certain amount of control in our lives. I certainly don’t believe that we are purely some kind of victims to some god, for example. I think that notion is really kind of crazy, but at the same time I think it’s about a balance… I think it’s about not trying to control the things you can’t, but trying to control the things that you can in a way, you know?
Quint: Yeah.
Guy Pearce: As far as saying someone’s fate is set, I really don’t know, like I really wouldn’t have a clue and it’s really a strange idea to kind of get your head around. If someone chooses to go and commit suicide, then how do you equate that into whether someone’s fate is set or not?
Quint: Yeah, well I mean what’s fascinating about the idea in the movie as at a certain point he begins to play into it, almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Guy Pearce: Yeah, absolutely and I think that’s a huge part of the equation as well… We can be told things, particularly things one (person) believes, and the other things (another) doesn’t and potentially the one who believes it, as you say, sort of perpetuates it and cultivates it and next thing you know, they’ve kind of made it happen whether it’s a positive thing or a negative thing. I do believe, I suppose really that it’s about a balance, that the beauty and the joy of being a human being is that we do have the skill or the talent or whatever you want to call it… the ability to actually make things happen for ourselves, but at the same time we have to be just as accepting that if, ya know, a tsunami might hit and knock us off the face of the earth and you have no control over that. It’s a strange concept and I think the question of that concept is sort of why I was drawn into it, because you kind of come out the other end going “well, there is no answer.” It’s kind of a… it’s just a question that is kind of tantalizing to indulge in.
Quint: Another thing I really liked about the movie was the strong supporting cast. I love seeing a film that puts together a bunch of great character actors like J.K Simmons and William Fichtner…
Guy Pearce: I always think it’s a real letdown in a film when you’ve clearly got the lead and even if the other actors might be good around them it’s too focused on one person… I watched JUNEBUG just the other day, I’m working with Phil Morrison, and of course recently with LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE and the casting of both those films is so exquisite, so appropriate and to me it feels really balanced, ya know? Because it’s just a great ensemble and it’s so satisfying. I mean, I clearly… I’m in pretty much every shot of (FIRST SNOW), but I have a great sense of respect for Mark [Fergus] for really getting the people he wanted, like Bill Fichtner and J.K. and Piper [Perabo] of course, and Rick Gonzales, and so I agree with you, it really adds to a film, when every role is played by somebody great.
Quint: And it also helps when you have interesting characters written, like when you say LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE… it wouldn’t matter if Alan Arkin was the grandpa if his character wasn’t so fantastic and so entertaining. You actually want to see them. It’s great when you can marry the material with…
Guy Pearce: Well and that’s why writers are sort of the most important in our industry, because if you write a great part, I’ll guarantee you that you’ll get a great actor for it. It’s as simple as that. People often go “well how did you get so and so for that role?” and you go “well… it was well written.” Every actor wants to do something that’s well written. Funny.
Quint: Do you think that Mark [Fergus] benefited as a director from being a screenwriter first?
Guy Pearce: I think so definitely. I mean, I think his skill as writer is clearly quite good and he’s had far more experience with that than directing. I’m sure he’s got a long way to go as far as learning the ropes with directing as well. But yeah, he… an interesting thing is quite often, if something’s written well enough, then you know what to do with an actor anyway. It’s not like you walk on and go “well, what’s my motivation… what’s going on here?” I find most of the jobs, not all of them, but most of the jobs that I’ve done, I’ve sort of ended up doing what I believe I would have done anyway in the job, it’s not like a director discovered something. Well, not discovered something, because that’s partly true, because Curtis Hanson clearly got a performance out of me that I never could of imagined. But at the same time, I had a very clear understanding of what was required, because it was written so well in L.A. CONFIDENTIAL and same with MEMENTO, with Christopher Nolan’s film. So if the writing’s good, then that sort of discussion is out in a way. If the writing’s not so good and you got to fit a couple somethings together, that’s when you start to worry about what you’re going deliver, I think.
Quint: Now, you mentioned working with Chris Nolan and I had read rumors somewhere that you were once involved in some point in the first Batman movie that he was doing or…
Guy Pearce: Yeah, that’s an absolute internet rumor… I think people just put two and two together and say “well, yeah that’d be exciting.” Chris and I never had one conversation about it. Even after the film came out, people were like “how come you turned down Batman?” I’m like, “I didn’t even have a conversation about it…”
Quint: Do you think that there would be any chance or would you like to work with him on one of his Batman pictures if he asked you to?
Guy Pearce: Well I imagine if he was going to, it would have happened by now, because he’s into the second one isn’t he? I don’t know if that’s going to happened or not… I mean if you’re going to a Batman film, Chris Nolan is the person to do it with, I feel like.
Quint: Yeah, he’s done a fantastic job so far and once again, it’s a focus on the character and somehow people forget that if you care about the characters in these bigger action movies, then you’ll care about the peril.
Guy Pearce: I know, it’s a strange, bizarre thing… I mean it makes sense to me since I’m an actor I supposed. I guess for a lot of people it’s either about the visuals or the special effects or the spectacle of it or whatever and they go “ohh, what’s missing? What’s that ingredient we’ve forgotten about?”
Quint: I also have to say now that I’m speaking to you that J.J Abrams, who does LOST, has the rights to Stephen King’s DARK TOWERS series… have you ever heard of the books?
Guy Pearce: I have, but I haven’t read them though.
Quint: They’re kind of like this western fantasy science fiction horror amalgam. It’s like Stephen King made kind of his own LORD OF THE RINGS… a giant series… and the main character’s the gunslinger and ever since I saw THE PROPOSITION, I can’t help but see you as that character…
Guy Pearce: (laughs)
Quint: So, if you hear…
Guy Pearce: If I hear about it, yeah…
Quint: Yeah, say “hey I might be good for that… that weird internet guy told me I’d be good for it”
Guy Pearce: I actually had dinner with John Hillcoat last night, who directed THE PROPOSTION. He’s a fantastic guy…
Quint: That’s another one, where you have these great… I just love that sequence with John Hurt in PROPOSITION.
Guy Pearce: Again, you know you’ve got Nick Cave writing it, who’s got such a wonderful sense of observation and just a great ability to recognize human psychology and to present it in a very simplistic way. Y et it’s as complex as it could be at the same time, so you read it and you just kind of… I don’t know, you’re immediately taken there I suppose, which is when I find acting is good and how it should be. As I say, I have to try and invent something then I’m kind of just inventing it myself and I don’t have a huge faith in myself as a writer in that regard. I think it’s always more exciting to be sparked by something and then off you go, before you know it, you’re riding a wave, you’re being taken by some universal feeling. I guess it comes back to what we were talking about before, whether you take on board what the universe brings you or whether you kind of try and control it yourself. If I’m having to control a character myself, as far as coming up with it, then I go “oh no no no…” whereas if I’m able to be sort of swept along by some kind of artistic and universal force, then I can deliver a far more realistic performance, I would feel like.
Quint: Well I think we’re getting close to the end here, but I wanted to bring up the Houdini film you’ve done, DEATH DEFYING ACTS. He’s a fascinating character, for one, and it’s great to see a movie about Houdini.
Guy Pearce: Well, to clear things up, it’s not a movie that focuses on the character of Houdini, it’s a film that focuses on Catherine Zeta-Jones’ character and her daughter, who are a rather poorly off little micro-family in Scotland in the 20’s trying to make ends meet. They do a psychic show. They have an act and Houdini just happens to sort of be on a world tour and comes through town. He makes this offer of ten thousand dollars for anybody who can tell him his mother’s last dying words and it’s really about their story of trying to grab the loot, so to speak. So don’t be fooled, it’s not at all a sort of biopic on Houdini.
Quint: I knew it was a fictional story, but …
Guy Pearce: Yeah, and there some elements that are clearly true, but it’s a little “what if” fantasy story in a way.
Quint: Houdini’s actually in the film for a good portion of it, right?
Guy Pearce: Yeah, yeah.
Quint: It’s just not RAY for Houdini…
Guy Pearce: No. (laughs)
Quint: Cool, well what’s next for you besides DEATH DEFYING ACTS?
Guy Pearce: Well I’m just doing WINGED CREATURES at the moment, with Forest [Whitaker] and Kate Beckinsale and Dakota Fanning.
Quint: That’s cool. What’s that about?
Guy Pearce: Umm, it’s sort of hard to talk about something when I’m right in the middle of doing it. Really, it’s basically about a group of people dealing with the aftermath of a fierce event.
Quint: Oh, that’s cool.
Guy Pearce: Yeah, with a great cast… directed by Rowan Woods, an Australian director.
Quint: I appreciate you taking the time to talk with me.
Guy Pearce: Alright, well good to talk to you.
Quint: Good luck with the film.
Guy Pearce: Thanks, talk to you soon.
Sorry… I couldn’t resist plugging Dark Tower to him. I still think the best bet for Roland is an unknown or hardly known actor, but if they have to go with a recognizable face, I really like Guy Pearce for him. Really fits in with the Phil Hale art from DRAWING OF THE THREE… He’d just need to put on some muscle… Anyway, hope you enjoyed the interview. Thanks to Muldoon for the help in getting it ready to read. I’m off for more MIST adventures tomorrow, but I have a few more interviews to post during the week, so keep an eye out for them. -Quint quint@aintitcool.com
