Could Ed Harris Finally Win an Oscar for The Way Back? [Vanity Fair]
Posted 2010. 11. 21. 15:02Q&A
Could Ed Harris Finally Win an Oscar for The Way Back?
Peter Weir’s The Way Back might prove to be the Little EpicThat Could this awards season. The fact that this David Lean-style featof cinema will have to fight just to be seen probably deserves its ownpost about the sad state of the film industry. What gives it a chanceat catching some Academy eyeballs (in addition to Weir’s brilliantfilmmaking) is the film’s grueling, marathon performances—especially EdHarris’s role as a tough-as-nails American caught in the Gulag. Eversince breaking out as John Glenn in The Right Stuff, Harris hasbeen Hollywood’s go-to-guy for no-bullshit, all-American maleperformances. Much like Annette Bening, he’s the kind of actor’s actoryou assume has already won his Oscar until you realize, despite fournominations, he hasn’t. If The Way Back can catch on, it couldearn him another supporting actor nomination, and maybe this time, anOscar. VF Daily caught up with Harris on his way to New York to shoot Man On a Ledgeto talk about chopping wood to get in shape, smashing phones, andburning up the celluloid with his trademark thousand-yard stare.
I thought The Way Back was stunning, watching you do that walk, I feel your pain in every frame. Did it hurt doing it as much as it looks like?
Well, we weren’t starving and we weren’t battling heat and thirst, butit was tough at times. Part of the fun was the terrain, and it was apretty long shoot, like 14 or 15 weeks. We did a lot of walking, that’sfor sure. But I loved it.
What was the hardest day for you?
Gosh, I think it was full of those. The hardest day, was this big, wideshot of this giant sand dune, and one of the guys is at the bottom,he’s collapsing, it’s before he dies. Me and I think Jim [Sturgess] arepulling this wooden sled that has all our stuff on it, we’re pullingthis thing up this sand dune, and I was really sick that day. I couldhardly stand up, and it was like 110 degrees. I’m pulling this thing,just thinking, “Please say cut.” Gruesome. But it was also fun, ’causeit’s like suffer, dude, that’s what it’s about.
What was it like working with Peter Weir again?
I love working with Peter. When I was on tour talking about Appaloosa,people would ask me if there was somebody I wanted to work with, andI’d say, “Peter Weir again.” A couple of months later I got the callthat he was making this picture, and I’m glad it worked out because Ijust really love working with him. He’s so thorough and so focused.He’s just a great filmmaker.
He’s almost a latter-day David Lean. Also, as epic as his movies may be, the performances always stand out.
Well, in his early days, he did a bit of acting, so he knows how anactor works, how he gets to where he needs to get, and he helps you getthere. You know when you’re working, he’s paying extreme attention toevery move you make. You just feel supported and you know he’s tryingto help your performance be even more specific and deeper to help hisvision of the film get realized.
I can’t imagine anything more difficult than getting into the mindof someone who’s literally starving to death as he walks across Asia.Did Peter do anything to help you achieve that Marathon Man-meets-Survivor mode?
I had a couple of months before I went, so I was doing a lot of manuallabor, losing weight, stuff like that. We were there for a couple ofweeks before we started filming, and there were some people to help us.There was one French fellow who’d done this walk, and he talked aboutwhat happens when you’re starving, when you don’t have water. We alsohad to practice milking goats and chopping trees and peeling bark. Thathelped form a certain camaraderie among all the actors. They’re reallya great group of guys and Saoirse [Ronan] —we all got along reallywell.
Wait, so you prepped for this by doing forced labor?
Well, [I’ve] got a piece of property beyond where the house is and it’sjust hardscrabble, really hard earth. I got a pick ax and a couple oftools and started chopping it up, trying to clear it out. I’d try tospend as much time as I could, a couple hours a day for six, sevenweeks before I went. Not every day, but I built up my strength, builtup some great calluses on my hands. Get lean and mean, you know?
I’ve been dying to ask an actor this: when you lose weight for a role, how do you know when you’ve lost the right amount?
I got as lean as I could get, and still have energy to do the picture. It was like when I did The Hours.I don’t know how much weight I lost, I just know my body can get acertain leanness to it, and if it goes beyond, that I’m not going to beable to do the picture. But I like it, because it actually gives youenergy. When we were out there on the desert, if we weren’t working,you’d find a little piece of shade somewhere and just try to stay thereso you’re not getting exhausted, and you’re ready to go walk out in thesun for a few hours. I like that kind of focus, that mentalconcentration, getting down inside yourself, being present, feeling theground, and knowing what you’re doing.
Focused intensity seems to be your trademark. Is it mentally exhausting to have to maintain that level of intensity?
Eh. Not really. I grew up playing baseball and that takes a certainamount of discipline, focus, self-motivation, concentration,relaxation—all those things. You just get in the zone and go with it.One of the great things about making a film, and going on locationespecially, is you get to say, pardon my expression, “Fuck the mail,fuck the phone calls, fuck the e-mails, the traffic, the noise.” You’rethere for one purpose and you can zero in on it. It’s liberating.
Speaking of training, in your films, there’s always a point whereyou look at the camera and your eyes almost burn through the screen. Icall it the Ed Harris Stare. Did you have to practice 10,000 hours infront of a mirror to perfect that?
[Laughs.] Nah, I just think it’s kind of who I am, I guess. I have a good sense of humor, but I like to get intense about things.
It’s not high-art, but I have to ask you if you’ve got any good stories from The Rock.
I really liked that movie! I get a lot of guys, working class guys, who come up to me and go, “Yeah, yeah, The Rock.”It was shot up in Alcatraz, Michael Bay was just getting started, andit was a bunch of good guys we were working with. I remember there weresome speeches I had to make that I found close to ludicrous. There wasthis phone on the set; in one scene I got a little frustrated andpounded the receiver down. So, Bay would have that phone with him and,whenever I had to do something, he would just give it to me to smasharound a bit, to get me fired up.
That’s hilarious. [Mental note: never lend Ed Harris new iPhone 4.]What other types of roles are still out there that you’re itching to do?
I’d love to do a great noir thing, a detective type of deal. And a Western. I had a great time doing Appaloosa;that’s something I’d love to do again. There’s not one particular roleI’ve got. I’d like to direct some more. Having directed two films [Pollack and Appaloosa], I’d like to find something that demand[s] I make a film about it.
Is there anything you learned from directing that’s helped your acting?
Simplicity. Being present. Not getting in your way. One of thethings I love about directing is the cutting room, cause that’s reallywhere the film and performances are made. I love the editing process,it’s something that I think I’m good at, and I really love doing it.I’ve got a great editor I’ve worked with, Kathryn Himoff, I find thatperiod of time to be intensely creative. The film starts talking to youand defines itself and you realize why you were making the movie tobegin with.
After all this work and experience, this “storied” career, what wisdom have you gained?
I think it’s more about letting go. The more relaxed you are, the moreyou’ve done your homework, the more focused you are, the more you canjust be there and do your part, as opposed to trying to manipulatesomething or force something. The more you do it, it’s not so muchease, or less work—the doing of it is something you hope you can glideinto. It’s like a pro-ball player, you know? Somebody who’s beenplaying to ball for 15 years, when he goes into the ballpark, he knowswhat his job is. He’s going to perform as well as he did, or betterthan he did 15 years ago, because he’s confident, he’s relaxed. He’sfocused, he knows the game, he knows all the possibilities on any givenplay.
As someone who knows the game, who probably knows all the possibilities, is there a secret to great acting?
Boy, I don’t know. I guess really, it’s just about getting rid of allyour bullshit, your personal stuff that prevents you from being freeand open and not lying to yourself about what your capabilities are,who you are, being somebody you’re not. The more free you are withyourself, the more able you are to penetrate the character.