[The Human Stain] (2003)의 감독 로버트 벤튼 인터뷰 중에서

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1125397892_The Movie Chicks - Interview - Robert Benton.mht

The Movie Chicks - Interview - Robert Benton.mht

Question: Most of the cast you knew in an instant who you wanted, was that how you chose Ed Harris for his role?

Robert: I knew I wanted Ed and what had happened - Ed turned me down. Ed and I had been trying to work together awhile; this was a good role for Ed. So he called me about a picture that I had written with Richard Russo that I decided not to direct and he was interested in either a) directing it or being in it. We were talking back and forth and I thought he'd be terrific in it and I thought he'd be fine to direct it, but it was not in my power - it's my power to recommend, but not in my power to control it. In the meantime, I said, "I was really sorry you turned down the role of Lester" "No, you sent me the role for Nathan Zuckerman." I said, "No, no, I wanted you for Lester." He said, "Let me read it again." And he read it again and said, "Okay, I would like to do it."

He's a great actor. There's a moment in the film when he arrives outside the barn where Faunia and Coleman are sleeping together and he comes out drunk. He appears outside the barn, Coleman goes down to confront him, he reveals at that point about Faunia having children and the two children died. The police come and drag him away and in the end he says, "This is all about Vietnam. No more of this please, no more of this." Now, what's not in the book or in any direction I did was the moment when Faunia comes out and he takes off his hat and says, "Hiya babe." And that to me is exactly where Ed Harris' genius is as an actor because in the midst of this thing rather than continue on this violent tirade, he humanizes him in some way that's great - that's one of his great gifts.

I let the camera just stay on him after the death, after he runs Coleman's car off the road. Originally, it was just going to end when he ran the car off the road, but I was so mesmerized by him, I just let the camera roll. There was something so mysterious and enigmatic and moving in his face. The impulse is to make him more than a villain, to make him a tragic figure.