Small Actors
By Antony Teofilo
"There are no small roles, only small actors."
This old theater axiom is meant to help bit players understand that any production is only as good as its worst performer, no matter what the size of their role. Unlike many of his contemporaries, director Sam Mendes did not try to beat the sophomore curse by burdening his audience with a mediocre script packed to the hilt with a huge ensemble of matinee idols. While Mendes chose an admittedly loaded leading cast in Tom Hanks and Paul Newman, he supported them with a razor-sharp group of relative unknowns whose strong ability to steal scenes from Hanks and company shows itself with shocking regularity.
When a nationwide casting call was put out for two unknown child actors to play Hanks' children, it was Tyler Hoechlin and Liam Aiken who answered. These two astoundingly normal kids spoke about going with the flow, ignoring disappointment and what it's like to swear on screen.
Small Actors
PRESS: You tried out for Harry Potter, right?
LIAM: Yeah, because [director] Chris Columbus was the director of STEPMOM [which Liam appeared in alongside Julia Roberts].
PRESS: So you had an "in" with Chris Columbus, and you didn't get the role?
LIAM: It was J.K. Rowlings [who wanted Daniel Radcliffe].
PRESS: What do you do with a disappointment like that when you're so young?
LIAM: I just kind of took it as it came. You're going to have failures and you're going to have successes. I just thought, "Maybe something better's going to come up."
ANTONY: Like maybe a movie with Tom Hanks?
LIAM: [Laughs] Yeah.
PRESS: Tyler, this was quite a big deal for you. You hadn't worked with celebrities like Liam had, so this is all new for you.
TYLER: It's brand-new, this is my first film.
PRESS: What's that like when you get the call saying you're going to be in the movie?
TYLER: It wasn't too bad. Originally my little brother had the audition call. Originally in the lines [at the audition], I had to say G-O-D damn about three times, and I'm a Christian. My little brother went in, and I said, "Well, if he's going in, I'm going in." I wasn't too nervous, and we got a call the next morning that said that Sam Mendes wanted me in Chicago. My little brother wasn't too happy.
PRESS: What did he say?
TYLER: He didn't really say anything. He was too busy in the living room punching the couch.
PRESS: Did you study Tom Hanks so you could be like him physically?
TYLER: Not really. I think when you're younger, you just kind of go with the flow. I act out the part that Sam tells me to play. It was very easy to be around [Tom Hanks], it was easy to pretend that he was actually your father because he's such a nice guy.
PRESS: What was your first meeting with Tom Hanks like?
TYLER: We went in and he was in a meeting with Sam, and he introduced himself and said, "Hi, I'm Tom Hanks," and I thought, "Tom would have been fine. I think I know who you are." [Laughs]
PRESS: Did they really teach you how to drive?
TYLER: The stunt coordinators did. I can drive in September. I'm legally able to drive with one of my parents in September. In the movie they swapped out [the manual] transmission for an automatic. For one scene you can see my feet and the gearshift, so they had to show me how to do the clutch.
PRESS: Did you ever get overwhelmed during the shooting process?
TYLER: I never really got rattled. The only kind of feeling that I got was, "Oh my gosh, they're spending a lot of money on this shot, I'd better do it right."
PRESS: What about crying on cue? Is it difficult being under that kind of pressure?
TYLER: That's pretty much what made me cry was the pressure. It's not hard [to cry on screen], but it's embarrassing in a way. You sit there and cry in front of two hundred people.
PRESS: Liam, how did you feel about saying the f-word on camera?
LIAM: We worked on saying it different ways so that it could just make it sound like I was saying it, but that didn't work, so I just said it.
PRESS: What did you two do for fun on your downtime in Chicago while you were shooting?
TYLER: Most of my time was spent at ESPNZone.
ANTONY: You're a pretty big baseball player?
TYLER: Yeah, I play year-round with the Corona Wolverines.
ANTONY: Are there any similarities between acting and what you experience on the field?
TYLER: Pressure-wise, [they're similar]. I'd have to say acting has a little more pressure. When you're playing a baseball game, they're not spending [a lot] of money per inning.
PRESS: Tyler, you said you're a Christian. Did you or your family have reservations about a movie that's so violent?
TYLER: The violence isn't too troubling. If a rated-R movie comes along, I can see it as long as there's no nudity. I can see violence and a little bit of language. The violence didn't really bother me too much. [I'm] an actor, and [I] kind of have to deal with it. The worst part was the language in the audition, and then they didn't even use that scene in the movie.
PRESS: Did you guys enjoy the snowball fights?
TYLER: At first the snowballs wouldn't break. Sam [Mendes] plays cricket, and he throws like a hundred miles an hour. Sam threw one against a tree, [and it wouldn't break]. I tried throwing one at Liam, and it wouldn't break, so [Sam] comes over and throws like five [snowballs] and hits Liam right in the chest, and none of them broke. I thought, "He's throwing those way too hard right now."
PRESS: Did that hurt Liam?
TYLER: No, it didn't hurt that bad.
PRESS: What was it like meeting Paul Newman?
TYLER: Well, he didn't give us any salad dressing. [Laughs]
PRESS: What's next for you?
TYLER: Possibly CHARLIE'S ANGELS 2. I would play Max, a fifteen-year-old motorcross champion whose Dad is killed by the mob, and then the mob comes after me.
LIAM: The last thing I did was LAW AND ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT. That's the last project I've done.
The Villain of the Piece
Daniel Craig has come a long way from Liverpool. While his watery blue eyes and hard Anglican features serve Connor Rooney's calculating manner to a tee, in person, Mr. Craig would seem more at home in amiable conversation over a pint at the nearest pub.
Connor Rooney is a crime-prince of untouchable privilege, blood heir to an Irish Mafioso's empire, and an idiot of a murderer. His ambitious bent towards patricide is driven by years of slow burning hatred for an adoptive brother against whom he could never hope to measure up. Despite his earnest manner, on screen Craig quite convincingly portrays the blackest soul in a gallery of shady ghouls.
ANTONY: As an actor, do you find villains more challenging?
[BEGIN PLOT SPOILER]
CRAIG: Not really. In a crap movie, the villain is [obvious]. There are bad guys, and there are good guys. In a good movie, there are lots of different shades. I don't know if I would win this argument [about who is the real bad guy in ROAD TO PERDITION]. The only thing that differentiates Connor [Rooney] from all the other [gangster] characters is the fact that he shoots a small boy. There is no forgiveness for that, but that [act] is what makes him the bad guy in this movie. Everybody else shoots everybody else. Michael Sullivan [Tom Hanks] cold-bloodedly shoots supposedly innocent people.
[END PLOT SPOILER]
ANTONY: Valid point. So you're only one bad guy among a lot of bad guys...
CRAIG: I suppose we have to have labels ... I am the bad guy.
ANTONY: In 'LOVE IS THE DEVIL' [a film about masochist Sir Francis Bacon], you also play a character that has very violent tendencies.
CRAIG: Well, that character was more the victim. He was an ex-boxer, a sort of rent-boy ... I can see where you're going with this. Do I always want to play these sadistic, violent parts? The answer is no, not all the time.
ANTONY: How did you get your start as an artist?
CRAIG: I grew up around Liverpool. My parents were separated, so I lived with my mother. When I was 17, I went to London. I tried to be an actor, spent awhile just surviving as one does. I went to drama school, got out, and did a movie.
ANTONY: That seems like it may be a bit simplified ...
CRAIG: [Laughs] Well, I always wanted to be an actor. My mum really encouraged me. I failed miserably at trying to get into drama school. I was 17 years old. In a way, it was a good thing I didn't get in [at first]. I had a bit more time just to sort of f*ck about and be 17. I don't know how I survived. [Drama school] is an audition process. Eventually, I got in. The government has sort of ripped out a lot of the money from the arts, so drama school is much more an academic process now.
ANTONY: You're more at home in independent film as opposed to large studio "event" movies like TOMB RAIDER. What is it about the independent scene that keeps you coming back? From the outside, one can imagine there's an attractiveness to say, having a trailer, as opposed to crashing on someone's couch ...
CRAIG: In independent film, you have a freedom with the subject matter. The ending that you see written in the script may not actually be the one you shoot. There's no debate about "I don't think the audience is going to like this character." Tough sh*t. We're not asking an audience what they like or dislike. We're trying to move the audience. I don't think movies should always be comfortable to watch. Which is, I think, what I like about [ROAD TO PERDITION]. This movie goes away from the traditional Hollywood movie. A down ending, I think, is a positive thing, which you don't see very often.
ANTONY: Do you think audiences are getting to the point where they're ready to be challenged by movies, as opposed to just being "entertained"?
CRAIG: If you treat your audience intelligently, they'll probably get more intelligent. Again, that's what I like about making independent movies. At the end of the day, I can say, "I made this movie, and it raised this issue." I'm not saying that what I do changes the world, but what it can do is [bring] people into a debate.
ANTONY: How do you prepare for a role?
CRAIG: I'm not really a method actor. I try to immerse myself in the role, but it's a film, there's a camera, there's a set, and those things are important. If you can combine yourself with those [elements], I think you're going to make a good picture. People employ me for something [that's within] me, so I've got to find that thing in me that I think they want to see.
ANTONY: You're about to step on to a soundstage with Tom Hanks and Stanley Tucci. How do you prepare for that?
CRAIG: Not that I wasn't nervous to work with Tom Hanks, but I was more nervous about working with Stanley because I'm such a big fan of his. We did a week of rehearsal. That week, apart from just finding out what the movie was about, was just to get to meet each other and break the ice. So it was fine. Tom Hanks just seems to do everything with such ease, it's mesmerizing. I'm sure that he has all the same problems that actors have, but you'd think he can act standing on his head. I don't know where that comes from, but it's good, and I want some.
ROAD TO PERDITION opened nationwide July 12.
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