[Comparing the two actors,] Jarhead ... They're alike in some ways, both great listeners, but they react very differently. Jake is reacting to everything that passes him by, and is very readable in his reactions, whereas Peter has mastered watching as an art. He sits on it and holds it, holds it, holds it, and then it all explodes in a volcanic way. But they were both right on the edge. |
Actors get pigeonholed very quickly, particularly movie actors. In the theater, one is more used to casting people against type and trusting that their talent and skill will get them through. |
Actors get used to scenes being cut. |
All I know is that I operate by going out to each of them and trying to learn the territory in which they operate. My language to each of them has to suit their brain. |
All of those guys are there because of what they learned from movies, ... Their knowledge of Vietnam was not from Vietnam, but from 'Apocalypse Now' and 'Full Metal Jacket.' And they pick out what they want to jazz them up, but the truth is these were all passionately anti-war movies. |
America is a country in which you can tell universal stories. It's a country in which you can express these things freely. |
As a first-time director in America, I feel I've been very fortunate. |
As I got everything wrong at the same time-costume, design and performance-it made it easier in a way, because I could see the film I didn't want to make. |
But it's 115 degrees, you're away from trees, cars, everything; you can't hear anything because the wind's blowing; you don't have your clothes, your car, your girlfriend, anything. And I really think Jake forgot he was acting a lot of times, |
Deep down Mendes is a troubled man nursing heartache. It would seem the only woman he has ever truly loved is his mother, |
Directing, I realize, on film is far more personal, you know. Cinema really is a director's medium. This is a very personal film. |
Everything about that war seemed so far away, ... The media never really was allowed in. All you'd see were these tiny little bombs like they were hitting toy towns. There was no sense that this was actually a war, that there was a human toll. |
For me, certain shots or scenes are keys in the movie. |
He really went from being a boy to being a man. It happened to him during the shooting of the movie, so a lot of it surprised me and I was really thrilled with what he came up with. |
I am not a master-class director. I am not a teacher. I am a coach. I don't have a methodology. Each actor is different. And on the film set, you have to be next to them all. |