Ethan Hawke had a whole section of the festival dedicated to him. Maudie, Born to Be Blue, Boyhood and the recent Sidney Lumet Before the Devil Knows You're Dead benefited from his charming introduction. When stepping on to the stage, before Born to be Blue, charismatic and full of energy, he told the audience the story of the inception of the film, prompted by the host's, film critic Ionuț Mareș insightful questions:
Ethan Hawke la American Independent Film Festival, Bucharest (foto Ionut Dobre) |
The whole movie was set in a single day of his life - the day before he first tried heroin. That was the idea of the movie. We tried to get finance, we went to every studio around, we couldn't get the money to make the movie and it was really sad. One day we were going for a walk, I had just turned thirty and I said: „I have a new idea for that Chet Baker movie, for some financiers.” And Rick said: „Yeah, I've been meaning to talk to you about it”, he said. „Yeah, well, you are getting kinda old”. Chet Baker was a junkie by the time he was 25 or something. I was getting too old for that part. I was heartbroken. I invested this time and energy for so many years, we worked with this writer writing it. I put a lot in this project. I had to let it go.
Fifteen years went by and I was making a movie in Canada and I got this letter from a young film maker, Robert Boudreau, saying: „I heard that once you were making a movie about Chet Baker. It is my dream. Could you, please, read the script.” I felt like somebody was offering me the sequel to a film I never made. Boudreau's movie starts when Chet was around forty and he was already washed up. But he was putting his life back together. It was a very similar idea of a film taking a moment of his life, instead of showing a person's whole life story. This script centers around an amazing idea. It happened to Elvis, it happened to Eminem, it happened to a lot of musicians. Somebody approached them to play their own life. What wrote this director is not factually accurate, it is more of a jazz impro. In truth, Chet had the opportunity to do a come back in a movie playing himself, but ruined it in pre-production, it never happened.
Two of the biggest influences on my acting life were River Phoenix and Philip Seymour-Hoffman, both of them, were lost to heroin. It is a pretty serious thing in my life, watching people, beautiful people that you know, lost. You know them, you know how much more complicated it is. I got offered this in the wake of Phil's death, So the production was colored by that. I wasn't really setting out to define who Chet Baker was, I was trying to talk about a spirit, a personality, a type that I know well and I felt I had some insight into. I tried to read and learn everything I could about him, and you can google him tonight and see his beautiful self in an interview. Doing an impersonation wasn't interesting for me, trying to make a movie that had something to say about what is life, was more to me.
I approached playing this part, the same way you do everything: you gotta love it. If you love something it is easy, if you look at it as work, it is hard. If you really enjoy a character, learning about their relationship to music it is easy. I am sure that a lot of you are musicians, or know musicians and are aware that music is a part of somebody's personality. One of Chet's friends said that the best parts of him were present through his music and through the love of the trumpet.There are shots from the fifties of him and he always personified cool. And as I grew up, seeing how movie actors are idealized, I would never trust someone who personifies cool, as I know how phony it is. Usually somebody whose looks are really cool is probably quite insecure. As they are putting so much energy into looking cool. that was a good starting place for me.
There is no rule, no usual way when choosing a film. Take Boyhood for instance. Imagine this friend of mine came to me and said „I have an idea about making a movie about a childhood. We are going to shoot a movie once a week for 12 years, we will cast some five year old kid and we will watch him grow up.” Sounds like fun. it is completely different. Maudie, the film showed a couple of nights ago. That film is, for me, about Sally Hawkins. She is an amazing actress. I guess you have seen her in Mike Leigh's Happy Go Lucky, or in the Shape of Water that is coming out now. She is just a brilliant, brilliant performer. Every now and then, I see another actor performing and I really want to work with them to understand how. I want to be near. The last film showing, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, is a special project. Phil and I grew up in New York. Credit goes to Philip for that movie. He had just won the Oscar and he could do anything. Usually, the first thing people do when they win the Oscar, is go play Batman. They cash out, they reap the casino. Phil, first thing, he called me up and said „Remember that old script Sidney Lumet wanted to make, let's make it. I can get anything greenlit now. ” And he could! So here is this 83 year old master and Phil used his power in that moment to get his final film made. and it is a great film, I am really proud of it. There is no rule. This movie you are going to see tonight (Born to Be Blue) is really personal to me, I poured a lot in it. I knew that this subject matter was something I could put into it. I spent my life around people like them. I understand the world, I wanted to play the part since I was in my twenties.
Born to Blue , with Ethan Hawke as Chet Baker |
Born to Blue , with Ethan Hawke as Chet Baker |
In the end, he wished the audience to
Have fun! Try to pretend your are stoned, if you are not already.
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