It was a challenge getting into the head of this character. When approaching a role, I try and think about how I would react personally in the different situations in order to make it authentic. But I don’t think I have ANY of ‘Wooden Boy’ in me. It made it hard in that sense. You have to pull off of things you have seen and read about. So playing the villain was a real challenge for me, but I really enjoyed doing the film. I went to my acting coach at the time, and she asked me, “Does this role scare you?” and I said “Oh, yeah.”
“Well, that’s the reason to do it. Do something that scares you.”
I think that’s important, to do things that scare you.
One of my favorite actors is Willem Dafoe, and he has never backed down from taking on interesting material. Just look at “Boondock Saints” or “Wild At Heart.” He’s not worried about taking on dark, sinister characters and fully committing to them. Even in a comedy like “The Life Aquatic,” Dafoe creates a full portrait of this odd, offbeat guy and while it could have been just a caricature, Dafoe makes him seem as if these kinds of guys really exist. You would never know it was the same actor doing all three of these roles. I would like to create my own path, but he is definitely somebody to model a career after. He’s been able to maintain an extremely legitimate career appearing in both mainstream and independent work.
So much controversy has been brought up around Dakota Fanning and the attack scene in “Hound Dog.”But that’s just one part of the film. Tragedies like that happen every day in real life, and I think that if this film opens a few more eyes, then it is definitely worth it. Movies can have that power. I auditioned locally, in Wilmington, and the whole movie was shot there on a plantation. Working with Dakota was great. She didn’t act like any other kids I know. She really knows what she is doing and is a true professional, but at the same time, she knew how to be a kid.
