No, I haven't. I did a TV show in Australia 20 years ago, which was very popular. There were a couple of characters on the show that were very good looking and they were very popular, so they would inspire screaming fans. I saw all that stuff and experienced it a little bit, but nothing too weird. The whole thing was just weird in itself. It's weird to have people hysterical at you in the street.
How would you feel about someone carving your name into their forehead, like Lili Taylor's character does in this movie?
It would depend on the person and what they were about, I suppose, and why they felt the need to do it.
Did you model this character's style after anyone in particular?
No. Toni [Kalem] and Joe Henry and myself went through this process of looking at the submitted demos that Toni had gotten a hold of from people she'd pretty much heard from KCRW, like Robin Hitchcock, Joe Henry, Ron Sexsmith, etc., and went through the songs and found, lyrically, what were the most appropriate songs for the film and the story, whether they were directly talking about the story or indirectly relating to the story somehow. In putting those together, we then went and rehearsed and recorded how Drum would play them in the film, which then informed me more about my character.
What was it like working with Toni Kalem as a first-time director?
She's worked as an actor for many years, and it's great, as an actor, to work with a director who's been an actor because they understand what you need. She was very sensitive, she's got a great sense of humor, she's got a very interesting perspective on life. The things she finds interesting are usually what most people gloss over, so I could really relate to her. Her perspective is what makes the film interesting, I think.
Had you been looking for a project you could sing in?
No. The first film I did in 1980, I played a rock singer in Australia. It was called "Heaven Tonight." I figure every 10 years I might go do a rock and roll film, and live out the rock fantasy that most actors seem to have.
Your character is a real contrast. Is that what appealed to you?
Oh, yeah. It's not a film about a rock star, and he's certainly not a rock star. He's just a guy who is lost and trapped and mixed up, which, ultimately, most rock stars are. The show of being a rock star is not what he's all about. It's his way of just expressing himself, I guess, and finding some sort of peace in this dislocated space that he lives in. I don't think he's conscious of trying to put on a persona. I think he just writes music and enjoys playing music and expresses himself through it. His persona is observed by people on the outside, but he's not geared toward trying to cultivate a persona, necessarily.
Had you felt that sense of being trapped when you were younger?
No. I've always been fairly narrow-minded. I've never been really ambitious. I've always felt fortunate and lucky to be even be doing what I'm doing. Funnily enough, when I started working and I moved from the town that I grew up in, which is about an hour south of Melbourne, I got work on this TV show and I had to move to Melbourne. And then that just sort of led to the next thing, which led to the next thing. I never would have thought to come to Hollywood, but I came here to do some publicity for a movie, and then this agent wanted to represent me, and then he sent me off to do some auditions, and then I got "L.A. Confidential." I'm very fortunate. I'm not ambitious, in that sense.
Would you be just as happy doing regional theater?
(Laughing) Possibly, yeah. As long as you get to the heart of what it is you're doing and you get to rehearse and really work out what you're doing, and as long as you're working with great people, [then it's great]. The beauty of working in a bigger arena is that you generally work with exceptionally talented people. That's not to suggest that there aren't exceptionally talented people in regional theater, but on a whole, it's very exciting to work in a professional arena where the standard can be higher.
Do you actively pursue projects in Hollywood?
Well, I only do it because I've got an agent here and he keeps sending me stuff. He says, "It would be good if you could come back and go and meet some people." I haven't been here for about a year or so. I came here in June, last year, to do some promotion for an Australian film, "The Hard Word." And so I kind of feel like I'm ready to go back to film work. While I'm here doing this, I was like, "Okay, I might as well go meet some people and read some more scripts and satisfy my agent."
PAGE 3: Guy Pearce on Why "A Slipping Down Life" Took So Long to be Released
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
Interview with Lili Taylor
"A Slipping Down Life" Photo Gallery, Trailer and Credits
