ROBERT SEAN LEONARD (Terry)
What do you hope that mainstream audiences will learn about this artistic/bohemian culture portrayed in "Chelsea Walls?"
I don't hope they learn anything. Mainstream culture - I immediately picture my family without me in it. I don't know who goes to see films or why. I can't imagine. It's hard enough for me to go see films and it's part of what I do for a living. I find this film moving and beautiful and about really interesting people who do interesting things for interesting reasons.
I don't know why people go see which films they do. I think this is a gorgeous film, and there's moments from it - most of them that I'm not in - that I'll remember forever, honestly. I can't say that about most films that I've seen.
You, Ethan Hawke, and the writer, Nicole Burdette, are friends. When it came to casting the film, did they immediately think of you?
It was never even a question. Ethan, me, Steve Zahn, Frank Whaley, Nicole Burdette who wrote the film, I'm sure there are others - we had a group that produced theatre together. We produced about 18-19 plays over 4-5 years. We had a 5-year focus period where we pretty intensely produced things and worked on things. It was never like a theatre company; we never had an office. We just found plays we liked, or our friends wrote plays, then we'd rent a theatre for three months and put it on.
What was it like working with Ethan Hawke as a director?
It was great. It was like working on a play, for me, which for me is very familiar and helpful. Ethan and I did a film called “Tape” that Rick Linklater directed. Originally, we were going to shoot it all in one take. We rehearsed it that way so that by the time we were on the set, we were ready. We were ready to do the whole thing from beginning to end. We realized as we were rehearsing it with the camera and figuring out how to do the entire movie in one take, without ever cutting, we realized we were already compromising by, “Let's don't get up here because if you do, you're out of the frame and I need you in the frame.” He [Ethan] said, “Already we're screwed.” Already it was like when someone starts to pitch a perfect game and then blows it in the 7th inning. I realized that we'd now gotten to a place where people would be thinking about how we're shooting this, instead of what we were shooting. That's the way my favorite directors direct, and that's certainly the way Ethan directs. 'What' is very much more important than 'how.'
Do you think that's why a lot of plays don't translate well to film?
I think that if a play really works onstage, whether it will work on film is a complete crapshoot. You can take a great play and blow it, or you can take a great play and make an incredible movie.
What is it about the Chelsea Hotel that makes it standout?
Chelsea is a very special place because it is extremely artistic. It's not just Soho, that street where all those galleries are so all the artists are there. It's artistic in a way that there are writers, singers, dancers, and painters all in one place, which somehow to me feels more common out here [LA]. I don't know why. I don't know of any other place in New York like the Chelsea.
What research did you do for this role?
As I do for most characters, nothing. He was a mid-western guy who came to the city to record music. There's nothing I don't understand about that. His friend is Steve Zahn, I'm pretty familiar with that feeling. He plays guitar with Steve Zahn, another familiar feeling for me. There really wasn't that much for me to do. It's not like I was playing a Latin scholar. I play guitar, I have friends, and I like recording music. I've done everything that that guy has done. The drugs he was using, which is sort of subtle in the film - that I don't understand or know.
As an actor, is it different working on a digital video production as opposed to working on a film production?
It's very different. There's much less pressure, for the obvious reasons. You can go back and record again. Also, the lighting is simpler, the camera is smaller, the crew is smaller, and it's a much more relaxed feeling. Film is expensive, lights are expensive, and crews are expensive, so the less money involved, the less tense it is.
Will you ever direct?
No, I'm not a director. I don't know what directing is, I guess. I don't really have a taste for it, but I like acting.
