Do you see your "We Don't Live Here Anymore" character as kind of an extension of your character from "XX/XY?"
It's treading in the same material. Austin [Chick] had seen it, the director [of "XX/XY"]. I invited him to a screening in New York because I thought, “God, this is scary like "XX/XY." And yeah, I suppose it is an extension of it, although I think the character in "XX/XY" never gave over to being in a relationship.
I think when this guy started, he really did love her, and really wanted to marry her, and really wanted to have kids, and really bought into the whole idea of marriage. Where in "XX/XY," he never really commits to anything. He's very selfish, you know? He never really commits to anybody or anything. But I think Jack went that route, and lived that life, for I don't know, 12, 14 years. Maybe less, maybe 10 years. But at the end of it… There's that great passage from Tolstoy. He began to question the life that he's living, the job, the family, maybe it all had been a lie. I think that's where it's different. I think this guy really was committed to this life, and this marriage, and really, it did mean a lot to him. And so at this moment, when he's veering off, it's just profound, and he's in a huge midlife crisis.
What's it like working with the director John Curran?
I love him. We're actually looking to do something together again. And he's very steady-handed. I was worried about doing this material, and I saw his film “Praise,” and I thought this guy can handle it. I just think he's a really steady-handed director, and to be able to pull this off… We only had three weeks of prep for this movie. I mean, this was impossible, this movie. And there was no rehearsal. This kind of movie is begging for rehearsal. And so we were doing it all on the fly, and that it came out as well as it did is a complete hats-off to him.
How awkward were the film's sex scenes?
(Laughing) As awkward as any other film's sex scenes.
Well, you're actually standing up.
(Laughing) Yes, that's…they do a lot of standing. I think it's a metaphor for them being on the run, kind of.
But logistically speaking?
Logistically, yes. You know, that was a terrible day. The tree day was really bad. Because we were like, “You know, John, we're not taking our clothes off for this movie.” Both Naomi and I. We're like, “We're not doing it.” And then somehow, like a drunk schoolgirl, we were talked into being naked, and that you wouldn't see any of us—any part of us. So we're trying to do a sex scene making sure that everything's covered from the camera. You're running around naked in front of everybody. You have to work it out naked because they gotta see where your stuff is. And it was just a nightmare. (Laughing) It was worse than just being naked. We should have just shot it naked, you know? And then, um, Naomi, to ease the tension, had a fart machine during those scenes.
She had a what?
A fart machine. It's like, you're about to do a scene, and all of a sudden it's like, “Prrpt, prrt-prrrpt, prrt-prrrpt.” (Laughing) You know, there's a playfulness that kept it from getting too maudlin.
How'd you get that tension with Laura Dern during those tough, emotional scenes?
We had those long scenes, and we were kind of working them out on film. We would show up and John would kind of give us a rough sketch of the blocking, and then we'd just start shooting. We didn't even really rehearse. He'd just shoot the rehearsal. So if we did get a master in a rehearsal, we would just keep it and move on, and start cutting in, because we were so short on time. But a lot of those scenes ended up just playing in a master because I have to give most of the credit to the writing. It's so well-written, those fights. They kind of build really beautifully. They're easy to give you an understanding of the characters and their relationships. We pick them up in a fight. Basically we're three minutes into the movie, five minutes into the movie, and we're in a blowout, which is obviously a great way to start anything. (Chuckling) Two people can't fight like that unless they have deep connection to each other, and a lot of history, right? So that immediately kind of kicked us into those characters and their relationship.
You've also got “Collateral” coming out. Can you talk about that at all?
Yeah. What do you want to know?
You play a cop?
Yes, I'm an undercover narcotics detective, an L.A. narcotics detective. I'm kind of on a case. And my CI, criminal informant, is murdered, and I'm pissed. I lost my key guy to this big case. And so I start investigating this murder, and I realize that there's another murder attached to it, and I start to undercover this sort of federal indictment, and all their witnesses are being killed, and someone's doing it. I stumble onto Tom Cruise, and I start chasing him. So I'm the good guy, and Tom's the bad guy.
That's unusual.
(Laughing) Yeah.
What's it like working with Tom Cruise as a bad guy?
Uh, it was great. (Laughing) He's still a nice guy. I only have one scene with him, really. Part of the construct is that we really don't come into contact until the very end.
You mentioned earlier people have a tendency to see you as your character. Did you get that a lot after “You Can Count on Me?”
Yes, yes. For like 10 movies I'd meet young directors, and they'd be like [stoned voice], “Umm, I want to give you a script. I wrote it just for you. And it's about a guy who's like, a f***-up, and then there's a kid who's like, his best friend.” (Laughing) And I'm like, “Does he smoke pot?” “Yeah! Yeah!” That always had me for a long time. And only in the past couple of years have I been able to shake that a little bit.
Have you been consciously trying to shake it?
Yeah. You know, there's a tendency to get pigeonholed in Hollywood. And a lot of what I do is just trying to keep that off of me. I don't want to feel like I'm stuck doing one stock performance. So, I've been trying… And just for me, it would bore the hell out of me if all I could do was that part, you know? [With a whiny voice] “I have so much more offer.” (Laughing) Although that may be the best thing I've ever done.
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"WE DON'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE" RESOURCES:
Interview with Naomi Watts
Laura Dern Interview
"We Don't Live Here Anymore" Photo Gallery
"We Don't Live Here Anymore" Credits, Trailer and Websites
