Maria Bello on the Sex Scenes in “A History of Violence:” Bello says she and her co-star/onscreen husband Viggo Mortensen did the scenes – no body doubles were ever used. Bello explained her approach to handling scenes as graphic and intense in nature as the two sex scenes in this film by saying, “I think it’s an organic thing in terms of self-protection. I think my work demands of me to be open to a large extent, but there has to be some sort of a boundary. I mean, you’d go crazy. So I think, that day, really dealing with the emotions underneath the act – that stairwell scene – was so intense and emotional and really difficult for me to do, to go to all those sorts of dark places that the act itself became secondary.”
Maria Bello on Director David Cronenberg: “I’d like to say that David directs as a good father with a very firm, guiding hand and yet lets his kids grow and explore and play. But he always reins you in at the exact right moment and keeps us safe. He’s so kind and gentle. It always felt like you were never failing. You were just continuing to collaborate and challenge ourselves.”
Maria Bello’s Input Into Her Character: Bello says that while they stuck to the dialogue in the script for the majority of the film, she and Mortensen did add other touches that weren’t scripted. “We certainly improv’d a lot of the other stuff. For instance, in the hospital scene… The night before I called David and said, ‘Is there a bathroom on the set?’ He said, ‘No, but we can build one.’ And I said, ‘Good, because whenever I read the scene I want to vomit.’ It was kind of a visceral reaction I had to, ‘Oh my God, what if everything I think isn’t true and this person that I love isn’t true?’ That kind of physical toll that would take on you. So there were things like that that were constantly changing and shifting, but the dialogue was pretty much the same.”
Maria Bello on Her Co-Star, Viggo Mortensen: “I would say of all the actors I’ve ever worked with, he’s the most sort of intense in terms of getting to the heart of the character and really getting into the layers of a person. And also he’s just a very peaceful, kind man, and he made it a joyful experience.”
Maria Bello on the Experience of Starring in “A History of Violence:” “It was the best of the best and the worst of the worst. It was the most joyful, creative collaboration I’ve ever had on a film and yet it was the most emotionally painful.”
Maria Bello Says She was Intimidated by Ed Harris: “I was totally intimidated. Not only because I think he’s a fantastic actor, but he’s a great director as well, and really sees things. The day we shot the mall scene I was kind of falling apart that day. I wasn’t in a good place and I kind of fell asleep in the scene. I wasn’t very present with him and at a certain point in the scene I say, ‘I’m listening to you.’ He goes, ‘No, you’re not,’ and he really challenged me to kind of step up. I thought, 10 years ago I would have run away and been like who does this guy think he is? But the truth was, he really helped me to be better that day and every day that I worked with him. I knew he’s the kind of person, the kind of actor, you have to be present with because he never drops out. He just doesn’t.”
On Sitting Next to Her Dad at the Premiere of “A History of Violence:” Bello says her father is now pretty used to watching his daughter on the big screen. “He’s like a fisherman from New Jersey, you know what I mean? He’s totally used to it by now. He calls me his ‘arty daughter’. During the first cheerleading scene I leaned over. I’m like, ‘You okay?’ And he’s like, ‘Yeah, it was a good scene.’
The scene on the stairs, I saw his eyes open up real wide. I said, ‘You okay?’ He said, ‘Yes, I’m good.’ And then I walk out of the bathroom, my robe opened, and he goes, ‘Jesus Christ!’ You know, he’s like it’s okay to watch his daughter getting banged on the stairs but he didn’t want to see my pubic hairs. He’s pretty funny.”
