“Crash” is about assumptions people make about strangers. Do you think this holds true in Hollywood for actors like yourself when they say, “Oh, yeah he’s that guy?”
THANDIE NEWTON: It’s so much easier, yeah. Because Hollywood is so much about economics. “He was in that movie doing that and it sold well so let’s have him do that again.” It’s that kind of thing. It’s not across the board. Pigeonholing is classic. But as actors it’s great because it gives you a challenge to try and do something different. And also if you get it right, like in “Crash,” a role is something that makes you very comfortable, very warm and life affirming. That challenges you right there, but not in a way that’s manipulating you. It stops you from assuming.
MATT DILLON: It’s really nice to be able to do something that you’ve never done. I think that’s the gift of being an actor because I get to play a cop, a racist cop, and I’ve never done that before. It’s nice to inhabit these other worlds, especially when you get to work with great actors. Not with just established actors like Don [Cheadle] or Thandie, but with actors we don’t see that often, doing great work.
You’ve both made big budgeted films. What draws you to a movie like this one?
MATT DILLON: The money of course (laughing).
THANDIE NEWTON: When you read a script like this, talk about three-dimensional characters… Try five-dimensional characters. But also there’s real punchy energy, entertaining, the layout, the way the movie’s put together, the way the characters interweave, the situations are so dramatic, all the contradictions, all the twists and turns. It’s hugely entertaining and satisfying. The audience doesn’t sit back and let it happen. You have to participate and apparently we’ve been hearing that people shout out at the screen. That’s a good feeling.
MATT DILLON: I hope they don’t participate too much, especially with my character (laughing).
THANDIE NEWTON: It was very apparent from reading the script that this film could be really special, really exciting. Obviously, it’s nice to get paid for your work, but at the same time there’s that sacrifice that you really want to make when it’s worth it.
MATT DILLON: I look for really great characters. I say ‘great’ because as long as they’re really good, there’s something you can do. And really good storytelling. And when people ask me what the story is, I say it’s really several stories really. They’re intermeshed. I feel like filmmakers, as actors, the first purpose for making a film is that it’s entertaining and engaging, and I felt this script was that. I also felt there was a deeper reason for this film to be made. You can’t ask for more than that. Most of the characters don’t have more than five or six scenes in the film and yet there’s this incredible arch for most of these characters, and that’s a tribute to really good writing.
