Page 2
Leaving Ira Hayes Behind at the End of the Day: Adam Beach admits it’s still hard to leave the role behind. “I still have his thoughts in my head. It usually takes two to three months, but because we were so emotionally interweaved with a lot of personal dilemma in my life it's been harder to let go of. He connected with my grandma, my best friend – it's something that I think I'll carry with me for a little while.”
Beach further explained, “Ira has given me an honesty and a truth that I've been afraid to show onscreen, and now when I work I'll never stray away from that. What you're going to see is my true heart and soul, no matter how much it hurts, because I think that Ira is going to be the most hurt I'm ever going to feel.”
That doesn’t mean his past performances have been less honest. “No. If you watch Smoke Signals, that's my life. A lot of people didn't realize that I was crying everyday and going through a lot of issues on that. I lost my parents when I was eight, two months apart from each other, and I've always wanted to say something to my father in some way or form. Smoke Signals follows the death of a father and when he grabs his ashes and has to find some sort of identity with them, but he just screams and yells and throws the ashes away. A lot of people don't realize that that journey is Adam's journey. It was the first time that I became real and found out what it means to really become an actor. I was exposed for the first time on that. I quickly shut that down after I was done, but I've been working on that for a while, and I'm glad that I was ready for this.”
The Other Ira Hayes Film: Tony Curtis starred in the 1961 film, The Outsider, which also told the story of Iwo Jima flag-raiser Ira Hayes. Beach says he saw parts of the Curtis film. “I thought that Tony was amazing at what he did, and the Ira that I think I know is not the fist to the wall kind of type. He's more internal than that. I think that if Tony did the internal version of him he would've tapped into him. But that was a different time of acting from what we see now. I think that he did a good job with it.”
Working with Director Clint Eastwood: “Eastwood has given me my confidence, my creativity and courage to give my all, and I've never felt that before. It was the first two weeks on this that I found it because I was just waiting for him to tell me to do something, say something, what I had done wrong – always a negative thought. Then after two weeks I was like, 'I think that's what you call manipulating someone or something.' But you learn that he gives you so much respect and is trusting in you to give your best. 'Let me see it.' You catch on after two weeks and you go, 'Ah, here's my all.' It's the first time you see that, and now I walk in full force and I don't ever second guess myself. I listen to my heart and go.”
Male Bonding on the Flags of Our Fathers Set: “At the end of the movie when you see us jumping in the water - that was us. It speaks volumes, truly, to what the film is saying. We're all just little kids that want to play in the water and have fun. All the guys, we bonded together and we knew the intensity of what this film was going to be, but we wanted to just be childhood friends. It was really, really, really good.”
The Future Looks Bright for Adam Beach: There’s even talk of possible award nominations for his performance in Flags of Our Fathers. “I think that everything starts with Clint Eastwood,” Beach said about the positive buzz his performance is generating. “There is a certain respect that this man has among a lot of people. Because I'm working with him, those doors have opened before the movie was even shown. The people who have seen the movie, I got my first award as The Rising Star at the Palm Springs Festival. I went there to meet everyone who honored me last night… Was it last night? Two nights ago. My mind is gone. But I was in Charlie Chaplin's old house being honored for this achievement and I couldn't help but remember that Terrence Howard won it last year. I look up to that guy and the way that I see him, I have a feeling that people will reflect on me the same way. So, for me, every step that I take from here is an acknowledgement and an accomplishment. So yes, those doors have opened and it feels good.”
