Walker stars as Joey Gazelle, a mobster who in order to save his family, must track down his neighbor’s son and get back a gun that was used in a mob hit before it’s recovered by either the cops or his bosses.
Paul Walker’s Closer to His “Running Scared” Character Than You’d Assume: Writer/director Wayne Kramer said people may mistake Walker for a laidback surfer, which he is on some level, however he’s also a very tough guy you wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of in a barroom fight.
Walker said his “Running Scared” character is actually closer to his personality than any other character he’s played. “I think it’s probably the closest thing to me, to be honest with you. I mean the opposite is what, East Coast/West Coast thing? But I think attitude and that sort of thing, I think, you know, there’s no way I would have gone at it if I didn’t feel like there’s a lot of me in it. There’s definitely more of me in it than not. I think on the outside what people see and what I present, especially when I’m doing press… But what they’ve seen in movies, they’ve seen the friendly like nice guy, which I like to think that I am. But I definitely have a dark side. I think everybody does.”
Paul Walker Couldn’t Shake This Character: Walker told me he took this guy home with him every night. “I’ve never been the guy that brought anything home but when you’re forced to just reach certain levels… I mean, the only way to sell adrenaline and flying high is just to go there. You live it day in and day out. You can’t shut that off. I’d go home trembling. A girl friend of mine came up to visit and she planned on spending some time with me. She spent four days with me and went home. She’s like, ‘You’re just too intense.’ I couldn’t relax.”
Paul Walker on the Challenges of “Running Scared:” Walker’s in great shape and that helped immensely when he was preparing to play Joey Gazelle. “My lifestyle’s active. Attitude is attitude, whether you’re a West Coast gangster or East Coast gangster, you know? I grew up in the Valley and, you know, it’s mixed racially. I had Latino friends. I had black friends. And they thought they were thugs. A lot of them weren’t half the thug they thought they were, always getting into trouble. But I know the attitude. I know the personality.
My dad’s a biker and all the guys he comes around, most of them have got priors. They’re been in and out of the joint, you know? Those are the guys I grew up around so there’s a lot to pull from. And then, you know, I worked with Chazz Palminteri. He’s in this movie and I worked with him on ‘Noel.’ You know, he’s got his mobster crew buddies out there.”
Walker also had “Running Scared” actor Arthur Nascarella around to help him out. “I had guys to pull from at any given time. If there was ever a time I wasn’t comfortable with what I had to say, they were right there. They were the bulls**t police for me, which was great. I grew up on gangster movies. I loved the mobsters, man. I mean growing up as a kid it was cowboys and Indians and it was mobsters. That’s an American childhood, you know? Those are the movies you grew up on.”
Paul Walker on His Family Life Growing Up: “My family’s really close. My father’s like… Growing up as a kid, let’s put it this way. You know kids. As boys, you would engage in ‘Oh, my dad’s tougher than your dad. My dad has a shotgun. My dad has this…’ You know? I wouldn’t even play. I was like, ‘My dad would kill every one of your dads.’ I knew it. My father’s a protector. My father’s old-school. He’s a cowboy. He’s not much when it comes to words of wisdom and just the pat on the back, he’s not very good. He’s a drill sergeant. He’s a Vietnam Vet. This is the mentality, this is the household I came up in.”
Page 2: Paul Walker on the Film's Violence, His Young Co-Stars, and "Eight Below"
