Justin Chatwin could just as easily be working as an accountant now rather than earning a living as a busy young actor in Hollywood. Chatwin claims to have no idea what drew him to acting, but loads of young women who went crazy for the handsome Canadian in War of the Worlds are happy acting won out over a career working with numbers.
Chatwin's latest feature film, the supernatural thriller The Invisible, finds him playing Nick Powell, a high school student trapped between the living and the dead. After he's attacked and left for dead, Nick's spirit must try and figure out what happened to him before it's too late.
Playing a Guy Who Can’t Be Seen: That aspect of the character presented its own special challenges. “The challenge for me was also one of the most fascinating opportunities to play a fly on the wall. For instance, when I would sitting there in the middle of a crowd of people and no one is supposed to be looking at me. I’m sitting there shouting at 30 people, ‘Look at me! Everybody look at me! I’m right here!’ And meanwhile all 30 of them are actually looking at me and I’m like, ‘Ahhh, I’m invisible.’ It’s an unusual film in that other actors aren’t used to having an invisible boy on the set.”
Chatwin revealed director David Goyer opted to go without a lot of green screen when filming The Invisible. “David Goyer was great at doing that. There is very little if none green screen in this film. The majority of it is magic. He creates optical illusions, which is the great thing about this film.”
Changes from the Original Swedish Film: The Invisible is based on a Swedish novel and film. Chatwin’s seen the original movie and believes Goyer did a good job of making the new version more accessible to American audiences, even to the point of changing the ending. “The challenge for Goyer, which he was exactly the right person to do this, was to Americanize it and he does a great job. From the colors to the youthful music to the actors, I think he really does bring this from Sweden to America.”
Justin Chatwin on His On-Set Relationship with Co-Star Margarita Levieva: Levieva said it was difficult not to react when she shared scenes with Chatwin in which he was supposed to be invisible. Chatwin concurred. “I bet. It was off-putting for me screaming in her ear," Chatwin said, laughing.
Chatwin had nothing but praise for Levieva, even though they weren’t allowed to really interact in scenes. “I think she is such a phenomenal actress and I think that she does such a great job in this film. I remember when we first met we kind of really created the head-butting of the characters and brought that on to set. Now she’s one of my good buddies and I hang out with her all the time. So in a way, the actual arc of the characters that happened to us in the film actually happened to us in real life.”
Asked to explain about the head-butting, Chatwin said, “We weren’t butting heads but we were just trying to bug each other quite a bit [to begin with]. She’s a tough broad.”
Wardrobe was Never a Worry for Justin Chatwin: Chatwin was stuck in just one blue sweater for the entire shoot, a fact which led Chatwin to declare, “I hope to god I never see that sweater again!” But that blue sweater was the result of lots of testing. “We did a lot of different camera tests with different outfits,” explained Chatwin. “It’s not too often where you all spend 60 shooting days where you were 55 of those days wearing the same outfit.”
Comparing David Goyer to Steven Spielberg: Chatwin worked with Spielberg on War of the Worlds (he played Tom Cruise’s son) and says both directors have a similar style. "One thing that they do have in common is that you only use your virginity once in a take. David liked us to do our own stunts and just shoot it and get it all on film. Because if you rehearse too much, sometimes you lose the best moments in the rehearsal. Spielberg’s the same.”
Peering Into the Future: “I’m reading a few things right now,” revealed Chatwin. “Besides that, I’m producing a movie in Canada on a book that I read and fell in love with. Jeremiah S. Chechik is directing. The name of the book is The Pornographer’s Poem and it’s based on a novel by Michael Turner whose other book was Hard Core Logo.”
But for now Chatwin’s just hoping The Invisible connects with audiences. “I hope the movie does well. I think it’s a great movie and it’s got all sorts of twists and turns. I’m very proud of it. If it helps me get big parts, small parts, anything that’s interesting and challenging, then I’m really grateful.”
