While ruining his career with Vanity Fairactor Ethan Hawke, a four-time Oscar nominee, recalled his work on Sidney Lumet’s latest film, Before the devil knows you’re deadopposite Philip Seymour Hoffman, in which the director pits the two men against each other to enhance their performances.
The truth The actor explained that he and Hoffman had been friends for years, during which The Master The actor brought Lumet to a play starring Hawke: the inflection point that led to his eventual casting in the 2007 crime thriller.
“Phil was great, and by that I mean, he didn’t suffer fools lightly. He was one of those people who felt life or death for him, whether we did the scene well or not. The stakes were very high for him, and it could be very scary,” Hawke recalls of working with his late friend.
According to Hawke, the key to unlocking his performance was a piece of wisdom that the Hood the star gave him; although it seemed “mean”, Hawke argued that it was not, as Hoffman told him that the reason Hawke had difficulty understanding his character was because he was trying to play him as an “alpha”, although this trait suited Hoffman’s role more.
“And for some reason it all clicked. It’s like he started a dynamic between the two of us that was right. The power and the status of brothers, in society, it all plays a game,” said the Training day said an elder.
In Before the devil knows you’re deadDebt-ridden broker Andy (Hoffman) leads his younger brother (Hank) into the perfect crime: stealing their parents’ jewelry store, setting off a series of catastrophic consequences that shake up the entire family. Just a few years before the film was made, it was Hawke – who was a child actor and already acting in films while Hoffman was still in acting class with mutual friends – who had more influence in Hollywood.
“And now he was Oscar-winner Philip Seymour Hoffman, and he chose me,” said the Blue Moon said the star. “You know, the power dynamic had changed, and I didn’t let it change. And there’s a similar air between Andy and Hank, and Sidney Lumet fanned the flames. I’d come in the morning, and Sidney would say, ‘I saw the dailies last night.’ [sucks teeth]. Phil is so good. He’s so good. You know, since Marlon Brando, I haven’t seen work like this. And I would say, “Yeah, great, great. And my stuff was? ‘Oh, yeah, yeah, it was good. I mean, it must be a real honor to work with him.
He continued: “At the end of the movie, I went to Phil and said, ‘You know, this was a great experience, but I’m so glad it’s over.’ I said, “Because if I have to hear this old dog say one more time that I haven’t seen work like this since Marlon Brando…” and Phil says, “Did he tell you that?” And I was like, “Yeah.” He said, ‘He told me that every day about you.’
When the co-stars finally confronted Lumet, the late filmmaker remarked, “You guys are so easy to play, it’s amazing.” »
Watch the full video interview with Vanity Fair below:
