1 00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:03,160 Speaker 1: Taking a Walk for me, I felt like it was 2 00:00:03,200 --> 00:00:06,320 Speaker 1: part of the screenwriting, you know, one hand in hand. 3 00:00:06,680 --> 00:00:09,440 Speaker 1: I don't like music that under lendings two moods, that 4 00:00:09,520 --> 00:00:11,600 Speaker 1: tells you what to think or feel, to be afraid 5 00:00:11,720 --> 00:00:14,840 Speaker 1: or happy or whatever, any more than I like dialogue. 6 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:17,040 Speaker 1: Does that too much? Our actors that do it, or 7 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:20,680 Speaker 1: they can tries to push you in a certain direction emotion. 8 00:00:21,680 --> 00:00:23,520 Speaker 1: I think the story needs to speak for itself, and 9 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:25,560 Speaker 1: you need to draw your own conclusions, and you have 10 00:00:25,600 --> 00:00:28,320 Speaker 1: to be respectful of the audience with the music as well. 11 00:00:29,160 --> 00:00:31,600 Speaker 1: And yeah, I'm happy a little bit turned out. 12 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:34,760 Speaker 2: I'm buds Night, your host for the Taking a Walk Podcast. 13 00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:38,199 Speaker 2: Make sure you follow us and share this podcast if 14 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:39,559 Speaker 2: you love it with your friends. 15 00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:40,760 Speaker 1: We talk with. 16 00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:45,640 Speaker 2: Musicians, actors, cool people telling us the stories behind their work. 17 00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:49,520 Speaker 2: This episode, one of the great actors of our generation, 18 00:00:50,280 --> 00:00:54,600 Speaker 2: Bego Morton said, you know him from many movies, Lord 19 00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:58,320 Speaker 2: of the Rings, A History of Violence, Green Book, his 20 00:00:58,480 --> 00:01:03,160 Speaker 2: new creation that he wrote directed at Stars in the Dead. 21 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:07,560 Speaker 2: Don't Hurt is out now, and we'll talk with Vigo next. 22 00:01:07,959 --> 00:01:08,959 Speaker 1: I'd take it a Walk. 23 00:01:10,360 --> 00:01:15,360 Speaker 2: Vigo, congratulations on an amazing movie. I'm so honored to 24 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:16,120 Speaker 2: talk to you. 25 00:01:16,680 --> 00:01:18,600 Speaker 1: Likewise, thank you, thanks for telling me. 26 00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:21,679 Speaker 2: Can you give our listeners a teaser of what they're 27 00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:23,399 Speaker 2: going to see with the Dead Don't Hurt? 28 00:01:23,959 --> 00:01:28,720 Speaker 1: Well, it's a Western that looks and feels like a 29 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:32,640 Speaker 1: classic Western. That was the way we made it historically accurate. 30 00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:37,360 Speaker 1: The details, the weapons, the clothing, the architecture, the lamps 31 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:42,200 Speaker 1: and the saline. The language is spoken, the dialects, you know, 32 00:01:42,240 --> 00:01:46,040 Speaker 1: the vocabulary, and visually especially you know where you don't 33 00:01:46,080 --> 00:01:49,560 Speaker 1: think so much about how the camera sees things. You 34 00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:51,920 Speaker 1: just get to see the characters and you get to 35 00:01:51,960 --> 00:01:56,279 Speaker 1: see the landscapes in the way those old fashioned westerns looked, 36 00:01:56,400 --> 00:01:58,280 Speaker 1: you know, the ones I grew up with as a kid. 37 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:03,200 Speaker 1: But there's a significant difference compared to most traditional or 38 00:02:03,240 --> 00:02:06,520 Speaker 1: classic westerns in that we have a woman as the 39 00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:09,920 Speaker 1: lead character. First of all, strong independent women played by 40 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:15,359 Speaker 1: Vicki Creeps wonderfully, and also when we stay with her, 41 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:19,280 Speaker 1: we get to know her childhood. And then when her partner, 42 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:22,720 Speaker 1: her male partner, which is a role I play. When 43 00:02:22,760 --> 00:02:26,000 Speaker 1: he goes off but he joins the Union to fight 44 00:02:26,040 --> 00:02:29,400 Speaker 1: in the Civil War eighteen sixty one, we stay with her, 45 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:32,120 Speaker 1: which is very unusual. I don't think I've seen that before, 46 00:02:32,200 --> 00:02:35,000 Speaker 1: where you don't go and see any of the war, 47 00:02:35,080 --> 00:02:37,040 Speaker 1: you stay with her. What happens to her, you know, 48 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:39,640 Speaker 1: I want to explore that what happens to girls and 49 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:43,800 Speaker 1: women when their dads, brothers, partners, whatever go off to 50 00:02:43,840 --> 00:02:46,400 Speaker 1: fight in their wars. So that makes it quite different. 51 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:49,040 Speaker 1: And the fact that you have in your two leagues 52 00:02:49,560 --> 00:02:53,440 Speaker 1: Vivian and Olsen, two characters who don't have English as 53 00:02:53,480 --> 00:02:57,280 Speaker 1: their first language, you know, immigrants, and that is quite 54 00:02:57,320 --> 00:03:01,840 Speaker 1: unusual in a classic Western. Normally the lead characters are 55 00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:04,440 Speaker 1: in Anglo Saxon born in the USA, or maybe a 56 00:03:04,440 --> 00:03:06,000 Speaker 1: born in king Usually. 57 00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:09,280 Speaker 2: Can you talk about how your mother was an inspiration 58 00:03:09,480 --> 00:03:11,760 Speaker 2: for writing the screenplay. 59 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:14,120 Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I dedicate the movie to her because 60 00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:16,799 Speaker 1: the character of Vivianne, which was how I started writing 61 00:03:16,800 --> 00:03:18,800 Speaker 1: the story. I didn't know it was going to be 62 00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:21,519 Speaker 1: a Western at first. I just started describing this girl 63 00:03:21,600 --> 00:03:25,239 Speaker 1: and then the woman she becomes. She has a very woman, 64 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:28,760 Speaker 1: very much of her time, like my mother was mother, 65 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:33,760 Speaker 1: three boys, housewife, but with a strong interior life, very 66 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:38,360 Speaker 1: independent minded, curious about the world, about other people, and 67 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:40,800 Speaker 1: someone who was not going to be limited. She felt 68 00:03:40,840 --> 00:03:44,839 Speaker 1: and thought about things very much her own person, and 69 00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:47,360 Speaker 1: so that was the inspiration for the character Vicky place 70 00:03:47,960 --> 00:03:50,280 Speaker 1: in the story, and that's why I dedicated to her 71 00:03:51,440 --> 00:03:52,000 Speaker 1: to my mother. 72 00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:58,960 Speaker 2: I think the movie defies really categorization in my view, 73 00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:02,960 Speaker 2: How does that make you feel? As the creator and 74 00:04:03,720 --> 00:04:07,360 Speaker 2: all your roles in coming up with this, that it 75 00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:10,480 Speaker 2: does defy categorization? How does that make you feel? 76 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:15,240 Speaker 1: I don't mind. I'm kind of averse to compartmentalizing and 77 00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:18,000 Speaker 1: trying to put everything on its own shelf for its 78 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:22,839 Speaker 1: own drawer or its own little category. In fact, I 79 00:04:22,839 --> 00:04:24,520 Speaker 1: mean I've done a lot of Q and a's, you know, 80 00:04:24,640 --> 00:04:28,479 Speaker 1: question and answer sessions with audiences after screenings of the movie, 81 00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:36,160 Speaker 1: not just in the US, but in Canada and Mexico, Scandinavia, France, Pain, Scotland. 82 00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:39,039 Speaker 1: I mean a lot of places, dozens of these, and 83 00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:43,159 Speaker 1: almost always there's somebody that says, offense a woman, but 84 00:04:43,240 --> 00:04:46,800 Speaker 1: sometimes a man will say, you know, I don't really 85 00:04:47,160 --> 00:04:49,760 Speaker 1: care for Westerns that much. I don't like him that much, 86 00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:52,960 Speaker 1: or I don't usually any attention to Westerns. It's not 87 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:55,400 Speaker 1: a type of movie that I normally watch, but I 88 00:04:55,520 --> 00:04:59,960 Speaker 1: like this movie. It really moved me and it stimulate 89 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:03,440 Speaker 1: a lot of thinking in me, and I always feel 90 00:05:03,480 --> 00:05:06,400 Speaker 1: that's great and well great, you know, I'm glad you're 91 00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:09,159 Speaker 1: like our movie. Obviously, we worked hard to try to 92 00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:12,880 Speaker 1: tell a good story and we're proud of it. I'm 93 00:05:12,920 --> 00:05:15,760 Speaker 1: also glad to hear you say that about westerns because 94 00:05:15,760 --> 00:05:18,760 Speaker 1: now maybe you'll go learn more about the genre, because 95 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:22,440 Speaker 1: there are I mean, as in any genre, most movies 96 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:27,120 Speaker 1: in the Western genre are not original, well conceived works 97 00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:30,600 Speaker 1: of art by any means. There's a very small percentage 98 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:33,360 Speaker 1: that are what I would say real works of art. 99 00:05:33,440 --> 00:05:36,640 Speaker 1: But that's true of any movie genre, you know. But 100 00:05:36,720 --> 00:05:39,600 Speaker 1: the ones that are great, that are thought provoping, are 101 00:05:39,640 --> 00:05:43,200 Speaker 1: worth checking out. So maybe you'll do that, since you're 102 00:05:43,279 --> 00:05:46,599 Speaker 1: now like a movie that I think is a Western, 103 00:05:48,320 --> 00:05:50,720 Speaker 1: and you don't usually watch them, you. 104 00:05:50,680 --> 00:05:54,800 Speaker 2: Know, the film deals with those that are oppressed. Can 105 00:05:54,839 --> 00:05:59,240 Speaker 2: you draw any correlation to the world today with oppression? 106 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:03,920 Speaker 1: Departure? Writing a screenplayer, making the movie or editing it 107 00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:07,600 Speaker 1: or presenting it is not ideological. I don't start thinking, oh, 108 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:10,520 Speaker 1: I want to make a comment about today's politics or society. 109 00:06:11,160 --> 00:06:14,720 Speaker 1: I don't have an ideological acts to grind as I'm 110 00:06:14,760 --> 00:06:16,960 Speaker 1: just telling a story. I'm trying to be in this 111 00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:20,480 Speaker 1: case as accurate historically with all the details that you see, 112 00:06:21,040 --> 00:06:24,000 Speaker 1: the languages that you hear, and one thing that I 113 00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:26,360 Speaker 1: think is important that I can see how you could 114 00:06:26,440 --> 00:06:31,880 Speaker 1: compare to today maybe is the sort of anti immigrant 115 00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:36,279 Speaker 1: sentiment in some quarters. For example, for me, for our team, 116 00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:41,080 Speaker 1: it was as important in the Dead Don't Hurt, as 117 00:06:41,120 --> 00:06:43,520 Speaker 1: important as it was to get the right lamps and 118 00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:48,520 Speaker 1: the saloons and boots and saddles and clothing and all 119 00:06:48,560 --> 00:06:52,880 Speaker 1: all that, it was just as important to show the 120 00:06:52,960 --> 00:06:57,720 Speaker 1: diversity in the United States, even in the small backwater 121 00:06:57,880 --> 00:07:08,719 Speaker 1: frontier town West in the eighteen sixties, a certain diversity culturally, racially, linguistically, dialects. 122 00:07:09,400 --> 00:07:12,040 Speaker 1: That was the reality, you know, no matter how much 123 00:07:12,080 --> 00:07:15,480 Speaker 1: people might want to be in denial of that historical fact. 124 00:07:16,200 --> 00:07:19,920 Speaker 1: Then as now you know, we are a mixed bag 125 00:07:20,280 --> 00:07:22,760 Speaker 1: in the most positive sense. That's what we are as 126 00:07:22,760 --> 00:07:25,760 Speaker 1: a society in the United States. And in eighteen sixty 127 00:07:25,800 --> 00:07:29,520 Speaker 1: one in a town like our fictional kind of elk Flats, Nevada, 128 00:07:29,720 --> 00:07:32,920 Speaker 1: so learning that you know, unless you were an indigenous person, 129 00:07:32,960 --> 00:07:36,240 Speaker 1: a Native American person, you came from all over the place, 130 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:39,840 Speaker 1: from many places or San Francisco, which we show you 131 00:07:39,840 --> 00:07:43,720 Speaker 1: hear lots of different accents and languages and voices and 132 00:07:44,200 --> 00:07:47,440 Speaker 1: different looking people, and that's just the reality, and it 133 00:07:47,520 --> 00:07:49,760 Speaker 1: was important for us to do that. So who knows, 134 00:07:49,840 --> 00:07:54,160 Speaker 1: maybe somebody goes in correlation. And as I say, you 135 00:07:54,240 --> 00:07:56,320 Speaker 1: don't normally. I mean, there's lots of Westerns where you 136 00:07:56,400 --> 00:08:00,640 Speaker 1: have a Mexican character, it's quite secondary, or or if 137 00:08:00,680 --> 00:08:02,600 Speaker 1: they have some importance in the story, usually they're a 138 00:08:02,600 --> 00:08:06,120 Speaker 1: bad guy, a villain. You might have an Irish drunk 139 00:08:06,200 --> 00:08:09,200 Speaker 1: or you know. I mean, there are exceptions, but even 140 00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:12,560 Speaker 1: a movie, let's say like Heaven's Gate, Jimino's Heavens Gate, 141 00:08:12,880 --> 00:08:17,800 Speaker 1: it's epic Western, right there are you hear German and 142 00:08:17,960 --> 00:08:21,680 Speaker 1: Eastern European language is spoken, and you see these people, 143 00:08:21,840 --> 00:08:24,680 Speaker 1: but they're not the leads. The leads are as usual 144 00:08:25,040 --> 00:08:29,120 Speaker 1: Anglo saxon Us born characters for the most parts, and 145 00:08:29,840 --> 00:08:33,000 Speaker 1: that's usually the case. Here we do something different, not 146 00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:35,160 Speaker 1: to make a political point, but just to say, well, 147 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:38,520 Speaker 1: this is also true. And even though we're not used 148 00:08:38,520 --> 00:08:42,720 Speaker 1: to seeing a woman in a leading role in a Western, normally, 149 00:08:43,160 --> 00:08:46,480 Speaker 1: an ordinary woman. I don't mean, like say Barbara Stanwyck, 150 00:08:46,520 --> 00:08:50,800 Speaker 1: and forty guns, which is a big ranch on powerful figure. 151 00:08:51,400 --> 00:08:54,480 Speaker 1: She's not an extraordinary woman. I mean Vivianne played by 152 00:08:54,559 --> 00:08:57,720 Speaker 1: Vicki Creeps in our stories, an ordinary woman with a 153 00:08:57,800 --> 00:09:01,640 Speaker 1: sort of a everyday kind of in decency. As a 154 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:05,360 Speaker 1: psychological she may be the strongest person in the movie. 155 00:09:05,559 --> 00:09:07,199 Speaker 1: She's not going to pick up a rifle and shoot 156 00:09:07,200 --> 00:09:09,120 Speaker 1: all the bad guys. That's a different kind of movie, 157 00:09:09,360 --> 00:09:13,080 Speaker 1: exportation a movie, and those are fun sometimes too, But 158 00:09:13,160 --> 00:09:17,440 Speaker 1: this is a story about a woman. Like probably there 159 00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:20,719 Speaker 1: had to have been many Vivians back then. I mean 160 00:09:20,720 --> 00:09:24,080 Speaker 1: that's what held society together when men were off doing things, 161 00:09:24,120 --> 00:09:26,760 Speaker 1: going to war and all that. The women did the work, 162 00:09:26,840 --> 00:09:29,559 Speaker 1: did the hard work, and to be on the frontier 163 00:09:30,480 --> 00:09:32,640 Speaker 1: as a woman, I think you had to be tough, 164 00:09:33,120 --> 00:09:35,200 Speaker 1: and there were probably many, many of the Viands. It's 165 00:09:35,240 --> 00:09:37,280 Speaker 1: just that the people telling the story is by and 166 00:09:37,360 --> 00:09:42,240 Speaker 1: large man, I guess back then, as now, they haven't 167 00:09:42,280 --> 00:09:44,880 Speaker 1: been interested in telling the stories of these women. It's 168 00:09:44,920 --> 00:09:48,160 Speaker 1: more interesting to show men shooting each other or having 169 00:09:48,600 --> 00:09:51,760 Speaker 1: in Western stories certainly, so I just wanted to see 170 00:09:51,920 --> 00:09:53,920 Speaker 1: other things. I want to explore other things, and that 171 00:09:54,440 --> 00:09:57,480 Speaker 1: makes it difference. And maybe I don't know, maybe relatable 172 00:09:57,679 --> 00:09:59,320 Speaker 1: to today's society in some way. 173 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:05,480 Speaker 2: You composed and played, you know, within the score. Tell 174 00:10:05,520 --> 00:10:09,680 Speaker 2: me about that process of scoring and creating that sort 175 00:10:09,720 --> 00:10:12,480 Speaker 2: of backdrop, and also what was it like working with 176 00:10:12,520 --> 00:10:13,439 Speaker 2: Scarlett Rivera. 177 00:10:14,600 --> 00:10:18,520 Speaker 1: Scarlett Rivera who plays violin in her She's really gifted 178 00:10:18,679 --> 00:10:22,240 Speaker 1: and also a nice person, really great to work with, 179 00:10:23,360 --> 00:10:25,760 Speaker 1: and she you know, she has a wide range. She 180 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:28,800 Speaker 1: could play like a classical type of violin. And also 181 00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:32,280 Speaker 1: its great at getting an Appalachian sound. We hear those 182 00:10:32,360 --> 00:10:36,520 Speaker 1: variations in our score, both Scarlett and also Cameron Stone 183 00:10:36,960 --> 00:10:39,960 Speaker 1: who plays the cello. I mean, they're great, They're just 184 00:10:40,080 --> 00:10:43,679 Speaker 1: excellent musicians and we you know, I composed and then 185 00:10:43,720 --> 00:10:47,559 Speaker 1: we worked on the themes together and recorded almost all 186 00:10:47,600 --> 00:10:51,480 Speaker 1: the soundtrack, all the score well before we start shooting, 187 00:10:52,080 --> 00:10:55,080 Speaker 1: many many months before, because I wanted to have that 188 00:10:55,120 --> 00:10:58,840 Speaker 1: as a guy to how to shoot certain scenes, you know, 189 00:10:59,520 --> 00:11:02,720 Speaker 1: the dure of the scenes, the tone, the mood of them, 190 00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:06,160 Speaker 1: the rhythm of the scenes, and that effected how many 191 00:11:06,160 --> 00:11:08,920 Speaker 1: shots we had. And there was something I was able 192 00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:13,360 Speaker 1: to share with cinematographer, some of the actors, our producer 193 00:11:13,600 --> 00:11:16,480 Speaker 1: in Mexico, just to explain this is what we're after, 194 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:19,000 Speaker 1: is what we're trying to do, and it was a 195 00:11:19,040 --> 00:11:22,040 Speaker 1: great guide and it was also very helpful in editing 196 00:11:22,520 --> 00:11:26,160 Speaker 1: as well. But I really enjoyed working with Scarlett. She's remarkable, 197 00:11:26,720 --> 00:11:29,720 Speaker 1: so gifted both of them, Scarlett and camera, and also 198 00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:32,679 Speaker 1: Travis Dickerson who did the recording with me and I've 199 00:11:32,679 --> 00:11:36,360 Speaker 1: done many many recordings with him over the years. And 200 00:11:36,400 --> 00:11:39,560 Speaker 1: Travis also played on the soundtrack a little bit as well. 201 00:11:39,679 --> 00:11:42,079 Speaker 1: So yeah, it was a great collaboration. I learned a 202 00:11:42,120 --> 00:11:45,880 Speaker 1: lot from them and a very good time. Beautiful. 203 00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:50,920 Speaker 2: It just paints such a picture and just you know, 204 00:11:51,120 --> 00:11:54,520 Speaker 2: adds to the whole dynamics so brilliantly, really does. 205 00:11:55,160 --> 00:11:56,760 Speaker 1: Yeah, it felt for me. It felt like it was 206 00:11:56,880 --> 00:11:59,920 Speaker 1: part of the screenwriting, you know, it went hand in hand. 207 00:12:00,360 --> 00:12:03,439 Speaker 1: I don't like music that underlinding's too much, that tells 208 00:12:03,480 --> 00:12:05,440 Speaker 1: you what to think or feel, to be afraid or 209 00:12:05,480 --> 00:12:08,600 Speaker 1: happy or whatever, any more than I like dialogue that 210 00:12:08,679 --> 00:12:10,640 Speaker 1: does that too much, our actors that do it, or 211 00:12:10,679 --> 00:12:14,560 Speaker 1: the camera tries to push you in a certain direction 212 00:12:14,600 --> 00:12:17,680 Speaker 1: emotion I think the story needs to speak for itself 213 00:12:17,720 --> 00:12:19,600 Speaker 1: and you need to draw your own conclusions. I think 214 00:12:19,640 --> 00:12:21,599 Speaker 1: you have to be respectful of the audience with the 215 00:12:21,720 --> 00:12:25,360 Speaker 1: music as well, and yeah, I'm happy with the way 216 00:12:25,360 --> 00:12:27,760 Speaker 1: it turned out. In fact, today, the day that the 217 00:12:28,640 --> 00:12:32,440 Speaker 1: movie comes out in the US, that they're releasing from 218 00:12:32,559 --> 00:12:38,319 Speaker 1: Sony Milan Records the soundtrack, which has some of the music, 219 00:12:38,720 --> 00:12:40,320 Speaker 1: all the music that you heard in the movie, but 220 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:44,680 Speaker 1: also versions that are longer, more complete, some pieces that 221 00:12:44,760 --> 00:12:48,160 Speaker 1: you hear all the part of. So the complete soundtrack 222 00:12:48,720 --> 00:12:49,760 Speaker 1: is out of today as well. 223 00:12:50,400 --> 00:12:53,079 Speaker 2: I did want to touch on your great movie Green 224 00:12:53,120 --> 00:12:58,240 Speaker 2: Book due to my new England contact here and particularly 225 00:12:58,880 --> 00:13:01,599 Speaker 2: Peter Farrelly as well, who you worked with. What was 226 00:13:01,640 --> 00:13:03,640 Speaker 2: it like working with Peter Fairley? 227 00:13:04,280 --> 00:13:07,880 Speaker 1: I loved it. He prepared really well. He is very 228 00:13:07,960 --> 00:13:11,320 Speaker 1: easy going, which is not hard to imagine, and fun 229 00:13:11,480 --> 00:13:14,920 Speaker 1: and funny, which is even less hard to imagine watching 230 00:13:14,960 --> 00:13:17,800 Speaker 1: these other movies. But the way he was preparing the 231 00:13:17,840 --> 00:13:20,320 Speaker 1: movie and talking about it, I knew he was going 232 00:13:20,400 --> 00:13:24,160 Speaker 1: to do something special. I think that it did surprise 233 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:27,079 Speaker 1: a lot of people that he could do that. You know, 234 00:13:27,120 --> 00:13:31,520 Speaker 1: they hadn't seen another movie where he showed those abilities. 235 00:13:31,559 --> 00:13:35,080 Speaker 1: I suppose people were surprised, And it's kind of like actors. 236 00:13:35,080 --> 00:13:36,960 Speaker 1: They get used to them playing a certain kind of 237 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:41,160 Speaker 1: role and when they play something different, you're surprised, and 238 00:13:41,200 --> 00:13:43,520 Speaker 1: if they do it well, it might even take you 239 00:13:43,559 --> 00:13:45,360 Speaker 1: a little bit to accept it, saying well, I'm used 240 00:13:45,360 --> 00:13:47,679 Speaker 1: to seeing him being funny. I used to seeing him 241 00:13:47,679 --> 00:13:50,840 Speaker 1: being tense, and now he's being funny first. And I 242 00:13:50,880 --> 00:13:53,640 Speaker 1: suppose that goes for directors as well. But he did 243 00:13:53,679 --> 00:13:56,400 Speaker 1: an outstanding job. But I'm so glad that the public 244 00:13:57,080 --> 00:14:00,240 Speaker 1: saw and felt that and it moved them, not just us, 245 00:14:00,280 --> 00:14:03,880 Speaker 1: but around the world. It's a movie that I gauge 246 00:14:03,880 --> 00:14:07,680 Speaker 1: it by mean things I've worked in. When I'm let's say, 247 00:14:07,679 --> 00:14:11,320 Speaker 1: going to a premiere, doing a conversation with an audience 248 00:14:11,360 --> 00:14:14,280 Speaker 1: after a screening, what movies do they bring up? You know, 249 00:14:14,360 --> 00:14:16,720 Speaker 1: they bring up Order the Rings. Sometimes sometimes they bring 250 00:14:16,800 --> 00:14:20,000 Speaker 1: up movies I've done with David Comberg every once in 251 00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:22,520 Speaker 1: a while, or some weird movie that most people haven't seen. 252 00:14:23,320 --> 00:14:26,360 Speaker 1: But they always bring up Green Book. You know, it's 253 00:14:26,360 --> 00:14:29,040 Speaker 1: something that it's a movie people really liked and got 254 00:14:29,080 --> 00:14:32,480 Speaker 1: a lot out and that's, you know, a large part 255 00:14:32,560 --> 00:14:35,480 Speaker 1: due to the way he fairly told the story. I 256 00:14:35,480 --> 00:14:37,440 Speaker 1: had great fun I thought it was kind of nuts 257 00:14:37,480 --> 00:14:39,400 Speaker 1: at first one that he wanted me to play Tony 258 00:14:40,160 --> 00:14:42,560 Speaker 1: when he lived. I said, I don't know, I don't 259 00:14:42,560 --> 00:14:44,000 Speaker 1: know if I'm the right guy. Peter. He was, No, 260 00:14:44,080 --> 00:14:45,800 Speaker 1: you're definitely the right guy. I just know and I 261 00:14:45,840 --> 00:14:48,320 Speaker 1: know and I know it, and we talked and then 262 00:14:48,320 --> 00:14:51,640 Speaker 1: I started doing the research on that. Okay, but you 263 00:14:51,720 --> 00:14:54,520 Speaker 1: need that too, you need to go to confidence. Yeah, 264 00:14:54,560 --> 00:14:56,960 Speaker 1: it was a great experience. I loved working with Pete. 265 00:14:57,000 --> 00:14:58,160 Speaker 1: I hope I get to do it again. 266 00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:01,480 Speaker 2: How do you go about preparing for that role of Tony? 267 00:15:02,200 --> 00:15:05,720 Speaker 1: Well, I could speak some Italian. My first decade in 268 00:15:05,760 --> 00:15:07,760 Speaker 1: my life I spent most of in Argentina, and I 269 00:15:07,760 --> 00:15:10,760 Speaker 1: did have friends who were Italian Argentine and some of 270 00:15:10,800 --> 00:15:13,040 Speaker 1: them at home spoke Italian. So there was a certain 271 00:15:13,520 --> 00:15:18,000 Speaker 1: sort of the culture, the food, that attitude about certain things. 272 00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:20,600 Speaker 1: And then you know, I know some people from New York. 273 00:15:21,960 --> 00:15:25,720 Speaker 1: I like that. But once I got over the fact that, Okay, 274 00:15:26,400 --> 00:15:28,920 Speaker 1: I'm not Italian American, even if I can speak Italian 275 00:15:29,520 --> 00:15:34,280 Speaker 1: and I understand like Italy and like Italians tenderly, and the culture. 276 00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:38,080 Speaker 1: Once I got over this, well it doesn't matter. It's 277 00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:40,440 Speaker 1: called acting. You're going to find a way to do this. 278 00:15:41,080 --> 00:15:43,800 Speaker 1: I really enjoyed it. I had fun. I spent a 279 00:15:43,800 --> 00:15:47,000 Speaker 1: lot of time getting to know live along the family. 280 00:15:47,520 --> 00:15:51,800 Speaker 1: Tony Lip's son, he was one of the screenwriters, and 281 00:15:51,840 --> 00:15:55,840 Speaker 1: his brother and other members of his family. I had uncle, 282 00:15:56,040 --> 00:15:58,560 Speaker 1: I mean, lots of people. Who was the brother of 283 00:15:58,640 --> 00:16:02,320 Speaker 1: the character I was playing. They were all alive and 284 00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:05,000 Speaker 1: kicking when we were preparing the movie, and I went 285 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:07,320 Speaker 1: and spent time with him, you know, on Long Island 286 00:16:07,400 --> 00:16:10,600 Speaker 1: and New Jersey, New York. I went to the places 287 00:16:10,640 --> 00:16:14,320 Speaker 1: where they had grown up. I sort of just immersed myself, 288 00:16:14,360 --> 00:16:16,480 Speaker 1: but I learned a lot from the family, and they 289 00:16:16,480 --> 00:16:23,400 Speaker 1: shared memories, they shared recordings, they shore photographs, objects, the change, 290 00:16:23,640 --> 00:16:26,720 Speaker 1: the gold crucifix that where in the movie was that 291 00:16:27,480 --> 00:16:30,120 Speaker 1: Tony Lips and you know. But it was just spending 292 00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:32,960 Speaker 1: time with them and breaking bread with them and talking 293 00:16:33,080 --> 00:16:36,200 Speaker 1: and imagining that time and what that household was like, 294 00:16:36,240 --> 00:16:40,160 Speaker 1: the dynamic, and that was really helpful to me and 295 00:16:40,200 --> 00:16:42,080 Speaker 1: also to the other people in the movie. I think 296 00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:45,080 Speaker 1: they were really involved in the family and helped us alone. 297 00:16:45,360 --> 00:16:49,440 Speaker 1: Linda Ardlini who plays my wife Lauris, and the story too, 298 00:16:49,480 --> 00:16:51,440 Speaker 1: you know, they were very generous with her as well, 299 00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:54,640 Speaker 1: and so it's helpful to get to know them that way, 300 00:16:55,800 --> 00:16:55,960 Speaker 1: he go. 301 00:16:56,120 --> 00:16:59,360 Speaker 2: It's an honor to speak with you. Congratulations on the 302 00:16:59,400 --> 00:17:03,480 Speaker 2: Dead Don't Hurt. I mean, what an amazing performance and 303 00:17:03,560 --> 00:17:06,720 Speaker 2: amazing work, and I'm so honored to speak with you. 304 00:17:07,320 --> 00:17:10,200 Speaker 1: Thank you very much. Thanks for your time and your interests. 305 00:17:10,280 --> 00:17:13,679 Speaker 1: I hope more people like the movie as much as 306 00:17:13,720 --> 00:17:13,919 Speaker 1: you do. 307 00:17:14,520 --> 00:17:17,879 Speaker 2: Thank you, appreciate it. Ye, take care, good luck on 308 00:17:17,960 --> 00:17:18,480 Speaker 2: everything you go. 309 00:17:18,640 --> 00:17:20,640 Speaker 1: Thank you, thank you. Okay, bye bye. 310 00:17:21,080 --> 00:17:23,560 Speaker 2: Thanks for listening to this episode of Taking a Walk 311 00:17:23,600 --> 00:17:28,320 Speaker 2: with actor Vigo Mortensen. We're available everywhere you find your podcast, 312 00:17:28,560 --> 00:17:31,280 Speaker 2: and we're proud to be part of America's number one 313 00:17:31,359 --> 00:17:34,840 Speaker 2: podcast network, the iHeart Podcast Network.