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Ben Foster is one of those people who could disappear in a crowd – until you see him on the screen. Upon arriving at the Salon studio in South Manhattan, Foster could easily have been a video editor or software engineer showing up at work in one of the many companies that share our building. He is a medium-sized white guy with medium brown hair, who is neither old nor young. (He is now 38 years old and plays constantly in film and television since he's starred in the teenage sitcom "Flash Forward" in the mid-90s.)
Nobody would see Foster in the '90s. lift and would identify him as a movie star – largely because it's not one. On the contrary, he is one of the most powerful and versatile actors of his generation, a master craftsman whose job is to "ask questions and feel things," and whose slender and intense performances consist in stripping the dialogue and action. is essential.
Foster made a dramatic breakthrough in Oren Moverman's 2009 film "The Messenger", playing a traumatized war sergeant who is reassigned to a military task that no one wants: Tell civilian spouses or their parents beloved was killed in action abroad. There may be some thematic continuity between this role and Foster's performance this year in director Debra Granik's independent and moving film "Leave No Trace", which may well place it for the first time in Grand Prix territory [19659003] Foster a man named only Will, a military veteran who is obviously suffering from some form of post-traumatic stress, although this is not the kind of film that will fill the story or answer all his questions. For personal reasons, Will lives with his teenage daughter, Tom (the remarkable teenage actress Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie), in a forest park just outside Portland, Oregon. Will and Tom do not consider themselves homeless; on the contrary, their bucolic whole life will hit many viewers as a very viable alternative to the excessive existence of electronic cocoons that most of us lead.
The company, of course, is not in agreement. You are not supposed to live in a park, no matter how good your outdoor skills can be. Foster has recently joined me to discuss the conflicts and challenges of his role in this remarkable film. Our complete conversation is integrated below; the following transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
Ben, your new movie, which is now in theaters, is called "Leave No Trace", directed by Debra Granik. It is already one of the best rated independent films of the year. Tell us a little about it.
This film follows a veterinarian who lived in a national forest park with his daughter, in the Pacific Northwest just outside Portland. It's based on a true story. The opposite story is that they get caught. The company does not agree with people who do not want to live in a house, so they give them a home. Really, it's about how society influences their relationship and begins to separate them.
You know, I still think of you as an exciting young actor who is new on the stage … [19659003] Broken. [Laughter.]
Or at least old enough to play somebody's dad.
It happens! The weather is bad
Now, the director of this film, Debra Granik, has a little following in independent circles. She did a film a few years ago called "Winter's Bone" which featured a young actress named Jennifer Lawrence to the world. Was he working with Debra who attracted you to this project?
Yes. This was his first film, "Down to the Bone," which just knocked me out. It was with Vera Farmiga, and she is just … They did it on a small budget. It's about addiction. It's just a wonderful, wonderful movie. I had also seen his documentary "Stray Dog" . When I heard that she was doing this movie I was just excited because she did not do them very often. There are five, eight years between each.
When I read this script, I had just learned that my wife was pregnant. I finished the script and I burst into tears. I was like, I have to ask this lady if she is going for a walk with me, so I can convince her to give me work.
Without giving too much – I mean, this guy is a complicated character. He is generally friendly and he loves his daughter, there is no doubt about it. But he does not always make the right decisions. How did you think of him when you approached the character? 19459006 19459008 19459003 Our work is to defend people in history. I agree with a lot of what he says. There is a part of me that says, "Yes". His way of dealing with trauma – and this is only suggested, but what he has experienced in the war has left invisible scars. In a way, he negotiates that by withdrawing himself and his daughter from the company, [where there are] fewer triggers. But also the philosophy being: is it a need or a need? What do we really need in life to live a fulfilling life? These are questions that I ask as a parent, as a man.
This is not the kind of big budget movie where we are going to have a complicated flashback to Iraq or Afghanistan or wherever it fills l & # 39; history. What happened in the past must be filled by you guys. In fact, let's mention Thomasin McKenzie, the 17-year-old actress who plays your daughter in the movie. She is a kind of discovery.
Completely, yes. Thomasin is just great, a wonderful actor. Our rehearsal process was not traditional, and it was very attractive. The way I like to work, is that you will learn the thing, and then you will do the thing. It was learning nature, so we spent time with a survivalist coach and some primitive skills, with someone I was working privately with who would teach techniques to do it. escape and survival to guys special ops.
After learning these skills, go early to teach Thom a few things, just to create a dynamic. Just to spend time together in the woods making a fire, picking up sticks for shelter, basic tasks. This created a very beautiful shorthand. But she is hard not to connect with. She's just … I mean, you see it on the screen.
What were the important things to learn for this character about learning? What did you learn about living in the woods that you did not know before?
A lot. A lot. These people are completely out of the grid. The joy of work is similar to that of a journalist. You say, "How's that?", "Why this?", "What's it about?" "How do you do that?" I worked with a person named Dr. Nicole Apelian for these tribal skills or primitive skills. rather. Nature becomes readable. You enter the forest and it's not just trees. You say, "Oh, it could be a shelter, it could be a watershed, it's edible." You start seeing resources in your environment where there was only green and green.
This was very, very exciting.Everything we did in the movie is something that I've learned to do practically.This makes my job easier If I can do it
I am struck by the fact that these people do not consider themselves homeless, is not it? a short cut to describe this movie is that this father and daughter are homeless and live in a park, but that's not how they would describe it.
Yes They have a house They have one and the other Sometimes it is difficult for parents to let their children go.
pensez- you personally to this question? There is a collision between what they believe to be good for them and what the company believes to be OK. I mean, legally, you can not go live in a park .
Well, I responded to his philosophy. Society offers us every day a real healthy dose of toxic nonsense. As a new parent, me and my wife, we will negotiate these waters: how to protect our child and give him the most rewarding life possible? It was an interesting statistic that I read today that North Americans spend an average of 25% of their day watching their smartphone or tablet.
I am almost surprised that it is so low, honestly. But it's still scary.
It's scary, so it's four hours a day, pretty much. When did the phones come out? Would you say that the smartphone has existed for 10 or 15 years?
About. No more than that, yeah.
If we look at this statistic and we look at that time frame, then we look at the high levels of anxiety and depression that are going on with our children, it coincides with this thing, this machine. If that's what it does and we do not know how to trade these dopamine strikes – and if we eliminate some of these things? What if we come back to something natural? I find that very attractive. It can be extreme, certainly for my own life. But some of these philosophies are very attractive. At the moment, I think people will be interested in it.
With respect to veterans who have been homeless or who may have dealt with mental health issues, have you done any research on these specific lines?
Over the years, I became friends with men and women who served and returned and struggled with re-entry. Debra and I have both accumulated, I suppose, stories, stories, personal experiences with our friends that they share with us. I felt pretty close to this guy pretty quickly. The biggest gate was a line in the script that is, "Is it a need or is it a need?" It was the line.
You know, you read the script a hundred times. It's like developing a photo. You just continue to put a wash on it and the models will come. After reading this sentence, I reported it to Debra and told him, "Let's make a passage of the script through this lens." The game is this: if he does not need to say it, he does not say it. She was a game, so we just stressed the script.
We cut a lot of things. What can we go out and transmit again, always communicate through the behavior and context, who this man is, and from where he comes from? It was exciting.
What I was going to say earlier is that it's not the kind of movie where we're going to have the back story that has a lot of explosions and the friend of the guy who was killed in Afghanistan or something.
Yes, there is no monologue in the third act. [Laughter.]
Yes. We do not understand that here. It's something you had to provide without explicitly providing it, just enough context for that person's life.
There was such joy in deciding to strip it. In the same way that he was approaching his business, we wanted to do it linguistically. Just what is essential, and see what we get.
One of the things about Debra Granik's films is that the sense of place is always so strong. Is there any way these woods – they are very specific, the beautiful, moist, sometimes icy forests of the Pacific Northwest. Did that shape the way you played the roles?
Of course, yes. If you are on a beach, you feel in a special way. If you are in the forest, you feel in a special way. I come back to the idea that as children we would play in a garden or in the street. We simply imagine where we are, and cultivate this scenario "and if" is our job. It really helps when you are in the present place.
Yes. You made movies at different budget levels. It must be very different, do something like that, rather than make a big budget movie and green screen where we play in a room, basically.
Yes. It's more like playing in the garden, except that the stick you found is made by a big company. It's a very expensive stick. These green screens are … I like different types of movies. We start as fans first. The filmmakers I worked with worked on different budgets. I really do not really think about it. It's freelance, is not it? Every few months I look for another job.
It's funny. In other words, you are part of the game economy.
Thousand percent. I am thinking of restoration. You cook, you build, you collaborate, then you serve it for the requested menu. You put your thing on it and you hope people enjoy it, and then it's the following.
You talked about getting to know the people who served in the military. You have played active members or veterans on a number of occasions. Do you have a personal connection with the army? or is it something that happened accidentally?
I think this has just been terribly moved by someone who decides to serve in any capacity whatsoever, regardless of the uniform. Someone says, "I'm here serving …" is so moving. It's also the war of my generation, the desert wars. Iraq and Afghanistan are our peers. And those who come back and their stories need to be revealed. In terms of drama, these are timely and significant topics that I am attracted to for a variety of reasons. This particular story of someone who came back and tries to find healing, we felt like a new field or more as a part of a series, I guess, by asking questions.
I think it's a very good note that your generation has had this specific experience with the desert wars. My older brother's generation went to Vietnam or resisted the war, and we had lots of movies about it. But there are many men and women of your age, I suppose, who were in Iraq or who were in Afghanistan and who are now trying to cope with this experience when most of we do not want to talk about it.
This is true. Again, coming back to freelance, that's what went through my office and moved me to the time. It was as if time went well to go ask these questions together. And, yes, I guess it was written in "The Messenger," "Lone Survivor," "Rampart," where there was a role in a mall, but a homeless veteran in a more traditional sense. Drug addiction and mental illness were explained more directly, I suppose, than in this film.
You talk about time spent with Debra Granik as time well spent. Is this the idea? You work with a director you love, where will you learn something?
I hope. You hope to go to work with people you love. It does not always work that way, no matter what your profession is.
But get in conversation with someone who knows a lot more about the thing you want to learn and who is willing to share that with me – that's the best thing in the world. You want to be able to ask these questions with people with whom you have a rhythm, a shortcut with, a curiosity and an appetite, and an attitude to ask questions. It's a bit of time, but it's rigorous. This is not a difficult job. It's not difficult. There are no bullets, real bullets flying. But if you spend that time asking questions and feeling things, you want them to be with the people you love.
You seem to like or appreciate the characters who have a lot of weight for this person. You mentioned things like mental illness, addiction, issues that come up with some of these characters. When a character has to wear something heavy like that, is it a challenge that you like?
It's a drama. The drama is a conflict. Yeah. They do not throw me for the pretty girl next door, so I have to take what they give me, dude. I know that I prefer to laugh when I watch a movie, but I have not been able to do much of that. I watch! Every time I see Judd Apatow, I say to myself, "Dude, God, let me in, dude, let me in!"
It does not work?
Not yet.
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