- George you have been quoted as saying that this movie could have been made three years ago but there was such a feeling of hope and optimism because of Obama’s election - the film is out now so has something changed?
Oh I think that the hope part of the hope message has been tamped down a bit - but it will bounce back again and I feel fairly optimistic on how our country works.
It’s a fairly cynical look at politics and it wasn’t a very cynical time in our country and it took about a year of working on the health care bill, then that was all took, and then our country took a nose-dive in terms of politeness - we go back and forth so we will get it back again.
- The films that you have previously directed have been period pieces so what was it like for you directing a more contemporary piece?
Well it was easier because I don’t have to worry about an aeroplane flying through the scene or something modern coming into the scene - it made prepping the shoot a lot easier to do.
I am going to try and do more of those because the period pieces are a pain in the butt to do.
- What I enjoyed most about the movie is that there are no heroes in it what you have tried to do, it seems, is you have peeled away the exterior of Morris to reveal the shit inside. It’s all about compromise and I buy into that very deeply and I wondered for all of you as actors was that part of the attraction for you in showing that politics really doesn’t have any heroes left anymore?
Evan Rachel Wood: In this film what I got that not only isn’t there any heroes but there are also no villains either because no one was better than the other - that is what attracted me to it.
There is a lack of honesty and integrity and it just seems that some people are out to win and that becomes the most important thing - and the dream just slowly begins to die; that sounds so cynical.
But I think that there are people out there with amazing ideas and intentions and as long as we keep those ideas alive hopefully that will be enough.
Phillip Seymour Hoffman: That is pretty dark. I don’t think that there are heroes anywhere I don’t think that they exist - people do amazing things with their lives and amazing things for humanity but you don’t know what they are like at home or what they are like on their own.
That is the of the pleasures about being an actor every time you play a part you get the chance to de-mystify what it means to be a human being and I think that that is a beautiful thing.
And I agree that all the parts in this film are neither hero nor villain - I see compromise and I see no compromise; my character causes a lot of trouble because he has no interest in compromising. A lot of different things go on in this film that was very attractive to me.
George: Yeah I agree with that I think that the question that the film was trying to raise was it worth it? And is what we do to elect our officials, and it is a question that we are all faced with at one time or another, if it betters yourself and harms someone else is it worth it?
And sometimes the answer is yes - if negative advertising for the President saying rotten things and bending the truth but the right guy gets in office and those elections have consequences, including people’s lives, then it’s worth it I suppose.
So the question is always at what point is that moral scale where it’s actually worth doing - that was something that we liked doing in the film.
- Really enjoyed the lack of melodrama in the film and you guys seemed really comfortable with the characters that you were playing. Do you prefer these meaty and realistic roles?
Evan: I actually more comfortably doing roles such as vampires because it is nothing like me it’s supernatural. I think it’s when you have to get close to yourself and close to real emotion and pain that it is more difficult. So it’s much more fun with fangs.
Phillip: I enjoy playing a part that could have been anybody and there was something about this part that could have been anybody - he could have walked around in sweats and still been a guy and you don’t get to play parts like that too often; where it could have been anyone.
It’s just the behaviour and the actions that make up the character and there is something about that - I did get to leave myself alone in a way that I don’t usually get to be. I liked that very much about the part and I don’t often get to play parts like that.
George: The funniest thing is playing a candidate is tricky because you would think actors have this gigantic ego, and they do, but the ego it takes to take these shots with your chin up in the air - politicians have a tremendous amount of ego to be able to do that.
It’s very hard when the product you are selling to the entire country is yourself and you are just selling the hell out of it all the time ‘I am better than everybody else in the room’ it takes... listen we have it and we need somebody good at it but ego was something that was really tricky to embrace as a politician because you are sitting there thinking ‘wow these guys really are saying I am the best’.
- George what do you think about British politics?
I know very little about British politics but I do like watching the House of Commons because it is fun ‘Order’ it’s such a different way of doing things we don’t do that. I can’t figure out what happens each time I watch it or who won but I enjoy watching it.
I find politics in almost each country that I go to to be incredibly different and incredibly similar - so I will stay out of any comments on British government.
Read the second part of the interview here
The Ides of March is released 28th October.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
Tagged in George Clooney Ides Of March