“In the Valley of Elah,” from writer/director Paul Haggis (“Crash”), recruits Oscar winners Tommy Lee Jones, Charlize Theron and Susan Sarandon for a story of the Iraq war brought home.
The film, based on a real-life police case, casts Jones as Hank Deerfield, a Tennessee truck driver looking into the disappearance of his son, a soldier recently returned from the front. He recently called to discuss the responsibility he feels to audiences, the importance of external details, and what Harrison Ford misunderstands about acting. It opens Sept. 21.
Q: I was on the set of “A Prairie Home Companion” with Robert Altman when your people called with some questions about your role in that film. The questions intrigued me because they were so precise about details of costume and appearance: Should the character have facial hair, what type of suit should he wear? Does he wear jewelry? How important are considerations like that in your approach to a given role?
A: Very important. That’s a big part of acting. If you’re going to play a character you need to know what he looks like. The most important thing to know is what the director is looking for. Because it’s your job to show it to him.
Q: Did you create the character of Hank Deerfield in the same way, beginning with carefully observed externals, or was your approach different in this case?
A: Both. You know, you work from the inside out and you work from the outside in.
Q: This film is inspired by actual events. I wonder if that had any affect on your approach to the role. Do you feel a different sort of responsibility when you play a character, even if he’s a composite, based on historical figures, rather than a purely fictional one?
A: Naw, the responsibility’s pretty much the same. This movie touched on things that all Americans have in common, so there’s where your responsibility lies. To the audience. It has to do with young people returning from the war in Iraq. And that’s part of every American’s experience, isn’t it? We’ve seen them come back. If we haven’t been one of them, we’re kin to one of them. And if neither of those happen to be the case, we’ve seen them all. We’ve all seen them all. That’s what I mean by things that every American has in common. That’s, again, your responsibility to the audience.
Q: Several of your recent films have been grounded in current events. “The Hunted,” “Rules of Engagement” and this film are rooted in recent military campaigns, and “The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada” is about cross-border immigration. Is that coincidence or do you want to say something or focus people’s attention on certain issues?
A: I don’t have any campaign toward focusing people’s attention on any particular issue at all. I just liked those scripts.
Q: The final image of this film, an American flag upside-down, is a very powerful one. Can you tell me what that meant for Hank and what it means for you?
A: Hank says what it means in the movie. It’s a sign of distress.
Q: In this film I would describe your character as a heroic everyman in the beginning of the film. Do you feel that Hank is still a hero at the end?
A: He changes a great deal. I think his eyes are opened to things he hadn’t thought of before. I certainly hope the audience has an idea that he’s learned something as the movie goes on. I think he has a different idea of what heroism is.
Q: There are especially strong female roles in this film. What was it like working with Charlize Theron and Susan Sarandon?
A:I couldn’t begin to tell you what it was like to work with those two very, very fine actresses. They pretty much defy description, both of them. They’re two of the finest living actors. I can tell you that they’re both a lot of fun to be around, very highly professional, first-rate professional standards. Anything else would not be fun to be around.
Q: In an interview, Harrison Ford said it’s a pleasure working with you because performance comes easily to you, that you’re able to be spontaneous and take advantage of what’s going on. Do you feel that’s an accurate description of how you go about your work?
A: No! I don’t. Harry is a good pal and I love that guy, but the idea is to make it look easy. The biggest trick for an actor is to make it look easy, to disappear into the role. Most actors work hard to make it look so comfortable.
Q: You have a formidable presence. Do you think you’ve ever worked with actors who were anxious because they were in a scene with Tommy Lee Jones?
A: I’ve never felt that I was intimidating another performer. It’s an actor’s job to make his fellow cast members comfortable so everyone can do his best work.
