Jesse, how did you get into the film business? Were there any relevant experiences or persons in your childhood who confirm your decision to become a stuntman?
I came to the US in 1991, basically penniless, living out of my car, so like many others I bought the Hollywood Reporter that listed productions and hit everyone of them over and over again, knocking on doors, handing out resumes. "You need an Art Director, I'm your man, an Assistant Director, I can do that."
After a year or so of fairly regular Assistant Directing, "Shawshank Redemption", "Mortal Kombat", "Mr. Holland's Opus", I decided that the stunt guys were paid very well, and the time commitment was less, meaning I could write and develop my own projects. I was schooled in the martial arts and my family were stunt men in the UK, so it was a fairly straightforward decision.
I've always approached action sequences with a technical outlook, you must not be gung-ho or sentimental or even a romantic. You have to be logical and rehearsed, the idea is to not injure yourself. So many people have a false impression of the working stunt man, there are plenty of dare-devils that try to make it, they last a year or so usually.
Even in the classic days of cinema, the guys that survived in stunts, were articulate athletes, who were professionals in their spheres of expertise.
The stunt man who wishes to survive must have less of an ego than an actor and be able to hand over all credit to the director even if the director had absolutely no part in it.
Learning this was a great help to learning to work with producers as a director, making the film you want is all about getting your way, and how you go about bending people to your will. "Last Sentinel" was a sensational experience in this respect, because Bill Gottlieb, Ted Pryor, Anthony Pugliese and Don Wilson who produced the film, completely supported me in my artistic vision, it was an awesome experience. They basically, said as long as you keep it on budget and on schedule, make the film you want! They had seen "Pit Fighter" and wanted their own version, they all gave suggestions of course, and in most cases these were great and I followed them completely. The dog was Don's idea, and I am so glad we had him. The girl died originally, her living was Anthony Pugliese's idea, and turned out to be very sound.
Since beginning of the nineties you have contribute to the largest Hollywood productions. You have worked with directors such as Paul Verhoeven, Renny Harlin, Tim Burton, Terrence Malick, Steven Spielberg and J.J. Abrams. With whom did you make the most positive experiences and from who did you learn the most? Which directors and stars impressed you especially?
Verhoeven was my favorite of those names to watch direct, of course they are all exceptional creative forces, and I watched them and learned everything I could. I can only dream of being on a list like that some day. Spielberg is technically the most gifted and is just incredible to watch. But it's almost silent, everything is worked out in advance, the only time you really hear him talk is when there are children to be directed, in this case he guides them very gently, and manages to calm them completely, which when you consider the size of one of his crews is a feat in it's self. But, of course these directors are working with the best names in every department and are able to focus laser-like on the job at hand. On "last Sentinel" every moment was spent adjusting to another unexpected problem or occurrence, it is from these "glitches" that some cool cinematic moments emerge, too. But, controlling a sub million dollar production is a very different beast. managing a crew and cast, some of who have never seen a gun before involved in shooting nearly 50,000 rounds of ammunition, multiple 40 gallon gasoline bombs, locations that were inherently dangerous in their architectural condition. And, well, stunts on every day of the schedule. If I learned anything from the great directors, it is that you are the luckiest guy in the world when you are directing, you are truly blessed, and you must endeavor not to take anything for granted and just work every cell in your body to make the film as good as is possible. Be prepared to fight, bitch, compliment, kiss ass, lie if necessary to make the picture what you believe it deserves.
How were your experiences as stuntman? Were there also moments which make you sweet or a stunt who was simply too dangerous? How much madness and courage must a stunt coordinator or a stuntman bring into his job and when do you allow the actor to do the stunt on his own risk?
95% training, rehearsal, technical know how, 5% grit your teeth and smile, when your heart is beating like a 2 stroke engine. You can handle your side of deal and should always prepare as much as is possible. But, stunts are thrown at you at the last moment, sometimes you are working alongside effects men or art guys you don't know or fully trust. A gas explosion will chase you through a window as you drop to the ground. Will the gas bomb be as big as they say, will the window smasher detonate, or will you bounce off the tempered glass and fall into the bomb, will the debris following you out be on fire. You can practice the fall, but there is sometimes an element of the unknown. I used to really enjoy the feeling of adrenaline, and the great sleep I got afterward! But as I get older, I have started to dislike the fact that I would be hitting the ground after a good lunch, or having to get shot doubling an actor in his underwear on the asphalt on a winters day, in the rain. performing stunts is really a young man's game. As a coordinator accountable for others safety and well being there is no room for madness or courage.
How change the increasing use of CGI your job? Do you think the computer effects could make stuntmen redundant in the future?
Not completely redundant, action arrangers will always be there, they come up with ideas and suggestions that will aid in CG authenticity. But, stunt performers as they are now, will be far fewer in number, and more specialist in nature. it is already going that way. I try not to be sentimental, it's all about making the best movies possible, and adapting to new technology and learning to use it best. A thorough knowledge of the old school tricks is always useful, too, CG is not the answer to every problem.
How did the step from a stunt coordinator/stuntman to a director/author come into being? Did you search for new challenges or had you simply the feeling that it was time for you to develop further? Who are your inspiring examples in this regard?
I was always writing scripts, I wanted to write comic books as a child. The screenplay is closer to a comic book than a novel. (I wrote a novel it almost killed me!) My first scripts were not good, around about attempt number fifteen I found an agent. It's about writing something people enjoy reading, first and foremost, great concepts have never been my strong point, but people enjoy reading my scripts, they often say there are "Englishsm's" -- But I love diction, I read a lot and enjoy old US dialogue, I use a lot of outdated or period slang, people naturally assume it's English. Often it's something I've lifted from Steinbeck or Hemingway. My greatest inspirations are the directors of the late studio period, Sam Peckinpah, Sam Fuller, these were hard bitten types, rascals and mavericks.
I have almost everything written on Peckinpah, but I don't think he was a pleasant man, he thrived in a stressful environment. I don't; I like a calm creative atmosphere, I like my prop master suggesting things. I also work at a far reduced budget, and favors and kind acts of generosity are responsible for my films having the production values they do. If I was too much of an ass, there would be no cooperation.
We had days of shooting on "Last Sentinel" where Matt Anderson and Luke Lafontaine my stunt guys, worked for free to make the movie succeed, I owe these guys any serious credit the movie gets for it's action!
As a director and a writer you are a multi-talent. For the first time you called attention to yourself in this double function with "Pit Fighter". Despite the small budget the film attracted much attention. What was the key to success in your opinion? Do you change your script on set if you see that a scene doesn’t work?
"Pit Fighter" struck a nerve with the public, whether it was the action movie crowd or a slightly different indie/edgie crowd, I'm not sure. But the film reverberated more than most projects of it's size/genre/cast. The hero was troubled and not cliched, he was someone we hadn't seen before, the film was not easily identifiable, this worked for it and against it, of course. The slower less attentive action audience were annoyed by it's illusions, and the loftier, intellectuals revolted by the overt action and violence. It still managed to appeal strongly to a lot of people, though. Everyday on a low budget set is adapting your careful plan to the days compromises. "Pit Fighter" was two weeks and less than a half million dollars, nothing went according to plan, everything was last minute. You must be prepared to change your script and concepts, you must however, be careful to determine what is a good change and what is worth fighting not to change. For me it boils down to a relatively easy concept, would I enjoy watching it, would I feel I had got my monies worth sitting in a theater with my wife and pop-corn. "Last Sentinel" was about my teenage love for "Heavy Metal" magazine, sci-fi movies, action figures and the odd, "cold war," "nuclear war" nihilistic atmosphere, we grew up in the eighties experiencing.
Now with "The Last Sentinel" you directed an impressing genre highlight with a relatively small budget. These dystopias have a long tradition in the b movie history. Which examples inspired you to this film?
I grew up obsessed with the work of Ray Harryhausen, the skeleton bad guys in "Jason and the Argonauts" are drone prototypes. I loved "Silent Running" and "A Boy and his Dog" -- LQ Jones was a Peckinpah troop player. I always felt that sci-fi action promised more than it delivered on the action front, with "Last Sentinel" I wanted the opposite, you go in expecting a little and are overwhelmed with the sheer volume of action, hopefully! A mini-gun that fires 6,000 rounds a minute, guys with rifles that fire grenades and bullets with artificial intelligence capable scopes. .50 calibers that decimate vehicles and humans, hundreds of drones who exist to eliminate humankind; It's a bleak horrific world we've created, nightmarish, but a world where heroes can exsist, also. "Day of the Triffids" always terrified me as a child, there is a lot of that in "Last Sentinel." There is a biblical belief that the end of the world will come about by a man made force, we had a company of drones marked with the batch number "666" -- but it felt a little too obvious, so you only catch it slightly in one scene in the film. "2001 a space odyssey" was an enormous inspiration, we even lifted the single red eye of the smart scope from "Hal" -- I hope no one minds. Making any movie is a grand guignol of inspirations and ideas, I tried to put as much as possible into "Last Sentinel" -- I hope people like it.
Don Wilson, Katee Sackhoff, Keith David, Bokeem Woodbine und Steven Bauer represent a very prominent cast. Did you have the actors already in mind during the development of the script? Or did the casting start not until the script was finished and you had clear imaginations? How do you put your actors in the right mood for their roles?
Don produced this movie and hired me, I had written the script at the start of my career and had put it aside; I felt it was perfect for him, he liked it and we cast the other parts from there. We got incredibly lucky, the cast is awesome and led by Don, who has zero ego and is as down to Earth as can be imagined I believe they all had a great time. It was a blistering, cold, dusty, dangerous and noisy shoot, but people bond under these circumstances and there was a lot of laughing. A lot of uniforms and military gear, guns and knives and armor, it helps the cast get into their mindset, less for them to imagine, a lot of testosterone. Those explosions are all real, you go home caked in black burned cordite and grease from the guns. It's an experience! My cast trust me for the most part, to make things as authentic as possible. I care a lot about the same things they do, when they realize this we work well. I'm not making films to get to the next movie, I'm not there just for a pay check. It's about the moment, the right there and then, making that scene count, not needlessly compromising artistically.
Where did you shoot the movie? The deserted locations bristle up with atmosphere. The explosions are impressive and the action choreography is a total enjoyment. How difficult was it to find the right color filters during the post production? How satisfied are you actually with the final result?
We were in Los Angeles at an old Hearst news paper building from the thirties, on the Universal Studios back lot for three days, and in a derelict and condemned gas refinery in Ojai, Ventura County North of Los Angeles for the rest of the shoot. It was very difficult scouting this movie, we literally went everywhere, it is so important to choose the right locations. Ojai was perfect, very difficult as there was nothing there and a mistaken step was an infected cut, there were tanks and refuse pits of heinous smelling liquids all over. My poor stunt guys! But it served the movie perfectly. David Waine was my effects technician, he was on T3 with me, and basically would offer up bigger and better ways of doing every effect I asked for, he's awesome and completely responsible for the satisfying effects. Matt Anderson the coordinator is an ex-green beret and soldier of fortune who served as military tech as well, the cast loved him, and he answered lots of questions. He's quite opposite to what you'd expect and very quiet and committed, he wouldn't let the actors do anything that was dangerous, no matter how much I pushed him! Luke Lafontaine has worked with me for years, he most recently choreographed "Beowulf" which was a $250 million production. He and Don did great stuff in the time they had, I'm very happy with the way it turned out.
With "Alien Agent" you already have the next hot iron in the fire. Mark Dacascos plays the main character. Billy Zane and Dominiquie Vandenberg are also on board. Once the movie was planned as sequel to "I come in Peace" with Dolph Lundgren and Matthias Hues. How much of the original idea still contains the last script? To what can the audience looking forward?
I was a hired gun, in as much as I was hired to direct an existing script, with a lead roles already hired. I reworked the action and Mark is awesome in the film. I hope the films turns out well. I have less input in post in this movie, than I am used to. If it turns out really well, maybe I will learn a lesson.
Till now scarcely anybody knows that you also work on a second movie called "The Butcher". Again you can crow with a impressive cast (Eric Roberts, Robert Davi, Bokeem Woodbine, Geoffrey Lewis and Keith David), but also the action scenes are to be top. How far are you with his movie in the meantime and when can the audience expect a first teaser?
"The Butcher" is in post production at the moment. It is my most personal project to date, and represents an enormous change in stylistic undertaking and some risk taking for me. I love it and hope others do, too. It's paced differently to anything that I've attempted before, it's the story equivalent to a burning fuse, the third act representing the explosion. Eric Roberts is outstanding in it, like nothing I've seen him in before. I think he realized the importance the material had to me, and just selflessly devoted himself to it. I'm very impressed with his performance. It will be interesting and terrifying to see what people make of the completed picture.
What are your private movie interests? Which director and actor do you see particularly gladly? In what respect you can learn by watching their work?
I watch a lot of movies, I was going through a "Battle of Algiers" fix when I made "Last Sentinel" -- amazingly enough. I like a lot of the classic directors work, but recently, Tony Scott, Verhoeven, I loved De Palma's work up to "Black Dahlia," David Fincher, Tarantino. Stanley Kubrick, Fellini and Peckinpah are my Gods. I like a director that when you see his work you realize you're noticing a style or point of view that is distinct and interesting. Howard Hawks always interests me, Mel Gibson is awesome as a director. I am always surprised by how little the great directors need to show to make their point.
Assumed you would have the possibility to realize your dream project. What would it be and who would act in this movie?
I have to be in love with a project for three years or so, so the script is very important. I have two pieces however, that are just quite large and ambitious even by "Last Sentinel" standards. One is on the battle of "1066" -- which has been an obsession of mine for twenty years. the other is a mythic tale from the early days of the Vietnam war. However, there was a time when I thought "Last Sentinel" was just too big to be made. I think the Vietnam story will be first, the invasion of England will have to wait.
Would you follow a call from Hollywood if a major studio wants to hire you for a big blockbuster as a stunt coordinator or do you want to commit yourself to the occupation of the director in the future?
No, I went out with a good one, "Beowulf" was a great cast, director and huge budget. I have to commit 100% to things, or I don't focus. You must not become a director with a plan B if it doesn't work out. You simply have to be prepared to make it work out whatever the cost. It is too difficult a position to achieve to set out half hearted.
The last words belong to you. If you would like to address last words to your fans, this is the opportunity.
If I have fans then I am thrilled that someone else enjoys these stories that at first glance may have the appearance of something pedestrian but hopefully as my folio of work grows will start to take shape as a whole into something a little more personal and genuine. Thank you, very much for your interest, Andre.
