Hey everyone. Capone in Chicago here.
Okay, this one is my fault…sort of. Earlier this year, a really great little movie came out in limited release called EXPLICT ILLS, written and directed by actor Mark Webber and starring Rosario Dawson. I'd spoken to Webber (who can currently be seen starring opposite Kevin Spacey in SHRINK) a couple times over the years, and I saw this film at the 2008 SXSW Film Festival, and was genuinely moved by its many stories of people living on the edge (and sometimes over the edge) of poverty. I interviewed Webber back in March, and shortly thereafter spoke with Dawson as well. For some reason, the publicist who arranged the interview with Dawson asked me to hold the interview until closer to the DVD release, which I didn't have a problem with since I was more than happy to help push the film's theatrical and DVD release.
And then I just kind of forgot about it. The DVD for EXPLICIT ILLS actually came out on July 14, and the film is without a doubt worth a watch, thanks in large part to Dawson's tremendous tragic performance as a mother with a sick child. I've seen her do a lot of things, but nothing quite like this. She's really fun and energetic in conversation, and we covered a lot of ground in our 12-minute conversation, including her first film KIDS as well as upcoming works like SIN CITY 2 and the animated Rob Zombie project THE HAUNTED WORLD OF EL SUPERBEASTO.
Just to transport you back to when this interview happened, Obama had just been inaugurated, and I had just hosted an I LOVE YOU, MAN event with Jason Segel and Paul Rudd; both events are referenced during the course of our talk. Upon finding out I was talking to Dawson the following night, Segel mentioned to me that he knew her and to say Hi, which is where we begin. Enjoy Rosario Dawson…
Capone: I was told last night to deliver a message to you. I had dinner with Jason Segel last night, and he said that he knew you.
Rosario Dawson: Yeah!
Capone: …he said to say ‘Hello’, so…
RD: Oh, very cool. He’s awesome, huh?
Capone: We had a great time. We did a big event here with him and Paul Rudd for I LOVE YOU, MAN, so, yeah, it was a lot of fun.
RD: Very cool. Yeah, they’re such great guys. That’s a whole new world of filmmaking. I love it.
Capone: Jason, this is the first time I met him. And, he was just unbelievably cool.
RD: Yeah, I don’t really know Paul. I still have a crush on him from CLUELESS.
Capone: I was going to say, you probably go all the way back to CLUELESS.
RD: Exactly. [laughs]
Capone: So, I talked to [director] Mark Webber last week. I actually saw the film…in fact, I bumped elbows with you at the premiere at SXSW last year.
RD: Oh, cool.
Capone: I’ve seen it again since, but I talked to Mark last week about it and wanted to talk about your experience working on a film that’s, obviously, this very personal thing for him. He sort of siphoned off these characters from his own upbringing and filled this movie with folks that we hardly ever see in movies, to be honest. What do hope that people will take away from watching this film and watching these struggles and these interesting stories?
RD: You know, what’s so powerful is that this does come from what he knows, and who he is as a person, and what his experiences are, and the advocate that he still so truly is, in writing his first film and directing it about people whose stories don’t normally get told. And, I think what is so provocative about this is that it gives you glimpses to the personal side of people to take away from just the numbers and the sort of stigma that comes with poverty and miseducation or drug abuse. It takes away just sort of the controversial sort of thing that people look at when they talk about the health care system and poverty. He looks at it from a personal side and really sees the people that are affected by it.
And, when you’re in Philadelphia and passing by the abandoned buildings, it’s really hard to not to be present to the fact that you know most people are a paycheck away from being homeless. But, the myth of this country is that that’s not really true. And, it takes sometimes what’s going on with this financial crisis for people to be really aware that when there’s all these different organizations and people who are marching and talking about these issues in profound ways, that’s it’s for everybody.
It takes, sometimes, just the place where millions of people are losing their jobs and are losing their homes and are suddenly realizing, yeah, that the health care system really sucks, and that being poor means you can’t get a great education, and you can’t provide for yourself and your family and, what your actual options are now that suddenly so much has been robbed from you, just because you’ve just dropped below that poverty line, and how difficult it is really to pull yourself up. That we haven’t been marching all these years for nothing. That these are real issues that need to be addressed and have been ignored for too long.
I think it’s also powerful that this story, at the end of all of it, it still shows where you can put that frustration, where you can put that anger, where you can turn that positive. And, that I think is what’s so beautiful. You have a character like Babo, who’s poor and can’t afford anything for himself, but he’s buying sneakers for the kid who punched him in the face. And, it’s a shock and a shame, because had he saved up that money, he could have helped himself the next day. But, that’s not where he was coming from. And, what a special character and how that hits you when you watch the movie.
And, a woman like I’m playing, who’s his mother, who marvels at the miracle she gave birth to and is in fear that she’s not the right person to raise him, because she doesn’t have the resources or the education, and she’s too young. And, she doesn’t know what she’s doing, and she’s got this special kid in front of her, and she’s going to fuck it up. And, she knows it, just that helplessness.
It’s so profound, I think, this whole story, you know, that it comes from such a young man, who’s decided that he’s going to reveal this stuff about himself and do it in such a personal way. That’s where it needs to come from. That’s how these stories are going to be able to really resonate with people. It's going to have to come from someone who really knows what he’s talking about. And, that’s what makes it such a miracle. He’s such a great actor, and he’s such a great person. And, the fact that this is the first movie that he wanted to do and put together, and get his friends, and called all of us, and just made it happen is something I’m just so proud of him--for turning his art into something that can be shared on this level with people. I’m just blown away by him. And, it couldn’t be coming out at a more important time.
Capone: Right. It’s interesting, because in the year since I first saw it, obviously, a lot has changed in this country. I mean, I saw you on MTV at the Youth Inaugural Ball, I remember that, and it’s weird that, in some ways, I feel like we finally got an administration that is ready to deal with some of these things. And, yet, the economy is almost pushing more people into these situations. So, it’s almost a race to see how we can stop it, while more people in need are created on an almost daily basis.
RD: Yeah.
Capone: And, the kids in this film are truly remarkable young actors. What can you tell me about the young man who played your son and the bond that you two had during the shooting?
RD: Francisco [Burgos] is so amazing. Like, we were calling him ‘the little Bobbie De Niro’ on set. What he had to go through physically and emotionally was just amazing. His mom couldn’t even be in the room, sometimes, for a lot of the stuff that we were shooting, so he was just out there and on his own, you know, a seven-, eight-year-old kid. I remember, he just turned nine. And, he’s been lying that he was nine for over a year, because, you know, he wants to be taller, he wants to be a baller, he’s so present and thoughtful and smart. And, it cracks me up, he’s such…
We’d be doing these scenes together, and he’d be totally into it, and Mark would be telling him about how he had to let his body go with it, and if I was going to be screaming or yelling, that he just had to be there, or how still he had to be, or then just being himself, and like, ‘Remember, look at her. And, you’re sick and you’re not feeling well.’ And, he’d be high on candy, because he’d been sneaking it when his mom wasn’t looking, and getting bored and being, like, “I don’t want to play like this anymore. I don’t want to do this scene anymore.” And, we’d be, like, “Okay, but we have to do a couple more takes before it’s all done. You want it to be great, right?” And, he’d be, like, “Okay, cool.” And, he’d do it exactly, he’d do exactly what he needed to do.
His focus was just kind of remarkable. Even in the face of his ADD [laughs], which is kind of like an incredible thing to witness, because I’ve watched actors misbehave on set before. And, he was a piece of cake to work with. He was remarkable and very professional.
So, this movie doesn’t work in the relationship and my character doesn’t work without him, you know? I don’t even have a name in the movie. I’m "Babo’s Mom." It’s all about how remarkable this young man is, and her fear of not being what he deserves, and seeing that you’re raising not only a child who’s asthmatic but very special. And, you know, she just stares at him, while she marvels over him.
And, he has to be that great. It has to be a real loss to see an angel like him not get what he needs. I feel like that doesn’t work without what he brought to the table. And, that’s what’s so remarkable about it. It’s hard. They always say “Don't work with children and animals,” you know, but he adds to this movie in such an incredible way. He’s going to be someone to contend with in years to come, I believe.
Capone: Yeah. You’ve always been very good about balancing these smaller works with completely awesome genre films. Where does your love of these two kinds of films come from, and why have you been focused primarily in those two areas?
RD: Well, I’m lucky because I started with KIDS, so that was my first foray into film. I had never wanted to be an actor before, and here I was working on this independent movie with a first-time director, a first-time writer, and first-time actors. I didn’t know any different, so it felt really professional to me and amazing, it really was. And, I’ve been on independent sets since then. KIDS had money, by comparison. Like, I remember doing a movie, an independent movie. We didn’t have trailers, we didn’t have anything, other than there was a hair and makeup trailer for KIDS. That movie was independent, but it’s a good way to get started, for sure. It had support, that movie. And, because the star of that film was the director and the writer, and how provocative the story was, it was magic. So, I count myself very lucky that that’s how I started, because I don’t have the same reservations, I think, as some people do about working with first-time directors.
That’s why I can sit down with Dito [Montiel] over lunch and him tell me “I’m doing GUIDE TO RECOGNIZING YOUR OWN SAINTS. Will you be in it for two scenes?” And, I’m, like, “Absolutely. It would be a gift. Like, dammit, why didn’t you write this script 10 years ago, so I could have actually played the younger version?” I’m playing the old woman with the baby. I’m starting to get those roles now, you know! But, it’s so amazing to me that I’ve been able to just be working all these years.
During times when there’s a strike or this or that happening, because I’ve been open to both sides of things, I have a possibility of continuing to work and collaborate and grow and learn on both sides of the fence, you know, which is unusual. So, I very much appreciate it. It’s what keeps me sane and keeps me honest, to just keep provoking myself. And now I'm foraying into doing stuff online. It’s just really cool to just keep pushing myself and learning the new technologies and just try to play with it all.
These are important stories to tell, you know. So, I’m down to tell them however way it is, even if it is with a first-time director. It’s usually, sometimes, going to mean it’s going to be the rawness that it really needs to be. And, Mark, I thought, really brought it on this. He’s amazing.
Capone: Okay, real quick question: Have you heard much from Robert Rodriguez about where SIN CITY 2 is right now?
RD: Supposedly, we’re going to start shooting it this year. Frank [Miller] finished writing the script a couple months ago, and, yeah, I’m looking forward to donning a mask.
Capone: And, how soon are we going to see THE HAUNTED WORLD OF EL SUPERBEASTO?
RD: I have no idea, actually. That was a couple of years ago that we did that, and it’s animation, so, you know, I have a comic book, I know how long that takes. So, I have no idea. But, it’s insane, and I’m prepared to cringe a little bit when people actually see what it is, because it’s really…It’s awesome, I mean, it’s awesome in the way that SIN CITY is awesome. But, I’ll definitely get a lot of calls being like, “What the hell were you thinking?” People are really going to balk at it. It’s going to be awesome.
Capone: Oh, it’s [director] Rob Zombie. They know what they’re in for.
RD: Exactly. That’s what I’m saying. I’m thrilled. I think he’s great. I’m such a fan of his. He’s such a talent, and I want to see him directing more.
Capone: Hopefully, that’ll happen. Rosario, thank you so much for spending some time with us.
RD: Absolutely.
-- Capone
capone@aintitcoolmail.com
Follow Me On Twitter
|
