Hey everyone. Capone in Chicago here.
I'm kind of crazy about Vera Farmiga, and not just because I think she's a gorgeous woman. I also happen to think she's one of the finest actresses of her generation. Before her Oscar-nominated performance in UP IN THE AIR, most people only knew her as essentially the only woman in THE DEPARTED (she was the police therapist who ends up sleeping with both Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon), or perhaps you remember her as Paul Walker's sexy-as-hell wife in RUNNING SCARED. Or as the maybe-crazy mom in either JOSHUA or ORPHAN. And if you didn't blink, you may have seen her as the philosophical Russian prostitute in Anthony Minghella's BREAKING AND ENTERING. But it was her portrayal of a drug-addicted mother in DOWN TO THE BONE that set the critical world on fire, so much so that the L.A. Film Critics Association named her best actress of the year in 2004.
Every director wants to work with her, every actor wants to work opposite her, and every film geek wants to marry her (even if they're too scared to speak to her). She has issues bouncing back and forth between roles in both small- and big-budget projects, and I'll watch her in anything, including the upcoming HENRY'S CRIMES, which is making its way across art houses near you. But the reason for our sit-down in Austin recently was the Opening Night film, director Duncan Jones' SOURCE CODE, in which Farmiga plays Colleen Goodwin, a military scientist who works with Jake Gyllenhaal's Colter Stevens to stop an impending terrorist attack on Chicago. But it's the means the pair use to stop the attack that is…unusual, and, for much of the film, Farmiga is Gyllenhaal's only connection to the real world. And that's all I'm saying…
I've interviewed Farmiga once before, on the phone about four years ago for JOSHUA, but this is the first time I've ever been in the same room with her. She's a soft-spoken but confident woman who is fully loaded with integrity and intelligence. And, yes, I still find her quite attractive. But I played the part of the professional and resisted the temptation to ask her to marry me, in an attempt to conduct this interview, which I hope you enjoy.
I should also warn you that Farmiga comes dangerously close to giving away some major spoilers at one point. She doesn't quite get there, but tread carefully if you want to walk into SOURCE CODE with as little information as possible, which I would recommend. Have at it.
Capone: Hi Vera, we’ve actually spoken on the phone once before, for JOSHUA, if I’m not mistaken, many years back.
Vera Farmiga: Yeah, sure.
Capone: How did your panel go [moderated by our own Quint]. Was it good?
VF: Yeah, I think it went well. The questions were interesting and I particularly liked hearing [SOURCE CODE writer] Ben Ripley talk. This is the kind of project that the writer is asked a lot of the questions, just because it’s a real conceptual film. So I enjoyed listening to him, since our paths didn't cross at all.
Capone: So he wasn’t there like supervising in any way?
VF: No, and some writers like to be a part of that process, but I think he didn’t need to be.
Capone: Your character, in particular, has a very unique perspective on what you are looking at and how we see you for most of the film. Was that limiting that basically that we had to basically just read your face for about 75 percent of the movie?
VF: It was. It was probably the most confined role I've ever played, by virtue of spacial relations. I'm in a chair, stationary, I get up a couple of times, but I sit right back down, and it’s a swivel chair [Laughs], so it swivels this way and that, but that’s the extent of it. I think what her arc is really plays out on a psycho-spiritual level in the way that she connects with Jake’s character and the way she sees him first as a science project and then for his humanity. Throughout the process of coaching and sending him into these source codes, she develops an affection for him, and it’s forced to all play out ocularly, because often times, especially when it’s Jake’s character’s perspective, it’s just my face, it’s just my big old face on the big old screen. I think what was most interesting to me about the character, because expository dialog is just frustrating for an actor, because it’s just information. It’s informative jargon.
Capone: Yeah, and you got to deliver a lot of it in this one.
VF: There is a lot of it, because I’m informing his character and the audience of the given circumstance. So to me, there are volumes in what’s not spoken, and that is what I focus on more so in this character, I think, just because that is something that would help with that confinement--her inner life and the inner struggle and the connection between the two. The more that was going on in her brain, the more that could be conveyed through my eyes.
Capone: It’s interesting how your character also kind of plays with his sense of duty. He’s a soldier and he’s expected to carry out his mission, however bizarre it is, and you are a person of authority to him, so he feels obliged to follow orders at first, before he starts to realize what’s really going on and what the bigger picture is. But she’s a little manipulative.
VF: Sure, well how do you think?
Capone: Just that she expects him to follow his orders, “You have this mission, go do it.” I don’t want to give anything away, but…
VF: Sure, and it is a struggle to talk about it and not give anything away [laughs]. She’s just on point. This mission that’s she’s a part of is, time is of the essence and there is no room for dilly-dallying or explanation, because it’s one life versus thousands, and so that’s her focus.
Capone: I love your delivery, too. Just hearing you talk right now is very different. Did you sort of listen to how people in the military talk with a slightly more authoritative way and a very clear and with a specific cadence.
VF: Yeah, and every character does have a tempo, and it’s pretty staccato, to put it in musical terms. My tendency would be to stay in the spaces in between the lines, it was opportunity for me to flesh out the character and nuance it, because it wasn’t particularly possible within the lines, which are so informational and are facts. For me, the life, the breath, the scope of the character came between the lines, so much like an accordion expands. And Duncan, as a director, had to keep squeezing me and saying, “Urgency, urgency. Think about urgency.” I said, “But you hired me for a certain thing; let me do my thing.” “Yes, do your thing, but do it quickly.” [Laughs]
So, there was just me finding nuance, but also finding the rhythm of the character, which is to be a whip cracker and to really keep him on point and prevent him from dilly-dallying and prevent him from getting personal and to operate from a cerebral position, and then her heart opens as the film progresses, and she comes from a different perspective. She is in a position of authority, and that does dictate rhythm.
Capone: You're like the only one on that end of the equation with a soul by the end of the film. I loved that Jeffrey Wright was doing this Nutty Professor thing with the cane, and you got to have a front-row seat to what he was up to. What was that like from your perspective?
VF: Magical. Yeah, absolutely, and that was not on the written page, that’s what Jeffrey Wright brings. That’s him fleshing out the character, but that erraticism of not knowing where he’s coming from then in turn puts my character on guard. Already, just by having a male boss in a mostly male profession, there’s already gender dynamics inherent in there, but that that added bizarro energy that he layered his character with and also gave me a lot to work with in turn. [Laughs] I had a crazy boss, a crazy situation. I’ve got to keep cool. I’ve got to keep on track.
Capone: I was jokingly going to ask you, “Have you ever even met Jake before yesterday?”
VF: “At random parties.” [laughs]
Capone: Was he there at all? Did he pop in just to see what you were shooting?
VF: We had a rehearsal, and for some reason, it didn’t occur to me--and I don’t know why, although it’s apparent--I just assumed we would be there for each other. But they are operating from two different physical places, so he wasn’t, and it was a challenge, but the rehearsal that we had was useful for a week and a half, and he showed up a couple of days, and they amplified his voice through a speaker.
Capone: Oh, so you could hear his voice.
VF: A couple times. Other times it was the script supervisor who was reading his lines, but then I also lucked out. He shot his pod first, so Duncan could show me his scenes, which he read with a script supervisor, because I was unavailable and Duncan showed me what he did, so that I could keep that in mind, reacting to that.
Capone: Right, so you had an advantage. Jake mentioned to me yesterday that Duncan didn’t want him to see you or to see anyone he was talking to. He said he had to know both sides of the conversation. He also mentioned that Duncan mapped out the character paths of every passenger on the train for each new source code. Did you get to benefit at all from Duncan's storyboards that I hear so much about?
VF: I’ll tell you when it was most useful, the moment my character grasps and opens…
Capone: Oh. Yes.
VF: The big revelatory thing at the end! [laughs]
Capone: Yes.
VF: The last image, the last profound image was extremely useful to me to see storyboarded, because that really was such a specific thing that my brain for some reason was not savvy enough to visualize, the brutality of whom I’m actually dealing with.
Capone: You’re talking about before you actually shot that moment?
VF: Before I shot yeah, I mean my mind’s eye couldn't quite imagine it.
Capone: Because it was there when you actually did it, right? There was something there?
VF: Yeah, but before we actually started shooting… I mean I would of seen it on the day, and in fact maybe it would have been an awesome surprise to see it, but…
Capone: But your character would have seen it before then?
VF: Yeah, but it would have been wild anyway. To think of it, I mean to say it was incredible helpful, but it could have been more helpful not to see it. [Laughs] It was brilliant artistry.
Capone: I don’t know. You might not have been able to hold back the shock. It might have wrecked a take. Going back to the idea of just you speaking into the camera, is that a tough thing to do?
VF: Yeah, particularly for me. Well, I don’t know if it’s me. Just in general as actors, we don’t break the fourth wall, we don’t. I mean in theater I guess you can. We ignore the camera, that’s what we do as actors, pretend it’s not there, and I’m very self-conscious anyway. I know even still photography, I always opt to find a focal point away from the barrel of the lens, and it’s very difficult for me to confront it. I’m not sure why, but for self-conscious reasons. So, I had to find a way to embrace that knowing even though your face was going to be magnified a hundred fold, and I’m sure skewed in the way it is on iChat or any computer camera, so it was tough. The way I tried to handle that was… If I remember correctly--and I’ll have to look back to gauge--at certain times, I tried actually acting with my reflection in the camera and I had to stop, because I think it felt like it was…
Capone: Making you cross-eyed?
VF: [Laughs] Exactly. But it’s challenging.
Capone: I was thinking, you had worked with Sam Rockwell, and he worked with Duncan on MOON. Did any of those connections have anything to do with you taking this role?
VF: First thing I did, I called Sam after… I hadn’t seen MOON when I read the script, and the film was sent to me, and I watched it about eight times and recommended it to everybody.
Capone: I don’t know an actor that saw it that doesn’t think it’s one of the greatest things they've ever seen.
VF: Yeah, and I think Sam Rockwell was shafted at awards season.
Capone: God yes.
VF: He's a good friend, and I love working with him, so I called him up and said, “What do you know of this Duncan Jones?” And he said, "Work with him!"
Capone: When we spoke before, you mentioned to me that your only criteria for selecting a role is whether it deeply affects you in some way, and I’ve got to assume you meant when you read the script.
VF: Most times it’s a role, and some times it’s the story, and the best time is when it’s both. With this one I was really genuinely compelled by the energy that it left me with, especially now as a mom. I have a four month old and a two year old and a happy marriage and I just left on the note of a healthy reminder to cherish what you do have and to enjoy it and to treasure it. Treasure everything you hold dear in life and be present. That is the message of the film, and thematically I think that’s what spoke to be about this piece.
Capone: I noticed HENRY’S CRIME is now making its way to theaters, what else do you have coming up?
VF: HIGHER GROUND, which I directed. Yes, it was at Sundance. It got a lot of attention at Sundance, and Sony Pictures Classics picked it up for a fairly wide release, and it’s coming out in August and, yeah, look out for it. I’m very proud of it. I star in it as well. It took me by surprise, directing, but it happened.
Capone: Oh, if I would have remembered that you directed it too, I would have asked you more about your experience directing.
VF: I’m sure we will bump into each other, and we can talk about it next time.
Capone: I hope so. It was great to finally meet you in person.
VF: Thank you, you too.
-- Capone capone@aintitcool.com
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