The name Nicholas Sparks can strike fear in the hearts of male movie goers. The novelist’s brand of romance is unapologetic, unbridled and guaranteed to generate many a tear. Admittedly, most of the films made from his books are not very good, but a few—THE NOTEBOOK and DEAR JOHN, specifically—manage to bring true adult romance and drama to the screen in a way that both sexes can appreciate. They land on the big screen about once a year, and 2016’s entry is already upon us, THE CHOICE, which tells the story of Travis (Benjamin Walker) and Gabby (Australian-born Teresa Palmer) as new neighbors with very different lives who find a kind of comfort in each other’s company that becomes full-blown love before too long.
After smaller roles in films like FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS and THE NOTORIOUS BETTIE PAGE, Walker is probably best known for his lead turn in ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER. Most recently, he was seen in Ron Howard’s IN THE HEART OF THE SEA as the captain of the put-upon whaler captain. Palmer has been in such works as WARM BODIES, THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE, and I AM NUMBER FOUR, and has a slew of upcoming films, including the soon-to-be-released KNIGHT OF CUPS and TRIPLE 9. I’ve interviewed both of them in years past, but they have such a great rapport together that they brings out a great deal of depth and emotional honestly to the conversation. They were a great deal of fun to talk with, so please enjoy Benjamin Walker and Teresa Palmer…
Capone: Hello everyone.
Teresa Palmer: Hi. Have we met before?
Capone: We spoke when you were here for WARM BODIES.
TP: Oh right. I’m good with faces, but terrible with names.
Capone: Ben, we first met down in Springfield at the Lincoln Museum during that weird overnight junket.
TP: That sounds cool.
Benjamin Walker: Yeah, I got to go in the Lincoln vault. I kept going, “You know there are vampires in this movie, right?
Capone: They embraced it.
BW: They loved it!
Capone: And congratulations on your wedding [at the end of 2015, Walker married actress Kaya Scodelario, best known from the MAZE RUNNER films].
BW: Thanks!
Capone: I’ve never had a chance to ask actors this questions because they almost never bring actors here with Nicholas Sparks films…
BW: Who do they bring through?
Capone: They’ve brought him before. Is doing one of his films a career goal for a lot of actors? I’m actually surprised at some of the actors his films attract sometimes.
TP: Ben has always wanted to meet Channing Tatum.
Capone: And he was in one of the best ones [DEAR JOHN].
BW: That’s true. It was a good one.
Capone: Were you looking to do one, or was it the fact that it’s an adult love story, which we don’t really see on screen that often? And what are different about his stories?
TP: There’s a human quality to them. They’re not so black and white. The way our characters fall in love is really messy. It’s complicated and scary and confusing, and I think that’s why he’s managed to tap into such a wide fan base. They’re such human characters that we can all relate to them—we’ve either been in a similar position, or we know someone who’s like the characters. I know I’ve certainly known a bunch of Travises; I’m pretty sure I’ve dated a few of them. What would you say?
BW: This one is unique in the sense that, it’s the first time they’re going outside the studio system. They’ve hired a director like Ross Katz, who’s willing to stay within the structure of Nicholas Sparks but try to use that as a way to find freedom and do something new. And one of the most brilliant things he did was cast Teresa. The fact that we could play together…because we didn’t meet until we got there. He know we’d have chemistry and have fun together.
TP: That’s a talented director.
BW: Teresa always says these movies live or die by chemistry, and so far this one is alive, and that has a lot to do with Ross.
Capone: Did he do a chemistry test with you two?
BW: No. We had a camera test. “We’re checking out the clothes you’re wearing.”
TP: It was more like “Hey, nice to meet you. We’re supposed to fall in love in this film? Alright, cool.” We were throw in the deep end, and it was actually beautiful. And I think, for us, it worked because we made each other laugh so much, and we still do during all of these interviews. We’ve been having so much fun reconnecting, and we have this great banter, and you can feel that in the movie.
Capone: A lot of his stories take place in these smaller town, often seaside places. Is there something uniquely American about the way he tells his stories. It’s often not just about the two people; it’s about the whole community, extended family around those people. He digs into the sense of place in his stories.
TP: I remember growing up watching American movies. There was this one in particular called NOW AND THEN, and it was my favorite movie as a kid. And seeing neighborhoods like that, and people riding around on their bikes, it felt so American. I remember being young and thinking, “I want to live in that world.” I think Nicholas Sparks captures that too. I’m sure all of my Australian friends are going to freak out at the place where this is set. It feels otherworldly, but at the same time, it’s quintessentially American—the beach side, small town intimacy. It’s really easy to fall in love in a place like that.
Capone: One of the funniest things about this love story is that both of your characters have jobs, and we actually see them at work; it’s a part of who they are and not just a character description. Why do you think that’s important?
BW: They’re human beings, and it’s a part of how they see their futures shaping up, what they do on a daily basis. It makes them specific and relatable, in the sense that, when you fall in love with someone, you have to shift some stuff around.
TP: I love that, in the morning [after the first sleep together], we don’t just spend weeks and weeks together. He’s like, “I have to get up and go to work. I’m sorry.” And later on in the film, in the third part of it, Nicholas Sparks does something so wonderful that I don’t think we’ve seen in a lot of movies before—including his other films. It’s easy to fall in love, but once you’re in love, how do you keep that Spark alive? How do you keep that interest? When do you make those decisions where you have to show up for each other?
Life just happens to you, and it’s this self-imposed busyness, and we’ve got other people to hang out with, our jobs, kids, and stuff to do, and it means that sometimes we become disconnected from that process. And he really explores that process, and I love that because I’m a married woman [Palmer is related to actor/writer/director Mark Webber], and I could relate to it. The beginning of the relationship, the honeymoon, I’ve got kids, I’ve got a step-kid, we’ve got schedules and travel and work, and I’m like, “Wait, where’s the romance? How do we keep that going?”
Capone: It’s strange to see them years after the “Happily ever after…” moment. And because it’s a Nicholas Sparks story, we know something bad it going to happen.
BW: I guess I didn’t know that, but it’s really true. Everybody keeps saying, “It’s going to end bad.”
Capone: But I do like that in this story, there are no villains. Even the guy you want to dislike, turns out to be your friend. Other than fate, there are no bad guys. This is about good people…
BW: …trying to be good people.
TP: And most people I know are like that. They aren’t all amazingly good or bad.
BW: There are only a handful of truly evil people through history who actually count. People are just people, and sometimes they make bad decisions but more often they make a better-than-bad decision.
TP: I hope that this film lets people eradicate the judgement that we place on other people. All the judgement causes separatism, and I love that people are going to fall in love with Gabby and Travis—they’re going to fall in love with these characters. Yet in society, if you hear that so and so cheated on their boyfriend and run off with someone else, there’s so much judgement placed on that. So I really hope that people will take something away from the film, even if it’s just “Let’s be easier on each other.”
Capone: I didn’t realize that Ross directed this when I saw it, and I had just met him last year talking about his last film ADULT BEGINNERS. I know he encourages a certain amount of improv. Did he do that with this film as well? On that one, it was more for laughs, but in this case, he might do it to let these people’s goodness come out.
BW: Very much so, and we had this metaphor for it. It’s like he builds a playground for you, and on the playground he’ll say, “Today, guys, you’re going to be on the slide. You can do whatever you want as long as you stay on the slide.” And within that structure, you find this freedom together, and you don’t have to think about those other things. Then he can really help you: “Oh god, when you guys went down the slide together, that was awesome. Do that again.” But you really do have this sense of play, and we could bring our natural chemistry to it.
TP: He trusted us.
BW: Sucka! [everybody laughs]
TP: He cast us and said “Go!” And I love a director who says that, because you have a lot of liberty as an actor, and you can try things. Sometimes it doesn’t work, and that’s okay. But you feel that encouragement from your director. You can get these real moments and organic pieces and unscripted stuff thrown in. Sometimes, those are the best moments of a scene.
Capone: It felt like a lot of the banter when you first meet was made up on the spot.
TP: Yeah.
Capone: I have to ask about working with Tom Wilkinson. When you’re put in a scene with someone of his caliber and experience, what do you pick up from him about acting and being a person?
BW: He’s efficient, in that he’s a person outside of his work. He wants to go home, and that’s really nice. I feel like a lot of actors can get caught up in acting and neglect who they are as people. One day, he worked for like 30 seconds and was like “I just made $30,000 and I’m outta here!” [laughs] “I’m going home to call my wife.” I find that so endearing and so important, and it’s a part of why he’s good, because he lives his life outside of his work fully. But he came out with us too. He danced and had a drink. I’m not saying he always went home. He has his values in check.
Capone: These are characters who have been in love before to some degree. There’s a healthy amount of cynicism about falling in love.
TP: I have certainly been in love a bunch of times before my husband. I’m not the person who’s like “The one true only soul mate.” I have met a soul mate in my life. But I do love that these characters have lived before, loved before, have experiences before each other. The majority of people I know have loved others before, and you have those experiences to drawl upon in your new love. “Ah, this is why that didn’t work out and why this is a much better fit.” I like that about them.
BW: And they’ve both experienced pain before and loss, and because of that, when they’re willing to be vulnerable with each other, it really matters. I think that’s important and is something that most people can relate to. It’s not mistake when they say, “You bother me” to each other. It is unsettling, this feeling of “I can’t live without you, but it’s also frightening.”
Capone: When you play a character that is meant to be deeply in love with someone else, and fall into it the way you’re supposed to as an actor, is it harder to leave that scenario when the job is done?
TP: For me, yes. In may experience, I’ve only ever had that on two movies before. This movie and one I did last year, because you become so invested in that individual and their life and their stories, everything. You’re with each other and know each other so well, and then all of the sudden, it’s done and you’re back into your reality and life, and you don’t see each other. And you say you’re going to catch up and you don’t really; that’s the summer camp aspect of these experiences. I had to mourn this experience for sure.
BW: Me too. And this is making it worse, talking about it. Thank you very much. [laughs]
TP: It felt like it was a breakup, this.
BW: Because the work you’re doing is so based on trusting each other, you become fast friends and deep friends very quickly. And then there’s the day where you ask, “Where’s my friend?”
TP: You think, I opened up so much of myself to this person, and now that person is on their next job, connected with someone else, and I’m on my next job. That’s the gypsy-like nature of what we do. But it can be really hard, and it depends on who you’re working with and how much you both decide to just say Yes and jump fully into this experience. I know we showed up for each other in that way. And like I said, I’ve only ever done that once before in a movie.
Capone: What was the other film?
TP: It’s called BERLIN SYNDROME. It’s a really intense thing, just the two of us, set in an apartment.
BW: Is it weird that I’m jealous of that?
Capone: Who was the other actor?
TP: Max Riemelt from “Sense8.” I know, I cheated on you.
Capone: Teresa, I should mention, I saw Mark’s film GREEN ROOM at Sundance last week. It’s so great.
TP: Apparently Mark is unrecognizable in it.
Capone: I didn’t know he was even in it, and I recognized him right away.
TP: You did? Okay. For me, I was like “What the fuck?” It’s a really good movie. So you were just at Sundance. I had a short film there. Actually, Mark’s ex-girlfriend Frankie Shaw had a short film there called TOO LEGIT, which I’m in with Zoe Kravitz.
