I’m
a very lucky guy. Seriously…
it’s a beautiful night as I write this, and I just got to sit with
two of the loveliest women I’ve meet here in
Hollywood
. Olivia Wilde and Beau
Garrett both star in the new Fox Atomic flick TURISTAS
about vacationing gone bad in
Brazil
. And there I was sitting at a
table with the two of them. Ms.
Wilde had appeared in THE O.C. and in the upcoming ALPHA DOG; and
Beau Garrett, a former GUESS! Model will soon be seen in THE
FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER.
The
place, the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in
Beverly Hills
; the subject TURISTAS, and the ladies looked beautiful.
And aside from that, they didn’t come across like the divas
they could be. They had much
too say about what a beautiful place
Brazil
was and the respect they gained working there for everyone who works
to create a movie. There was
even some nice horror talk and what kind of movies they love to get
scared too. Like I said…
I’m a very lucky guy.
| Olivia Wilde | Beau Garrett |
So
have you seen the movie yet?
Olivia Wilde and Beau Garrett: Yeah.
How
was it, just as girls being involved with this?
OW:
Well, I think because it was written well with the girls
being very powerful, overcoming all their obstacles and not running
around in a wet T-shirt walking into the attic with a butcher knife,
it wasn’t that type of film. They
were smart and they were well written and we had a good captain.
The director, John Stockwell was someone we could trust,
being in vulnerable wardrobe, being in a little bit of precarious
situations without many clothes on, he was someone we could trust
and he’d take care of us. So
I think when you’ve got someone you can trust and good material
then you can feel comfortable.
BG:
And being out of Los Angeles as well, being out of this kind
of idea of what body image is, it was really nice to be in another
country and the movie was so much about just surviving that you
didn’t think too much about your body image, I mean, you did as
woman, we all do but it wasn’t about that.
There were moments it was like, I don’t want to put this on
again, I really don’t. Like,
I’d rather die.
OW:
And in Brazil, their so perfect that it almost makes you
feel…
BG:
And the food! Oh
my God, I feel like… when my body cast came in to Brazil, it was
how I was before the film and I’m like… really… [Laughter]
awesome… Okay, I know what I’m doing when I get home.
But that’s how it is, you know.
What
were some of the more beautiful images of Brazil and memorable
situations that you were in?
OW:
So many… Oh, this is something that we’re very serious
about. We want people to
go to Brazil, we loved it, and we loved the people.
People should go there instantly and they should spend lots
of money there. And they
should… I really think they should embrace it and not be deterred
by the film. It’s a
cautionary tale, not about going to Brazil, but about traveling
without any sort of research, without any sort of awareness about
where you’re from and what country you represent and what, maybe
the political climate that you’re not aware of .
That’s what it’s telling you to be cautious about and I
think that Brazil was just, even more beautiful than we imagined.
BG:
Those mornings when we’d wake up and go to set and you’d
see the sunrise and you’d be in the car just watching it and all
of us would be quiet with like our IPods, whatever and no matter
what we’d watch this, it’s just like God would come out and
would like, shine. And
we’d go to this beach and do this scene and you’re on this beach
which is beautiful and you’re in a bathing suit all day.
But it’s just so surreal, the people are amazing and the
crew was amazing, they embraced us, like, no one was put on a
pedestal, everyone was the same and it just felt so… it was a
camaraderie, it was a family.
OW:
There was, I’d always heard about the beaches of Brazil and
the women of Brazil but I’d never heard about these extraordinary
underwater caves in Bahia, which is very different from the other
parts of Brazil. Bahia
is much more African feeling; you feel more of the Portuguese
influence in the architecture and even in the people themselves.
They look different than the people in Sao Paulo and Rio who
look very European. So
it was extraordinary to see that part of Brazil which I’d never
imagined.
And
I think the audience members will be surprised when they see all
that cave stuff because it’s not like something you’re really
familiar with as an image of Brazil.
Those caves are… its all real; all we did was stick a light
under water. It’s
really that color, it’s really that clear.
They were a mile deep and then you’d find the pool of water
and then you’d go another mile down and it would be like Atlantis
underwater; this extraordinary kind of series of tunnels and
archways and it was just the most unbelievable thing I’d ever seen
and I think, that alone is a reason to get down there this year.
Cold
or warm?
OW:
It wasn’t cold and it wasn’t warm.
The longer you spend in it, the colder it gets.
We were there in their winter so a lot of the stuff that we
had to pretend was really warm was actually kind of cold.
There was a waterfall we shot in for awhile, it was pretty
freezing.
BG:
The water itself was like… jump in and [it was] like ice.
OW:
But it was because of the amazing locations the film turned
out the way it did. I
think that Brazil itself is a whole character in the movie and if we
had tried to shoot that here in a tank…
BG:
No way.
OW:
It would have been a disaster.
And I just hope that people know that, that all the
underwater swimming stuff is real and there’s no Styrofoam built
cave or anything like that in a pool.
It’s really there, and I think that’s why the reactions
were so realistic and I think the acting turned out well in the film
is because all we had to really do was react to our surroundings.
And react to each other because it was cast so well that the
dynamic was kind of laid out for us and the way that John Stockwell
orchestrates his films is he puts you into the situation to
stimulate the situation of the characters.
So for instance, we were all living kind of in isolation in
this eco-lodge in the middle of nowhere and we depended on each
other in order to do anything.
BG:
It was ridiculous.
OW:
If you wanted to go to dinner, you had to get a band of
actors together and find a van to take you there and he totally did
it on purpose because then when we were on set you had the sense
that these people were people who needed each other, who only had
each other, who weren’t aware… couldn’t understand anybody
else and they only had the group and that comes across on screen.
And I think that also wouldn’t have worked if we had shot
it here. Or if we had
lived in different apartments all over Rio or something, we had to
really get to know each other in that very intense isolated way.
— click to enlarge…trust me!! —
Were
you good swimmers before taking this film?
OW:
I’ve always been a swimmer, it’s always been my sport
so… that helped me out. Josh
[Duhamel] and I really got better as the time went on and by the end
we were so impressed by how long we could hold our breath and we
really took pride that we could do some of the stuff that the stunt
doubles laid on us. It
was something that I’m really glad we did.
Water always appears in a John Stockwell movie so I knew it
was coming. But I
didn’t know it was going to be like that.
I imagined beach, I didn’t imagine fresh water caves.
But the swimming was so, so intense and Josh is an insanely
good swimmer and thank God we just started competing.
We’re very much like brother and sister, so once we
started, we just competed and tried to be better than the other
until the end.
Can
you talk about you’re role in ALPHA DOG?
OW:
Sure. I play
Angela Holden and it’s not the real names, we had to change the
names, for obvious reasons. But
I play the girlfriend of the character based on Jesse James
Hollywood, who in the film is named Johnny Truelove.
And she is, like the other characters in the film, grew up in
a very safe, white, suburban, California town and got involved with
all of this, mess of violence and drugs without really ever
understanding what it’s like to live in a “gangster” type of
community.
So
this movie is about these kids who go to the best schools and have
the safest communities and still end up being very twisted and very
violent. She is an
example of that because even though she lived in this very
cookie-cutter suburban home she’s completely out of control and
wild and completely unsympathetic I have to say to the situation
that happens in the movie. There
all completely lost, completely screwed as far as being followed by
the FBI. And I don’t
want to give anything away but she’s not very helpful in the end.
But it was a very different role than Bea in TURISTAS;
probably the other end of the spectrum.
I’m
sure you’ve seen you’re share of horror films so what was it
about this one?
OW:
Because it wasn’t exactly a horror, it was a… it was an
adventure that these… I’ve always loved to travel, I’ve
traveled since I was young and always usually alone, my parents were
at home and I ventured and to experience this… Brazil as someone
that… not that I would be that kind of tourist, that kind of loud
and it’s my world, who cares about everyone else.
And to experience this and it wasn’t really a horror to me,
it was a thriller. Watching
these people travel and be on this adventure with them and how it
turns and surviving you know. I
knew it was going to be a survival like, kind of film.
I knew it was gonna be a guerilla film, I knew it was gonna
be John pushing us to our limits because I’ve worked with him
before and so I loved being able to really push myself.
And I loved being in the jungle, barefoot, in a bikini, cold,
wet, tired, and seeing how far I could go.
BG:
It’s definitely not… I really, really try not to call it
a horror film. I call it
a horrific thriller.
OW:
Yes.
BG:
Because it’s got the horror elements that I think fans of
films like HOSTEL and SAW will really enjoy but it’s also very
much a thriller in that it’s about survival and there’s a lot of
action and a lot of kind of slow build up which I think is different
than a lot of those films. I’ve
always been a huge fan of horror films but I’m a big fan of
old-school horror films…
What
are some of your favorites?
OW
and GB: THE SHINING.
GB:
I love THE SHINING. I
think THE SHINING is still the scariest movie I’ve ever seen.
OW:
Absolutely.
GB:
And it’s more about what you don’t see than what you do
see. And what’s the
worst thing that you could possibly imagine.
I like the original TEXAS CHAINSAW [MASSACRE], which is, you
know, not so much blood and guts.
It’s more about what you can imagine.
There’s
no blood in the original.
GB:
Yeah, there’s no blood.
OW:
Exactly. Now
it’s about blood and guts.
Yeah,
exactly.
OW:
Now it’s about, how gory can you get; I love that were not,
I mean, we do have that element but were not about that, it’s not
about let’s see how much blood, it’s can we spook you here, can
we spook you here…
GB:
Well, those films psychologically, it’s all about making
you think, okay now you’re in this situation, what’s the worst
thing that could possibly happen and what would you do.
OW:
Because, what would you do?
If you had everything taken from you, what would you do?
What
comforts of home did you miss the most?
OW:
My dog, my family. There
weren’t any comforts; like I missed running.
At the beach at our hotel, you had to hit it at the right
time to cross the river, to get to the beach.
Otherwise you’d have to cross it yourself and swim.
Because there was a little boat and a guy that ran the boat
and after it got dark, he’d leave.
And so you’d have to swim and it was really kind of weird
and scary. So I
wouldn’t run. I missed
that and I missed my dog who is like my kid and my family.
No comforts though, I was fine without all the hoopla.
What
about you?
BG:
I’ve never really felt homesick, my parents are both
investigative journalists and everyone in my family’s been
constantly traveling. I
never really have felt that, I guess I’m lucky.
But I think that I immediately felt like I was with my family
with these actors.
How
much with what’s going on in the world right now, we see a lot
more movies like this; did you feel that political climate while
making the film?
OW:
In Brazil?
Yeah.
OW:
I definitely felt that because of the nature of South America
which is becoming slowly, slowly more revolutionary.
And more Socialist as these different elections are going on
and I think that Brazil is one of them, they have a very strong
stance about Americans coming into their country and what they have
to pay and the visa that they need, that no one else needs.
And they say that because, hey, you make us do this coming in
to your country, you’re going to do it coming into ours and their
very strong about that; and so I’ve always respected that about
Brazil.
I
think also, on-set there was the difference in hierarchy between
American filmmaking and Brazilian is that here the actors are on a
higher pedestal with the director and the crew is at the bottom.
There, the director is at the top leading the ship but the
actors are at the bottom with the crew and that was an entirely
different way of shooting a movie.
Not only do we not have trailers, which is unnecessary, but
it was the type of things you expect when you’re freezing cold in
a bikini, maybe hog-tied in a dog kennel, you kind of wait there
expecting someone to bring you a hot towel.
BG:
Tea or anything.
OW:
Oh wait no… I’m totally spoiled by the American Film
Industry. And I’ll get
myself my towel. And
they were very serious about that and they would say things like,
“Hey, why does she get that?”
The cameraman would say, “If she gets that, I get that.”
And that was the revolutionary spirit; I felt it kind of brewing
there. They definitely
had that spirit and I have a lot of respect for it and I…
BG:
And we had to listen. You
know, we’re on their level and we had to listen to them, “Okay.
You’re the crew. Alright…”
They call the shots.
OW:
I think it was good for all of us.
I went to my next job…
BG:
With a little more respect… Respect for everyone.
So
there were no divas on the set then?
BG
and OW: You couldn’t
be a diva.
OW:
I couldn’t even imagine… if someone tried… you
wouldn’t go very far.
BG:
Honestly, the crew would just be like… “Well, were not
gonna shoot then. We’ll
walk.” And were like,
okay… great.
OW:
They actually wouldn’t work…
BG:
No OT. No
overtime.
OW:
No more than twelve hours a day.
Which is cool, it’s kind of like France saying thirty-five
hour work week, that’s it. It’s
really a beautiful way to live your life.
I think that the main difference between America and Brazil
is that in America we work really, really, really hard and we
don’t live very much. Whereas
there it’s all about living, so there was defiantly that sense of,
you can’t buy us out. We
need this time to spend living and we’ll work twice as hard during
those twelve hours. And
that’s true, you never saw anyone milling around.
BG:
And these guys would literally carry these huge cameras up
steep hills, it was like, muddy and they carried everything by
themselves. It’s like,
oh my God, there’s no transpo.
We were in the middle of a jungle, its guerilla.
OW:
It’s a great way to shoot a movie.
Beau,
what’s you’re role in THE FANTASTIC
FOUR?
BG:
I play Frankie Raye, she’s a military brat.
Grew up in the military, she works under General Hager whose
played by Andre Braugher, this incredible actor and we come in to
collaborate with the fantastic four to stop these events from
happening that put the world at stake.
And it’s our trying to save the world and then she becomes
a super hero, so I’ve been told.
It doesn’t happen in the film I’m shooting but… the
character in the comics, she throws fire I think.
Somehow, human torch and her are actually related, there’s
something with their father… I don’t know if you’re aware of
the comics but I’m not so aware, it’s just what I’ve learned
through people on set that are huge comic fans, and she does have a
fire power, she throws flames.
Let
me know what you think. Send
questions and comments to jimmyo@joblo.com.