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Ed Harris’ Artist’s Sensibility
Ed Harris on Pollock - The Man and the Film
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| Ed Harris |
Since the late 1970s, Ed Harris has made more than 50 television and film appearances. It didn't take long for audiences to stand up and take notice. In 1983, Harris' performance as John Glenn in Philip Kaufman's The Right Stuff put him on the map of Hollywood's most talented actors. Keeping busy throughout much of the eighties and nineties, Harris won wide acclaim for his roles in such films as Places in the Heart (1984), The Abyss (1989) and Glengarry Glen Ross (1992). Though never asserting himself as strictly the leading man, Harris won even more acclaim-and two Oscar nominations-for his roles in Ron Howard's Apollo 13 (1995) and Peter Weir's The Truman Show (1998). In 2000, Ed Harris decided to try his hand at something new: producing and directing. With Pollock, Harris asserts himself as a true auteur-a man that can really do it all. Here, Harris talks about his first attempt behind the camera and the difficulties of bringing art to life.
Stephen Ashton (MM): Many moviemakers have discovered-often, after it's too late-that making a film about an artist can be difficult. What drew you to the challenge, and to Pollock in particular?
Ed Harris (EH): I think it was the dynamism of his character: a complex man who had to struggle to realize himself and to find himself. I thought his was a great story, a journey. He was a bit of an underdog, a guy who had to fight through all of these artistic influences to arrive at a place of true originality. He had a great spirit and his own way of doing things. All of these things were attractive to me. He was a fascinating character and his story was kind of a challenge to me too-I like a challenge
Buffalo Soldiers (2001) |
MM: Speaking of challenges, how difficult was it to direct your first feature and also be the centerpoint of the film as an actor?
EH: It was quite a challenge.
MM: How did you keep motivated to continue directing and starring in the film?
EH: I immersed myself in Pollock, his person and his work. The whole project grew on me: working on the script and getting into the character. I came to have a lot of empathy for the guy; not just for his art, but for the struggles he had as person.
MM: What struggles would those be?
EH: I think that, emotionally, he didn't really mature much past adolescence. I think he had a feeling of not belonging. Even in school he had a sense of not belonging, he was always kind of an outsider. I think it was part of his biological makeup too, being a "different breed." I think he was trying to live a life with openness and vulnerability, which he needed for his creative spirit.
MM: Had you tried your hand at any screenwriting before Pollock came along?
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| Pollock |
EH: No, not really. I didn't really write this one, but I worked on it a lot. [Writing credits go to Barbara Turner and Susan J. Emschwiller, based on Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith's book Jackson Pollock: An American Saga]. The original screenplay was over 250 pages long; I had to get it down to 110. The original script was trying to capture the essence of his work and times. It was complicated-it overlapped and was interwoven in time-but I wanted to make it more straightforward.
MM: What compelled you to direct the film as well, especially considering you'd never directed a film before?
EH: I had been working so hard and long on it-I was so into it. You know when you align yourself with a property really invest yourself into? The years were going by and either I was being a fool or really committed to it. I just had to do it. I decided to direct out of default, in a way. I had become so intimate with it all, with Pollock, that I really didn't want to relinquish control.
MM: And now, looking at the finished product, do you think that was a wise decision?
EH: Well, I'm pretty satisfied with the outcome.
MM: When watching the film, one can't help but be struck by how nature seemed to influence Pollock's work. Was this something you did intentionally?
EH: We just wanted to suggest that subtly. We experimented with shooting a lot of images of nature, but it felt a little too on the nose. I think it was more unconscious. He was a pretty observant guy and I think he took in things. There are stories of him looking-really penetrating objects-and getting inside them in some way. I think the Pollock had a sense of the oneness of things-no beginning, no end-and I think he had some cosmic sense.
MM: Why didn't you put some of that in the film?
EH: That's a good question. I really didn't know how to do it without some narration or a cinematic trick. I wanted to just hint at it. I wanted to keep it more subjective and personal. I thought, for the film to work at all, it would have to be his emotional journey.
MM: I was really struck by the way you 'became' Pollock, the painter-the way you danced over the canvases. It really looked like the way Pollock must have moved. How did you work on the painting part?
EH: I am intrigued by painting-a solitary act where you can see your results just as soon as you step back. I started to paint and decided that I wanted to do all of the painting in the film myself.
MM: Did you do any additional research on Pollock so that you could portray him accurately?
EH: I studied the Namuth film. In fact, his son gave me a bunch of outtakes, but you know, it is kind of like what Pollock said: 'Things come out of a need.' If you've got a big canvas, and you need to get around it, the best way to do it is the way he did it-with a little alternating dance step. And the more I painted, the more I experimented with painting in his technique.
MM: What was your favorite part about making Pollock?
EH: I loved the painting. It was the most relaxing time of the filmmaking process for me. I didn't have to worry about anything, just paint on the canvas. That was great. I felt like I was creating something at that moment, something that had some merit. Whether I was doing that or not is not the point-I just had to focus on what I was doing: painting. I didn't have to act.
MM: You've actually taken up painting since deciding to make the film, right?
EH: I did. I built a painting studio at my house, and I love it.
MM: Do you think you'll stick with it?
EH: I'd like to. I am really kind of curious as to what I would come up with after getting Pollock out of my system-I'd like to know if I have a style of my own.
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