Aaron Eckhart Interview Wander

Aaron Eckhart Interview: Wander

We interview Wander star Aaron Eckhart about his approach to playing his character, the intriguing detective story at its core, and more.

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Aaron Eckhart Interview Wander

The lines between investigation and obsession may blur in Wander, but the search for truth is never wrong. Aaron Eckhart plays a PI haunted by his daughter’s death in the thriller, which will be out in theaters and on digital December 4. But in the little town of Wander, he soon finds himself embroiled in a conspiracy that connects his current investigation to the source of his tragedy.

Eckhart spoke to Screen Rant about how he delved into the character of Arthur, how he collaborated with director April Mullen, and what it was like to share such a complicated onscreen bond with costar Tommy Lee Jones.

This character is more desperate and darker than a lot of other characters you’ve played before. How did you shape Arthur in your performance?

Aaron Eckhart: I just started from the script. First of all, I really liked the script and the journey that the character takes. He’s a guy that’s dealing with the death of his daughter, and his wife is a vegetable in the hospital. The guilt that comes with that and the grief means he’s ostracized himself to the dese. He has very few friends, none of whom he can trust. And also, he believes that there’s greater forces at work, and that’s a great template to start from. He’s got a limp, physically, and he’s been beaten down like a dog. All these things feel like, “That’s me. That’s who I want to play.” I remember reading the script and going, “I am playing this guy.”

In terms of playing him, April did the greatest thing a director could ever do to an actor. She got everybody together at the beginning of the movie and did a tribal ritual. She had a chief from the local Native American tribe come out, and we did a dance and said a prayer at the beginning of the movie. Then April gave a speech and, totally unknown to me, she looked at me and she said to the crew, “Nobody talks to that guy. Nobody.” I said, “Thank you, April. Thank you.” I said thank you in my heart, because I wanted to go to that place where you think it went.

It’s incredible how much you transform. I almost forgot I was watching you, and I just saw the character of Arthur.

Aaron Eckhart: In order to do that, you have to stay in the character and stay close and keep all those emotions bubbling at all times. It behooves an actor, I think, to disconnect from the daily grind of what’s happening. April just banished me; she got a house for me out in the middle of the desert, and that’s where I went. I didn’t have a driver or anything, I just did it all myself. I just did my job, and being out there in hot New Mexico with those beautiful thunderous clouds and the trains that are just coming from nowhere and going into the distance, it was just Arthur’s mind. I could play within the character.

Because it’s an independent movie, I could also experiment. There was one time, right by that little gas station thing where we were filming, the trains were coming. I said, “April, let’s go.” We took the crew, and when a train came by, we just had Arthur howling at the moon and howling at the train. Just going crazy at the train with his eyes and all this, and that’s how you find Arthur. That’s who Arthur is. April allowed all that to happen, which was just beautiful. She loves the movie, she loves Arthur the character, and she loves actors. And I’ll always be grateful to her for that.

Arthur’s journey is a classic case of investigation turning into obsession. Clearly, his daughter is a tipping point, but it feels like there’s something more there. What’s haunting Arthur initially?

Aaron Eckhart: He’s in grief for his daughter and his wife; he feels responsible for that. But we’ve all been given instincts in this life, that’s a natural part of who we are. His instincts are screaming at him, “This was not natural. That car that hit my car was not a natural incident. It was coerced, it was manipulated, it was planned,” but he can’t prove it.

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So, here you have the death of his daughter. His wife is terminally ill in a hospital that he can’t afford, and the only question going through his mind in his whole life out there in the trailer in the desert is, “Who did this? I know somebody did this to me. Who took away my life?” And that’s what Arthur’s fighting. And he’s right. People call him a conspiracy theorist, and he’s paranoid and he’s crazy, but at the end of the day the guy’s right.

The thing I like about Arthur is he stands up to it. He doesn’t care about all the the names that he’s being called. He’s right, and the thing about it is he trusted his instincts, How often during the day do we get an inspiration or an inkling to do something, and we dismiss it? We don’t go down that road, or we don’t say this to that person. A lot of times, we’re right when we trust ourselves and we trust our instincts. There’s nothing truer than your instincts, but we’re talked out of them. Maybe it took Arthur going that low in order to trust his instincts.

Tommy Lee’s character, Jimmy, is there with them. They do a radio show together, and it’s about conspiracy theories. Turns out they’re not theories; it’s true. They’re planting nanotechnology in people to control them. Arthur was going after the truth, and what happens when you go after the truth? Somebody’s gonna get killed. That’s true today as it is in the movies. Movies reflect society, and vice versa. I’m not gonna get too conspiratorial in here, but there are instances in our daily lives where people come out with particular truths that are threatening power and money. And those people disappear. That’s just a plain old fact, and you can call it what you want.

But if you have the guts to go investigate it, and put everything else on hold – your family, your money, your cars, your internet, everything – to pursue that line of questioning, your whole life will change. And you’ll come to truth. Many people have today, and their houses get destroyed, their cars; they’re threatened, and their kids are threatened, etc, etc. That’s what this movie is about, and that’s what attracted me to this character.

Another intriguing part about the detective story is that the lead is such an unreliable narrator. How fun was having that space to play around with as an actor?

Aaron Eckhart: It’s fun, because nothing’s ever solid. Think about walking on a waterbed: you’ve got no solid ground beneath your feet. Everything that you come in contact with, whether it’s your friend Jimmy or it’s Heather dating the FBI guy that’s gonna screw you. Nothing’s true, so you could never reliably hold on to anything. The only thing that Arthur has to hold on to is his wife, and she can’t even respond.

I imagine going through your day, when your instincts are screaming at you that this is the truth, and this is what happened. And yet you can hold on to nothing. To me, that’s the definition of hell. And that’s what makes this a fun movie for the audience to watch. The fact that Jimmy’s screwing Arthur in the end, and he’s so cold-blooded about it. He doesn’t even feel any remorse. I mean, he’s a psychopath. But there are psychopaths in this world who absolutely have no feeling whatsoever for anybody but themselves, and that’s who Jimmy is.

One of the most interesting characters in this film is the town Wander itself. Can you talk to me about the city and how it plays into the story?

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Aaron Eckhart: Well, originally they wanted to do this movie in Toronto. I said, “There is no way we’re doing this movie in Toronto.” Look at the sky, look at the roads that disappear into nowhere, look at the cactus. Look at the buildings and the people. This whole movies about New Mexico; New Mexico is the star of this movie, and how it works on you, and the mystery of it and the history of it. The Native Americans, the rituals that go along with it. Also the corruption, and the old ways. People can go into New Mexico to go crazy and never be seen again. Pick anywhere, but if you’re out there and you’re left on your own, the geography will work on you.

I can remember doing scenes in the middle of the street, sun beating down. And that was it; I went nuts. It’s a very fragile and vulnerable state you’re in, and that’s what the elements of New Mexico do to you. So, it paid off that we went there.

Can you speak to Arthur’s quest for justice, and that aspect of his journey?

Aaron Eckhart: What’s more important than truth, and the fact that nobody is giving you truth? You can’t trust anybody. If justice is not sure, then life has no meaning. If somebody can take away life and walk free, then life is not worth living. If they could take your daughter, and then to find out what they took your daughter’s life for – money, greed, control, these these narcissistic psychopathic tendencies that people have. The only thing that man has is justice. That’s why law and order is so important.

If you cannot rely on law and order, then life in a sense is meaningless, because you’re not free. You can’t trust anything, everybody’s against you. You can’t have a conversation with somebody where all your walls are down and you have nothing to fear. Without justice, you’re in Code Red all the time. Everybody’s a threat, and that’s no way to live your life.

The great thing about justice is that it’s an everyman tool. Everybody can get justice, in the sense that you don’t need a badge for justice. There are different ways. I’m not saying violence, but if you can expose truth then you can get justice, and then karma will take over. Karma, or whatever word you want to use. The quest for justice is a noble one, and maybe you have to go crazy to get it.

The relationship between Arthur and Jimmy is at the core of the film, with each character’s unexpected actions really driving the tension. Can you talk to me a little bit about the collaboration process between you and Tommy Lee Jones?

Aaron Eckhart: First, Tommy is a world class actor. He’s an icon, and I’ve been a fan of his for years. Actually, it’s my second movie that Tommy and I’ve been in. The other one was The Missing with Ron Howard.

Tommy’s a pro, and he knows what he’s doing. Sliding into this was effortless in that sense. Tommy immediately puts on the Hawaiian shirt, puts on the yellow glasses, and boom. There’s no more Tommy; there’s Jimmy.

I remember a time when Tommy was choosing what glasses to wear. He put these yellow glasses on, and I said, “Tommy, that’s it. You’re wearing those glasses.” He was like, “You think?” Absolutely. And you know what? It was a great choice. He just slid right into that, and it was effortless the whole time. Because with a guy like Tommy, you don’t have to worry about anything but listening to him. That’s your job; to listen and to react to him. You don’t have to worry about him showing up, or any of that other off-camera crap. Because he’s such a pro. That’s what he did, and we had a great time doing it.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/wander-movie-aaron-eckhart-interview/

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