The best interviews are always the ones that fall outside a formal setting. Press junkets, roundtables and conference calls serve a purpose, but there just too safe and processed. Even in-depth television chats fail to capture who someone truly is a lot of the time. And this is why a modern-journalist like myself, looks forward to film festival season. Especially when they come to my neck of the woods.
Meeting accomplished actors at a film festival allows one to get a better feel for their personality. And when I yapped with Tom Berenger at the 5th annual Gasparilla International Film Festival this past weekend, the atmosphere was quite relaxing. Which probably had something to do with the private boat we were aboard, as we cruised around Tampa Bay (I know, I got a little cocky there).
Berenger and I had a few drinks and proceeded to have a conversation. Not a formal interview, where I’m the “Q” and he’s the “A.” Did we talk about “Inception?” Sure. Did I let the fan-boy in me come out regarding “Major League?” You bet. But the rest of the topics that were discussed simply revolved around what was on our minds as we progress through the film industry. Let’s just say we both took turns “steering” the conversation. So to be fair, some of the opinions expressed in the forthcoming article are concoction of both Berenger and myself.
Like I said, just a couple of guys chatting…
When he arrived on the eve before opening night of GIFF, he made himself available to a variety of people who wanted to pick his brain. Although I didn’t officially meet him until our boat ride, I did drop-in at his speaking engagement at the University of Tampa. He spoke candidly about his career and shared pertinent stories with the student body.
I noticed he was very animated and genuinely excited to pass along what he could to the students. It almost felt as if no one ever asked him about his career before and he jumped at the chance to let it out…
“Yeah, I was. Well they (media) have asked. When they do it on TV or something like that, you can almost guess what questions they’re going to be. And sometimes they fool you, which is fine. It’s great, it’s fun, it’s different. You know, they got real limited time and they have to ask certain questions.”
“A lot of times, you…I don’t know… you get these questions like, ’Who is your character?’ And I’m like why do you ask that? If that was all it was, then anyone can be a journalist. It’s interesting, sometimes you’ll meet some old timer, and they’ve actually done some research, they went through the morgue and found old stuff.”
He told a quick story on how he was doing an interview when his character was Teddy Roosevelt. And someone asked the generic, “Can you tell me about your character?” And he thought to himself, “Really? Teddy Roosevelt?” As in, you don’t know?
This topic came up, for Berenger toyed with being a journalist at one-point in his life, and still has a passion for the craft. It can surprise him that people will show up unprepared just to get the headline or story, and not have any thoughtful questions.
“It’s like hey, you got an imagination too, use it.”
But he was quick to point out, that a lot of the times, these people are just starting out, and the questions they ask are real important to them. So he is mindful of that aspect and understands that they are trying to hone their skills as an interviewer. But veteran writers beware.
After Berenger finished his thought on doing interviews, I took the wheel and decided to quickly yap about the production of Oscar-winning “Inception.” The guy has been on a lot of intense action sets, but I wondered if this was the most unique on he’s ever been a part of…
“I’ve never done anything like that before. We were all trying to listen closely to direction, and get it right and all that. We’re also like, I wonder exactly where I am in the story and stuff. And maybe there is a kind-of moody intensity, that comes out of desperateness you know. (Making an inquisitive face) I’m not sure if I turn left or right here. The wheels were constantly turning.”
Preparation has been a key attribute in his extensive career. And his abilities to be ready were tested on “Inception.” However, the methods Berenger had used over the years to prepare for all his roles, eventually put his mind at ease. This quality is one of his most admirable. When a director hires Tom Berenger for a character, the easy-going guy covers all the angles before stepping on the set. He read 26 books to properly tackle his role in the Vietnam based war movie “Platoon.” Which obviously paid off, since he was nominated for an Oscar and picked up a Golden Globe for his work in Oliver Stone’s flick. When he portrayed a cop, he hammered out 12 books.
He also took detailed notes every time so he could go back and reference his notebooks when a similar role came up. Even with all his experience in the acting world, does he still execute these methods?
“Pretty much. But the reason I kept the notebooks was so I wouldn’t have to read all those books again.”
“The other thing is, is getting out and doing it. Like riding with cops and spending 6 weeks with a detective. And I pick up stuff from them. Sometimes it’s slang, sometimes it’s mannerisms, sometimes it’s humor. It can be anything. If you’re looking, watching, listening, you can pick up some good stuff.”
Since I’m not an actor and rarely ever get to see how one studies up for a role, I posed the question of whether his approach is a lost art these days…
“I think part of it is the fact the way the business has become. Today they were talking about all these actors having all these audition scenes digitally. I’m going, damn…I never did that shit. We went into a theatre, or into an office and did a reading. But besides the actual reading or audition, there was a little bit of banter before and after. Which is something I would do as a director too.”
He feels the above mentioned banter was just as important as the reading itself, so people can gauge what is going through the actor’s head. It’s also a good idea for minor things that could have affected the audition such as if they had a headache, or maybe they’re near-sighted like James Dean and they start adlibbing (true story). Nowadays, it’s too structured and there’s no room to experiment. That last sentence was my thought and Berenger chimed in on that…
“Journalism, show-business and even politics – which is scary, really scary…Cause it affects our lives so much – Uh…”
After few second pause, we realized their might not be an answer to why things are moving in that direction and got a chuckle out of it. Which is another one of Berenger’s traits I admire, and will be discussed momentarily. With that said, he started telling an anecdote that could provide something that resembles an answer to the current topic…
“You know in the old days, when cops would whack you in the back of the head and let you go. And you’re like thank God my parents didn’t find out, or thank God I didn’t have to go to jail. Then you have to get into lawyers and paperwork. I’d rather have that than get arrested, get bailed out, have your parents look at you like a loser, pay a lawyer. But there so careful now, they don’t give breaks. There always doing it by the book. We can’t bend anymore.”
Basically, Hollywood has become a more-or-less uniformed process, and there is no deviating from the set path. Which may or may not be detrimental to the creative side of the business.
From there we went to analyzing the current film festival atmosphere. Berenger enlightened my mind with stories about the late John Cassavetes. He recently read a book (the guy loves history) about the famed actor/director/producer/writer, and learned that Cassavetes was sinking money into creating his own type of film festivals and/or distribution for his projects back then. Which is essentially what the modern filmmaker does when pushing their product through the infinite number of film fests across the world in some respects. We jumped up to more recent times referencing how Miramax made their career by pushing indie flicks.
Berenger isn’t sure where this is all heading, but he’s fascinated by how the process of the film festival and industry has evolved. He even jokes that he may not be around to see the future results. And that led me to asking him what does he say to the abundance of people that approach at these events. Some just want to meet the guy, but others are coming up to him for advice. His answer to this ties into the above mentioned statement about the other said attribute I admire about the guy…
“I never know the answer to this stuff. I just don’t know. But the honest thing is, if you don’t know something, just say so.”
“My son asked something like that once, along those lines. I said Patrick, I don’t have a patent answer, and too many people do. They have a patent answer and/or they pull something out of their ass. But is it truthful? Nah., it’s just bullshit. People feel like they have to say something.”
“If I don’t know the answer, I’ll tell you. I’m not going to bullshit you.”
A refreshing answer like that from someone of his stature is just great to hear. I’m not sure why, but after doing numerous interviews and hearing those processed or rehearsed answers enough times, receiving a bona fide real answer makes the chat worthwhile.
So most reporters/journalists are supposed to remain bias. And unless you’re a Howard Stern apprentice, you never want to piss the person off. Having said that, since Berenger and I were having a loose talk and getting along, I decided to break my rule and ask the question he really doesn’t like to answer. And for this portion of the chat, we’ll go old-school interview style…
Joe: Alright, I have to tell you man. We’re sitting here talking and all I can see is “Jake Taylor.” (his character from Major League). This is the first time that I’ve interviewed an actor and can only picture them as a character they once played. My guess is that the Taylor character closely resembles your true persona.
Berenger: You may be right, yes. Yeah, absolutely. I kind of thought that at the time. I said, ‘You know this guy is maybe a little looser than you, cause he’s a baseball player’ you know what I mean? He’s made his mistakes and is kind of casual about it. But he is sort of care-free and fun-loving. Actually, he’s a character I want to be. He’s athletic, funny. He’s a team player and everyone likes him. That kind of thing.
Joe: That seems like you to a certain extent. Even though I’ve only known you for a hot-minute.
Berenger: You’re right on. I’m usually cracking jokes and getting the crew laughing and messing with them all day long. They love it cause were on the set for 14,15, 16 hours.
Well, he didn’t toss me off the boat upon asking the vaunted question. I took that as a good sign. Plus, we were just minutes away from docking, so it would have been an easy swim for me.
So we officially wrapped this up with the question many of my friends, loyal readers and my lovely sister wanted to know when they learned I would be hanging with Tom Berenger at GIFF. Do the rumors of “Major League 4” have any merit, and would he be willing to dust off the cleats and partake in the project…
“I don’t know, somebody told me that. Then I heard Charlie Sheen talking about it.” (We started chuckling again).
“It sure was fun. Both of them were. The first one being the greatest of course. It would be fun, absolutely.”
We went into more specifics about ML 4, and let’s just say whoever champions this project, can somehow manage to conjure up the magic found in the first one…Old Jake Taylor – bad knees-n-all, would be in!
Tom (I feel I can call him that now) concluded his stay in Tampa Bay, being honored at the GIFF closing night ceremony and then attending the lavish party that followed. It was a pleasure meeting and shooting the proverbial shit with him.
By Joe Belcastro
