Like I said, just a couple of guys chatting…<\/p>\n
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\u2019t 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. <\/p>\n
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…<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I was. Well they (media) have asked. When they do it on TV or something like that, you can almost guess what questions they\u2019re going to be. And sometimes they fool you, which is fine. It\u2019s great, it\u2019s fun, it\u2019s different. You know, they got real limited time and they have to ask certain questions.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of times, you\u2026I don\u2019t know\u2026 you get these questions like, \u2019Who is your character?\u2019 And I\u2019m like why do you ask that? If that was all it was, then anyone can be a journalist. It\u2019s interesting, sometimes you\u2019ll meet some old timer, and they\u2019ve actually done some research, they went through the morgue and found old stuff.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n He told a quick story on how he was doing an interview when his character was Teddy Roosevelt. And someone asked the generic, \u201cCan you tell me about your character?\u201d And he thought to himself, \u201cReally? Teddy Roosevelt?\u201d As in, you don\u2019t know? <\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s like hey, you got an imagination too, use it.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n After Berenger finished his thought on doing interviews, I took the wheel and decided to quickly yap about the production of Oscar-winning \u201cInception.\u201d<\/strong> The guy has been on a lot of intense action sets, but I wondered if this was the most unique on he\u2019s ever been a part of\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve never done anything like that before. We were all trying to listen closely to direction, and get it right and all that. We\u2019re 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\u2019m not sure if I turn left or right here. The wheels were constantly turning.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Preparation has been a key attribute in his extensive career. And his abilities to be ready were tested on \u201cInception.\u201d<\/strong> 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 \u201cPlatoon.\u201d<\/strong> Which obviously paid off, since he was nominated for an Oscar and picked up a Golden Globe for his work in Oliver Stone\u2019s flick. When he portrayed a cop, he hammered out 12 books. <\/p>\n 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?<\/p>\n \u201cPretty much. But the reason I kept the notebooks was so I wouldn\u2019t have to read all those books again.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe 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\u2019s slang, sometimes it\u2019s mannerisms, sometimes it\u2019s humor. It can be anything. If you\u2019re looking, watching, listening, you can pick up some good stuff.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Since I\u2019m 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\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cI 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\u2019m going, damn\u2026I 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.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n He feels the above mentioned banter was just as important as the reading itself, so people can gauge what is going through the actor\u2019s head. It\u2019s also a good idea for minor things that could have affected the audition such as if they had a headache, or maybe they\u2019re near-sighted like James Dean and they start adlibbing (true story). Nowadays, it\u2019s too structured and there\u2019s no room to experiment. That last sentence was my thought and Berenger chimed in on that\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cJournalism, show-business and even politics – which is scary, really scary\u2026Cause it affects our lives so much – Uh…\u201d<\/p>\n 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\u2019s 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\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cYou know in the old days, when cops would whack you in the back of the head and let you go. And you\u2019re like thank God my parents didn\u2019t find out, or thank God I didn\u2019t have to go to jail. Then you have to get into lawyers and paperwork. I\u2019d 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\u2019t give breaks. There always doing it by the book. We can\u2019t bend anymore.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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. <\/p>\n Berenger isn\u2019t sure where this is all heading, but he\u2019s 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\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cI never know the answer to this stuff. I just don\u2019t know. But the honest thing is, if you don\u2019t know something, just say so.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMy son asked something like that once, along those lines. I said Patrick, I don\u2019t 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\u2019s just bullshit. People feel like they have to say something.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf I don\u2019t know the answer, I\u2019ll tell you. I\u2019m not going to bullshit you.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n A refreshing answer like that from someone of his stature is just great to hear. I\u2019m 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. <\/p>\n So most reporters\/journalists are supposed to remain bias. And unless you\u2019re 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\u2019t like to answer. And for this portion of the chat, we\u2019ll go old-school interview style\u2026<\/p>\n Joe:<\/strong> Alright, I have to tell you man. We\u2019re sitting here talking and all I can see is \u201cJake Taylor.\u201d (his character from Major League). This is the first time that I\u2019ve 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.<\/p>\n
![\"Jake](\"http:\/\/www.shockya.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/tom_berenger_gal_major_league.jpg\" "\\"Jake")
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