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 Banner by Wes Vance |
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When first approached with appearing in THE MIST, the prolific British theater actor jumped at the possibility to carve out a role etched in Americana. As the very warm pistol carrying Ollie, the assistant manager at the supermarket central to THE MIST, Jones' first foray into the horror genre provides a central core to the film's plot: he is an ordinary man who when put in a dire situation, makes decisions that both show his abilities as a hero and also as a flawed human being. Coming off of his brilliant work playing Truman Capote in INFAMOUS, Jones has flawlessly showed the very flawed nature of the human psyche. Jones took part in a special press weekend for THE MIST and sat for a roundtable interview that the Colonel's Crypt was a part of. The following are highlights from this discussion.
Did you get into Stephen King’s work? TOBY JONES: I didn’t really. When people were getting into them, I was reading something else. I don’t know what I was reading but it wasn’t Stephen King I’m sorry to say. As an actor, when you get a script based on something like this in this horrific setting, do you consider it as just another job? TJ: There’s the job thing yes, but there was also Frank Darabont. For a British actor to work in America and to play a small town American, there’s something very flattering about someone saying you can do that. There’s enough of a challenge to understand small town America to make it interesting for me to do. There’s an acting challenge of playing horror. I’ve never done a genre picture, a horror picture, so I wanted to know what it would be like to be scared, how does one modulate a performance in that way because it requires a certain modulation otherwise you’re going to be wandering around just being in a state of consternation which is clearly what the audience does not want to see. So there are things to learn about the genre that make it very interesting. Does that include green screen or special effects? What did they have for you on set? TJ: I was really amazed by these guys cause quite apart of what they achieved in the final product, the speed and efficiency in which they work now in the process means that they don’t interrupt the acting nearly so much as I think they would’ve used if they would’ve brought in a puppet and bring it up to scale and they have to track it to where they need to be. Here they would go in with a couple of these orbs, one matte, one shiny, they take some HD photos of it, then leave. The film has such a short period between the end of production and release, I found it so fascinating the quality and efficiency of their work. It’s inspirational, the non fussiness of it all, I think it’s quite remarkable. Being that you’re a British actor playing someone from small town America, when you get into that role, is it difficult to be able to make it feel real being you are not from that environment? TJ: There are many things as an actor you try to understand the story and your function is in the story. My function is a total surprise that I have to deliver, so I try to throw people as much as I can before the surprises are revealed. It’s a practical, dramatic thing of understanding your function in the story. We were shooting in Shreveport, Louisiana and you go out and you look at how people are, who are those people on the street. You try to move like them, you try to think like them. In every role I play, my radar goes out to find material that will be useful to me. Do you think the film has more to say than just a horror story? TJ: First of all I read the book, then the script came to me. I was frustrated by the book. I think the way he sets the supermarket almost like an anti-horror location, the opposite of a horror location would be a well lit supermarket with white corridors with lots of people around and no possibility of danger. I thought that was interesting and then at the end of the story he kind of cops out and goes “And I don’t know how this ends.” I wondered what the script was going to be like and even then I didn’t know what the ending was going to be. Watching the film the other day I thought it would be remarkable if the audience came out of this movie and didn’t need to talk about it, didn’t need to go “What on Earth was that all about,” and I think Frank with King’s blessing, this ending draws attention to the genre in a way. Normally in the genre it will cushion you at the end and the thing would’ve been a popcorn ride and everything you deal with in horror films would be dealt with and you can leave and continue your life. Here, there’s a rupture that sets you back in the film on what you tolerated on a basic level. Was it inevitable that it should end that way? I don’t think it’s an allegory to suggest that everything means everything. I think it’s a response to fear and the world we live in at the moment, we’re told to be fearful twenty four hours a day and people can’t live like that, so I think about fear and the effect of what fear can do to people. Being that this is your first experience in the horror genre, did you prepare for this role differently than you would with your previous work in the theater? TJ: I don’t think so. In a strange way you mentioned theater and in an odd way being stuck on a supermarket set for six weeks with the same people day in and day out you learn things about yourself that you learn while doing theater. In horror, you could see how you can benefit from new locations. That’s why I like going on locations because you have a surge of energy. When you’re at the same location every day, it begins to wear you down. In a strange way it’s useful to the story in that you’re worn down by the place that you’re in. You’re also working with Frank who my impression of Frank when I met him was this man who’s this complete movie buff. He’s a nut for the genre and he’ll know about all the horror films, about cross referencing Stephen King books and the imagery. It’s interesting to work with someone that enthusiastic because he directs like a movie fan. When you’ve done a take it’s like he’s watching a film and he gets it after a take, it’s just great. Did the whole experience change your opinion on the horror genre and would you work in that genre again? TJ: Yeah, it’s more though I think that there aren’t many horror films that would be shot in this way. Like BLAIR WITCH was its own thing, this film is really its own thing, the idea of shooting in a supermarket for such a large amount of the film. It also gets huge emphasis to the scenes that aren’t in the supermarket, the relief that one feels when the film moves out of that supermarket. I thought it was about claustrophobia but in a strange way it’s also about agoraphobia, the fear of what is outside. What did they do to create the mist, was it a closed environment? TJ: They invented this mist that they could channel and direct, and it was amazingly flexible stuff. Even though we were in a studio for the bits in the lot, it was very disorientating. There were these steadicams that would come out and I’d go wow, I’m totally without orientation here. It was incredibly useful they could do it that well. When have you really been scared? TJ: Nearly every day. It makes me think a lot of what people get from horror films. I get scared in the dark on the country. It doesn’t take much to get my mind started. I live in the city so to go to the country seems like a foolish thing to do. The moment you get into the country it gets dark and you hear noises that you can’t quite locate them, so your mind tries to create scenarios that you can’t explain. I think maybe it’s true, I’m sure you all have your own theories, but it almost seems like a theatrical thing that people feel themselves as being part of an audience and the pleasure of another film is to be totally zoned in on your own. A horror film draws its attention in a way very similar to theater. Did you have handgun training in this film being Ollie was a marksman? TJ: Yeah but just about everyone in this room could’ve been a better expert than me with a gun. When I asked for help on set with the gun, everyone in the room raised their hand, from the makeup assistants to the sixteen year old boy who goes “I got three guns at home, I can help you.” I estimate I will get to use a gun once. For American actors because of the nature of their stories, it’s probably like Day One of drama school, you know, “Get your guns out!” What are some of your favorite horror films? TJ: THE SHINING, DON’T LOOK NOW. I think some of the David Lynch films like ERASERHEAD and LOST HIGHWAY, those films are great. I think the best moments in THE MIST are where you almost see something, there’s something in the distance where you can only partially see it. I like ROSEMARY’S BABY. Which version of THE SHINING do you mean? TJ: The one I saw (laughs). The film has moments of mob mentality like LORD OF THE FLIES. Have you ever witnessed anything like that? TJ: Of course, growing up in school, whenever there was bullying. Whenever a crowd was put under pressure, when you’re delayed by a train, when you’re held up in a stadium and can’t leave, and you can see the rhythm begin. You can see people begin to shuffle up against each other. One person shouts out and another tells him to calm down. You begin to hear the chorus begin to identify itself and in that way it feels very familiar, it doesn’t feel like a huge leap. The monsters are one thing but in a way it’s just to trigger that rhythm that you hear very well. Thank you. TJ: Thanks guys, take care. Special thanks to
Heidi Martinuzzi at
www.pretty-scary.net and to
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