Ben Foster – Holding Him Hostage

Q) What attracted you to this role and what challenge faced you portraying this character with mental problems? 

A) The attraction to a role like this is that there are so many elements. I’ve always dug on the bad guys more. Darth Vader more than Luke. This is the first time where there is no actor weirdo. The license to do that and explore the shadow element of our personality that I believe we all have is the exact opposite of what our society asks of us rather than being moral or ethical (rather expressing the carelessness and the ruthlessness). To be able to come in every day and explore those qualities and then acknowledge them through the job, it is a good feeling. It’s fun to explore certainly, without real consequence.

Q) How was it working with Bruce Willis?

A) It was just a blast! I think we’re all about the same age. We have all seen the Die Hard movies. To be going head to head with Bruce Willis…I am still involved! I can finally say out loud that I was the villain against Bruce Willis, it still blows my mind!

Q) Do you have a favorite moment from filming Hostage?

A) I don’t have a particular favorite moment. It just has been amazing having the nod of approval from Bruce is enough. He took a real gamble on me. This is not something I’ve done in the past and I’m not 400lbs. like a freight train (which is how they describe the character in the book) so the fact that he took a chance on me has been extraordinarily amazing. It feels really good.

Q) How much input did you have about changing the character from the book to the big screen?

A) I had read the book before and loved it. When I heard they were auditioning and the material came by I thought, “No way am I going to get this because I’m not that!” But, the script was so powerful and the role had so many different things to explore and to play with that you never get to do it at most jobs. I fought for it and I went in four different times and read for three or four different characters. My character is not how it is described in the book in a way I could wrap my head around these actions. He is someone who could win the Science fair or blow it up! Somehow, the director and I found something in the middle. From there, it branched out into different research. I think any kind of work or art form, I have the firm belief that it already exists and it is about bringing it to life. I found the extremes and then kind of started laying roots. Hopefully it’s a successful boogieman!

Q) Is there anyone that you patterned your character after?

A) No, not really. It wasn’t anybody I know. I think Mars is somewhere out there, somewhere out there in the ether, and the success rate is really about getting out of my own way and let him reveal himself and come through. It came from the page and the nuance comes from filling out the white part of the page. That kind of has to come through on its own. I watched a lot of primate videos and went to the zoo a lot. I watched a lot of documentaries on those who have been documented with anti-social personality disorder and serial killers.

Q) How much time did you spend your role before you started to film?

A) The research never ends because each day is going to be progressive. Each day is a surprise. You come to the table prepared, but there is always going to be something different. The research really doesn’t end until they say, “Wrap! Go home!” Then we can’t do it another time.

Q) In the final scene there are a lot of special effects, how was it working in that kind of environment? 

A) It’s great! It’s not a feel good movie and because it is not a character study, and at the end of the day it is an action thriller, there are some broad strokes and those broad strokes become questions and unanswered things. They do make me uncomfortable and they do provoke fear in me. To alleviate that fear, I try to find what makes them tick and the wounds that form their humanity and makes them more human.

Q) Is there any role on the stage or on the screen that you have always wanted to play?

A) There is not a specific role that I’d like to play. Lately, I’ve been so lucky with the material that I’ve responded to that it turns me on. There aren’t that many exciting roles for people so I think I’m just going to keep doing what I am doing. As long as I don’t repeat myself or I feel like that I repeat myself then I’m really successful.

Q) Was there anything negative at all about your experience on Hostage? 

A) I don’t have any good dirt! I used to really never allow myself to enjoy anything and it was never good enough. I never liked watching myself. In the last year or so, I’ve been allowing myself to let my experiences inform me of where I am at that point in my life. I believe now, a year after shooting the project, I could find some places, but it speaks for itself. It’s entertainment. I like him as a boogieman. I had fun doing it. I don’t really have a great connection with this person at this point. I just see him as a really creepy person that I don’t identify with myself. I just see it as entertainment.