|
Beau Bridges on Max Payne, Games, and his Dad in Airplane
by Troy Rogers
 Having grown up around the acting world at an early age, with his father Lloyd becoming one of the most visible and recognizable actors in Hollywood, Beau Bridges eventually followed in his dad's footsteps to carve out his own unique career as an actor. One of Hollywood's upcoming heartthrobs in the 1970s, and one of the most critically acclaimed actors in the '70s and '80s, with roles in Sydney Lumet's Child's Play, the gripping Oscar nominated Norma Rae alongside Sally Field, and the great ensemble drama The Hotel New Hampshire, it's hard to believe Beau Bridges is now a Hollywood vet.
After a successful stint in the TV universe of the Stargate franchise on both SG-1 and Atlantis, Beau returned to the big screen in 2008 in the video game adaptation Max Payne - now out on DVD - in which he played the character B.B. Hensley, a father figure and mentor to Payne who has his own ultimate agenda.
With Max Payne now shooting up store shelves on DVD, we tracked down Beau Bridges for an exclusive one-on-one to talk about his time working on Max Payne, how he formed a father-son bond with Mark Wahlberg, whether he's heard of a sequel, and what he and his brother Jeff thought about his father's hilarious hard-to-kick-the-habit role in the classic comedy Airplane.
THE DEADBOLT: With you in Max Payne and your brother Jeff in Iron Man, both playing villains, it looks like you guys are plotting to take over the world.
 BEAU BRIDGES: [laughs] Yeah, that was funny, and we both have characters that do a turn on the audience.
THE DEADBOLT: Did you guys talk about the similarities of the characters?
BRIDGES: Yeah, a little bit. But Jeff, of course, did his long before I got going on mine and at least I didn’t have to shave my head bald.
THE DEADBOLT: How did you find the human elements in B.B. in order to play him effectively?
BRIDGES: Well, when I first went to work on the movie I knew that John Moore, our director, had a whole technical background and that the movie would definitely have a real stylized look to it, and I could tell that just from the descriptions he wrote and he had worked on. He didn’t write the script but his input was there and that ended up being true. I think the film does have a real definite style to it. What surprised me was his specific care on the psychological aspects of the characters and how important that was to him. And he spent a lot of time talking to the actors about who these people were and why they did what they did.
I was glad to experience that because a lot of times the directors, especially if they come from a technical side, they don’t really get into all of that and John certainly did. We talked a lot about who this guy was, why he acted like he did, and it was fun to do a turn on the audience. But we wanted it to be coming from some kind of truth. He was a guy who felt he had been burned, passed over, not respected, and that kind of led him down a dark path.
THE DEADBOLT: Since in many ways you were like a father figure to Jeff, in what ways did you relate to B.B.’s relationship with Max?
 BRIDGES: That’s interesting that you say that. But it’s true because there’s an eight year age difference between me and my brother and my father was traveling a lot in his work. Although he was a wonderful dad to both of us when he was home, he did travel a lot. And when he was gone, I did take his place in some respects with my brother and had a hand in teaching him how to throw a ball and do all of the things that kids do. And with Mark [Wahlberg] I knew that was an important part of the relationship between our characters. Most all of my scenes are with Mark. Fortunately, when I got together with him, there was an immediate good feeling between us and a relationship began, a friendship, and hopefully people will see that in the movie.
THE DEADBOLT: He seems like a really easy guy to work with.
BRIDGES: He’s great, so dedicated, and this film was a big call for him. They did not want to create a lot of the action sequences with digital stuff, they wanted to have him do it, and he did it. By the end of it he was like a beat up fighter after going 12 rounds yet he never complained. He was always ready, always prepared, and it was also a big psychological call for him, because emotionally he had to go through all of this turmoil a man would go through whose lost his family, looking for the killer, and he was there.
THE DEADBOLT: Do you find there’s anything different about playing a character from a video game as compared to a character from a book in a movie like Hotel New Hampshire?
 BRIDGES: Yeah. I had never seen the video game but my kids had. As soon as I mentioned it to them, they said, "You’re going to be in Max Payne? That’s great." So I guess the main difference is that at least one frame of reference before you start is this game. So I looked at it, and it certainly had a real sense of style, and I also was aware immediately that the snow storm was going to play a really important part in telling the story. And indeed I think they went to Toronto because they wanted the storm. [laughs] Sometimes you have to be careful what you ask for because they really got one.
It was a big one that came through there and we were cold as hell. I mean, the actors, some of those exterior scenes when we had to talk outside, I could hardly move my mouth. The crew was even more challenged because at least the actors got - between scenes - to get out of the cold. And those guys were in it the whole time. They were so dedicated. So yeah I saw that in the video game and that snow storm lasts throughout the whole thing, and it does the same in the telling of the story with the movie.
THE DEADBOLT: You mentioned that your kids knew about it. Have you played it?
BRIDGES: No, I never really played it. I just looked at it. I just kind of watched it.
THE DEADBOLT: What characters in your career prior to Max Payne do you think would make for a good video game?
 BRIDGES: That’s interesting. I know there’s talk about Stargate SG-1 having one. I don’t know if that’s happening our not. I’ve heard kind of rumors that they’re going to. How about a video game based on My Name is Earl?
THE DEADBOLT: Have you heard any talk of a sequel to Max Payne?
BRIDGES: Not that I heard. I haven’t really been in contact with those guys for a while. I’ve been busy and they have, too. But I know initially there was some talk. It had some success out there at the box office so I figure there will be.
THE DEADBOLT: Since you mentioned Stargate SG-1, there's a rumor out there that your father was up for the role of Captain Kirk in Star Trek. Is that true?
BRIDGES: I never heard that. But he was in Battlestar Galactica, the original TV series. He had a recurring role on that. But no, I don’t think he was up for Captain Kirk. I never heard that.
THE DEADBOLT: I’ve always wanted to know what you and Jeff thought when you saw dad in Airplane for the first time?
BRIDGES: [laughs] Oh, it was absolutely hysterical. My dad was a very upstanding, straight-ahead kind of guy. When we saw him hanging upside down and talking about sniffing glue, and all of that, we just roared. In fact, we worked him a little bit about it. I remember telling him, "I can’t believe you would’ve accepted this role. All of these young people all across the world respect you and appreciate you, and now you’re sniffing glue?" [laughs] And he got all pissed off at me. But that was just a howler. In the end it led to all of these other comedy roles that he did where he got a chance to show his funny side. And he always had that ability but he just got into those heroic roles early in his career and didn’t get a chance to do comedy until the end of his career and then he got some really good ones.
|
