I recently had the pleasure of interviewing
Sean Bean, one of Englands most
talented and versatile actors, who is
currently promoting his latest film, the
highly anticipated "The Hitcher.
Bean is an elegant and accomplished artist
whose stellar acting career has spanned
every medium over the past 20 years
from film to stage to radio and television.
He has appeared in roles that are
as diverse as they are memorable --
from angst-ridden villains (Robert
Lovelace in "Clarissa) to
rough-and-ready soldiers (Major Richard Sharpe
in the Sharpes TV series) to passionate
lovers (Mellors in "Lady Chatterleys
Lover) and noble Greeks (Odysseus
in "Troy). He gained international fame
as the noble warrior Boromir in Peter
Jacksons multi-Academy Award-winning
"The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
The Sheffield native worked as a welder
in his fathers welding firm before
turning to acting and undergoing classical
training. After graduating from
the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in
London, he joined the Royal Shakespeare
Company and appeared in a number of
West End stage productions including
RSC's "Fair Maid of the West"
(as Spencer, 1986) and "Romeo and Juliet"
(Romeo, 1987), as well as "Deathwatch"
(Lederer, 1985) at the Young Vic,
and "Killing the Cat" (Danny,
1990) at the Theatre Upstairs. His credits
with the RSC also include "A Midsummer
Nights Dream and "King Richard II.
After a thirteen year absence, Bean
returned to the stage in 2002 to play
Macbeth at the Albery Theatre in London,
delivering a critically acclaimed
performance that led to an extended
run.
Mr. Beans notable initial starring
roles on-screen included ones in Mike Figgis
"Stormy Monday (with Tommy
Lee Jones, Sting, and Melanie Griffith); Jim
Sheridans "The Field
(with Richard Harris, Brenda Fricker, and John Hurt);
and Phillip Noyces "Patriot
Games (as an Irish terrorist opposite Harrison Ford).
During their final fight sequence in
"Patriot Games, Ford accidentally struck
Bean with a boat hook that left him
with a scar over his eye which has only
added to his tough guy allure.
Beans next role made him one of
the U.K.s best-known stars. He was cast
as novelist Bernard Cornwells
enduring character Richard Sharpe, hero of the
Napoleonic Wars, in the 1993 telefilm
"Sharpes Rifles. He subsequently
starred in the role 14 more times for
director Tom Clegg, including the recently
completed final project, "Sharpes
Challenge. Bean looks back on his role in
the 14-part British TV series with fondness
and genuine enthusiasm, "It was
a fantastic role the people involved
in it, the other actors, the crew they
were very special to me. Sharpes
a great character. Its obvious this is one
role he enjoyed playing and of which
he is particularly proud.
Mr. Beans other feature films
include Martin Campbells "GoldenEye
(opposite Pierce Brosnan in his debut
as James Bond); Bernard Roses
"Anna Karenina; John Frankenheimers
"Ronin; Terry Winsors "Essex
Boys; Gary Fleders "Dont
Say a Word; Esme Lammers family film
"Tom & Thomas; Wolfgang
Petersens "Troy; Jon Turteltaubs "National
Treasure; "The Island
(directed by The Hitcher producer Michael Bay);
Robert Schwentkes "Flightplan;
Christophe Gans "Silent Hill; and Niki C
aros "North Country
(opposite Charlize Theron and Frances McDormand).
Bean currently resides in London with
his three daughters Lorna, Molly and
Evie. He is an avid fan of Sheffield
United, his favorite football team whose
nickname is "The Blades.
His zealous support for the team is well known and
he roots for them whenever and wherever
satellite reception allows. He sports
a "100% BLADE" tattoo on his
left shoulder in their honor. The tattoo is
frequently concealed with makeup or
converted into a scar or a different
tattoo when he is filming. Bean is also
passionate about wildlife and
enjoys gardening and working outdoors
when time permits between films.
In his latest project, Bean stars as
John Ryder in "The Hitcher, a bold remake
in which Bean takes on Rutger Hauers
original role as the homicidal hitchhiker.
The thriller, directed by Dave Meyers
in his feature debut, tracks the terrifying
trajectory of Grace Andrews (Sophia
Bush) and Jim Halsey (Zachary Knighton),
a collegiate couple who are tormented
by the mysterious hitchhiker John Ryder,
a.k.a. The Hitcher (Sean Bean). The
young couple hit the road in a 1970
Oldsmobile 442, en route to spring break.
But their pleasure trip soon turns
into a waking nightmare. The initial
encounters with Ryder are increasingly
off-putting for Grace and Jim, and they
bravely fight back when he ambushes
them. But they are truly blindsided
when he implicates them in a horrific
slaying and continues to shadow them.
The open road becomes a suspenseful,
action-packed battleground of blood
and metal as, in trying to elude not only
Ryder but also New Mexico State Police
Lieutenant Esteridges (Neal McDonough)
officers, Grace and Jim must fight for
their lives and face their fears head-on.
Bean admits, "Ive never been
a hitchhiker, and Ive never picked any up --
and I dont think I ever will,
now With respect to his character, he reveals,
"I felt it was important that,
initially, you encounter him as a regular guy and
not as an out-and-out psycho from the
beginning. Ryder is intelligent and
shrewd, and a good actor. I see his
clothes as coming from a previous victim,
as he takes the part of someone else.
He himself is a kind of phantom, without his own back story.
Director David Meyers notes, "Sean
is the strong actor we needed to bring a
strong interpretation to the role. Rutger
Hauers performance in the 1986
movie helped define who our Hitcher
was written to be. Producer Andrew
Form adds, "Clearly, no actor would
want to imitate what Hauer did, so
Seans is a different John Ryder
and just as powerful. Co-star Zachary
Knighton reflects, "He had been
on my own Hitcher list even before anyone
told me that they were after him to
do the role. Sean is always prepared
and intense. I think people are going
to be really surprised by what he does
with the character.
Sean Bean is not only a sensational
actor but hes also a terrific guy and I
really appreciated his time. For our
interview, we met at the Four Seasons
Hotel in Los Angeles during the recent
press junket for The Hitcher. As John
Ryder, Bean is one of the scariest men
to be seen on screen in a long time.
But in person, you would never know
it. He was polite, charming and
friendly. And he went out of his way
to make sure I was warm on a
rather chilly afternoon -- even offering
to close the veranda doors of
his hotel suite that opened onto a spectacular
view of the L.A. skyline
from one of the hotels top floors.
Bean has been thrilling audiences for
over two decades ever since his
acting career first began on the British
stage in the mid-1980s. I couldnt
help but ask myself how someone who
looked so devastatingly good could
play a character so inherently evil.
No wonder his fans refer to him as
Sheffields best and The Mighty
Bean. This is an actor who does not
equate success with high profile parts
and top billing. He loves the
opportunity to play a well written role
no matter how small or large
the part as long as the character is
interesting and substantial.
Dressed casually in jeans and a two-toned,
navy striped shirt, Sean spoke
thoughtfully and enthusiastically in
a distinct Sheffield accent about his new
film, his multi-faceted career, and
his beloved football team, The Blades --
all while sipping a cold Heineken. Heres
what he had to tell me:
Question: What was it about the character
of John Ryder in Hitcher that
drew you into the film and attracted
you to this role?
Sean Bean: I suppose just reading the
script. I just thought there was a lot of
space, a lot of room to maneuver in
terms of how I could play the character.
You know, usually its so jammed
full with exposition and plot and explanations,
and this character wasnt conveying
that kind of information. He was just being
himself. He was just being his character
and he spoke very little and when he
did it was (laughs) when it came
out, it was very powerful. So I just enjoyed
being able to have that sort of leeway
and that freedom to be able to sort of
build a character and emotions and blocks
around him.
Q: How did you go about conceptualizing
and creating the character of
John Ryder? Do you base your characters
on people you know?
SB: I dont know. I just look at the things that he does
and what he says and
what people say about him, I suppose.
And I think, What kind of guy is this?
And in this case, hes obviously
not a very stable guy, you know. (Laughs)
Theres lots of things going on
there that are causing him to behave the way
he does and I suppose I just think to
myself, Why would he do that? Why
would a man do that?
Occasionally you think about things in the past where youve
seen programs
or youve met people or knew people
who behaved in very unstable or in very
unnatural ways and have done horrific
sort of things that you can draw upon
because theres very little to
draw upon well, theres nothing to draw upon i
n terms of background or information
of his history. So I just kind of invented
it which I found quite interesting to
have that freedom to do.
Q: Did you get a chance to watch
the original Hitcher film before filming began?
SB: Yeah, I saw it. It was about 20
years ago, wasnt it, I think? And, you know,
that was good. I enjoyed it and it was
a very well made film. At first, I suppose
I thought like its a remake, but
then I talked to the director, I read the script,
and I thought, Well, theres
a lot of room here and its very different. Its
quite
different from the original and I suppose
thats the main reason I thought,
Well, were not doing a remake
here. Were doing another version of a previous
film. So I didnt have any
problem with it from then on.
It was a very well constructed film
and Rutger Hauer turned in a very good
performance and I remember being scared
by it, and as I said, it made an
impact but I really didnt want
that running around my head and cluttering
things up when we were making our version
of it. So, I think working with
Dave and obviously, Zach and Sophie
I think we created quite an interesting
new version. And I didnt really
have any reservations or concerns about
being compared to another actor. I just
wanted to start from scratch and
do it my way.
Q: As an actor, is it hard going
into a remake that has a cult fanbase from
the original that is already against
the film just because its a remake?
SB: I dont know. Im not really aware of that. I supposed
with every remake you
get people who regardless of
whether its a finer approach than the original
will always want to criticize it because
its a remake. You know what I mean?
I mean Im just trying to think
of remakes that have been successful in the
past and I think that theres been
a few.
Theres not many but I do think you get people who are going
to be pessimistic
right from the beginning. Just like
James Bond, you know, Daniel Craig, who
right from the beginning they were writing
(slacking?) him off and saying
hes not up to it. And then it
comes out and hes probably the best Bond thats
ever been. So I dont really listen
to so much nonsense when people say
stuff like that.
Q: What was it like working with
Dave Meyers in his feature directorial debut?
SB: It was good, you know. I wouldnt have noticed that
hed never made a
film before because he was very focused
anyway and hed obviously done his
homework and he knew what he was doing.
I just liked him as a man, you know,
when I talked to him on the phone because
Id never met him until I got to Austin,
Texas the night before we started shooting.
So I didnt really know him that well.
But we had dinner the night before and
we got along very well and we were
both on the same wave length. I didnt
have any problem with that whatsoever.
I quite enjoyed being with him and the humor that he instilled
in the film as a
whole but certainly in some of the characters.
I think he brought a certain humor
out in John Ryder which I thought was
very difficult to do. (Laughs) And there
are some quite wry moments in there,
I think. Thank god there are because
otherwise its pretty relentless.
There are some little moments, some great
details there. I like to see what happens
on the set and be spontaneous
about the possibilities. Dave, who has
a great eye, gave us a creative
environment where the actors could play
around and experiment with a scene.
We were able to take our time and find
the moments that we might otherwise
have missed.
Q: What is it about the Hitcher that
will make it worth the fans money
to run out and see rather than rent
the original film on DVD?
SB: Personally I think it moves much quicker. I think its
scarier. I think its an
updated version that people will be
able to relate to more than the original
without putting the original down. But
you know I think that we often have
things in our heads where we think Wow,
that film was great. I know I do.
I have favorites of mine.
I tell my kids, Youve got to see this film. When
I saw it when I was 15, it was
amazing. And I get it out and
I show it to them and they say, Dad, what are
you talking about? Its rubbish.
Its boring. And I say, Yeah, yeah, its
kind
of dated. So my advice is just
to go out and see it. Its now.
Q: Having been in The Dark, Silent
Hill and now The Hitcher, do you plan
on doing more films in the horror
genre?
SB: Not really. No. Id like to sort of do something in
real life (laughs)
if you know what I mean -- something
a little different. Ive just done a
couple films that are very different
from The Hitcher and so I feel as though
Ive balanced it up a little bit
last year, but it would be nice to
Im just at the moment having a good time and just looking
at things and
seeing what would be best for me, which
direction for me to take. I dont
want to get as much as I love
playing these kind of roles I do like
trying to diversify and see if I can
do different things.
Q: When we spoke to Nicholas Cage
about National Treasure 2, he wasnt
sure if you were on board. Can you
tell us if you are? And if so what role
you will play?
SB: National Treasure 2? I dont
think I am. No. Not as I know anyway.
(Laughs) I dont know where Ive
gone from the last one. I think Im
probably in prison at this point. (More
laughing) So maybe Ill break out
or something. Maybe Ill be in
National Treasure 3 or 4 or 5. No, at
this point, Im not aware that
Im part of it. No.
Q: You have an upcoming project called
Outlaw, it sounds like a post
apocalyptic Vigilante story, what
can you tell us about it and your role?
SB: I play someone called Danny Bryant whos a Marine just
returning from
Iraq who comes back to the U.K. and
hes been around the block a few times
and hes very disaffected by what
he sees when he returns home and the
injustice and social injustice, the
PC, the political situation that is so
prevalent in Britain, in sort of Blairs
Britain, and he knows of people
Its an ensemble piece in some
ways.
Its about people who have suffered injustices physical
or mental
injustices who have turned to
the law, who have turned to the courts
or everywhere without getting any response
or any sense of satisfaction or
justice. And they decide to quite
inadvertently in a way come together
as a group of people who mete out their
own kind of justice. And thats not
to say its some kind of death
wish film. You know its not just people
going around and smashing people up.
I suppose its about people who have been isolated, who
are vulnerable, who
have gone every single way they can
which theyve been told to do. Go through
the courts, go through the police, go
through the law. Theyve been let down by
everyone and by society and the government
in general and theres only one
way to take this and the way they take
it is through their law. Its quite
violent in places but its more
poignant than anything else. Its a quite
poetic piece of work about people who
were forced into that situation.
Ive not see it yet, but its
creating quite a lot of interest over in England
at the moment and it should be out in
a few weeks time.
Q: With Silent Hill 2 starting to
make some progress, what will be your