And Hugh shares some of his thoughts on THE RIVER, in a multi-topic interview with VULTURE --
http://www.vulture.com/2014/08/hugh-jackman-fly-fishes-his-way-to-the-river.html >>>Well, people certainly go insane when you sing and dance. When you do something like Back on Broadway that gets such a huge reaction, does it make you want to do something in the opposite direction — like this play — next?
I don’t know if I think that way actually. Certainly, in general I miss theater and want to get back more to that, but weirdly I'm enjoying film more and I think acting in general more now. There is a high when a musical is working; when you’re onstage singing in front of a crowd, the applause is very visceral, it’s ultimately an emotional response. The drug of that kind of audience enthusiasm is one I’d be reluctant to let go of. But I think what’s driving me now more than anything is to do new material. I get really excited to go and see a play or musical I know nothing about — like I saw Fun Home recently, that thrilled me. I obviously like revivals, too, but it’s hard to get your mind or part of your mind away from comparisons. There’s a great joy in discovering new material...
What was your first meeting with Jez Butterworth like? He’s this strange combination of being a dark playwright who also writes blockbuster movies .
Jez is very kind of ... he has a demeanor of someone who’s like, “Oh, gee, thanks for inviting me to lunch.” I’m like, man! You wrote this incredible play! He’s very off the back foot. One of the first things I asked him was what motivated him to write this story — because I was really affected by the story emotionally, which doesn’t always happen. And he said he wanted to give goosebumps. It’s mysterious, you don’t know what’s happening next, you’re not 100 percent sure where the actors or the writer is going to go to the point where it gives you goosebumps. But I just loved that he has a child’s quality, of being very curious, very humble.
Did you see Jerusalem?
I thought that was extraordinary. And again, it was one of those rare experiences where you walk in not knowing what to expect and, wow, you’re completely transported and blown away. I got the sense there’s that possibility with this play as well. But I actually think they’re very different. I think he deliberately wanted to write something quite different; ours is much shorter, like 89 minutes. In Jerusalem, Rooster is a very bombastic, larger-than-life character. This is not like that, it’s in a way like a piece of chamber music; it’s more subtle, there’s a poetic edge to it, though I think Jerusalem had that too. There’s obviously a love of poetry in Jez’s blood. But that also hooks into his love of fishing! That is something I knew nothing about, and I'm learning a hell of a lot about fly fishing.
I was going to say, fishing is rather central to the play, are you an outdoorsman of any sort?
Well I’m a mad lover of the outdoors, but I didn’t grow up with fishing. My son is madly into it, so I’m happy now to go out with him. I’m in a bit of trouble because I took him to Montana in March and said, you know, let’s fly fish, it’ll be a father son trip, but come October he’s going to realize it was a research trip. I’ll make it a few months before I get slapped around a bit.
It seems like a very oddly Zen thing, fly fishing?
It’s an extraordinary kind of endeavor, very human — how to take something that’s really about survival and make it harder than it has to be. [Laughs.] There is a beauty to it; it’s really becoming one with the fish, understanding the fish, how to seduce them to the end of your line. How to catch something without any bait, there’s something really beautiful about it. Jez has used it both literally and metaphorically in the play. It is sensual, I should say. Everyone who does it talks about how their mind goes blank, it’s like a form of meditation. And the people who do it, it’s like a drug to them — you’re connected to something very elemental in nature, and I think that’s what the play explores.
The play does have a quietness about it — is keeping things at that kind of level a challenge for you?
Yeah. Maybe I’ve done too many action movies. But there are no explosions, I guarantee — no shirts come off, I’m pretty sure. [Laughs.] No, it is different in every way. It’s the kind of play I haven’t seen in a long period of time. Literally from the moment it opens, you’re brought into a world where the audience will feel almost uncomfortable to be there — it’s very private, very interior. It really asks, when you find someone in life, are we actually just trying to recapture something we’ve lost, or is it real. The play twists and turns a lot, but in a very subtle, quiet, mysterious way. I’m excited about being in a play with that kind of calm, and requires you to sort of calmly let go of your life and connect with the play. And the fact that we’re doing it in the round? It’s going to be very intimate.<<<<
Updated On: 9/3/14 at 09:05 PM
