FFWD Weekly
Copyright © 1999. All Rights Reserved
| Film by Cynthia Amsden Pushing Tin "I would find it hard to play ordinary," a tanned, blond Billy Bob Thornton says about his acting ability. And normal he ain’t, not in Slingblade, U-Turn, A Simple Plan or in his new film, Pushing Tin. It is the day before the Academy Awards and Thornton lopes into the salon at the Ritz Carlton in Pasadena, which is located within sweating distance of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, where the Oscars and red carpets are presently being drenched in an unseasonal rain. Not that the journalists were expecting ordinary from one of the few Hollywood players who willingly sacrifices himself to his characters, but the doorstopper-heavy silver rings on both hands and an Arkansas State Police cap confirmed our suspicions. He did have all his own teeth, as best I could tell, which is more than what he sports in many of his films. "I don’t do my best when I play ordinary because I don’t have that in me," Thornton explains in an Arkansas drawl that’s been tranquilized by his California lifestyle. "I think the ‘regular’ for me is a little bit off." As he speaks more on the subject of himself, a deeper motivation for the acting niche Thornton has carved out is revealed. "I see a risk in being myself in every movie because once the audiences don’t like that, what do you do? I’d rather keep dodging them." The upshot of this is the spin Thornton brings to Pushing Tin’s Russell Bell, the air traffic controller who blows into town with Sergio Leone flair. Air traffic control is a high-intensity profession, similar to a videogame mentality except the blips on the screen are commercial aircraft filled with passengers. The teams of men and women who orchestrate flight paths thrive on the stress, and the New York airspace – including LaGuardia, Newark and Kennedy airports – is one of the most hectic on the continent with 7,000 flights landing and taking off daily. Before Bell arrives, Nick Falzone (played by the wily John Cusack) is the star, the Alpha male of the Alpha team. Once Bell – the motorcycle-riding Zen master of a controller who stood in the turbulence path of a departing 747 just to see what it felt like – shows up, the pissing contest begins. To bring some eccentricity to his already slightly whacked-out character, Thornton went on what he calls the Billy Bob Diet of fruit, fish and candy, reducing his weight from the normal 158 pounds down to a gaunt 137 pounds. "I did this movie back-to-back with A Simple Plan (for which he received a 1999 Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor), and I lost weight intentionally. I wanted to look like a weird, Indian, haunted guy and I made it on a wing and a prayer." The gun-slinger role of Bell is delicious because it begs for interaction with Cusack’s cocksure Falzone. Cusack’s work in The Grifters, Con Air and Grosse Pointe Blank guarantees an intelligent, grounded performance. Add Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth, Oscar and Lucinda) as Falzone’s wife and Angelina Jolie (Gia, Playing By Heart) as Bell’s wife and it’s a lock that none of this is going to be played as formula. The trick to how Thornton delivers his characters is by employing restraint, which seems like the opposite of how an individual should evolve on screen. But it works because it stops him from going over the top and turning a character into a caricature. "During scenes, I try to not to be ‘in the moment.’ You know how they say you’re in the moment? Well, sometimes in order to have that restraint, I try not to be there. Slingblade was about incredible restraint because I never had a mood." Ironically, the man who fears ordinariness is embarrassed by the prospect of being singled out at the Academy Awards. "At first it was like looking at a carnival, like, ‘Wow, look at all this stuff.’ Now I’m embarrassed by the pictures and them yelling your name and being asked where I got my suit from and why my mother isn’t with me." Still, he bravely headed off into the fray. He wanted James Coburn to win in the category of Best Supporting Actor, which is what happened, and he is content in the moment which is his own life. |
| Back To This Issue Table of Contents | Back To Main Index |