“You Need To Just Forget What’s On The Page And Have Conversations.” Interview With Bruce Dern For FREAKS

With over nearly 60 years in the industry and over 170 acting credits, it’s hard not to know his name. Bruce Dern has had a variety of roles with a wide range of supporting and leading characters. Despite being in his eighties the actor isn’t stopping, and is still very much active in the cinematic world. I was able to speak with him about one of his newest: Freaks. We chatted about his role and working with his young cast-mate, what he looks for in characters, and how things have changed for him over the years.

Kristy Strouse for Film Inquiry: How are you?

Bruce Dern: Hello Ma’am, I’m riding by. How are you?

I’m good, thank you for asking! And I really appreciate you speaking with me today, it’s a real honor.

Bruce Dern: Thank you.

As always, you were terrific in Freaks. What was it about the story that caught your attention?

Bruce Dern: Well, I’ve really only ever done one Science Fiction film in my life, and it was pretty good, and almost 50 years later it is still good: Silent Running. Which I did for Douglas Trumbull. And when I got this and they said, it’s this genre – I didn’t see that. I don’t know what special effects movies are. In Silent Running the movie worked because it was about the relationships.

With this, I looked at the relationship between my character and the little girl, and I saw an opportunity to overcome the fact that Mr. Snowcone was in everybody’s nightmare. That interested me because they were going off the involvement of human behavior, conversations and everything else. It wasn’t about the cone-heads or someone coming from another planet or something…stuff like that. So, that’s what intrigued me.

Yeah, I think it definitely goes past just the sci fi genre, for sure.

Bruce Dern: Exactly.

I think that’s why I like the movie so much too! Now, everyone is terrific, but Lexi is really fantastic. What was it like working with her?

Bruce Dern: She was eight then, ten next week. You know, she’s one of those kids. I went through it when Laura when she was maybe 9 or 10 where she was ahead of her time, in terms of age. She just gets it. She gets the whole set.  She gets what’s going on, and she gets the endurance of a workday. She’s got a very professional level of accepting anything, and that comes from her household – obviously the parents also gave her the freedom of speech, [laughs] if you know what I mean.

And she’s allowed to say whatever she wants to say, and that’s why she’s outgoing and embraceable of movies. The girl who plays her mother [Amanda Crew]…we’ve talked to a couple of people today and she mentioned that “this is a ten-year-old going on forty.” She’s just ahead of the game. She’s extraordinary with a kind of sophistication. Somebody who has that part where you can see more vulnerability. But I just think you know when you see it. Part of these kid actors, as good as they are, at that age – they have to see it, they have to get it. They have to have an opportunity and enormous confidence in themselves, particularly with Lexi in this movie.

Because there was a certain kind of demand from me, as well as the director and producer. You need to just forget what’s on the page and have conversations. Don’t think that every word is so sacred and has to be said a certain way. Push your acting. Push yourself. What’s really going on? What are we really talking about? Let’s just talk to each other. And, you know, she hadn’t really done that before, but after two days she had it down, good. That’s very hard because she has no habits. You try and get them away from realizing that they can’t be afraid to be themselves. And that’s what’s marvelous about her. She was encouraged by me, and the material, and basically the director and the writer. It’s okay to be Lexi. You’ve got the clothes on, you’re the character. People are watching you and they don’t see you as Lexi, you are this character, this little girl. So, don’t be afraid to put parts of Lexi that fit, into the little girl. Be yourself, a lot of the time, find those parts.

That was something she picked up right away, and Laura did that was she was very young too. But Lexi, I would say, in my experience with this movie with her, is she’s got a ticket. It’ll be up to her and her family, what she does in the next five years with that ticket. She’s got a seat at the table right now to be a child star.

Absolutely. And that’s well put. I do see her having a big career because she’s really terrific in the film. The role requires a lot of her. So, you mentioned similarities with Laura. Do you see some of her in Lexi? 

Bruce Dern: Not necessarily Laura in her, I just see the ten-year-old Laura. It’s up to her where she wants to take herself from here. Guidance and management and agents. They have to dream for her, the same one she dreams for herself. They can’t over commercialize this talent. This girl is got a special little talent, and they should nurture that and not exploit it. If they do that, she’s got a chance to have a really great career.

We’ve seen it with Laura. We actually had to emancipate Laura when she was 15-years-old. Because older actresses, over 18, were getting roles for her, playing 12-year olds. So, by emancipating her, she didn’t have to work under child labor laws. She could work an eight-hour day, 10 hours a day and not have the schooling. But it’s a court procedure, you have to go to the court. What was interesting with Laura is that if you get a California State emancipation is of course, you cannot live with either parent.

Really?

Bruce Dern: Yeah, so, you have to go out and find a suitable roommate for Laura that they have to approve, but don’t choose them. Luckily enough, Laura’s became Marianne Williamson, how about that?

That’s interesting. And I’m sure you’re proud, Laura is very talented. Now, I think the movie works best for audiences if you don’t know a lot about the story, because I think there’s a lot of nuances and surprises, but how would you describe your character Mr. Snowcone?

Bruce Dern: I would describe him as – if you were a kid –  someone you would love to run into. At that age especially, because, first of all – he’s giving you free ice cream. Second of all, he’s taking you out, and opening your eyes to things you’ve never seen. He’s giving you perspective on it at the same time. And so that’s what I tried to be. I didn’t look at the, you know, other elements. There were other problems he got into but the less is more. Have you seen Once Upon A Time In Hollywood?

I have yes, loved it. 

Bruce Dern: Okay, well we don’t really know a lot about Brad at the ranch, and that’s on purpose. The less you know about Mr. Snowcone’s background, the better. It’s the danger for writers. If they want to have a full-bodied characters, all the way through the script, they’ll never get it done. That’s 180 pages. Why does Quentin make long movies? Because he investigates every character. Alexander Payne is another one. I see Lexi as someone who is right on the horizon, she has arrived, now that her movie has opened.

Absolutely. And, you’re not slowing down! I mean you’ve done a lot of films, even lately. I saw you in Hollywood, and The Mustang which was also very good, and you seem to continuously stay busy. Is there something in particular that you look for that fascinates you when you’re considering a role?

Bruce Dern: Relationships. I don’t look so much at what it does for me, or my persona, or if this is going to make be a bigger star. Like Leo’s character in Once Upon A Time. Is there a relationship that I believe, number one, and number two… my first credo when I became an actor was that I was fascinated by what makes us do what we do, particularly in times of stress. Why we behave like we do. And if there’s that element to it I’m interested, and it can be a very small role. Like in Hollywood, it can’t be smaller than that, but you see the dimension of a guy in there. You know when he walks out of there who he was. The fact that there’s a little humor in there doesn’t hurt either. So, I’m not really interested in having to star in movies anymore. I did my share, and I am not as comfortable doing that as I am being part of the team now. But as Martin Scorsese calls me, I’m kind of the linchpin. “You can always use Bruce Dern, he’s like the linchpin to the movie, he turns it one way or another.” So, I enjoy that.

I also enjoy the way people perceive me to hire me to play that role in the first place. That’s why I keep going.

Absolutely, and we’re glad that you do! Is there any one role that stuck with you over the years? Something that felt more personal, maybe?

Bruce Dern: Nebraska.

Yeah, that makes sense. It was amazing. I love that film, Alexander Payne’s obviously incredible.

Bruce Dern: The best. He told me the first day of shooting. He said, “I wonder if you do something for Phedon Papamichael (who was the cameraman) and I, that we’re not sure you’ve ever done before. He said never show us anything. Let us find it.” And I knew I had a partner. I knew I didn’t have to worry where the camera would be or how, I just knew it would be there. It’s amazing. Him and Quentin are right there together, on the same level. Different styles and everything, but they’ve got major things going for them.

I love that you continuously have been in some of Quentin’s movies because you’re always perfect in those roles. How would you say that your acting style has changed or evolved over time since you have been in the business for a while?

Bruce Dern: I’ve become more real. It’s much more about the behavior than the performance. In other words, I try and make the character believable to an audience and to myself. And therefore, as honest and true. When I first started out, I had to play roles that were the 14^th or 15^th part in every movie. So, I just had to do whatever I could do and then elaborate. And Mr. Kazan told me in the very beginning, “You should never go up to a director in a movie and tell them what you’re going to do. You should just do it.” And I asked, how do I get away with that? He says, “Because the director has something you’ll never have.” And I asked what that was, and he said “Take two.” [laughs] So, are you working on anything right now Bruce?

Bruce Dern: No, this film comes out in September, and I have a movie opening soon, called The Peanut Butter Falcon. Which is a very unusual movie produced by the same guys that produced Nebraska, and also won the Oscar for Little Miss Sunshine. Have you seen it?

I have not! I’d love to though. I’ve heard great things.

Bruce Dern: You have to check that out.

And thank you so much for giving me so many candid answers and again, congratulations and thank you for joining me. I appreciate it!

Film Inquiry would like to thank Mr. Dern for taking the time to speak with us.

Watch Freaks