Latest Articles
We have video featuring Brooklyn Decker from the 2010 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.
The Prince of Darkness, in his own words!
Guitarist wants to give a victim impact statement after attack last year.
Getting you Psyched for the Big Weekend!
Black Dynamite, Law Abiding Citizen and Ong Bak 2 head to Blu-Ray.
Jack Bauer may abandon real-time for the big-screen.
The bidding isn't over yet, folks!
The hunt for Jax-Ur continues.
Garret Dillahunt on Terminator and The Road
Dillahunt tells Crave about Sarah Connor, The Road and Last House on the Left.
by
Mar 20, 2009
Mar 20, 2009
When the Connors destroyed Cromartie's chip on Terminator:The Sarah Connor Chronicles,that only meant recasting Garrett Dillahunt. Now he plays John Henry, the humanoid shell speaking for Catherine Weaver's computer. He's also got The Road and Last House on the Left coming out, so we had a lot to catch up with the actor about.
Crave Online: So they'd been talking about a big character death since last summer, and it turned out to be Cromartie.
Garrett Dillahunt: It turned out to be me. Were you excited or disappointed by that?
Crave Online: We'll get to that. First question is how did you feel when it turned out to be you?
Garrett Dillahunt: I was nervous at first. None of us knew at Comic Con. We were all being really cool about our new show and then they were like, "One of these people will die." And you were like, "What?" It was like the last supper all of a sudden. Is it I? Is it I, lord? Then it was me but then they told me also right away that I'd be this different thing which hadn't completely evolved yet. I was kind of sad because I liked Cromartie. I liked playing Cromartie. I liked the simplicity and the directness of him and getting to do all those cool things, but John Henry's going to be pretty cool.
Crave Online: So did it occur to you, as it did me, that you were the one character who could still be alive via his exterior?
Garrett Dillahunt: Exactly, really could it be killed? Was he ever alive? But I'm happy about it. Now I get to be this sort of super powered baby turned loose in the world.
Crave Online: How is this totally new character for you?
Garrett Dillahunt: Well, I'm getting anxious to get out of that computer room. They clip this thing into my head, this chord and you feel very limited but I understand the necessity for it. He's got to learn so much he's sucking all this information out of the internet and the world and television, just cramming his head full of this stuff and trying to understand what it is to be human. So I think the opportunity is kind of limitless. It's an interesting way for the writers to explore what it is to be a human almost.
Crave Online: It's a different new dynamic with Ellison and Weaver too, right?
Garrett Dillahunt: Yeah, I love working with those guys. I have such a crush on Shirley Manson. I think she's the coolest thing. I love the way she said my name with her little accent, GAH-RET. We talk about books all the time, she's so well read. She's a smart, smart chick. I like the whole cast. It's pretty lucky that that big a cast all gets along pretty well.
Crave Online: Do you know what kind of big finale we can expect this season?
Garrett Dillahunt: I don't. I wish they'd tell me. They just handed me some talking points. I think it changes too. I think they have an idea of what they wanna do and then it'll evolve into something slightly different by the time we get there. It's kind of like how Deadwood was because I remember David would come up to me like, "Yeah, then your character and the Doc are going to have this whole relationship and you're going to talk about Catullus." I'm like, "What happened to that? I never saw that." Oh, well, it didn't work out. It's a little bit like that. They have so many things they're trying to tie up that some things fall by the wayside.
Crave Online: What do you play in The Road?
Garrett Dillahunt: Well, no one has names. I don't know if you read the book. I loved it. Some of the scenes are harrowing but it was so beautiful too. In a way, the world has been so pared down, it's a very simple story and it raises a lot of questions about what you would do in that situation. It's kind of like Terminator in a way. But no one has names. Viggo Mortensen plays The Man. Cody Smit-McPhee plays The Boy. So it's The Man and The Boy moving through the world and they meet The Old Man, The Thief, The Woman. No one has names, no one uses them. I played The Gang Member. We meet up sort of in the first quarter of the novel. I make some decisions about Viggo and I decide that he's weak and I can take from him what I want and we have a fight about that.
Crave Online: My favorite thing about post-apocalyptic movies is when they have to find supplies.
Garrett Dillahunt: And that's the whole book.
Crave Online: So we'll see you and Viggo with supplies?
Garrett Dillahunt: Oh yeah, that's what the whole story's about. You'll see. It's just like an endless search. It's like we're animals who are pawing through the snow for some grass. The search for food never stops. The search for food motivates all actions in the movie from the bad guys and the good guys.
Crave Online: Viggo must know how to do a fight scene. What is it like when two professionals do a scene like that?
Garrett Dillahunt: Am I the other one?
Crave Online: Yes, of course.
Garrett Dillahunt: Aw, I love you. I love a good fight and I think a bad fight can ruin a movie. I really do. It was fun. It's such a lame word to say fun but what I love is I love working with people like him, and I've been lucky in the kinds of people I've been able to work with. Brad [Pitt] is that way, just people who want to make a good movie. Josh Brolin in No Country was like that. They're such bigger stars than I am but you see why they are in a way because they're confident enough that they want you to be good as well. They don't need to play any games. It's just about can you tell your half of the story with me? Yes. We can tell a great story together. Viggo's very much like that. He's a real artist. He cares about what speaks to him. He doesn't care about how much he's paid, doesn't care where he lives, doesn't care how nice the hotel is. He's a horse. I feel like he could go all day, work all day and he's polite and creative and generous. That made it easy. Not only is he physically then gifted and graceful and tough. We had a real good time. It's not much of a fight really, but it's tense. The kid is great too because I handle the kid more. I'm rough with him and he loved it. We're in the freezing rain and it's the snow and he just wanted more and more. It was a great experience.
Crave Online: What do you play in Last House on the Left?
Garrett Dillahunt: Did you see the original?
Crave Online: Yeah.
Garrett Dillahunt: Are you a fan?
Crave Online: I'm conflicted.
Garrett Dillahunt: I think that's the reason why Wes was open to having it done again. I think there are scenes he would have liked to have done differently or do again. It's not like our budget was huge but it was bigger than obviously his first movie. I played Krug who's really my first lead in a movie. It's the main bad guy. We saw it just before Christmas I guess, they showed it to us. It is rough.
Crave Online: That's the question. Is it as hardcore as the original?
Garrett Dillahunt: I don't know if it'll be seen as being as hardcore because that was something new at the time. There's something about that story that's also very primal. I think people f*cking with your family is a real primal thing that happens to all of us. The most mild mannered of us can vision real violence if someone threatens our families or people we love. It's like what am I capable of? Maybe I've never been in a fight in my life but I'm not going to rest until I'm dead to try to stop you from doing something to my family. It thrusts this normal group of people into that very situation. I think there's a lot of sympathy for Krug in a way. You can see how life has frustrated him but he's taken it out the wrong way. But the end result, which I think is rare in a horror movie, I really cared about the victims, but you really care about this family which is odd. I didn't know that it was odd until it happened when I saw it. It left me feeling mugged and beat up. I felt tired after I'd seen it. It's just relentless cruelty and tension, just relentless tension. It went by really fast and it's tested really well. The audience has been skeptical too because there's been a lot of people who are fans of the original that thought this was a horrible idea. I don't think they'll be disappointed.
Crave Online: Sounds like they went for it.
Garrett Dillahunt: Yeah, boy, ugh. There are some scenes you're just like why? What's the purpose of that?
Crave Online: You weren't sure how it would go over now, since we've seen so much. Did they have to up it, because that rape scene is still so awful you feel bad for watching it.
Garrett Dillahunt: Well, I think that's the most important thing. You'll see a lot more blood in Saw movies or something like that than you will in either of the Last House movies. I kind of think it owes more to The Virgin Spring which is the original source material, the Bergman movie. There's a scene in there where these shepherds have raped this girl and then they're sort of horrified by what they've done. One of them kicks some dirt, like he can't take the face. He sort of shovels some dirt and there's just this dirt on her face. She's in this awkward position and it's just so pale, and half under a bush. There's an emptiness about the movie that's different. I don't even know if it's a horror movie is what you should call it. I don't know what it is.
Crave Online: But that's more horrifying to me than crazy contraptions.
Garrett Dillahunt: Like in Dead Man Walking, I felt that way a little bit, when you see the crime that was committed. It actually happened. I thought he was innocent or I hoped he was. Oh my God, he did do that thing. There are some differences in the story but it's basically the same.
Not in any way associated with Crave Entertainment, Inc.
Video
-
A behind the scenes look at the roof stunt from the horror / thriller, The Stepfather. -
"You Need a New House" clip from the cop drama, Brooklyn's Finest, starring Ethan Hawke and Lili Taylor. -
Trailer for the Jackie Chan action film, Shinjuku Incident, set in Japan. -
Trailer for the independent film trilogy, The Red Riding, based on the "Yorkshire Ripper" and his killings during the 1970s / 80s.
Promotions
Hook up with CraveOnline on Facebook.
Get all the latest updates from CraveOnline on Twitter!
Check it Out!!
Check out the newest installment of our Crave original video series!