At last, the Peña drops ...
Chicago actor Michael Peña has crammed a lot of roles into a short career. He probably first appeared on most people’s radar as Will Jimeno, one of the police officers trapped in the collapsed remains of the World Trade Center in Oliver Stone’s film of the same name. This week he appears in Lions For Lambs, Robert Redford’s analysis of the ‘War on Terror’ as an idealistic young student who’s signed up to fight. Screenjabber's Neil Davey caught up with him.
What drew you to the film?
Four reasons. First, I thought it was a really cool script. The other three reasons were Robert Redford, Meryl Streep and Tom Cruise. This movie is kind of an event. I don't know when three iconic figures like this will be in another movie together. They've all been nominated, they've had huge success, they're respected, they're huge stars, they've cemented their place in Hollywood. They're all known for good work. I don't know when I'd have that opportunity again.
You don’t get to interact with Cruise or Streep in the film. Did you ever get to meet them?
One day I just went in: I said I forgot a pencil! I just went in and watched them, they were filming their scenes, and without missing a beat, the scene ends, the door opens and Tom Cruise is there, shaking my hand and saying 'Mike, how you doing, bud?' I don't know how he knew I was there. I was like 'hey, yeah, how you doing? I was just checking you guys out. I'll leave now...!' [Laughs.]
He's a very nice guy. At the premieres, he'll be signing autographs for three hours. I mean, some people get a little antsy sitting in a classroom for an hour and a half but he'll be out there for three hours. He’s very personable, and so is Robert Redford. He's no slouch. They're both movie stars and you can tell right away they're movie stars. I really wanted to work with Meryl Streep, but maybe another film...
Without giving too much away, you’ve spent quite a lot of time ‘injured’ in the name of the "war on terror"? With this and World Trade Center on your CV, is it fair to say that you’re quite politically motivated?
Not really. It just happened that these were the movies I was offered. I want to be in movies that entertain me. I want to be able to have characters I can follow, and a good all round story. I do stories that I think are interesting and, usually, the great scripts go to the great directors: if I was a screenwriter, I would want the best director to make it. I'm working with Oliver Stone again in December [in Pinkville] which will be interesting. We're going to be in Thailand, Vietnam and I think Cambodia.
Did you notice much difference in Stone and Redford's techniques?
If you were to compare them to music, Oliver Stone prefers sweeping opera, a big movement. Redford is more a Miles Davis kind of a guy, a little more off the cuff. It's not a lot of improv but it feels like improv. He shoots very quickly. It's very real, the way that he tells a story feels spontaneous.
The target audience for the film, the sort of people it most needs to reach are probably the people who are switching off the news...
That's another reason to do the movie. It raises questions that I didn't ask. It's a drama, an entertainment piece, but then it brings up issues of what's going on today. I think that's a beautiful take to have on this subject, so that people will ask questions. But I don't think they'll do that unless you entertain and move them.
And you all manage to do it in a very swift 90 minutes.
I don't like long movies. Two and half hours takes a bit out of me to just sit there but this is an hour and a half, people get their entertainment and get out. I really liked it. That's the beauty of Redford, he tells you what you need to know.
How did you prepare for the role?
I work a lot off the script but the things I don't understand or don't quite get, if there's any question, I go and do research to get the proper answers. I talked to friends who went to war, who fought in Afghanistan, to find out why they went off. That was really interesting. Their reasons weren't as dramatic as I thought they were going to be. They said 'I just thought I should fight for my country' and they said it in such a matter-of-fact way, like 'could you pass me those matches?' as simple as that. So I talked to them, and watched some documentaries, and studied a little about pain and unconsciousness too.
Was it a location shoot?
We shot in Chatworth California. Production Designer Jan Roelfs built a platform in the valley between two mountains so you could put lights on the mountains, and bring cameras and a lot of people in. They added fake snow to the real snow. For our parts, we had real snow underneath us to form a good slushy layer for us to be in... That was the tough part of the shoot, being in that for 10-12 hours a day. That just gives you the smallest semblance to what's going on over there.