CraveOnline: I’m really happy to hear you’re in such a good place. I realize you did some TV episodes too. Did Away From Here come first, or did you do the shows and then this?
Nick Stahl: We filmed this first.
One thing we like to do at CraveOnline is talk about your classic work also. I first saw you in The Man Without a Face. Was that a big deal both for your big screen debut and Mel Gibson establishing himself as the director we know he became?
Yeah, that’s really what started a lot of it for me. I had done a couple TV movies the couple years previous, starting when I was about 10 but that was my first feature film. That was really the first movie I did where I was like, “Hey, maybe I can really do this and keep doing it.” I loved doing it so it was very encouraging. I could really do something I loved to do. So yes, that was really fun at that age to do something like that.
With The Thin Red Line, we hear actors’ stories about the process of working with Terrence Malick. What was your experience?
It was great. He’s a really amazing guy. I grew up a lot on that movie. I was 17 years old. There was a lot of older actors I respected for so long working on it, so I was just trying to learn a lot and I was learning a lot. At the same time, growing up a little bit. I was turning from a teenager into adulthood a bit so it was a transformative time for me. Malick was a really interesting guy, really great to work with.
What can you tell us about American Dream?
American Dream is the story of two brought to American kids like young guys who are trying to invest their money into this scheme basically. They’re being extorted by this guy and he sort of ruins their life, and that’s me. It’s not really a feel good movie of the year but it’s Janusz Kaminski’s new movie.
So it’s a dark character?
It’s a dark character, it is, and sort of sadistic kind of bad guy.
Fred Topel is a staff writer at CraveOnline and the man behind Best Episode Ever and Shelf Space Weekly. Follow him on Twitter at @FredTopel.
