CraveOnline: Are you particular on set? Are there certain details in Paranoia that you were…?
Liam Hemsworth: Yeah, I’m very particular about what I wear.
Is it because of the character, or because you know what makes you look good?
No, because of the character. I think clothing is one of the biggest tools we have to show different things, and backstory.
We’re not allowed to smoke anymore, so clothing is the prop we get.
We’re not “allowed” to smoke anymore…?
Well, it seems like it used to be ubiquitous. It used to be said that the best props an actor could have are a hat and a cigarette.
Yeah.
And now nobody wears hats, and smoking…
It’s definitely decreased a lot, yeah.
It’s not “cool” anymore, so you have to find other ways.
Yeah, I didn’t smoke in this one, no… When I find my character, clothing is such a great tool. You have different hair that you go through in different scenes […] Little things you wouldn’t really think about. Or even not shaving that day. That can show a certain thing. But I’m particular about. I’m particular about things like if I’m sitting in my office, and things that are on the desk that I think shouldn’t be there or should be there, or certain props I have sometimes. All these things tell a story, and tell “the” story.
My favorite scene in the movie is actually at the end, with you and Richard Dreyfuss at a baseball game. He has this really sweet thing where he puts his head on your shoulder.
Yeah!
Did you know he was going to do that?
No, no, he’s such a… He’s a great actor. He’s so in the moment. It’s not like… There’s certain actors you work with [who] you know are trying to achieve something, or you can kind of see what they’re trying to do. Richard is so just there with you, and so honest. He has no filter for anything. He’s just honest, and we did that scene and he kind of looks at me, and looks at me like I’m his son. A real fatherly look. And he put his head on my shoulder, and yeah, it’s a really, really nice moment. We didn’t even plan for that or anything, he just such an honest actor. He doesn’t fake anything. He’s just being there and doing what he thinks is right.
I was talking to Lucas Till, and he was talking about basing a lot of his character on being a mirror to yours. Like, the way you dress…? Not so much. Tell me about the relationship between your characters, because he’s the only character you get to hang out with who isn’t deeply ingrained in corruption.
Yeah, the scenes I have with him are the most… You see a completely different side of the character too, because he’s not trying to be anything. He’s not trying to impress anyone. He’s not putting on this face. He’s just either walking down the street drinking a beer with him or telling him all his ideas. It was a fun character to working with because [Laughs] he was almost like a younger brother. Not [Lucas Till] in real life, but the character, because my character would just kind of vent all his ideas and all his everything to this guy. But he’s great. He’s a great actor. I really enjoyed working with him.
Paranoia strikes me as a movie that could conceivably have an R-rated director’s cut. If this were made in 1994…
Yeah, there’d be more killing and stuff…
There’d be more killing, there’d be actual nudity in the sex scenes. Was there any of that, or was everyone really conscious about making Paranoia really accessible?
No, I think these days nobody wants to make R-rated films.
That’s too bad.
Not me, I think mostly producers, things like that, they want it to appeal to as much of the audience as possible. [Laughs] So yeah. It would be nice though. It would be nice to have a lot more blood, nudity…
Is that the kind of movie you want to make? What do you want to make now that your star is rising and you get to pick more…?
I don’t know. I just finished a film called Cut Bank. It’s a dark, kind of Middle America thriller set in Cut Bank, Montana. We actually shot it in Edmonton though, but it’s set in Cut Bank. It has John Malkovich and Billy Bob Thornton, Michael Stuhlbarg, Teresa Palmer, it has a really small cast. It was a great experience. It’s, again, a much different film to what I’ve done before. I’m playing a much rougher, edgier kind of character. He’s a young guy that’s basically trying to get out of where he lives and he goes about it all wrong, and ends up in a very dangerous situation. It was a completely different character, much more reserved, held back, internal character to anyone else I’ve played. It was a lot of fun. I really had a lot of fun with all those guys. John Malkovich is such an interesting person, and such a fun actor to work with. Same with Billy Bob. He’s a great guy.
As for what I want to shoot next, I don’t know. I read as many scripts as I can, and just find stuff that I think is interesting, find stories that I think are worth telling.
William Bibbiani is the editor of CraveOnline’s Film Channel and co-host of The B-Movies Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
