We Got This Covered: What kind of director was John Hillcoat?
Dane DeHaan: He’s about as gentle as his movies are violent. He’s such a gentle person. We had two weeks of rehearsal where we all sat down at a table and went through the script, answered any questions or made changes. So, when we were shooting, everyone was ready to go. We did thirty setups a day. We went super fast. We didn’t have time to think about it when we were doing it. He was really great and collaborative and he was good at making sure we were ready to do it before we started.
We Got This Covered: Had you ever experienced that kind of pace before?
Dane DeHaan: My TV experience is very unique. In Treatment is shot in two days, every episode. When you stand up in In Treatment, it’s called an action sequence (laughs). I’ve gone faster on films, but we did have to move fast on this one.
We Got This Covered: Any plans to do more theater?
Dane DeHaan: I would love to. Theater is where I started. I used to do a lot of it. If the right thing came along, I would totally do it. Just like any project, it’s about finding the right one, the next one that’ll challenge you and be the most exciting. I grew up doing theater and then I did theater for two years out of school.
Film, for me, is like a whole new world. It’s really interesting. It’s a whole new side of it that I never got to do before. So, there’s a part of me that did theater for twenty-three years. I’ve only been doing films for three years. I always want theater to be a part of my life. I’m just not sure what the project will be to take me back in.
We Got This Covered: You’ve been very successful in the last three years. How do you stay grounded?
Dane DeHaan: My personal life is a big part of that. Being married helps. Having somebody that I met before the craziness happened who really knows who I am as a person and isn’t coming in with any preconceived notions, someone that I can really trust. I’m also really aware that I’m one of the lucky ones. I kind of won the lottery.
There’s millions of people that want to do this. I know I went to school with 18 of them and they’re all really good and they don’t get to do this and that’s messed up, but the fact of the matter is so few people get to do it and I feel so lucky to be able to do it. It’s what I’ve always wanted to do. So, I just try to stay focused on that, stay focused on the work and keep doing it for all the right reasons.
We Got This Covered: What can you tell me about The Place Beyond the Pines?
Dane DeHaan: I can’t go into too much detail about that, but I can say that I’ve never been more proud to be a part of anything in my life than The Place Beyond the Pines. I think the movie is amazing. It’s going to Toronto and I can’t wait until it’s shown to the world. I’m a big fan of Derek [Cianfrance].
I loved Blue Valentine and The Place Beyond the Pines has that gritty realness of Blue Valentine. I think it’s epic in scope and plot like The Godfather. That movie was such a fulfilling process to make and to see the fruits of our labor was unbelievably fulfilling. So, that’s project that I can’t wait to be shown to the world.
We Got This Covered: How about Kill Your Darlings?
Dane DeHaan: That was about the Beat Poets in college. It stars me and Dan Radcliffe. He plays Alan Ginsberg before people knew him as they do today. My character is Lucien Carr, who was not a poet, but the catalyst for the Beat Poet movement. It’s kind of about the Ginsberg/Carr relationship and how that relationship inspired Ginsberg to become Ginsberg at the time that Lucien Carr committed this murder. It’s really a complex, interesting, true story.
We Got This Covered: Did you and Daniel form an instant chemistry?
Dane DeHaan: Me and Daniel have become really close friends. He’s really awesome. He’s really sweet and he’s totally an actor for all the right reasons. We still keep in touch and he’s a really cool guy. It can be tough to make friends within this business, but he’s definitely one the first true friends I feel I’ve made. We definitely had a great time working together. We kind of played lovers in the movie and in our way, fell in love with each other, I guess.
We Got This Covered: Is the camaraderie in the theater world different than TV or features?
Dane DeHaan: I think so. When you’re doing a three person play and doing the same play eight times a week, and you’re going through the same moment of that person’s life, inevitably, you form a really tight bond with those people. Your lives are spent with those people doing the same thing.
On a film set, it’s different scenes every day. It’s different people in the scenes every day. No movie only has three people in it. You’re working with a whole set of people. So, it’s more of a meditative, nurturing process. Because people go through that together, it’s probably easier to forge a relationship.
That concludes our interview but we’d like to thank Dane for talking with us. Be sure to check out Lawless, now in theatres.
