Dominated by long, quiet scenes occasionally punctuated by abrupt acts of violence, No Country for Old Men
demands a great deal from its actors. Yet Joel and Ethan Coen's
riveting adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's novel – which makes its North
American premiere at TIFF and goes into wide release in November – is
anchored by great performances by Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin and
Javier Bardem. A journeyman actor who's belatedly getting his due,
Brolin plays Moss, a west Texan cowboy who foolishly absconds with a
bunch of stolen drug money. Conveying much menace in spite of his
Prince Valiant haircut, Bardem is Chigurh, the killer who's determined
to retrieve it. Judging by an interview with them at Cannes, there's no
such off-screen animosity between the two men, who prefer to yuk it up
as much as possible. (See review page 27.)
No Country for Old Men has echoes of so many great movie westerns – was it exciting to work in this genre?
Brolin: It's nice to be in a neo-western, or whatever you want to
call it, but to have it be as primitive as the classic westerns as
opposed to some MTV version of a western. It goes back to character,
and I love the fact that the Coens didn't use much music, if any. That
could have really backfired horribly. The movie could have been
extremely boring. But you're confronted with these characters and
you're allowed to like or dislike them. I think most studios would've
demanded a soundtrack or at least faster cutting. The fact that people
are embracing the film as much as they are is a testament to people
wanting character movies back as opposed to what's happening in
something like Poseidon.
Javier's haircut in the film is, uh, unusual, especially for
a guy who's pretty much the embodiment of evil. Who's responsible for
that?
Bardem: Paul [Leblanc] the hairdresser came up with that. I went to
his trailer and I had long hair and said, “I don't know what to do with
it.” Paul is kind of a genius and he did some snips. Then the Coens
came in the trailer and they started to laugh. I saw Ethan falling down
crying. I said, “Wh-wh-what's happening? Why are you laughing? I need a
mirror.” Then I saw it and thought, “Fuck... we have a character and I
have a problem.”
Brolin: He started welling up in the eyes and he looked at me and said, “I'm not gonna get laid for three months.”
Bardem: That was one year ago and I still can't get laid.
Did the Coens give you much freedom to shape your characters?
Bardem: On my first day, the Coens grabbed me and said, “Can we
talk to you?” They took me into a room and said, “We don't know what
you want or what you think of the character, but we don't care.”
Brolin: Then they made him sign a confidentiality agreement.
Bardem: I said, “Can I say anything?” They said, “No, you're not
allowed – you're a Spaniard. You're lucky you're even doing this movie.
Sign here, do your hair, kill people and go back to Spain.”
Brolin: So when we had the first rehearsal, I walked in and he was alone, crying.
Bardem: I said, “Is this the American Dream?” But really, I'm a
pain in the ass and an obsessive and I need to have an answer for every
question that comes to my mind. They're always there for you to tell
you what you want to know. They give you options and you can take it or
not. They're not aggressive ones who say, “This is the way it has to
be.”
Brolin: They're very trusting. I think the majority of their
work goes into casting. It was very frustrating for them to find the
people they wanted and thought were accurate for the story. After they
did that, they could focus on the technical stuff and the structure of
the story rather than try to finagle performances of their actors. Not
that you'd be able to do that with Tommy Lee Jones....