(l-r) Johnny Whitworth and Michael Weston. Image Copyright(C) Movie Jungle International, INC. This image may not
be used or duplicated elsewhere without express written permission.
At ComicCon 2007 we caught up with two of the ‘bad guys’ in MGM’s thriller “Pathology,” chat about getting set on fire and more.
About Michael Weston:
Born 1973 in New York, N.Y.
Making a name for himself in both film and TV, Michael Weston has notched in credits for TV’s “Scrubs.” “ER,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” “Six Feet Under” and theatrically in well-remembered releases such as “Garden State,” “The Dukes of Hazzard” and our personal favorite of the list “The Last Kiss.” A versatile actor who embodies his character with ease in a variety of genres.
About Johnny Whitworth:
Born October 31st, 1975 in Charleston, South Carolina.
Johnny Whitmore has30 credits to his name consisting of both TV and theatrical releases. Theatrically, Johnny’s made a name for himself with a naturally cool and charming character. He’s acted in “Empire Records,” “Valentine,” “The Rainmaker” and more recently in the Sienna Miller starrer “Factory Girl.”
Most notably in TV, he’s played in 5 episodes of C.S.I: Crime Scene Investigation,” “Numb3rs,” “Without a Trace” to mention a few.
You’ll be seeing Johnny next in the Russell Crowe and Christian Bale western drama in “3:10 to Yuma.”
Question to Michael Weston:
Did you see it?
Michael Weston:
“Yeah we actually saw it on the way up here in the car for the first time.”
Michael Weston and Lauren Lee Smith. Image Copyright(C) Movie Jungle International, INC. This image may not
be used or duplicated elsewhere without express written permission.
Question:
So are the league of Pathologists mad at you guys?
Johnny Whitworth:
“I hope so!”
*Michael Weston laughs*
Michael Weston:
“I don’t know. On the side of Pathology, I don’t feel that they’re going to be offended by it, but I feel like…yeah maybe, whatever. If they come after us I hope they get Johnny!”
*laughter*
Question:
They’re asked about dealing with the film’s subject matter, trying to distance themselves and how they dealt with the whole thing. (Basically put, did the film upset you and were you able to work?)
Michael Weston:
“I Don’t know. I actually found that after coming out of the morgue I felt sort of closer to all of this. I felt like I just had a much deeper understanding of what it is to be alive and consequently sort of what death is. Because, after seeing the morgue and looking at all those dead bodies, in seeing how they’re being treated, it’s very pragmatic how when a body comes in and it’s just lying there in front of you, you lose some of the…You see it really has no life in it, it has no spirit in it, or whatever it is that keeps us clipping along. So I found myself contemplating life and death afterwards as I was just driving home and having a really different sensibility about it. You know, seeing each human being thing in them and we’re sort of just operating these bodies…I don’t know, it gave me a very different perspective on my life and death as sort of less fearful or something. I don’t know, how about you?” he asks Johnny Whitworth.
Johnny Whitworth:
“It made me hungry!
*Michael Weston laughs*
Michael Weston:
“ He went right out for a burger! A rare burger!”
Johnny Whitworth:
“It’s true I did, I was hungry. I don’t remember what the question was but….”
*laughter*
Michael Weston:
“Did it really? I didn’t eat for like till way later in the evening.”
Someone comments about the primal responses to death being either eating or sex.
Johnny Whitworth:
“Yeah! I tried to have sex with my eggs! It didn’t work, they were too runny!”
*laughter*
Johnny Whitworth. Image Copyright(C) Movie Jungle International, INC. This image may not
be used or duplicated elsewhere without express written permission.
Question:
I ask about working with Marc Schoelermann with this being his first feature-length film in comparison to his prior shorts history.
Johnny Whitworth:
“He was great man. He definitely had a clear vision. Being for me, it was in a world that I hadn’t, as far as like so much death around me…trying to be a natural around that. I had to put a lot of trust in him as I was busy trying to adjust to other things and to like try portray something real. He often said to me, because I had a lot of questions, I’d go ‘Why’s this? Why’s that?’ And then it’s like ‘Just trust me ok!’ And I did and fortunately I saw it yesterday and was like “Wow! That scene did not feel that way! It was totally f#cking awkward!’ But then it came out beautifully. “
Michael Weston:
He has a really strong sensibility. Him and the DP Ekkehart [Director of Photography Ekkehart Pollack] worked on like a bunch of other projects together like fifty commercials or something like that.”
Johnny Whitworth:
“Like one hundred and twenty five!”
Michael Weston:
“Or one hundred and twenty five. And they were like buddies and they like worked so fast.”
Johnny Whitworth:
“In German!”
Michael Weston:
“Yeah! And they talked in German all the time. But they’re really fast and sometimes they were even faster than we could keep up with. Yeah, when we saw the movie yesterday we were like blown away because some of those little scenes that you do in the beginning of the movie where you just can’t…it’s very hard to sort of know exactly what the temperament of the scene is in the view of the director. So you really need a director to put it in his mind and be very clear about it and he was. We then watched those scenes and be life ‘Good! They work. They’re right!’ And the pitch was right, and the pacing was right and the emotional content was right. All that stuff you know. In the beginning of the movie, those are always the hardest scenes for me. So it was great.”
Johnny Whitworth:
“Yeah you start to adjust to the temperament of the film.”
Michael Weston:
“Yeah, and you’re not sure exactly what it is.”
Johnny Whitworth:
“It takes you about three days until you get acclimated with what’s going on and you’re like lost until you find your groove.”
Michael Weston. Image Copyright(C) Movie Jungle International, INC. This image may not
be used or duplicated elsewhere without express written permission.
Michael Weston:
“Yeah, you don’t know the director, you don’t really exactly know what his vision is and what he’s got in his mind and you’re just meeting all the actors and seeing how they work and what their rhythms are and you know, by the end of the movie, you sort of know what you’re doing.”
Question:
So what was the most intense scene?
Michael Weston:
“There were a bunch of them in different ways. There’s sort of an array of stuff that goes on. Some of the hardest intensity is just really subtle. Like you’re not doing really very much but there’s a lot going on between you and the actors. And there’s a lot of sort of…you know…below the words, a lot of sort of subtext happening in the silences which I love. I felt that our group did a lot and there were some really high-powered energy scenes were also demanding and sort of crazy. We didn’t really know what we were going to do on the day. It’s a really great creative process and you sort of do it on the spot and it sort of evolves as the day of shooting goes on. And we were both lit on fire!”
Question:
How was that?
Johnny Whitworth:
“Uh! That was interesting.”
He talks a bit about playing Griffin as a character without a connection to anything and quickly gets to talking about the fire.
“But something really amazing is that all of us got lit on fire! And I don’t know how that was allowed to happen! They did a great job too! But for the sake of the film, it really helps sell it when you’re seeing this guy crawling out of a room on fire.”
Michael Weston:
“They were also like…Neveldine [writer] was like ‘Yeah I’ll do it! You wanna get lit on fire!’ He was like ‘You want me to stick this needle in me? I’ll do it, look! It doesn’t hurt!’ *laughter*
Johnny Whitworth:
“I was sitting there and they said ‘Hey man, what do you think of maybe lighting yourself on fire just, you know it will be really good for the movie and we can catch your face, we don’t have to do waves.’ And I’d be like…’uhhh, are you joking?’ Then I was like ‘Ok! If you do it, I’ll do it!’ and then he did it! Just because how many times do you get to be lit on fire!
Michael Weston:
“Then come away smiling and have a rare burger afterwards!”
