Simone from Hedlund Brasil saved us all from the horrors of Google Translate and translated this article for us. Thanks, Si!
A candidate for James Dean in “On The Road”
At the age of 27, Garrett Hedlund was compared to the Hollywood heartthrob because of his wayward hero looks
RIO – Despite of the split that it provokes among the critics wherever it goes, Walter Salles’ “On The Road” has been praised, wherever it goes, for the same thing: Garrett Hedlund’s performance. At the Cannes Festival, where it was competing for the Palme D’Or, the actor, born 27 years ago in Roseau, Minnesota, was pointed out as a new James Dean, with his wayward hero looks. Known among Brazilians as the hero in “Tron: Legacy” (2010), Hedlund was cast to personify Dean Moriarty (the alter ego to Neal Cassady), a role that ignites all the turnarounds in the movie.
- Before shooting, Walter brought me to Brazil, where I flew on a hand glider and I could see Rio from up above. The view that you have is privileged – says Hedlund, on the phone with Globo, reminiscing about the beginning of his career, standing beside Brad Pitt in Wolfgang Petersen’s “Troy” (2004). – One day, when I was a kid, my mother made me watch “A River Runs Through It”, starring Brad, and said “See how well he does it. One day you might stand beside him.”
Faithful to the book, Salles’ version to “On The Road” follows the trips (geographical and hallucinogen-induced) made by Moriarty besides his aspiring writer friend, Sal Paradise (Kerouac’s alter ego, played by Sam Riley). They both share Marylou’s love, played by Kristen Stewart (Bella, from the Twilight series).
- I signed the contract for “On The Road” in 2007, long before I was called to work in “Tron: Legacy”, and we only shot in 2009. I was very scared to be too old for Moriarty’s role when we were shooting. But I spent so much time writing about my own experiences in the countryside that Walter though I had preserved the freshness that he wanted. At that moment I was going through a period of great dissatisfaction with my career and I had the chance to be with Walter in a project that revisited all the beat tradition. They expressed a universe that was completely different from mine – says the actor, that was in nine movies since his breakout role, including the box office hit “Eragon” (2006), with his idol, John Malkovich.
Proud of his association with Jane Fonda in “Georgia Rule” (2007), Hedlund says that he belongs to a generation of young people who left their homes through sport, to play football or run tracks, in schools and universities in other cities.
- Unlike us, Kerouac’s generation left their homes to discover the world through plain freedom – says Hedlund, who has just finished his participation in the Coen Brothers new movie, “Inside Llewin Davis”, set to be released in 2013. – Among the many good things about working with the Coens, there’s the fact that they came from Minnesota, like me. We have the same origins. And in the movie, I get to work with John Goodman and Oscar Isaacs.
Hedlund says that working with Salles has brought him closer to the south-american reality.
- Walter supports many Latin directors from the new generation. This work is just as important as the movies he makes.
Related posts:
- ”It’s the end of the road, really. This was the stop sign.”
- Walter Salles’ Journey to On The Road
- Garrett Hedlund will bring Dean Moriarty to life
- Garrett Hedlund goes On The Road
This entry was posted on Sunday, July 15th, 2012 at 8:10 pm and is filed under Articles, MH.com, On The Road. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
