In the new film THE GREY, after suffering a horrific plane crash, a small group of oil drillers are forced to survive in the Alaskan wilderness. And one by one, nature – as well as a clever pack of wolves – begins to leave its mark on the group. Actor Dallas Roberts (THE GOOD WIFE, 3:10 TO YUMA) turns in an incredibly refined, understated, and elegant performance as Henrick, whose perhaps the quietest member of this macho crew.
During the publicity tour for the film, we were lucky to speak with the good-humored actor over the phone. And word of warning to you: THIS INTERVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS!
VA: How did you prepare for your role? Or did you decide to go the “method” route?
Dallas Roberts: “Well, the great thing about the way Joe shot it, you had no choice but to be method. You were really quickly up a hill in negative 35 degree temperature in 60 mile per hour winds – trudging across the tundra. So in that sense it was really refreshing because you don’t have to pretend anything. I’m always sort of conscious of the feeling that I’m bullshitting when I’m doing my job. Much of my job is bullshitting and I don’t like that feeling particularly. When your up on the side of the hill like we were, there’s no time for bullshitting. I was ecstatic!”
VA: Since we’re talking about the frigid temperatures, did the natural elements make it harder to nail the takes?
“It felt like the fact that your mouth wouldn’t move right was just a part of what was actually happening. I can’t recall ever having to re-do a scene because no one could understand what you were saying or anything like that. We were also working with five hours of sunlight so it was sort of bang, bang, bang, Move it along. You’ve also got camera gear freezing up and people who were working the camera, lights, etc. are standing out with icicles on their beards, six inches long so it took a toll on everyone but I think everyone was excited to be up there.”
VA: What was the most difficult scene for you to shoot?
“Probably the drowning just because, you know, it was 12 hours underwater basically. The emotion is pretty clear but you’re acting underwater for the most part. That was probably the most rigorous thing to shoot. Then the challenges in terms of like actor stuff, I tend to get more challenged when I have to deliver lines like, ‘What should we have for dinner? Do you want pizza or soup?’ That’s where I’ll freak myself out. So out there doing what we were doing, it was really comforting to know what we were doing, we were all in it and we weren’t going to have to lie.”
VA: Since we’re talking about your character’s death scene, were bummed you didn’t get eaten by wolves and instead they just threw you into the river?
“No, I was thrilled. Especially in a movie with seven or eight guys. Any difference you can differentiate from the other ones is great. Henrick doesn’t talk a whole lot so trying to have him be the cautious observant guy rather than the ‘Diaz’ type or the more blustery. You just try to carve out a little corner for yourself. It was great the wolves didn’t get me and also for the story it’s just so brutal for him. He’s literally gone from a civilized human to someone fighting for his life for days. And he’s just starting to entertain the notion of civilization coming back to him. Really being able to see it – smell the smoke from the chimneys. He just makes a bad step and everything goes wrong. Now he’s gonna drown?! It’s just brutal for him.”
VA: It was so emotional and a wallop that this is how he’s gonna go. And hope was coming back a little bit. “There could be a cabin down the river…”
“Exactly!”
VA: The whole film was incredibly harrowing but I think y’all successfully prey on the audiences’ collective common fears. And I’d wager you had the most difficult stunt in the film. I’m sure there was some special effects utilized – running and jumping into the tree to hook up that line – but as an audience member you really are hoping he doesn’t “go” this way.
“Absolutely! It all goes back to when I was seven and I wanted to be an actor. That’s what I was hoping for is windswept locations and jumping out of planes, riding horses, and shooting guns. So it was really fun to be able to do those things. When I jump off the cliff, that’s my amazing stunt guy, really jumping off a high cliff – not as high as it looks on screen as they matted in a much deeper chasm. But yeah to get through all of that and then to slip and die in two inches of water. He must be so bummed.”
VA: Were there any fears you had to overcome whilst making the film? What was your biggest challenge you faced while making THE GREY?
“I wasn’t afraid of heights or I wasn’t afraid of wolves or anything like that. I knew when I was shooting it, I was telling the people I love and who I hang out with, like this is one of the ones that’s going to stick with me – not knowing what it’s gonna do at the box office or what mark its gonna leave in terms of culture. I just knew this was going to be different from a lot of the others because of the people and experience. We all bonded so quickly partially because I’m sure we were going through such extreme temperature and conditions, etc. But when those people got together and opened up like that, it was literally as much fun to make as it is to watch.”
VA: The cast has such a strong rapport. How did you guys create that strong bond? Did you have rehearsals before or did you guys hang out a lot before shooting?
“There was about ten days of rehearsal before things started. Joe Carnahan and Jules Daly – the director and producer – would create this culture where there was a dinner every night and there was a movie before the dinner and there were other activities going on. So you spent a lot of time with each other rather quickly. There wasn’t a lot going on as everybody going off to their hotel room and then we don’t see you until the next day. We started hanging out real hard, real quick. And then very quickly took that same thing and stuck it on a mountain where all eight of us were crammed into a tiny snowcat cab with no delineation. Liam Neeson is just as cold as you are and is struggling to get his gloves off just the way you are to eat before you go back outside. So that snowcat turned into a locker room really quick. We started talking about girls, food, and cars – whatever heck else you talk about. We made each other laugh and made each other furious and crazy. Then it was easy to go out and you knew who you were talking to when you were in front of the camera.”
VA: Since we are talking about Joe, had you always been a fan of his? What was it like collaborating with him?
“I’d been a huge fan of NARC. I hadn’t seen SMOKIN’ ACES or THE A-TEAM until I came onto this film. I had no idea who I was dealing with because I didn’t meet him before he hired me. I put myself on tape from New York City and sent it off into the dark void that tapes go into and the difference was this time, a couple weeks later, Joe called me and said, ‘Hey brother. We’re going up the mountain. You’re going to be freezing. You’ve got to come do this with me.’ I was taken with the script immediately. I was really taken with his enthusiasm and the promise of real crazy, once in a lifetime experience on a mountain North of Vancouver. The great things about working with Joe is you get to hang out with him when he gets to do the thing he loves to do the most in the entire world- and that’s make movies. He’s a big kid and he’s having fun. It’s not completely a laugh. He’s often challenging you to make it deeper and make it real, but he’s also playing fart noise during your takes to try to make you laugh. So you get on the bus really early in the morning to work for that guy. You’re excited to be there.”
VA: THE GREY is intense, but it’s also very intimate. What was the most memorable day you had on set?
“Getting in the river with this sort of spacesuit protection. And then getting to go down the rapids with a guy in a scuba suit in front of you with the camera and really try to grab onto the ice. That was incredibly fun. A couple of days later, we spent an entire day in a glorified giant bathtub for him underwater – with Liam trying to save him. At that point it was kind of bittersweet because as the movie progressed, when a character would die, because we were largely shooting in sequence. When a character would die, that actor would get on a plane and go somewhere else. So you really felt people going away and by that point it was just Liam and I and the director, costume designer, and cinematographer – that sort of thing. But it was like, ‘Wow! I can’t believe this thing is almost over and that there’s just the two of us left.’ And that there’s just two of us in an aquarium for fourteen hours with me underwater.”
VA: I noticed you’ve worked with Director James Mangold twice before. Kind of a stretch but do you think now having worked with wolves, you’ll be hired on for THE WOLVERINE?
[Laughs] “Is Mangold doing WOLVERINE? Who knows…”
VA: It’s so early on but you never know…
“If they need a wolf consultant, I will jump in.”
THE GREY opens January 27.
