Atlantica - 01.02.2006, Page 18

16 AT L A N T I CA
It’s past midnight on the final night of an eight-week shooting schedule. The
rumor floating around the set of A Little Trip to Heaven – a psychological thriller
directed by Icelandic filmmaker Baltasar Kormákur – is that Forest Whitaker is
depressed.
Supposedly, one of Whitaker’s sons is having a birthday, and the actor would
rather be home with his family. I can’t blame Whitaker for feeling melancholy.
Iceland’s a long way from home. Plus, it’s late October and winter has arrived
early, as it so often does up here at 66˚ North. The frigid temperature and harsh
wind have chased much of the crew inside who are not directly involved with the
scene currently being shot. The location is a two-lane highway running between
nowhere and the small coastal town of Eyrarbakki, southwest Iceland.
Whitaker has retreated to his trailer, which, this being an indie film, is most
likely smaller than he’s used to. As I walk in accompanied by a cameraman, it’s a
tight squeeze around the table where the robust actor sits, dressed in a brown
overcoat and stocking cap – the signature look of his character. Whitaker plays
an insurance investigator who gets in over his head as he travels to a small
town and wrangles over a one million dollar life insurance policy his company
apparently owes to Isold (Julia Stiles) and Fred (Jeremy Renner), her gruff
husband.
So how did the 45-year old actor, who’s starred in such hit films as Good
Morning Vietnam and Panic Room, and directed the warm-hearted Hope Floats
and the popular Waiting to Exhale, wind up in Baltasar Kormákur’s first English-
language feature?
“I was intrigued by the script,” he answers in his trademark soft, empathetic
voice.
“Baltasar and I met. That was the key. Meeting Baltasar and seeing his vision,
or feeling his vision.”
As we talk, it becomes apparent that the rumor isn’t true. While a bit tired
from the late hour, Whitaker proves to be anything but down. The more he
speaks in those recognizable mellow tones, the more it becomes apparent why
moviegoers naturally sympathize with his on-screen characters: the bad guy
with a conscience in Panic Room, the honest cop trying to save a corrupt but
innocent ticket scalper in Phone Booth, or the klutzy but good-natured private
in Good Morning Vietnam.
Edward Weinman: What attracted you to the character of Abe Holt?
Forest Whitaker: Holt is a person who goes step by step and analyzes things.
That’s his whole life. He’s now struggling with the choices he’s made in life. He’s
on a line to go in one direction or another, to stay where he is or take another
path. That type of struggle is interesting to me.
EW: You speak with a midwestern accent in the film, and even now as we talk you
slip in and out of it. Why incorporate such an accent?
FW: For me, the accent helped define the character. Helped define his nature.
That’s the thing about accents. People move differently according to the way
they speak; they make different choices. I’m glad that choice was made. It really
helped me find the character.
EW: Is it usually difficult for you to understand the characters that you portray?
Forest Whitaker believes a film is like a dream. The veteran actor talks about his latest movie, the soon-to-be released A Little Trip to Heaven.
By Edward Weinman.
HOLLYWOOD
Finding Forest
Text by Edward Weinman. Photos courtesy of Óttar Gudnason
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