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Armored
Coverage by Nobuhiro Hosoki
Story : A crew of officers at an armored transport security firm risk their lives when they embark on the ultimate heist….against their own company. Armed with a seemingly fool-proof plan, the men plan on making off with a fortune with harm to none. But when an unexpected witness interferes, the plan quickly unravels and all bets are off.
Opens December 4, 2009
Q&A with Matt Dillon
(Q): This is your first time in the Apple Store.
(Matt Dillon): Yeah, this is my first time in the Apple Store. I didn’t realize that they actually had a theater in the store.
(Q): Tell us stuff about the movie that we couldn’t get from the trailer.
(Matt Dillon): You guys probably got the whole move in the trailer. No, I’m kidding. I think it’s hard when you work on a film to see it distilled down to short form. The filmmaker, the director, Nimród Antal, is a real master craftsman, and I think the entire ensemble fell in step with him with his vision. And I think that what you might not get entirely from the trailer is that it’s really character based. Characters should be well defined, and it’s a great ensemble.
(Q): Tell us a little about your character and your take on this guy.
(Matt Dillon): I think what I liked about the character was that he’s really a manipulative guy and I like manipulative characters. There’s something very interesting about somebody that’s holding something back. The thing that’s kind of interesting about this guy is applicable to the situation that we’re sort of in now; there’s a line that I say to Columbus Short’s character, “We’re not going to let him take your house,” and this is a legitimate thing that’s going on.
It’s funny, because when I spoke to the producer of the film early on he had brought that up, that it’s an action film, it’s a genre film, but there are things in it that really apply to the times that we’re in and will resonate with people, and that was before things got the way they are.
I think what’s interesting about the character I play is I think a lot of times there’s a lot of importance put on how much, in terms of a character’s arc, how much the character changes, but I think sometimes what’s more important is our perception of that character, that that changes. So we discover more about the person and that’s more interesting sometimes than the person discovering something about themselves.
(Q): This is part of a pretty classic genre; what does it try to do within the genre?
(Matt Dillon): I think the way in which the film tops other genres is the double armored car heist. Instead of being one armored car, there are two armored cars; instead of being $25 million, it’s $50 million. For example, there’s a big chase scene with the two armored trucks and it’s almost like the chariot race in “Ben-Hur”; two armored trucks going through this big steel mill, this big chase sequence.
And in fact, the stunt coordinator, his grandfather drove the chariot in “Ben-Hur” way back then.
So what was interesting about this was instead of us being in a “Poor Man’s Process” which is when they put you in a car and they shake you and they change the lights and they do all this, they actually put us in the trucks and the stunt guys were up in pods on the roofs of the trucks, and they were driving it around. So if they fucked up, we were actually in the truck, so it wasn’t good for us. But that made it fun, or more enjoyable anyway. We weren’t just waiting for the stunt guys to get done, we were in the trucks. All that stuff you’re seeing, we’re really sliding around.
(Q): I read the production notes before coming here and you talked a little bit about research for the film, or how in other films you might research by riding alongside a cop for a cop movie, but this film, because it’s armored cars and armored car drivers, it was a different challenge in terms of researching the character. What kind of research did you do?
(Matt Dillon): When I did that film “Crash” we went around with the LAPD, but they’re not going to let you do that in an armored car. I think the thing that was most important, at least for me, was that the camaraderie that the guys in the film have, the ensemble – Fishburne, myself, Jean Reno, Amaury, Skeet, Columbus, all the guys – that we really have this bond with each other, because it is a film ultimately about trust and betrayal.
And I think that was really key, that that camaraderie was there. And what was good about the way that this director, Nimród, approached it was that it was very spontaneous feeling on the set, a lot of improvisation, and it was very alive. It’s an action film, but this was a really good group of actors to be working with.
(Q): Both of us like Nimród’s first film, “Kontroll”. Is there a clear line from that film to this film? What has he brought from his European filmmaking to this, do you think?
(Matt Dillon): He has real talent and he has real command, he knows what he wants. He wants to make films and hit the audience, he wants maximum impact, he’s not looking to make little personal films necessarily. I mean I don’t want to speak for him. He made his first film in Hungary, which is really interesting; it’s all down in the subway in Budapest and it’s quite beautiful.
And it’s really interesting that you can see the kind of vitality and energy that he has, so he brought that to this set. He knows what he wants, and I think what happens is when the cast trusts the director they’ll go anywhere with him. If they don’t then they rely on their old tricks, but they’ll go the extra distance, they’ll take chances if they really believe in the filmmaker, as was this case with Nimród.
(Matt Dillon): I guess I’ve got to give you a summary of the film. I’m the captain of one of the two armored cars; Jean Reno is the leader of the other truck. We work in two teams of three and the two teams work together to pull of this heist, and we have this whole plan where we take it to this abandoned warehouse and ditch the money there and set the trucks on fire, and that’s the setup. Well, somebody triggers an alarm and that’s when this guy shows up, and of course Skeet is the second sort of killing at the hands of Laurence Fishburne. Or maybe not a killing, but a psychotic action in the film.
(Q): I guess the script was a Nicholl Fellowships winner, or nominee [finalist]. I read a little bit about the writer wanting to do a heist movie, spotting an armored car on the street one day, and thinking it was a great…
(Matt Dillon): That’s a lot of money; it could finance a lot of his other films.
(Q): Where is the logic of this film? Is it a sort of movie logic, or is there a real possibility? Because sometimes heist movies are ingenious within the film, and then sometimes they are…
(Matt Dillon): Well I mean, it’s a logic within the film; you’re going along for the ride. It’s a genre film, it’s an action picture, I forget what the number is, $42 million? That’s a lot of money. A double armored car heist; it’s a pretty ambitious score. Hey, I’ve known a few people that actually were involved in armored car heists, I’m not proud to say it, but it happens, and a lot of them are inside jobs. In fact, all kidding aside, that’s a legitimate thing.
While we were making the film there was an article about an inside armored car heist, so it is plausible, it definitely happens, it’s happened before; there’s always somebody on the inside with these jobs. Columbus Short’s character’s father is my mentor, so I’m always sort of working on him, I’m conning him to get his trust, and he’s neurotic.
And one of the things we do in the bar one time while we’re out celebrating, we’re talking about an incident when there was an armored car heist and they took one of the guards hostage, they put a gun to the back of his head, and he says, “What happened?” and we said, “Well, they just gave up the money. They didn’t do anything; they didn’t want to risk the lives of their fellow guards.” Illustrating to him that we don’t do that, we have to do everything together, sort of manipulating him.
Because there are all these examples, it’s like this world in this movie, these guys all have stories about guys getting killed on the job and armored car heists and stuff. And it’s kind of funny because it’s very much this world. I liked playing the character; all the characters were interesting. It’s not a wedding movie, you know? Not a chick flick.
(Q): I posted on our Twitter account that I was doing this and a bunch of people tweeted me back questions, and one person asked about the balance between comedy and drama, and I was thinking about the arc of your career and there’s a real mix there. What do you look for in general in a role now and talk a little bit about the balance between comedy and drama and which you prefer.
(Matt Dillon): Well like right now I really want to do a comedy, but when I finished the last comedy I said, “I don’t want to do this shit anymore, I want to just do drama.” So I’m always confusing my agent. But I like to do both. I think my favorite, to be perfectly honest with you, is I prefer to do drama that’s got a lot of comedy in it. When there’s some black humor I prefer that. Or a comedy that’s more character based, like “There’s Something About Mary.”
(Matt Dillon): He’s come a long way from the beginning of the movie, because in the beginning of the movie he’s like, “Ty, we’re not going to let them do anything to you, buddy. I love you; I’m like your big brother and your uncle.”
He gets a case of the morals when somebody gets killed and he locks himself in the truck with the money. Each of the characters has a different reaction to this, and some guys have more of a moral core than others. My character is like, “Let’s set him on fire,” and the character that Columbus plays, Ty, he feels guilty because the guy’s accidentally killed in the midst of this job, and that’s when he decides it wasn’t supposed to go down this way and he gets a case of the morals and hides out in the truck, and that’s unacceptable to my character.
The rest of the movie is trying to get him out of the truck so we can get to the money but we still have a lot of money from the other truck. It was fun to do it, it’s fun doing these scenes, and because we shot most of the film in one location, we were able to do it in sequence, with the exception of some of the big action scenes.
(Q): Andrzej Sekula shot it, who shot “Reservoir Dogs” and “Pulp Fiction” as well.
(Matt Dillon): He was amazing. Unbelievable, because he uses a lot of light, very low speed, and yet he moves very quickly, and I look at the film and it doesn’t look like it’s oversaturated in any way. I thought he was great; I really loved working with him. Obviously Nimród does too.
(Q): Let’s take a few questions from the audience.
(Q):What are the chances of in the future you doing movies with your brother Kevin? And also, what are the chances of you guest starring on “Entourage”?
(Matt Dillon): He’s got a brother on the show, right? So it’s hard unless the other brother comes in from somewhere else. It hasn’t come my way but I would like to direct one or something. It would be good; I like the show and I obviously want to work with Kevin. We almost did something a few times but I’m sure it’s going to happen. I don’t know if it’s going to be on “Entourage” or not. I haven’t gotten a call yet.
(Q): Out of all the movies you’ve done, which one was your favorite?
(Matt Dillon): Well I’m partial to the one that I directed because I wrote it and I directed it and I was in it. I am partial to it I think in part because of that experience. “City of Ghosts.” I had a wonderful experience with that, it’s a little bit like it’s my kid, like of course I love it, it’s my kid. But I also really am happy with the film and one of the things in that experience was that I didn’t allow myself to fall in love with the movie in some kind of subjective way.
But I also have other personal favorites; I like the ones that sort of took me by surprise. Like this little film “Factotum” that we made, I never thought I’d be doing that, playing Bukowski’s alter ego. And I really liked it because there were some things in that film that I said, “If this doesn’t work this is going to kill my career,” and yet they were really funny. So I knew they would either be really good or really embarrassing, and it worked out. And I find that often when I take risks I usually do better when I’m in that situation.
(Q): How old were you when you had your first agent?
(Matt Dillon): Stay out of the business, kid. God, I don’t remember; I was pretty young. But not right away; I had a manager early on for a long time. I didn’t get an agent until a little bit later.
(Q): I really love your part in the movie “Crash”, I really like the way your character redeemed himself. What was the most challenging acting role that you’ve had?
(Matt Dillon): I did a film some time ago, I think four people or maybe five people saw it, I’m not sure. It was called “The Saint of Fort Washington,” I did a film with Danny Glover. But unfortunately people don’t want to see films about the homeless, and it was a film about the homeless, and I played a schizophrenic homeless guy that was down on his luck, and that was very challenging. Just to go into that world, and it was the early ‘90s when New York was really, the shelters were filled to the brim. And just going to that mental place every day, I’d say that was pretty challenging. But again, rewarding; it was something where I really got to dig down deep.
(Q): Given that LA is such a conventional place to film movies, what are your thoughts on filming in cooler cities like New York or Boston or Pittsburgh?
(Matt Dillon): Pittsburgh? No, I like Pittsburgh man. I love working in New York. Hey listen, I tell my agent all the time, “Can we get me a job outside of LA?” It seems like there are a lot of people going to Canada to make films, now the Canadian dollar’s stronger then the American dollar. They’re still going there. I like working outside. I went to Cambodia and made a film there and I loved working there, that was a great experience. I’ve worked in Paris but I was too young to really appreciate Paris. I could appreciate it more now I think.
(Q): How much of your character in “Armored” was defined for you before you came to the role, and how much did you bring to it yourself through your own interpretation?
(Matt Dillon): I think what I liked about it was who the character was was very active. He’s sort of the catalyst for a lot of the action; he’s the manipulator, the leader, the one who’s calling all the shots. So I kind of like that about him. In the beginning he really seems like a decent guy but more will be revealed on that one. So it was already defined in that respect. I think there was some work that we needed to do, that I felt quite honestly, to make some of those transitions. Like for example, the first time I drop the bomb on Ty, on Columbus Short’s character, and I inform him that we’re going to do this job and we’re sort of counting on him to come along for the ride.
Just the tone of that, it’s a very tricky thing to do, to do a scene where you have to drop the bomb, “We’re going to take down $42 million and you’re coming with us.” You want to make that real, but that’s my job. Like I said, I think with this director, he was really more about the intention of the characters than the dialog. So he wasn’t going to say, “I want you to say the line exactly as it’s written,” so there was a lot of improvisation.
There were times when we were working together, when the guys were all together before the job, and I felt like, “Wow, this is a great ensemble; we’re really all connected here. This is a group of guys that have known each other for years. They know each other’s families and they’re friends and there’s a real bond, and a genuine bond.” And I think that’s because the director gave us that sense of freedom, encouraged that, and we the actors really connected with each other.
(Q) :You directed that film which I really like, I’ve seen it, and I want to know, why has there been such a gap between that film and now? Are you having other things that are planned for you to direct? And in light of that, are there directors that you really want to work with that might help inspire you for the next film?
(Matt Dillon): The first question is a good one, which is why has it been so long since I directed again? It’s an interesting situation because I love directing and I had a great experience doing it, and I want to do it again, I really enjoyed it. And that process of getting that film made took me about six years; there was a lot that went into it, it had a life all its own. The nice thing about being an actor as my day job is that I have that; I wasn’t forced to say, “I directed this film, I’ve got to go out and do my next film, and I better get something together quick.”
Like the band puts out that genius first album and then they’ve got to get ten songs together for the next record. I don’t have to do that because I can go back and do what it is I’m trained to do, which is work as an actor. And I felt I needed to do that too for a while, because the process of getting that film made really took me away for a while. And then the film came out and it was like, I don’t want to say that the studio or anybody dropped the ball, but they did, in terms of the release. It was a difficult sell on the film; I thought it was a very commercial film, but it wasn’t an easy film to sell.
So I was happy; they treated the film very well in many respects. They protected the integrity of the film, so in that way I was quite pleased, but it was a long, arduous process. I loved every minute of it, don’t get me wrong, but I sort of felt like I needed to go back and do what it is that I do. And I’ve been developing a few things; I’m a perfectionist, I have a pretty good BS detector. Sometimes I’m maybe overly critical of what I’m doing.
I have two things that are sort of waiting for me to jump back in, so I’m ruminating on that and a few other things. And I’m not opposed the idea, I really enjoy the process of directing. If the material’s right and there’s an existing piece of material, I’m open to doing it. I love working with actors, I feel comfortable with the aesthetics and the camera. I’m glad you asked the question.
(Q): What about the directors that might inspire you?
(Matt Dillon): Well, I mean, there are a lot of them. I just saw “Precious” and Lee Daniels, I thought that was incredibly powerful and the performances were incredible. There are a lot of really good filmmakers, but it’s just a matter of catching them at the right time with the right project. One of the reasons that I did direct that film was because a lot of the material, because the problem is there’s not a lot of great material, or stuff that grabs you, and I felt like I could do better than what I was being presented. So that was one of the motivating factors.
(Q): Mickey Rourke’s my favorite actor and I just wondered if you could talk a little about what the vibe was like on “Rumble Fish” and also, what is it like working with Jimmy Caan?
(Matt Dillon): Mickey was great when we did “Rumble Fish.” Now that was some years ago. That was a really great cast; I had just turned 18 when we did that film. Mickey played my older brother and I had a great time working with him; we had a great time and we remained friends afterward. As far as James Caan, that was a great experience. I had the opportunity to direct him in the one that I wrote and directed [“City of Ghosts”].
There were times when I was directing and I was fortunate in that sometimes I didn’t have to act with him. I acted in the film too but there were a number of scenes that he was in where I could just focus on his performance. It really was like watching one of the great American actors, really watching nuance; this guy is really masterful. And he’s very courageous; this film was shot in Cambodia and he played sort of a fugitive, and I’d written in the script that the character goes up on stage and starts singing karaoke in fluent Khmer, the native language.
And I said, “Listen, if you’re not comfortable with that we can have you singing a song in English,” and he’s like, “Matt, why do you think I took the f-ing job man?” He wanted to do that; he embraced that. So he’s a gamer, and he’s got a great sense of humor so he brings a lot of levity to the set as well. He came along for the ride. I don’t think he liked the mosquitoes too much there; he said they have mosquitoes the size of Buicks, and he wasn’t too much far of the mark, except the mosquitoes were small. The other bugs were the size of Buicks.
(Q): “Armored,” when does it open?
(Matt Dillon): “Armored” is opening December 4. I think it’s a nation-wide release. I really had a ball doing it, and nobody got killed. They set me on fire and didn’t use it in the movie. It’s nice when you get set on fire and they don’t use it in the movie. I’d been looking to do an action film for a while.
End.