For
Elephant, Gus Van Sant’s new movie about high school violence, he continued
the experimental approach from his previous film Gerry. Like that film,
he started without a working script and structured the narrative around
improvisation. Another aspect, and a radical choice, was to have teenagers
playing characters with the same first names.
I spoke with four of the film’s stars: John Robinson, who plays John, Bennie
Dixon, who plays Bennie, Nathan Tyson, who plays Nathan, and Kristen Hicks, who
plays Michelle. All four were novices and didn’t know each other before the
production started.
On getting cast…
John: “I don’t think anyone realized how big it was gonna be. We knew Gus Van
Sant was a huge director, a small town hero. But we thought it was a small
independent movie. Gerry had Matt Damon in it and Casey Affleck – and it
was a really small movie. So we figured we don’t have any star power, so we’re
not going anywhere. We didn’t know the script off the bat, so once we really got
into what we were doing and the purpose of this film, it really dawned that we
were doing something. It was a subject that hadn’t been tackled.”
Benny: “I was thinking I’d be an extra or something. I showed up for the casting
call – I didn’t even want to go to it. I didn’t plan on it. I wanted to go to my
friend’s house.”
Nathan: “I basically just assumed that it was an extra’s part, cause it was an
open casting call. A ridiculous variety of people. So I figured I’d be walking
around or standing somewhere maybe – if I was lucky. It was really exciting when
it all came down. I couldn’t have asked for anything more. I feel really
privileged.”
Kristen: “I guess I was really surprised too. Just because I went to it – I went
to the casting call just to have fun. I had no expectation. I was also in a
little bit of a rush, since I was working later that day… I was really surprised
when I got a call later that summer. And yeah, I got to work on time.”
On their parents’ reservations…
Nathan: “No not at all. My family was very supportive. Everyone was really
excited about it. Everybody in Portland knows who Gus Van Sant is. He’s now
nationally known.”
John: “My mom thought My Own Private Idaho. To tell you the truth, my mom
was scared at first. She doesn’t shut down options, but she wants to go through
it and really assess the situation. Now she knows Gus and they talk daily. She
organized the fundraiser for the premiere in Portland.”
Kristen: “I was really excited to die. For me, this was the biggest thing that’s
ever happened to me. So to make it even more dramatic, it’s like: Score! My
family’s the one that had more of a problem with it than I did. My mom was the
typical sympathetic mom: I don’t want you to die! I’m like, Mom, I’m not really
gonna die.”
On improvising…
John: “I had some practice with Timothy Bottoms. We came to town for a couple of
days and we really wanted to focus on our relationship as father and son. We
ended up just sitting down and talking to each other. It was weird cause I was
telling him stuff about my life that pertained to the character. Gus was sitting
there and we ended up slipping into our characters without really knowing it.
He’s yelling at me and I’m like crying…. Gus was just sitting there like, Yeah,
I think this is gonna work.”
Kristen: “I’m right against a bookcase when I get shot. And this one time I was
too close to the bookcase. So when I fell, I fell against the bookcase right on
my upper-back on my shoulder. They sent a masseuse. They felt so bad that I got
injured that they sent me a free masseuse.”
Nathan: “I was just stuck in a freezer. Which was a real freezer. It was like
thirty-below in there… We both had like six coats on.”
Benny: “It’s very interesting, cause we thought of different possibilities. We
choreographed different fights. I could run into him and he doesn’t see me. The
gun gets mixed up. In the beginning I’m thinking, I really do wanna be like the
hero. But when you look at it – not that it’s so much more real – he has a gun.
It would’ve been cool if I could get a shot in there. A punch or a jab. But it
was cool. Great reality to it.”
On the future…
Nathan: “Just trying to keep up with my AP stats… It’s given me an alternative
focus. I wouldn’t say a new focus – an alternative focus. Although all of my
plans for college and everything have stayed the same, now there’s the new
possibility of another career…It’s an opportunity that needs to be taken
advantage of in my opinion.”
John: “I feel like we’ve been given this gift. It was always a dream of mine to
be able to act in movies. I took six years of acting class at a school. I love
acting, but I never thought, imagined or dreamed it would be possible. So this
opportunity has really given us all a new awareness that things are possible.”
Benny: “Whatever comes up. I might get an agent when I get back. It’s fun. I’ve
never been into acting. Sports are my thing. I’ve always loved sports. I’ve been
all different places for sports. So I’m thinking if that’s gonna take me
somewhere it’s always good to have a second path.”
Kristen: “I’m probably going to pursue something totally different than movies.
I really like to teach kids. So I’ll probably go into elementary education. I’m
totally going against getting an agent. I’m not going back and getting an agent
or anything like that.”
Copyright 2003 Jamie Stuart
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