Counter Culture

Q: Tell us about working with first-time director Michael Mayer.

CF: He has an incredible sense of blocking not like many film directors I’ve worked with have, because obviously with stage its so much about that physical space, but with film, you can cheat physical space because you’re shooting single people and single shots and so on. But he really understood the approximations of the characters at different times and how that told stories without any dialogue. And he was great. Mike’s a great film director/theater director, and at the end of the day, you’re directing people and you’re kind of helping them tap into stuff that you hope, having cast them, exists within them. But you’re just helping them, leading them out of themselves or into themselves.

Q: Tell us about Michael Cunningham’s adaptation.

CF: He’s such a wordsmith. He’s such a beautiful writer. Michael knew each character so implicitly because he spent about five years writing the book, and it was just so beautifully written. Each character was as extreme as they were in the book, even Clare (Robin Wright Penn’s character), was kind of crazy and eccentric as she is at times, was just painted with such a beautifully soft brushstroke. So it was just gorgeous to be part of it.

Q: Talk about what the title means to you.

CF: Well, hopefully you can carry it around with you. I say that because I travel a lot. So it is your heart. It’s wherever you find peace, but peace can be found in turmoil as well. If you get yourself out of the turmoil, peace becomes greater. Obviously for me, it is family, its friends, and they’re all in Dublin. But even though they’re in Dublin, they’re within me, so they’re here in this room and this hotel. So, you know, I suppose what I’m saying is, home is where the heart is.

Q: Is the character of Bobby bisexual or just Asexual?

CF: No, he’s not aware enough of sexuality. He is bisexual, asexual, he’s not sexual, he’s just a lover. If he met a girl that rocked his world he’d be with her, and if he met a boy that rocked his world, he’d be with him. You can call that bisexual, of course, but Bobby wouldn’t even know what it was if you said to him, “you’re bisexual” It’s not in the realms of his thinking, he just exists.

Q: In the movie, your character never wants to be alone, Have you ever felt like that ever in your life?

CF: No there are times when I need some space.

Q: Even before the fame?

CF: No, it’s always been kind of the same, I always enjoyed being on me own. And also I loved company, I loved going out and having a laugh with groups but with the character of Bobby he’s someone who is really not even aware of it as an Achilles or a neediness, but he just doesn’t want to be on his own, ever, because he has stared loneliness in the face, when his whole family died around him.

Q: Colin, you’ve been in a couple of smaller films this year. Are you getting tired of the blockbuster roles?

CF: ‘S.W.A.T.’ was four and a half months long and I had a blast doing it, but I definitely wanted to do something to challenge myself a little bit more. I got a chance to work on ‘Intermission’ and it was being shot in Dublin with a bunch of Irish actors and I was licking my lips at the prospect of it. Whenever ‘Home at the End of the World’ came along, I just loved it when I read it, really adored it. And then I went on to ‘Alexander.’

Q: Would you like to balance your career between movies like ‘Alexander’ and smaller films?

CF: For the first time in my life, I realized that I’m in a fortunate enough position to, by and large, pick and choose my projects. I want to do different things but even if it’s a big movie, I’d better believe in it on some level.

Q: What are your priorities these days as you become more successful? Are you trying to balance your personal life with your career?

CF: Not really, maybe I should be thinking more into the future but I don’t think too far into the future on the risk that I’ll miss the present, you know? And I don’t want to as the present is pretty good. I mean, I’m working hard, I have a beautiful son, and as long as I can be with him and he knows who his Dad always is and I can go to work as well, I’m fine.

Q: How old is he now and has fatherhood changed you?

CF: 10 months. It’s not like a major metamorphosis but the first time you hold your baby in your arms, a sense of the strength of love washes over you. It’s a very strange love and a very beautiful love and a very pure love, unconditional to the extreme. But has it changed me? I don’t know.

Q: What’s your master plan of the kind of roles you want to play?

CF: You know what, I’ve never had a master plan and its done me okay so far, so I’ll just reach it and see what I wanna do.

Q: What do you see when you look at your previous films?

CF: I don’t really look at them, I’m too busy just, I know which ones I liked doing and which ones I didn’t.

Q: What are you working on now?

CF: I start work on a Terrence Malick film. It’s called ‘A New World’. It’s the story of the English settlement in the early 1600s. I play John Smith. Terry wrote the script and it’s beautiful.

Q: What are your impressions of him?

CF: He’s very shy but he’s just an incredible man. He’s very, very shy, but he’s highly intelligent and very gentle with his intelligence. His intelligence has a piece of him that is very childlike, sees beauty and sees details everywhere and that’s strange and just gorgeous.

Q: Have you thought of directing?

CF: Maybe someday, I don’t know, maybe someday. I’m still trying to figure out the acting thing, but maybe.

Q: Are you comfortable living and working in Ireland?

CF: Yeah, it’s my home; it will always be me home.

Q: Do you go back a lot?

CF: I can’t, I mean, I’ve been on the road, I live out of a suitcase for five years. I have a place in Dublin but I’ve been staying in hotels for five years. I miss Dublin very much but it will always be there for me.

Q: You have said in the past that your mother is concerned that you smoke too much and that you drink too much. Is your mother more or less proud of you, these days?

CF: She’s carried the same amount of pride all her life regardless of what I’ve done or what positions I’ve put myself in, she’s that strong.

Q: Have you slowed down any?

CF: I don’t know, if I have a day off then I will have a few beers, but my mother’s very proud of me, she’s always been proud of me, man. She’s a great woman.