RUSH hits cinemas on Friday. Ahead of its release THN were lucky enough to sit down with key cast members and the film’s director, Ron Howard. In the lead up to the films release THN will share these interviews with all you lucky folks, and first up is Olivia Wilde.
Olivia Wilde started her career on the small screen. Well received roles in shows such as The OC and House enabled her to make the leap to movies. With roles in such high profile films as COWBOYS & ALIENS, THE NEXT THREE DAYS and TRON: LEGACY, Wilde has managed to work with some of the industries biggest and brightest. Her next venture RUSH continues this journey by teaming her with award winning director Ron Howard.
In RUSH Wilde plays Suzy Miller, real-life much-put-upon wife of Chris Hemsworth’s James Hunt. In reality Suzy Miller was a British fashion model whom, after a whirlwind romance with James Hunt, married him. She famously sought comfort in the arms of actor Richard Burton after the marriage started on a downward spiral, thanks in part to Hunt’s self-destructive nature.
THN sat down with the American beauty to discuss her role, experiences and aspirations for the film.
Do you feel awkward that we’re going to ask about your accent?
Not until now. Not until you just said that.
Is this the first time you’ve done a British accent on film?
In a film no. I think this is the first time I’ve had to do one that was actually supposed to be sounding real. I did an English accent in a film called Year One which Harold Ramis directed about a million years ago. That one was kinda more of a silly film where everyone was doing over the top silly fake accents so no one was holding me to reality. This is the first time I’ve actually had to put some effort into it.
How was it playing Suzy?
Wonderful. Suzy was, and she still is, a fabulous woman, but she was James’ match and that’s what I really enjoyed about her. She was a formidable opponent for him, just as Niki was. Suzy really kept him on his toes and that’s what I love so much about the scene where they meet. She’s not merely charmed by his good looks; it takes his wit, charm, and romantic flair to get her. I thought that was very interesting, she was more of a challenge than the other women in his life and the fact that she decided to marry him really is what hooked me. I thought she didn’t just take him on as a boyfriend for a fun time, she committed to him and really thought that they had a shot, and I believe that’s because they were actually very much in love.
Did you get to meet her?
I didn’t get to meet her no. Ron and I spoke about it, and Peter as well; we wanted Suzy to be her own character in the film. We didn’t want it to be an impression; many people don’t know what Suzy actually sounds like or behaves like. We really wanted the freedom to create who she was, and Alexandra was the same with Marlene It was the idea of allowing the character to be born organically on set with Peter’s words instead of trying to do an impression, whereas the boys were listening to recordings of the real men and very much being held to real speech patterns and behaviours.
So what’s different about Suzy, why treat her any differently?
Well I think that because she wasn’t as familiar to larger audiences, because many people know what James Hunt and Niki Lauda sound like and look like, they were beholden to that. Whereas we weren’t the same for the women. Maybe some people are familiar with Suzy, but not many, so there was a bit more freedom.
Can you remember any of your early conversations with Ron or even Peter about Suzy and the way that they conceived her?
Sure, yeah. Ron really wanted Suzy to help represent the glamour of the period, it’s such an important part of the film that this was a time when sex was safe, and driving was dangerous.
That should be on the poster.
Shouldn’t it?! It was Ron’s line and I stand by it. But Ron really wanted Suzy to represent that part of the time period, which is the part of the seventies we all love to emulate now. I think that’s why, by having Gucci create the look for Suzy and really milking her glamour. That was the idea, to have her represent that part of that time period and to show that she was just as much of a celebrity as James in a different way. Really we wanted Suzy to be someone of substance and who wasn’t just this model fling of James’, that she was someone that he fell madly in love with and had a huge effect on him. When she left him, it was very heart-breaking for him. The fact that she left him for Burton became quite humiliating for him. So she was-is a smart woman and we wanted to make sure that that came across.
When Crowe almost did Burton did you ever read with him?
I never read with him, I worked with Russell before so I was excited by the idea of it, but I of course lucked out because the scenes that were going to be between Burton and Hunt then became between Suzy and Hunt. That last scene in the restaurant was supposed to be Burton’s scene, so I was kinda thrilled when Peter shifted it over to me. I was like ‘Yes thank you! I’ll take it!’
Do you think that Suzy ever so slightly gets a raw deal from the script, in terms of the onus it is very much put on her and her relationship with Burton being a primary cause of the break-up, without ever really looking at what James was up to at that time?
That’s interesting… I think its pretty clear that she was pushed to the point of leaving him, that you know she tried, that she was supportive through his depression, his alcoholism, his infidelity, his drug addiction. I love the line in the last scene where she says ‘if it had been just one of these things maybe it would’ve worked, but all of them?!’ It’s like how was she supposed to put up with it all, so no I think most audiences would sympathise with Suzy wanting someone who treated her with a bit more respect.
Have you met Suzy subsequently after any screenings?
I still haven’t met Suzy.
Have you heard any reactions?
She hasn’t seen the film.
So did that give you a bit more freedom do you think rather than being very pressured?
Well yeah, I think that we didn’t have a ton of material on Suzy to match to. So there isn’t a lot of footage of her, there aren’t even a ton of photographs of her. That’s interesting, she’s a bit of an enigma. I learned the most about her from the biography of James Hunt, and friends of theirs speaking of their relationship with them and what it was like to be around them. And because this was a film about James and Niki, not about Suzy, I just tried to service that story as much as I could with my interpretation of Suzy. If this were a biopic about Suzy I would have done a tremendous amount of research in another direction, but her part in this story I think was to show his attempt at trying a normal life, at sharing the spotlight, which of course didn’t work. He sucked up too much energy, and was too much of a tornado himself.
This is from the Internet so it could be a total lie…
Probably is.
…But apparently you own some classic cars and you are a car enthusiast, is this true?
Yeah well now I live in New York I don’t own them anymore, because its just impossible to keep them in New York if you don’t have millions of dollars to garage them, but they are a passion of mine. I’ve never known a huge amount about Formula One so race cars have never been my bag really, but I love classic cars. I love fifties and sixties Chevy’s and so this was fun for me because the time period, and the love affair with cars, is something that I understand. The idea of the car being a work of art itself is something that I understand. I got to sit in one of the Formula One cars which I loved, [I] didn’t move, didn’t need to move, but I was amazed by how dangerous they are. I mean you’re just sitting on a tank of gas, that’s it. I mean its madness.
Have you been to any Formula One things subsequently?
Not yet. But now they’re trying to bring them back to America, in Austin, I’m hoping I’ll get to see one of those races. Of course it’s different than it was in the seventies, but still I hope I get to see it.
What about the 1970’s as a period appealed to you?
I think it goes back to that great quote about sex being safe and driving being dangerous. The idea that it was a time when people were still feeling very much liberated, particularly women. Liberated in many different ways of course in all different businesses and society and politics, and as far as the sexual revolution. It was a good time to be a woman finally, and I think of course fashion [I think in the seventies that] appeals to me as a highlight of the time period. It was just a tumultuous and wild time with things changing rapidly, a dangerous terrible war. I think it interests me as a time period; when people were discovering themselves and discovering what different nations would represent. Much like the fifties, when people in America at least, were saying suddenly that there was this thriving economy, and people had appliances at home, and lots of cars, and were kinda celebrating that wealth. The seventies was this explosion of freedom socially, and I think people breaking out of social norms and restrictions, and I think that’s just very exciting.
How did working on a film like RUSH differ with some of the more special effects heavy film like TRON?
Well so much emphasis is put on the writing a script that is rock solid when you walk into it, as opposed to being rewritten at lunchtime, that’s always nice. The quality of everyone involved. I’ve had a chance to work with some really amazing people in my career and on films that are more special effects driven. Tron specifically, getting to work with Jeff Bridges, and that whole special effects team was really extraordinary, but the emphasis was put on the technical side of it there. And here special effects was used just to further the story; everyone’s energy was put towards doing this story justice, and the emotional part of it was such an important thing for all of us. That’s really what I think people are surprised by when they see the film, that its not just a racing film, that it’s a love story between James and Niki, and of course between them and their respective wives. Its just, its so emotional, there’s so much heart in it and I think that’s really the mark of a Ron Howard film.
I read a quote that you said that working with Ron made you want to become a better director. You’ve already directed a short film, how close are you to doing a feature length?
Yeah, getting there.
And what did you learn from Ron?
Ron is the most diplomatic director that I’ve worked with and just so good at delegating, because he hires people he really respects. So for instance his collaboration with Peter Morgan is so effective because he respects Peter entirely. So when Peter comes on set and has an idea, Ron is completely happy, he welcomes it, he doesn’t bristle at losing some sort of authority or power on set. You know there’s none of that with Ron, no ego and I think that’s why his films are so great. [Also] with Anthony Dod Mantle, our amazing cinematographer, who had a lot of ideas that Ron accepted and welcomed, and I was just amazed by that. His calm demenour and respect for everybody on set, and just how closely he watches and listens, and another thing, I would stand over his shoulder as he watched other actors working on the monitor, just to observe the way that he worked. He would always let people try it their way once or twice and then go in and give the most perfectly constructed note. So light-handed, but so kinda-like surgical if that makes sense, I thought okay that’s really good, I have to remember that; just almost tweaking without a heavy hand, without you even noticing it was Ron making it all work. And as an actor I just felt very free to move and try things, and his notes were always so helpful. Sometimes it would be the most-simple thing. Sometimes he would say ‘just remember to listen’, which is of course the most important thing in acting, but after you’ve done a take about nineteen times you might forget that you’ve never heard those words before. So down to the most-simple note he was just brilliant, so I hope I could be anything like Ron as a director.
Can you recall an example from the film that reflects this, that Ron recalibrated something?
Well in the fight scene where it all kinda falls apart for James and Suzy, there was an opportunity for that to become very over the top. I think we did try that a few times, where it just became a screaming rage-full fit between the two of them, and you know that’s the scene I call the ‘Who’s afraid of Virginia Wolfe’ scene. Where it’s just like they’re just gin soaked and angry, but Ron kept it tight, he kept it small, he kept it controlled and my favourite line is in that scene. Where he (James) says ‘Go on darling, I’m sure there’s some eye shadow that needs your vapid mush to flock it’. We (screams) it’s so heartbreaking, so sour, and I’m sure I did a few takes of a really melodramatic response to that but Ron just kept bringing it in. I can’t remember a specific note but I know that he kept reining that scene in. I think that was quite smart, the movie is emotional enough, and enough of a ride that if you had crying, screaming, fits, it would just all be too much.
How would you describe your relationship with Chris, were you cast first or him?
He was.
How did you find the chemistry between you on set?
What I really appreciated about Chris is how professional he is. He is such a hard worker. I mean just what he had to do to get this role is extraordinary. He won the role, he wasn’t even on the list, he made a tape of himself in his hotel room and I think lost 40lbs of muscle, something like that. I’m sure it’s more I don’t know, but a huge amount to play James. His demeanour on set was incredibly calm and relaxed but focused and I really appreciated that, when you’re playing people very different from yourself, and it’s quite a departure for both of you, that you’re both doing accents, it takes a lot of focus and energy. It helps when the other person is very… for a lack of a better word, ‘bringing-it’, you feel almost permission to bring-it yourself; that there’s an understanding that we’re all working very hard here. Had he been slacking-off, and I don’t know, not focusing as much it wouldn’t have been as much fun to work, so I had a great time. I was just amazed at how hard that man works, between his shooting schedule, and his fitness schedule, and being the most incredible family man, I just had so much respect for him.
Would you say that he’s the most handsome co-star you’ve ever worked with?
That’s tough. I don’t wanna make anyone angry, or make anyone cry. No, it’s like Sophie’s choice. I couldn’t possibly (laughs) you never know these boys are sensitive.
You are a very integral part of what is essentially one half of the movie, in that you’re very much in the James story. Was there anything in the other half of the story with Niki and Marlene that you found of particular interest to you?
Yes. All of it. I thought Alexandra did such an incredible job of playing Marlene, just that stoicism that is still incredibly emotional. I think maybe it helps that they’re German, they’re very good at that quiet stoicism, but I was swept away by their love story in the film. I think Daniel Brühl is one of our greatest young actors. I mean I’ve thought that since I saw him in Goodbye Lenin. When I saw that film I thought ‘who is this person? He’s incredible!’ I never thought I’d get to work with him. I mean hopefully the next time I’ll actually have a scene with him, but in contrast to the James and Suzy story theirs was just so quiet and strong and I just found it very moving. You know being a supporting player in this film allowed me to really observe it as an audience member, as an outsider, and just be carried away by it like everybody else was. Last night we were doing a Q&A at BAFTA and I found myself on stage, just listening to Peter and Ron discussing the film, and I felt like I was at school, just watching an amazing lecture. Then a question would be directed at me and I’d be like ‘What? Oh God,’ (laughs) terrifying, but yeah I got to have an outside perspective which was nice.
So what are your expectations of the film? How would you set the bar of success? Are you looking for Oscars?
Noble Peace Prize, shoot for the stars. I think what’s extraordinary about the film is that people think that it’s for boys, because its about racing. But I think that’s going to be the surprise, when female audiences see it. They understand the love story of it and of course men can appreciate a good love story as well. But I think it will survive for a long time this film, because it is one of the great stories of passion and rivalry and love. I mean that last scene by the plane just gives me chills to think about. The idea that they need each other, that that rivalry is what fuels them both, I think that’s why it will resonate with audiences all over the world, even in America where Formula One isn’t a huge thing. But of course we all have hearts so I think it’ll be a success everywhere, I believe it.
RUSH is released in the UK Friday 13th September and a week later in the US. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow where we’ll be talking with DOWNFALL and CONTROL star Alexandra Maria Lara.
Source: THN
