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William Forsythe talks Dear. Mr. Gacy, The Devil's Rejects and more Part 1
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Loft Cinema Program Director Jeff Yanc sits on stage with William Forsythe for a Q & A session following a
screening of The Devil's Rejects as it was part of the Arizona Underground Film Festival: Photo by Eric Shlapack
Late last Saturday, this writer was standing outside of the Loft Cinema when Arizona Underground Film Festival director David Pike approached and asked if it would be cool to go meet William Forsythe, who was there for a Q & A and autograph session following a screening of The Devil’s Rejects. This was an easy question to answer, so we went over and met William and chatted for a few minutes. Then, David pulls me aside and asks if I’d like to interview him before the Q & A. Here is the bulk of that conversation and some items he spoke about during the Q & A after our interview.
Sitting upstairs in the Loft, William Forsythe, star of such films as American Me, Raising Arizona, Once Upon a Time in America, Palookaville, and upcoming films Dear Mr. Gacy and Curve of Earth, a dark comedy he said was just picked up and really great, was about as cool, gracious, informative, and intelligent as a journalist could ever hope an interviewee to be. Forsythe first spoke of his just finished role in upcoming bio-pic Dear Mr. Gacy about serial murderer John Wayne Gacy. Forsythe, complete with bleach blond hair still from the role, talked about why he took the role on, despite the obvious difficulties of trying to become a character this far down the wrong side of the rabbit hole. He said that the production group came after him very hard, there was a great script, and he loved the challenge. He said he simply dove right into it, heading to Chicago on research for about a month, meeting with different people who had contact with him, knew him in some way, and began building the role in his mind. While meeting with these different people, Forsythe realized that all roads were leading to Gacy, meaning that this guy was so connected in the community, most people knew him or had a connection to him.
Forsythe continued on about the project, how he had to try and look through some of the victim slides, which he often times could simply not get through due to their grizzly and horrifying nature. He says he went as deep as he could into this madman’s mind, building from within which is his process for developing a character. He said he never worries about his mind getting too deep into the character, that he has sort of guardian angels watching for him to make sure he goes only as far as he needs to into the mind of a character like Gacy. He quipped how he got the blond hair, turned on the Beach Boys, and said to himself “surf’s up”.
Next up was discussing his involvement with the film he was there in Tucson for, Rob Zombie’s The Devil’s Rejects. He discussed his first meeting with Zombie which was over the phone and how they found common ground immediately. They discussed how his role, Sheriff Wydell had to sit high in the saddle, be larger than life. Forsythe mentioned actors like Robert Shaw and Lee Marvin as actors who were just masterful at this. So by the time the conversation ended, Forsythe was in as he said the brilliant character alone was probably enough to get him into the film.
He also spoke about the process of making a film with Zombie as director. He thought from seeing House of 1000 Corpses that Rob had a great style, great expression, and that he could really see passion in Rob right away on the set. He spoke of the great experience it was working on the film, as he felt he was really given the room to explore the character and its growth, with Zombie simply “tickling” him to get more. Forsythe also spoke of the importance of being able to trust the people you work with, which he definitely felt was there on The Devil’s Rejects, helping add to an atmosphere where great creative work can be done.
William Forsythe as the incarcerated John Wayne Gacy
in Dear Mr. Gacy: Photo Property of Dear Mr. Gacy/
Reel One Entertainment
During the Q & A session, Forsythe was asked about many of his films and always had great responses, sharing a great deal in his time on stage. He spoke of the amazing experience he had working on Once Upon a Time in America, a period piece about the gangster element in 1930s Brooklyn. He talked about how he felt he may not have had the career he did if it wasn’t for Sergio Leone, director and co-writer of the film, and how great it was to be working with people whose work he loved like Robert DeNiro. He slipped into his sarcastic wit saying how “terrible” it was being in Rome shooting for six months on a great film, working with one of his favorite actors and one of his favorite directors, all just a short time after Italy won the World Cup. The World Cup is the biggest international soccer tournament and is the world’s most popular sporting event everywhere, except the United States. Sounds terrible huh? Not at all and he was very gracious for his opportunity to be part of it.
He spoke in shorter order about some other films like Waterdance, on which he was incorrectly admonished by craft services, which are the folks who are responsible for the food and drink on set. How Palookaville was probably the height of his villainy. How he still hears more about cult wrestling film Stone Cold than almost anything else when he works the festival and convention circuit. He talked about how Warren Beatty wined and dined him to be in Dick Tracy. There was apparently not a script early on, with Beatty alluding to Forsythe that his Flat-Top character would be the main villain. Once Forsythe got onboard, he said the wining and dining ended, and by the time production started, Al Pacino was involved, not that he was upset, just he thought it was interesting. His characterization of American Me as possibly the best prison film of the modern era is spot on. There was a lot of joy and a lot of pain making that film, and it is one of the films he is most proud of. He spoke of upcoming film Curve of Earth and how much he enjoyed working on the dark comedy, and his possible upcoming role in Raging Bull II as boxing legend Jake La Motta. He said he has met with La Motta already and he is really interested in the project. Stay tuned for more on this.
He was repeatedly asked who his favorite actors to work with are, which he tried to deflect as much as possible, for the obvious reason that those in the film business do not like to answer these types of questions. They do not want to forget or upset anyone they do not mention. Forsythe eventually shared with those in the theater at The Loft Cinema. He talked of Robert Duvall as being possibly the most honest actor of all time, a high praise indeed. He spoke of the joy working with one of his heroes DeNiro, and the outright joyful time it was working with and being around Al Pacino. He spoke of the great time he had with Pacino and the others at their frequent Italian dinners, laughing and having a great time.
The second part of the interview will focus on more philosophical issues about the film industry and his thoughts on the art of acting. This part will appear tomorrow in this space so please check back here. Also, if you are interested in reprinting this piece in your publication, please contact the Tucson Film Industry Examiner at tucsonfilmexaminer@gmail.com.
For more info:
William Forsythe on IMDB
Follow Dear Mr. Gacy on Twitter
Become a Fan of Dear Mr. Gacy on Facebook
Complete coverage of Arizona Underground Film Festival
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