Sofia Coppola's "Somewhere," about a lost and lonely movie star (Stephen Dorff) learning how to grow up alongside his daughter, has been getting some pretty good reviews. And much of the praise is being heaped upon Dorff, who commands long stretches of screen time by himself and communicates with a minimum of dialogue.
Dorff's life recently imitated his art when the sat down for a round of interviews at the Four Seasons Hotel, the same place his character in the film, Johnny Marco, has to undergo an unhappy junket experience.
PKD: Theres a scene in Somewhere where your character, Johnny Marco, attends a news conference and gets asked, Who is Johnny Marco? So I feel obligated to start by asking, Who is Stephen Dorff?
SD: [laughs] Im just a guy. Im 37 now. I grew up in this business making movies. I feel like Im at the best place in my life as a person in my own head space. Im different from Johnny Marco. I was ready to take on this challenge that Sofia [Coppola] gave me. And I feel like I have a very clear idea of what I want to try and make. There are very few filmmakers and films like this that are allowed to be made, as you know. You can count them on two hands the filmmakers that are able to have final cut and are able to make films like Somewhere. Id put Quentin in that group. Id put the Coens in that group. Id put Paul Thomas Anderson. A few others. But after that
Every year you get a few of those, and those are the ones you try to get. This year, I really felt like I got the top prize. Sofia gave me the ultimate character study and gave me the ultimate way she wanted to make the movie. The most naked of characters, no tricks, no bank robberies happening, no period clothing. Nothing to hide behind, which I always find easiest in movies if I have an accent. Like Stu Sutcliffe in Backbeat. Some of my flashiest characters, even though they were years ago, I found those parts very easy to play.
PKD: You have so many scenes in this movie where you just have to sit and watch.
SD: I get a beer, maybe.
PKD: How hard is that to do as an actor?
SD: Really hard. Because knowing what Sofia was making, or at least I thought I knew what she was making, because I noticed they werent covering me in 10 sizes. They were thinking one lens size and play it here. So knowing how we made this movie, with so many talented people around, I didnt know how to approach it. I felt like if I were to act, if I was mugging for the camera, if I was acting even slightly, it would unravel the whole movie. Because it would stand out like a sore thumb in a film thats very subtle up to the point of crescendo, when this character does break down. Youre almost like a fly on the wall, almost invasive watching this guy. And I feel like she does it on purpose. I love how [tough] she is in her choices and how she really made a '70s movie. This is the extreme of a character study. Sometimes I look at my movies; I really like Public Enemies, I worked really hard on that for six months. At the same time, I felt there were so many characters that we didnt even get to know who John Dillinger was. We didnt see the scenes we shot because everything was moving so fast. Sofia wanted to refresh everybody with something different.
