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Interview: Emile Hirsch Talks The Prince Avalanche

The Prince Avalanche actor spills screwball production secrets about fireworks and impromptu singing.

Interview: Emile Hirsch Talks The Prince Avalanche
Photo: Magnolia Pictures

As Lance, the horny hothead to Paul Rudd’s pent-up Alvin in Prince Avalanche, Emile Hirsch is free to run wild, parading around the film’s beautifully sparse Texas setting, ranting about his dwindling and likely exaggerated conquests, painting his shoes yellow while sipping on backwoods hooch, and baring a belly that suggests an excess of beer and pastries. Though a tad shorter than some of his sought-after peers (he’s five-foot-seven), Hirsch, like Rudd, has leading-man appeal (he came within inches of an Oscar nod for his starring role in Into the Wild). But this wonderfully elliptical, bromantic dramedy calls for much more than that. Written and directed by David Gordon Green in a marvelous return to form, Prince Avalanche puts Hirsch, 28, in full character-actor mode, drawing out a guileless, childlike, and wholly convincing performance, which is only boosted by his willingness to pack on a few.

Back in fighting shape, Hirsch met me in New York to chat about the film, which is right up there with the actor’s best, like Killer Joe and Milk. Like anyone who’s gotten a load of Prince Avalanche, a remake of Iceland’s Either Way that casts Hirsch and Rudd as road workers in a fire-ravaged park, Hirsch has his theories about its symbols, jokes, and interpretative themes. He also spills screwball production secrets about fireworks, “blazing” heat, and impromptu singing. And then there’s the birds…

I don’t think there’s a single interior shot in Prince Avalanche, a film that sends you back “into the wild,” so to speak. Would you prefer it if all of your movies were shot outdoors?

No way. You know, shooting in the wild is a privilege, and it’s fun, but it’s taxing. The location where we shot Prince Avalanche, in Bastrop, Texas, just outside of Austin, was very hot. It was kind of miserable at times. As cool as it looks, if you want to talk about straight creature comforts—you might not want to shoot in the heat in Austin. It’s blazing. It was like 105 degrees there the other day.

Well, for roughly the first third of the film, the climate is extremely gray and wet, to the point that it’s palpably uncomfortable. It’s beautifully captured, but it reminded me of one of those rainy Survivor episodes where the weather drives the contestants nuts.

To me, that was actually pleasant because the weather was so warm that the rain was a welcome respite. The [Bastrop] State Park was beautiful, but toward the end of the shoot, it got hotter, and we were in these overalls and stuff and we felt the heat more. In another part of the shoot, though, it was a little bit cooler, and then the rain came, and to me there was something kind of magical about it.

Have you ever been to Iceland, home of the film the movie’s based on?

No. I’m actually curious about Iceland. And I didn’t watch the original until after we wrapped.

It has that same type of climate, and a lot of crazy and unique natural hotspots.

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Oh, fantastic.

You do seem to be the outdoors-y type. You’ve climbed Kilimanjaro and ventured into the Congo. Is there another outdoor destination you’re dying to see?

Oh, man, I don’t know. I’ve always been curious about the Himalayas, and what it would be like to go to Everest Base Camp. I don’t know if I would actually climb Everest; it’s pretty dangerous. But I really like those high-altitude type of places—crisp, cool air. And I enjoy hiking and running. I run and work out at the gym pretty regularly. With actors, if you’re not working, it’s a great way to stay in shape and just have a little bit of routine. I think it’s important. I don’t want to sound like the preaching guru guy trying to motivate everyone to work out regularly, but I certainly value it. [Pause] And now you’re thinking, “Okay, you fucking creep.”

Ha! No, not at all. However, you did let yourself go for this movie.

Yeah, I know. I did. I don’t know if I intentionally let myself go for it, but it sort of worked out, because I think that the character being a little bit out of shape, strangely, is funnier. If he’d been ripped, he might have come across as more of, like, a smarmy dick, you know? Because he’s a little doughy, there’s something more innocent or innocuous about him.

I thought it was funny that his name is phallic.

Lance! [laughs] I never thought of that! That’s funny.

Because he has this off-the-charts libido. Did you relate to that part of him?

Yeah, of course. Wouldn’t you?

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Of course. One of the great things about the film is its vast room for interpretation. One colleague of mine thinks the title might be a merger of the lead characters’ names, and another thinks the two of them might be in hell.

And it’s interesting, because there is credence to that [latter] idea. In the first title card, it says that four people died in the park fire, and there are only four speaking characters in the movie. The film really struck me when I first saw it. I don’t know what it was. Maybe it was the blending of the genres of drama and comedy that David did, or maybe it was the inclusion of the Explosions in the Sky music, or the 1980s time period, or something. But there was something about the film that felt surreal, and almost magical, having tones of, like, Beckett, of the Waiting for Godot world, where everything’s kind of topsy-turvy and doesn’t necessarily make total sense. And that, to me, is something that’s very hard to get. And to live in a tone like that is tricky.

The movie is also one that explores an oft-unexplored occupation, which is made to look both interesting and dull. Did the project give you a newfound respect for road workers? Or make you think you’d never want to do this job? Or both?

I think it’s a little bit of both. I find that there’s something almost meditative and hypnotic about the consistency of the work, and the craftsmanship that it takes. And it’s complex. As soon as you look at anything that seems simple, you realize right away that there’s an entire added layer of complexity and masterwork that goes into it. Having said that, I don’t know if I would want to do it…um…ever again. [laughs]

I really hate asking improv questions, but there’s clearly some on-the-fly stuff that you and Paul are bringing to the table here. So maybe you could give me, say, one or two things you personally provided that weren’t there to start with.

Well, the “fat and old” aspect of the character was something that I talked to David about. Because I was out of shape, and I did think that having the character be as baby-faced as I was in that movie, and be a little out of shape, but not really out of shape, would underline the insecurities of people like that. So, he’s barely fat, and he’s barely old, but he writes himself off as being fat and old. I feel like that’s symptomatic of how a lot of people think about themselves, like the model who eats a cupcake and says she’s fat. And David really liked that idea. As far as the improv goes, most of it was very scripted. Some pieces are slightly improv-ed, but I never felt, like, “Action! Okay, let me make up all my dialogue.”

No, it doesn’t play like that either. But certain scenes, like the one in the end in which the guys get drunk together, feel very free-flowing.

Yes. Absolutely. And that whole “Bad Connection” song, we just improvised that in two takes, and just started singing and making up lyrics. And that song that Explosions in the Sky put together for that scene was just terrific. I love the soundtrack for this movie. I thought those guys killed it.

Two of the moments that play hilariously well are the one with the doves in the car, and the one in which Lance is screaming for Alvin outside the tent. One is this random, bibilical, pseudo-John Woo reference, and the other is this perfectly effortless nod to Alvin and the Chipmunks.

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Yeah, and in the Alvin and the Chipmunks thing, Lance has probably watched Alvin and the Chipmunks a lot, and he’s just goofing around and making a play on Alvin’s name. He’s the kind of guy who’s just gonna say it like that. I think the character’s aware of the reference, but I think he’s enjoying it. I think he likes saying it. And even if he’s not aware of it, it’s still funny. It’s specific enough that you’d have to think he’d seen it at some point. Because that tone is just, “Aaaalllviiin!!!”

It got a really good laugh in my screening.

Did it? Oh, cool.

And the doves in the car?

Yes. “There’s birds in here.” In the script they were fireworks originally.

As in, fireworks going off in the vehicle?

Something like that. But then it couldn’t get approved. So David decided that it wasn’t going to be fireworks and he brought these doves in. And the original idea was that I open the door, and doves fly out, and I’m, like, shocked. And I kinda look over at Alvin, in slow-mo, and Alvin kinda looks at me and smiles, to the point that Lance suddenly wonders if Alvin has magic powers. But I don’t think they ended up liking that version. What worked better was the simple comedic beat of, there were just birds in there. It’s just one of those funny, uncomfortable things that happen when you’re in nature with these wild animals. I’m sure there are plenty of farmers and other people who will watch this movie, and totally relate. Like, “Oh, yeah, I was in my truck, and there was a raccoon in there and I had to chase it out.”

But white doves? We’re dealing with subtext here.

Well, of course, there’s subtext, but sometimes doves roost. There’s the directness of the practicality of them being there. They were just, you know, rooting in there…for whatever reason.

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Yeah. And that smirk you’re giving me is just bringing it all back. In your other films, you’ve played a lot of real-life characters, who do seem to be somewhat related to you and your interests, from a skateboarder in Lords of Dogtown to a hiker in Into the Wild. But with someone fictional like Lance, is it more liberating? Since there’s more room to put more of yourself in there?

Yeah. The way I would describe the preparation for this, for me, was just finding that inner baby. Like, Emile 2.0. And just kind of magnifying him, and feeding him, and giving him free reign a little bit. I think that was some of what was going on at times.

In the fall you’ll play Clyde in the TV miniseries Bonnie and Clyde, which will be simulcast on A&E, Lifetime, and the History Channel. Do you think about what Warren Beatty might think of it? Do you care? Surely he’ll watch it.

Oh, I’m excited to see what Beatty thinks of it. I ran into him at a party before I shot it, and I told him I was purposely not going to watch his version until after production.

You’d never seen his version?

No. After production I watched it right away, and I was really happy I hadn’t, because I might have been influenced by Beatty or something. It’s so much better not having any kind of predetermined influence. I think the miniseries is gonna be really cool.

And then you also have Peter Berg’s upcoming war film, Lone Survivor, which, once again, looks to be dropping you into nature, unforgivingly.

Yes. I am in the mountains again. It’s funny, I keep making movies in the mountains. It’s an honor to be in that film, but that was an uncomfortable shoot, sort of by design. You’re wearing all the military gear, and you have your weapons and your equipment, and you’re up in the mountains at 14,000 feet. So even the oxygen is in short supply.

We talked about a place you’d like to visit. What about an ideal place where you’d like to shoot a film?

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[Long pause] So many places. I wouldn’t mind going to some place like Ireland. Or the desert. I like New Mexico; it’s nice to shoot there. Cities are nice. Jungles are nice, but it’s hot. Too many bugs.

You basically just crossed every biome.

I know. My mind was just, like, traveling the Earth. Sometimes extremes are nice though. It’d be cool to shoot a movie on an ice boat in Antarctica. With penguins as extras.

“There’s penguins in here.”

Yeah!

R. Kurt Osenlund

R. Kurt Osenlund is a creative director and account supervisor at Mark Allen & Co. He is the former editor of Out magazine.

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