CraveOnline: I was thinking while watching Selma that given the way the media cycle works now, issues can get glossed over and forgotten so quickly. Martin Luther King was able to remain in the news and remain annoying to politicians long enough that they just had to do something about it, which I don’t know if we could pull off today.
Tom Wilkinson: Well, I mean, one tends to forget. I was alive at the time of all that. So I can remember he was a huge figure, Martin Luther King. He wasn’t just some irritating guy who was trying to… He was a massive Nobel prizewinner, hugely important person.
Of course, but it’s interesting to see that from the side of people who would be inconvenienced by that as opposed to inspired. You have this incredible turn at the end of the film, when Lyndon B. Johnson is in a room with George Wallace and is confronted by, “Oh, is this how I look? Oh, I don’t want to do that.” That’s such a great natural moment. How did you develop that scene?
It was one of the things that you look at as an actor. You want to see how your character develops. How he starts off and is gradually arcing, the character. You always have a look at that and you knew that that moment when he says to George Wallace, “I’m not going to be in the same bracket as you when history judges me.” It’s clear from there that his true nature is at least beginning to show itself, that he is ultimately on the side of the angels, Johnson. That when confronted by this frank racism of George Wallace, he realizes that that’s certainly not him. That’s a big turning point for that character I think.
Can you tell me about Ava DuVernay’s directing style? I thought she did a really remarkable job. I’m curious what she was like with the actors on the set.
Well, she was tremendously enthusiastic and active. Fairly often directors just sit in a chair and generally get things done quietly, but her passion for this project was absolutely apparent, so she was sort of… But she worked very well with the actors as far as I could tell, knew what she wanted and wouldn’t stop until she got it, so that was okay. You’re used to that. But there was tremendous commitment, tremendous passion. It was very impressive, I thought.
“I’ve never seen ‘The Green Hornet.'”
What do you look for in a role in general? Because you’re Tom Wilkinson. You’re incredible as far as I’m concerned. You should have more or less your pick.
Well, that’s a very nice thing for you to say. I don’t know whether that’s true. I mean, what you do is first of all, you want to look at the role, if the script is compelling in any way. If that is true, you want to make sure that the role that you’ve been offered has a certain sort of coherence, has a certain sort of structure.
As I said, with the Johnson role, it’s a development. You’re not quite sure what his standing is, where he stands in the beginning of his part of the film, but then as it goes on there are these sort of moments where you realize that he’s moving on. He’s developing. The character develops, the audience learns something new about him. And that’s something that you like as an actor. You don’t want a character that stays in one position the whole time. You want to see some development so it’s got a kind of structure that you can orchestrate as an actor and sort of have fun with.
I was a fan of The Green Hornet and I thought you were very good in it. It struck me as amusing that you ended up also being in The Lone Ranger, who is an ancestor of The Green Hornet. Was that something that occurred to you when you made them?
Ask that question again?
You were in The Green Hornet and you were also in The Lone Ranger. The Green Hornet is actually a descendant of The Lone Ranger. Did that occur to you? It’s interesting to have you as a throughline between the two films.
No, I still don’t quite understand. Am I not hearing it properly?
Perhaps not. The Lone Ranger is the great-grandfather of The Green Hornet in the stories.
Well, here’s my problem. I’ve never seen The Green Hornet. So I don’t… [laughs.]
Had you seen The Lone Ranger?
I have seen The Lone Ranger. [Laughs.]
I guess it’s a just funny coincidence, but I thought it was funny. You’re in one of the other best films of the year, The Grand Budapest Hotel.
Yeah, that’s a nice fun film, isn’t it?
It’s just really cute and I liked your performance. It’s a small role, but that bit where we get to see this austere, respectable author just yelling at his children was the funniest thing. What was that like? I don’t think I’ve seen you work with Wes Anderson before. What was that production like?
I’ve never worked with him before. I thought, “It’s too tiny” but my agents were very adamant that I go and do it. And I was finished by lunchtime. It’s not the biggest role I’ve ever done but it was just wonderful actually. It was bizarre at the time and I’m fond of the bizarre. I just thought, “Wow, that’s a peculiar way of opening a movie but why not? I like it. So other people might.”
William Bibbiani is the editor of CraveOnline’s Film Channel and the host of The B-Movies Podcast and The Blue Movies Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
