Garrett Dillahunt - Interview
Garrett Dillahunt - Interview
The actor talks about becoming brutal in The Last House on the Left
|
In a relisting of The Last House on the Left, actor Garrett Dillahunt (No Country for Old Men, "John from Cincinnati") steps into the role David Hess originated in the 70s shocker as Krug, a sadistic drug dealer who winds up kidnapping two teenage girls, and then raping and brutalizing one of them. The young actress saddled with that role in 2009 is Sara Paxton — she and Dillahunt worked together once before on a TV remake of "Mr. Ed" featuring the voice of Sherman Hemsley as the persnickety Palomino.
At the Q&A and screening for Last House (see our report here) both actors seemed to think that their previous stint together was great preparation for the violent scene in this movie. "I was lucky, I guess," Dillahunt said, "because Sara and I had worked together once before. I remember originally being nervous about the stuff I was going to have to do to her. I was happy it was someone I knew, at least. Then I thought it was horrible, because you don't do that to friends."
Paxton added, "I was happy. I was like, 'Let's do this! I know the guy!'" (Hm. Nothing says happy like being brutally violated in the woods, I guess.)
Continuing the conversation, her counterpart became slightly less chipper. He revealed that prior to playing the role he went to Hess to discuss his concerns. Dillahunt said, "I had a great conversation with David and he was really nice. We talked about things that were troublesome for both of us playing this [guy]."
But Dillahunt reconciled with his conscience and handled it like this: "For me, it's all about the story and getting around how I can play such a horrible a man. I wanted to play him well and so I was happy to be surrounded by actors who felt the same way. There wasn't any ego on set. Everyone wanted to do what was needed to fulfill the story. We were alone down there [the movie was shot in South Africa], the problems we had were few and fleeting and we were all there to make it better. I guess it wasn't me, it was Wes and everyone who put this good group of people together.
"When I met Wes, I said, 'Every actor has a checklist of people they want to work with in their life and Wes Craven's on mine.' And Wes said, 'How far down the list?'"
Check back soon for our exclusive interviews with the cast.