HOLIDAY MOVIE SNEAKS: THE ACTORS: A LOVE STORY SEEN THROUGH THE FILTER OF WAR
by Michael Ordona
Los Angeles Times
November 1, 2009 Sunday
Ben Foster is standing on a boulder in a field in Armenia.
That’s not some trendy new Zen practice and he’s not shooting a scene
(although he’s there working on "Here," his next film); he’s just
trying to manage some decent cell reception. Normally soft-spoken,
he gamely shouts into the wind about his turn as an Army casualty
notification officer in Oren Moverman’s "The Messenger."
"If you can remove the filter of war, it’s about feelings we all
have — falling in love with someone in a difficult situation; we’ve
all experienced loss; we will make the phone call to loved ones and
have to break the news. At some point in our lives, someone will do
that for us," he says. "So it felt like a humble question of: How do
we connect?"
In the film, which opens Nov. 13, Foster plays Staff Sgt. Will
Montgomery, recently returned from Iraq after catching some shrapnel
in the face and leg. The Army assigns Will to finish out his service
in the company of Capt. Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson), breaking
horrible news to the next of kin of freshly fallen soldiers. The
directionless Will finds it difficult to remain detached from the
bereaved, especially the widowed, enigmatic Olivia (Samantha Morton).
"We had the full support of the Army. We had the head of casualty
notifications, [Lt. Col.] Paul Sinor, with us every single day. We
spent time at Walter Reed hospital with the boys and girls who came
back . . . ," Foster measures the words, " . . . missing pieces. Some
come back with visible scars and some are internal."
He apologizes in advance for the cliche, then convincingly describes
making "The Messenger" as one of his best acting experiences so far,
especially because of his costars.
"It is its own kind of love affair, I suppose. He’s my brother,"
he says of working with Harrelson.
"All the notifications were done in one take. Oren would talk to
those we were going to notify and to us separately; we wouldn’t meet
until that moment. When you go through something and you’re taking
an emotional leap with someone else, you’re either going to connect
or not. It just so happens that he’s a remarkable human being. I’ve
never cried or laughed in someone’s arms so much as Woody Harrelson’s."
For Olivia, Foster says he and Moverman thought only of Morton for
the role.
"I’ve had a severe actor crush on her for years. So getting the
opportunity to play with her — she’s Samantha . . . Morton. A woman
who’s very easy to fall in love with."
In a key scene in Olivia’s kitchen, palpable awkwardness blossoms
into a beautiful example of actors communicating. The scene wasn’t
rehearsed.
"We did four takes, blocked it lightly, didn’t over-talk it. Oren
created an environment where we had to listen to each other and be
with each other. So, no, it’s not a traditional Hollywood approach."
Between "The Messenger" and "Here," Foster skipped off to Germany
for some cinematic culture shock on "Pandorum," the science-fiction
thriller released earlier this fall.
"It’s a throwback, ’70s, haunted-house thrill ride — on a spaceship.
I think audiences who like that will respond to it," says the star of
"3:10 to Yuma" and "X-Men: The Last Stand." "But I’m happy to be off
the spaceship and in Armenia. Standing on a boulder."
Despite the distance, the actor still carries close the experience
of making Moverman’s film.
"There wasn’t a day that went by on set when we didn’t feel exposed,"
he says. "Working with Sam, working with Woody, with the day players
who came in to be notified, I guess I still haven’t recovered from
that job. And I hope I don’t."