He's arguably the most iconic Western movie actor working today, having drawn widespread acclaim for his work in films like Buffalo Girls, Tombstone and the many fine flicks based on the books of Louis L'Amour. But Sam Elliott will always hold a special place in my heart for two of his non-Western roles: Wade Garrett, Patrick Swayze's badass sidekick in 1989's unforgettable Road House, and The Stranger, the amiable narrator of the Coen Brothers' cult masterpiece The Big Lebowski.
This week Elliott shifts gears once more in the fantasy epic The Golden Compass, Chris Weitz's (About a Boy, American Pie) adaptation of the first book of author Philip Pullman's popular His Dark Materials trilogy. Last week, Elliott stopped by the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills to discuss his latest big screen adventure.
When you signed on to The Golden Compass, had you read Philip Pullman's books?
Elliott: I immediately read all the books when the project came my way. It was the first thing I did. I started reading the books before the deal was made, and I remember calling my agent on a Sunday after I’d finished it. I think I was half way through the second book and I said, "You guys can’t let this thing get away. I don’t care what they’re offering. I want to do this thing.”
What caught your eye about it?
Elliott: It’s just great literature. I don’t think that these – and I’m speaking of the books now – this is not just the newest novel around. I think they’re quite an incredible literary achievement. I think Pullman happens to be a really good writer. That said, the first thing that I read was Chris Weitz’s adaptation and I think it was a pretty accurate adaptation. It’s always the material; the material is what gets me involved in a piece.
Did you get confused at all while you were reading it the first time?
Elliott: I’m confused when I see it. [Laughs] I mean it was very convoluted on many levels, in and out and back and forth from one world to the other. Who’s good? Who’s bad? Who’s the Magisterium? Still I find it very confusing on some levels. I’m not sure that a lot of people aren't going to be confused initially in seeing the movie. I know a lot of people that were when I talked to them in London. They were scratching their heads.
Did you like the mix of this kind of iconic Western character in this fantasy world?
Elliott: Yeah. I thought it was an incredible mix because you know it was a real daunting thing for me, personally, to go to London and work with all these English actors like Clare Higgins and Tom Courtenay. I’ve been a Tom Courtenay fan since The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, because I was a runner at the same time and I’ve been a Tom Courtenay fan ever since. So I haven’t had an opportunity to hang out with them, to work with them. You know it’s a real blessing but at the same time it’s kind of daunting for this guy who always wanted to make movies to go to work with all these people that have basically a theatrical career with several good movies along the way. But these are like consummate "actor actors." And at the same time, within the piece, my character is the only American in the piece with all these otherworldly figures, lots of them Europeans. So there’s a real kind of a crossover there that worked well.
How much will your character figure in the next two films if they decide to make the rest of the His Dark Materials trilogy?
Elliott: He figures quite prominently in the second book, particularly. It’s some really exciting stuff that I’m looking forward to doing, but I’m not writing the script. Maybe they’ll elbow him out or maybe they’ll embellish him so he can deserve his second billing credit that they so generously gave.
How physically challenging was this role?
Elliott: Not. The next (movie) is. The next one he’s on his feet on the ground. When you’re standing in an airship, the biggest physical challenge was not getting nauseated inside the big sound stage that we were shooting. This gondola on the ship was on a big gimbal, a big arm that could be moved around and it’s about, I don’t know, 30 feet off the floor I’d say and in a really particularly large sound stage at Shepperton Studios.
This has to be the most CGI-heavy movie you’ve done.
Elliott: Absolutely, without a question. There was CGI in Hulk and Ghost Rider, but for me personally, almost every scene I was in (in The Golden Compass) was CGI. I think it was every scene that I was in because the Daemon’s there. It’s kind of an acting exercise. It becomes (about) determining, number one, before you get going, what it is that you’re gonna be seeing. You gotta assess that out. Otherwise you’re really gonna be lost if you haven’t got a clue what’s to come, what’s the audience gonna see, ‘cause that’s what you have to react to in order to kind of blend into it. It’s a real odd thing to be speaking and reacting to a spot on the wall or something in your arm or whatever. It’s a test, but that’s what we do. We’re the great pretenders -- some not so great, probably -- but that’s what we do.
We’ve seen you without your moustache in some roles. When you shave it, how long does it take to grow back to its trademark length?
Elliott: It takes months, several months.
Do you demand extra cash to shave it?
Elliott: No. I’ll do anything. I’ll shave my head for the right job. I’m partial to my facial hair, I guess, but I also enjoy doing something where I’ll look totally different. That’s kind of the reason I’ve always worn long hair, cause I can really change my look radically by getting rid of it. And the other thing is I’d rather wear my own long hair than wear a wig for something. So if the job requires long hair I’ve got it, and if it doesn’t I can cut it off.
You had a good, long association with Louis L’Amour, who had a lot of his books turned into films. Is there another book of his that you’d love to see made into a movie and to be a part of?
Elliott: There’s a couple of Louis L’Amour books that I’d like to do. I think Tom Selleck has the rights to one of them. I say that and the truth of it is that there’s probably a lot of Louis L’Amour books that I would be more than happy to do. I just think that Louis is tops. Number one I love his stories and his characters. They’re so classically American Westerns and cowboys and that’s the kind of stuff I really love doing. That’s the ultimate escape on some fantasy level. Some of those can be fantasy films in some regard as well.
Ever think of a prequel to Road House?
Elliott: No. It’d have to a prequel too, not a sequel ‘cause (my character is) dead, you know. Somebody told me that they’re making a stage play of Road House. How ‘bout that?
It's musical, right?
Elliott: Yeah. I’d not heard that.
Will you be going to see that?
Elliott: If it comes around I might go see it. Yeah. I’d be curious.
What’s the film you get most recognized for that people come up to you and want an autograph?
Elliott: Road House.
That had to be the movie in which you kicked the most ass.
Elliott: Well maybe. At least by virtue of the reruns. Yeah. [Laughs] I’d hate to count it. It’s on somewhere, some late night, you know every week it’s playing somewhere.
Did you ever think when you were making it that it would become a huge cult film?
Elliott: No. I don’t think you have a clue. Listen, if you knew when you were making these movies what they were gonna do, man you’d have it figured out then. You’d be the smartest guy in town. Everybody’d be coming to you if you had that formula figured out. I think you always kind of have a thought, you have an inkling. I think the only time that I really thought that there was something that was gonna last forever was the Coen Brothers (in The Big Lebowski, working with them ‘cause they just have this cult following built into any of their projects. It was so obvious watching Jeff Bridges playing "The Dude" that it was like the quintessential kind of "dope picture." And there’s a lot of dopers out there man.
Have you ever gone to the Lebowski Fest?
Elliott: I’ve never been. I was invited to the one last year but I didn’t go. Kind of scary to see a bunch of guys wearing hats and dressed like you and saying all your dialogue from the movie.
What’s your average experience with the Lebowski fans? What do they say to you?
Elliott: "Just say ‘The Dude abides’ just once. Just once. Just say it."
You do a lot voiceover narration on commercials too. Is it weird for you to be watching TV and hear yourself?
Elliott: Yes.
I think that your voice might be the only thing that could make me drink Coors.
Elliott: Well thanks. I actually am a Coors drinker so it worked out good. Coors Light. The voiceover thing’s been really good. It came late. I hadn’t done them for a long time. You know I was always kind of torn between going that commercial route. I won’t do any on camera stuff, but then I’m picky again about the kind of voiceovers I want to do. I turn a lot of it down.
How was it being inducted into the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum?
Elliott: Incredible. Yeah. That was kind of…I’ve done this Western thing for so long. (The museum) is kind of the county seat, which is not quite the right term, but it’s like the hot bed of that audience. I’ve received a half a dozen of those what they call "Wrangler Awards" that this organization gives out over the years. They’re Western Heritage Awards, basically for a contribution to the continuation of our Western heritage. The first time I went there I received one from a show that I did with James Whitmore and Ned Romero based on Chief Joseph and the flight of the Nez Perce Indians, I Will Fight No More Forever. Anyway I received one that year and Ben Johnson was there and Slim Pickens was there, Colonel Tim McCoy, who was like out of the silent era, Joel McCrea and his wife were there. It was an amazing experience.
Who were some of your favorite Western actors?
Elliott: Gary Cooper was one. God, Sergeant York used to just reduce me to a puddle every time I saw it. I still get weepy when I see it. There’s just something that kind of stuff it just speaks to me and that’s why I gravitate toward them. I think it has something to do with integrity and a man’s word and honor and all that kind of stuff -- values, morality, all that kind of stuff that everybody looks kind of down their nose at: "That’s so passé, get with it, man. Get with the times. It’s not cool anymore." If that’s true, it’s really unfortunate because there’s several generations of kids that could benefit greatly from that and it ended I think with Star Wars. I think that was the end of the American Western, basically. I mean that was one of the great Westerns of our time but not all time. That scene in the bar in Star Wars with all those freaks was as classic as any Western I think that’s ever been done, you know, and since that time up until these times. (But) there’s always exceptions. I'm talking in kind of generalities. Thank God for Eastwood, who kinda kept it alive, and Selleck and myself, who’ve always kept it alive. There’s a few of us. Ed Harris is in New Mexico with Viggo Mortensen right now doing a movie called Appaloosa, which Harris is acting in and directing as well. And I have great hopes for that because those guys, they’re good at doing that game.
Did you see The Assassination of Jesse James or 3:10 to Yuma?
Elliott: I loved 3:10 to Yuma. I got Jesse James poised. I’m really looking forward to seeing that performance by Casey Affleck that everybody’s bragging about. There’s a reason it took so long to get out there and one of the reasons was that it’s so long. But you know what? God bless ‘em for making it so long. That’s the one thing that I think (The Golden Compass) suffered from was that it’s too short. It’s too short. For whatever reason, maybe something didn’t work or whatever. It should have been an hour longer. That break at the end was like the popcorn break for me.
Did you shoot a lot of scenes that didn’t end up in the final version of The Golden Compass?
Elliott: Yeah. The scenes of mine that were in the film were all longer. All of them were longer. That scene with Serafina (played by Eva Green) was miles longer and it was good stuff too. I hated seeing that but that’s the nature of the business.
The Golden Compass opens nationwide this Friday.
Check out ReelzChannel.com's Golden Compass page for interviews, clips, images and more!