HELL ON WHEELS - ANTHEM MAGAZINE: Q & A with Anson Mount
15 December, 2011
by Kee Chang
Anson Mount’s riveting portrayal of Bump, a drug-addled loose canon in Cook County —the Audience Award winner at SXSW in 2008—is daring to say the least. Having shed a bunch of weight to step into the shoes of a raging meth addict—warding off temptations of the Dairy Queen he drove past every day during production was but one kind of accomplishment—it’s his sheer fearlessness as an actor that doesn’t go unnoticed. Previously known for playing Britney Spears’ love interest in Crossroads, he’s now turning heads as the lead on AMC’s Hell on Wheels and continues to keep the passion alive with impeccably strong work in smaller indie features...
... Cook County is now playing in select theaters....
... Q: What did you want to accomplish as an actor when you first started out and how have your goals changed over the years?
Anson Mount: "I just wanted to get my feet wet in as many different puddles as possible when I started out because I didn’t know anything. I wanted to do film and TV. I just wanted to experience it all and get a sense of where I functioned well. And I did that. In the past 13 years, I think I pretty much solidified my belief that the place where I like to be most is on an independent film set. Studio films move so slowly and kill creativity. I think they’re too producer-heavy. Quite often, these days, studio films are too CGI-heavy. There’s something about a film set that makes sense to me. I communicate well and enjoy it. I’m still learning. I like the intensity of it, especially when I’m on location. I’m now enjoying having a little bit of a leadership input and how things are accomplished. With that said, I love working on Hells on Wheels. I’m given a tremendous amount of respect in terms of my opinion on things, which speaks to the collaborative nature of the executive producers and for AMC. And I still do theater once a year. I’ve learned that I can’t do what I do without having really good material. Right now, I’m in a position where I want to have creative influence because I don’t want to hold my tongue. [laughs] I don’t want to hold my tongue at all..."
No comments:
Post a Comment