Entertainment - Movies
Woody Harrelson loved filming Defendor in Hamilton
Filming in Hamilton enjoyable experience for cast of Defendor
Published On Fri Feb 12 2010
By Linda Barnard Movies Writer
[Photo]
Woody Harrelson plays a superhero with fetal alcohol syndrome in 'Defendor.'
SUPPLIED PHOTO
Woody Harrelson paused for a little "freaking out" before his first scene as Arthur Poppington, a child-like man with a duct-tape D on his shirt who truly believes he's a bullet-stopping superhero in Defendor, opening Feb. 19.
"I tell you what: before I shot it, the day before, I had no f--king clue what I was doing," a smiling Harrelson said in his familiar Texas drawl as he talked with the Star in a Yorkville hotel the day before Defendor had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival last September.
"I really had no clue and I was freaking out. I do that sometimes before I start," Harrelson said slowly, starting to laugh. "Well, pretty much every time before I start."
Called "one of the great American actors of his generation" by Defendor writer/director Peter Stebbings, Harrelson has been nominated for two Best Actor Oscars – as the infamous Hustler publisher in The People vss. Larry Flynt in 1996 and again this year for The Messenger (scheduled to open in Toronto Feb. 26), playing a U.S. Army soldier who brings bad news to families about their loved ones.
Lean and square-jawed with piercing blue eyes, Harrelson seems to be a man whose passions run close to the surface. He gets excited about things - from a reporter's briefcase on wheels ("that's cool!") to Stebbings' Defendor screenplay.
"When I read the script, I was, `Oh my god! This is so clever.' It's so beautiful and original and such a beautiful story."
Shot in Hamilton, an experience both Harrelson and his co-star Kat Dennings said they enjoyed – "I did have a good time!" Harrelson said entthusiastically – Defendor is Toronto-based Stebbings' directing debbut.
"Woody is unbelievable. He can do anything," observed Dennings in an interview later the same day. "He's so much fun. We had so much fun together."
The 48-year-old Harrelson decided to approach Arthur by playing him as a victim of fetal alcohol syndrome.
"What happens is someone gets frozen at a young emotional age and so I decided to play it like that," Harrelson explained. "Reading about superheroes was when Arthur got stuck. Generally, it's just more playing a kid."
Defendor follows Arthur's self-appointed mission to protect local citizens from his archenemy, Captain Industry. Along the way he befriends Kat (played by Dennings), a wiseass street kid with a crack habit.
"I was inspired by some people I had met with the illness (FAS) I perceived him to have," Harrelson explained, adding he wanted to keep Arthur's emotional limitations subtle. "This isn't Rain Man."
Harrelson said Arthur really took form for him after he met a young Toronto man with FAS.
"I wanted to do justice to this character," he said. "I met this kid before I started shooting – 21 years old, a really amazing guy. I wass so knocked out by this guy. I met him with his mother ... I really had to find a way to simplify what I was going for. It's a guy who is still a kid. It's as simple as that."
In Defendor, the 40-something Arthur lives as a squatter in a Hamilton municipal works yard. At night, he suits up for battle as Defendor, donning a homemade costume, helmet and makeup mask. "Look out termites, it's squishing time," he announces.
Arthur's weapons are homemade, too, and some of the funniest scenes involve his improvised tools for taking down bad guys. Of course, Arthur never finds it humorous.
"It's imperative that you believe he believes," added Harrelson. "I love the dalliance between is it comedy, is it drama? It's so interesting to me."
His voice trailed off and suddenly, Harrelson started to laugh.
"This is a funny f---in' line where Arthur stands up and gets Tasered and all he can say is, `where can I get one of those?' That's funny, man! I gotta give him (Stebbings) credit."
A busy actor, Harrelson picks his roles with care. Most recently, he earned solid reviews as a Twinkie-munching undead-slayer in Zombieland and a bounty hunter in the Coen Bros' No Country for Old Men. He's played parts as varied as a country singer in A Prairie Home Companion and a mass murderer in Natural Born Killers since first catching the public's attention as uncomplicated bartender Woody on the 1980s-1990s hit TV series, Cheers.
Harrelson also has an affinity for Toronto. He helped lead about 1,000 people in a massive outdoor yoga session at the University of Toronto during TIFF 2003 to promote local filmmaker Ron Mann's doc, Go Further. Mann's camera followed Harrelson and friends on a bio-fuelled bus road trip down the Pacific Coast Highway to promote their environmentally sustainable lifestyle.
"I wouldn't mind doing another yoga here. That was a fun experience," said Harrelson. But the opportunity never arose.
Nor did it when he returned to Toronto the following month to accept an honorary doctorate from York University for his work on environmental causes.
A crusader for decriminalization of marijuana, the promotion of hemp products, global sustainability and living a vegan lifestyle (he ate only faux Twinkies in Zombieland), Harrelson is also known for what he calls his "actions" – civil disobedience to make a political point.
"I guess you could say I'm an armchair activist because I put the money behind things or get into things remotely," he said. "I try to breach the front line a bit. Politically people aren't doing anything and industry is not changing how they do things. There's a real consciousness going on with global warming.
"People are aware there's some funny s--t going on with the weather and change had better come soon."
