Print this page

Film interview - Lions For Lambs – Michael Pena Interview part two

Michael Pena talks about working with an idol like Robert Redford and the sort of training he did for his roles in Lions For Lambs and World Trade Center…

What sort of training did you have to do for this role?
Michael Pena: It was funny but when it comes to the part where I'm shooting and have to reload that took quite a bit of training – that 30-second sequence took me about three weeks. To me, it's one of those things where if you see it in a movie and you see someone mess it up, you might think the guy's a faker. I didn't want that to happen [laughs]. Our technical adviser helped us a lot with regards the way you stand and stuff like that. I also did a little bit of studying on pain and consciousness – you know, when the body's hurt there's a sleepy kind of feeling. But what's interesting about it is that the pain actually helps you. When you feel like you're going to sleep and you move a little and there's more pain, it kind of shoots you up with adrenaline and wakes you up a little bit more. But then there's less adrenaline in your adrenal glands, so then you go to sleep.

Was that the same kind of thing you were feeling on World Trade Center?
Michael Pena: That was more of a compression syndrome, which is different. I was hoping it would help me, so there'd be less research... but with compression syndrome the pain is different. It's more of a dull pain and this one was very much a sharp pain. I couldn't move [in World Trade Center]. But on this one, when I move to show my leg, it's like a stinging pain from the knee to all the way up your back. It's like needles.

Do you stay in contact with Will Jimeno [the real-life character he played in World Trade Center]?
Michael Pena: I do. I talk to him all the time – just about every month, regardless of where I'm at. I'm trying to get him down to the premiere for Lions For Lambs, which would be fantastic. It would be great if I could bring him over to London. But he's a really good guy and he's a real hero. He doesn't consider himself a hero and there are firefighters and people who do it all the time – but when the building is falling, would you really go in there?

As a young actor, what was more exciting in hindsight – acting with Robert Redford or being directed by him?
Michael Pena: That's a tough question to answer. But I think being directed by him because as I was acting with him, I was being directed by him as well. It's tough because I grew up watching most of his films – there's The Sting, The Natural and All The President's Men. But when he acts, he makes it look so easy. I think he's underestimated as an actor because when you talk to him and then see him act it's a seamless line and it seems very much alive.

I think I learned so much by his directing me. In the morning we would just come in and read the script, or the scene we were shooting that day, but he'd be very patient. He'd ask: "OK, you say this, so what do you think about that?" And we would just talk about it very slowly and patiently, so by the end of the day you knew it a little bit more and you knew what he wanted. It's in his style to make every moment count. He doesn't just say something so that you can hear it, it's “What's the meaning behind it?” It's interesting how studious he was with his directing.

How do Robert Redford and Clint Eastwood, with whom you worked on Million Dollar Baby, compare as directors?
Michael Pena: They're very similar as far as I'm concerned. I think Bob tends to talk about the scene with you a little bit more in the beginning. But they both hire people that they know are going to come in with their homework done. I think Clint might have said – and I may be misquoting – that directing is like 80% casting, and the only reason he does three takes is because if he can't get his actor to do what he wants in the first three takes, it's either he's not directing right or he's hired the wrong person. It's a very simple way of looking at it. Bob tends to talk about it a little bit more – but that's different again from Oliver Stone. Oliver Stone is more like a Beethoven, sweeping kind of movie and Bob is more like Miles Davis and jazz.

From the background you came from in Chicago, how hard was it to achieve what you've managed to achieve already?
Michael Pena: I've always viewed acting as when you start off there's always kinds of stereotypes like the gang banger of the week. I spent three years doing that! I was like: "Haven't you got anything different from the bang banger? How about a kid from college? I'm a nerd, man!" I was going up against people that were real gangsters, so I'd be in the waiting room asking: "Is that a real tattoo on your neck?" "Yeah bro, cool!" It was like: "Good luck to myself!" But it's always been an interesting ride because I just went to high school, I didn't go to college or whatnot. And with me being Latin and whatever, one day I just decided to go for the characters and give them emotions. I decided I was going to make them a real person and as soon as I started doing that I started getting more work. In Crash, I played that character like a person and it was a lot more fun.

Interview: Rob Carnevale
Photo: Fox