We're so used to seeing Matthew Fox week after week as the heroic and conflicted Jack Shepard on Lost, but in Vantage Point he gets a chance to take on a quite different character. As a veteran Secret Service agent faced with an assassination attempt on the President, Fox plays a man who responds quickly in the line of fire... but reveals himself to have some ulterior motives of his own. Not to spoil anything, but this is definitely a side of Matthew Fox that Jack Shepard does not show us.
Fox has been on a whirlwind press tour to promote Vantage Point, but he spoke through the exhaustion about car chases and character building on the set, including his one fight with director Pete Travis. He also chatted a bit about the hugely-anticipated Speed Racer movie, in which he'll play the mysterious Racer X, as well as about Lost. Find out whether or not he thinks Jack Shepard is a hero, right here.
So you got to play a pretty complex character in this.
It was a fun movie for me. I love Pete Travis and love what he'd done before. It was interesting to work with Pete on this, and figure out how much we can push the nuances of this where it appears to be one thing at the beginning [and then changes at the end]. It was a very complicated script; it could have ended up many, many different ways. Filmmaking is always sort of building a mosaic of this arc of what the character is going through. You never shoot things in order, but when you do it through 8 different perspectives, that mosaic becomes even more complicated.
Can you talk about training with the Secret Service for the role?
Dennis did more training than I did. I was doing another film directly before Vantage Point. I had a less than 24-hour turnaround between the films. It was a really intense summer for me. For me it was trying to gather as quickly as possible from the consultants we had on the film, the logistics of how these things would be choreographed. Most of the relationship between Dennis and I, and hopefully building a history, or a sensed history between these two guys was something that Dennis and I and Pete worked on a lot.
And a lot of running.
Yeah, it was a pretty physical thing. I enjoy that. Any time I need to be really physical, and a role requires that, you're kind of viscerally activated by being that physical in it. It takes away the thought process, which is fun.
Can you talk about working with Dennis and any preconceptions you had about him?
I just always imagined Dennis as being a really solid individual, and I guess from the image of him through his role he sort of built up that idea. He certainly proved to be that. I really enjoyed meeting him and working on the project. This cast was a really rewarding thing for me, to be in that company. Just getting the opportunity to be in a film with so many people I had watched for so long and respect their work. And also get to know them as people a bit was pretty surreal, really. When you're in the work and coming at the day from the perspective of the character, and only see the other actors in terms of their characters, you don't really think twice about it. But then there's those moments where you've got a couple hours of downtime and you're sitting around shooting the shit, and those were the moments where I was like, 'Wow, it's pretty great that I'm in this film with this group of people.'
How fun was the car chase scene?
You know, I'd love to take credit for doing that scene, but my actual driving in that is pretty limited. Most of my appearance in the car sequence was done on green screen, with a couple of guys rocking the car. It was an incredibly frustrating experience. It was the only point in the entire making of the movie that I got into it with Pete. I was frustrated, and I was like 'This is not going to work.' And he said 'Trust me, it's not going to work.' And in three weeks of traveling and talking about the movie, everyone has told me it's the best car chase. They love it. I saw Pete after not seeing him for a long time, and gave him a big hug and said 'You were right. It did work out.'
How did you spend your down time during the writer's strike? A lot of actors said they went stir crazy with the strike.
I've done four films over the last two years while doing Lost. For me, as hard as I know it was for a lot of people in the entertainment business, it was a welcome forced break. I took advantage of it. I spent as much time with my kids and my wife and my brothers and my mom and my dad. It was a very nice break, and now back at it in other ways. I will be going to shoot Lost again in the spring. Probably not going to get all of the eight that we owe, but we will get I'm sure five or six of them.
What do you think about the excitement around Speed Racer?
I'm very, very excited about the movie. I've seen certain sections of the film. It's going to be amazing; I can't wait. My little boy asks me every single day when the movie is coming out. He cannot wait.
Did you get to see the toys?
I did. My first action figure. Well actually, it's my second. I've got a Jack Shepard one from Lost as well. It's amazing. The whole thing. I'm just very excited for it. The experience of making it with the Wachowskis and the entire cast was extraordinary. It was just an amazing summer.
What's the challenge as an actor working with all the CGI?
Everything about it. It was like doing it for the first time in a lot of respects. The whole process that they're doing is very different. The way that the images are layered in, the way things are even shot. Most of the time you'd end up doing a scene and the actors would be removed from it, so you end up doing it by yourself. Then images are compressed. It was amazing. It was absolutely amazing, the experience of discovering what this world is that they're building and trying to find a way in this world as this masked vigilante.
Have they signed you up for more movies, and is that something that worries you?
It wouldn't worry me. I hope to do two more. I would love to do more of that world and work with everyone involved in that project. I'm very excited by that prospect. But it's going to be one at a time, obviously.
But do they sign you up for multiple movies at a time?
Yes, they do. I didn't think twice about it.
How have you been able to have such longevity in your career?
I've always approached the business as a marathon, not a sprint. I think you've got to take your time and make sure you're making choices that are smart for you. I've been doing it for about 17 years, I've always felt that I'd have more opportunities when I got a bit later in my life, when I've gotten some life under my belt and was playing men, not young men. I've sort of taken my time and waited for the right opportunities.
What about the possibility of an actors strike?
I hope that we'll get some discussions going on early enough that we don't have the looming threat of that actually happening. two deals have been met, the director and the writers. I hope not. I have a feeling they'll start talking here pretty soon, earlier than they would have done otherwise.
Do you worry about your roles from long-running TV shows sticking with you? Do you worry about being Jack Shepard for the next 15 years?
People said the same thing to me when I was doing Party of Five. I've done four films in the last two years, and all the roles are very, very different. People are obviously seeing me in different ways, which is exciting. I'm really enjoying taking those opportunities. Also I feel like Lost, and what I'm getting an opportunity to do on that show, is pretty complex. It's evolving as well. He sorts of started as an idea, everyone wanted him to be this heroic guy, and he's actually really flawed. The island is stripping away this deep compassion and bringing on a much darker side. There's an evolution happening in the character that's always been important to Damon [Lindelof, executive producer of Lost] and myself, actually.
Do you think Jack will be a hero in the end?
I don't know. I think that the idea of a hero or good guy, bad guy is sort of an antiquated notion in a lot of respects. I feel like it's more interesting to accept the complexity of all of us, and hope that he makes heroic choices in very, very difficult circumstances. That's what I would hope for.
How do you feel about the new season, getting back to the basic original group and away from the conflict between you and Ben?
I think the story dictated that. I don't think that was a reaction to people. The season ended with Jack Shepard feeling that he had contacted the rescue boat and rescue was on the way, in juxtaposition with this future where he's suicidal and desperate to get back. I feel like this story really did have to kick off with where it was, and with the entire group and this question of whether or not they were actually rescuing them or if there's some sinister threat behind the whole thing. It made sense to me. I think the fourth season will close these moments in time. The two images of Jack in the future and Jack feeling like he's been rescued. And answering all those questions-- who got off with him, who's in the casket, why does he want to go back? This guy of all people.
Do you have any sense of how much time has passed since the first day on the island?
If you're going to talk about Jack in the future, from the time the plane crashed to Jack in the future is about a year and a half. Jack on the island now would be about 120 days.
As a character on Lost, how informed are you about the mysteries of the show? It depends on the point. Obviously to play that future flash, Damon had to fill me in on the entire story, how he gets off the island all the way into the future to the reason that he wants to kill himself and wants to get back.
Do you really have to know that stuff?
Well, you could make it up. Damon and I have a pretty, very good relationship, and in a moment like that, he certainly knows what the story is, and he filled me in on it.
How involved are you with direct contact with fans of the show, or fans in general?
I'm certainly always excited to meet people that are excited about the work or the things I might be in, but I don't get involved in chat places and things like that. I'm happy that the show creates that kind of world, because it's a tribute to the fact that it makes people think and makes people hypothesize. They're spinning off their own ideas about where the show's heading and what it might be, and I think that's a tribute to good, serious television. I”m a fan of the show, but I'm a fan of it in that I can't wait to get the next script and read it and get to work on it.
And what are you a fan of?
I'm a big music fan. What I'm listening to right now-- The National, Band of Horses, Radiohead, Built to Spill. A bunch of different things.
Do you think you'll ever go into directing of producing?
Maybe. I directed an episode of Party of Five toward the very end of that show. It was a great experience. If I were to ever take that on-- I really enjoy what I'm doing right now, and focusing on that one micro part of stories. If I were ever to do that it would have to be something I felt so personally strong about that I really felt like I was the one to tell it. Maybe that will happen. I think that would be really exciting if it did. But it hasn't yet.
