Seraphim Falls - Pierce Brosnan interview
Compiled by Jack Foley
PIERCE Brosnan about appearing in Seraphim Falls, his passion for westerns and what it was like to get back into the saddle.
He also discusses some of the physical challenges of working on the film and why it feels exciting to him to suddenly be taking on roles that mark a departure from his suave 007 image…
Was the attraction of Seraphim Falls that it gave you the chance to make a western?
Pierce Brosnan: A western has always been at the top of my list. I’ve always wanted to do one and who better to do one with than to be opposite someone like Liam Neeson? Liam was of the same cloth as I was; we both wanted to do westerns. We had both been brought up on them in our Celtic backgrounds. And the piece written by David Von Ancken had a real elegance to it. It had something to say for itself. In some respects, it’s an anti-war film. Then you throw into the mix John Toll and Santa Fe, New Mexico… those were all the great ingredients for wanting to do it.
What were the first westerns that made an impact on you?
Pierce Brosnan: There are murky memories of black and white movies at the Palace Cinema in Navan. But I suppose Clint Eastwood in the Man With No Name movies – A Fistful Of Dollars and The Good The Bad And The Ugly had the biggest wallop for me as a cinema-goer. By then, of course, the western had moved on from the guy in the white hat and the guy in the black hat – and the hats never fell off. The John Ford/John Wayne movies like The Searchers also made an impression.
What was the preparation like for Seraphim Falls? For instance, you grew a specific moustache and beard…
Pierce Brosnan: Yes, well I started growing that and it got longer. Then I got educated on the history of the American Civil War and the people and the surroundings of the rest of the world in relation to that conflict. But then it becomes a much more interior piece and a more intimate piece of a man who has lost two sons at Antietam, who has lived in a wilderness and carried out a life of solitary anguish. Both men are mangled by the war.
It was a terrible and bitter war wasn’t it?
Pierce Brosnan: It tore asunder whole families and it tore asunder the nation. And some things from that war have never gone to rest. By the end of this film you feel for both men – one from the North, the other from the South – a sense of a broken spirit. They are men who are extremely well versed in the art of warfare and killing but now they’re just empty. We see a posse of four hunting this man down and at first we don’t know why there should be this relentless, pummelling chase. Then, as the story unfolds, we find out what the catalyst is for all this. The burning, deep-seated anger that drives Liam’s character onwards is pivotal in both their lives.
How easy was it to get used to being back in the saddle for Seraphim Falls?
Pierce Brosnan: I used to ride a lot and so I have always been fond of the horses. But needless to say, I hadn’t been up on a horse in about 10 years. But the horses were magnificent and the cowboys were just the best. All the animals were well cared for and responsive. So once I was in the saddle and comfortable it was just like old times and, of course, the prairie out there is a great place to ride.
While the horse riding scenes are crucial you must have to take great care because accidents can happen?
Pierce Brosnan: The first day we were out we were up at a full gallop. There was a party of six of us and we were taking a full bend when I could see, just out of the corner of my eye, this horse go down. It was Liam’s stunt man and his horse had just hit a prairie dog hole. The horse went down and the rider went up in the air. That kind of rattled us all a little bit because accidents can happen. A really good horse person can still take a bad tumble. But I was OK, nothing happened to me. It was a very physical shoot. We were in constant motion. We started up in the snow and then down across the prairie and into the salt flats. It was bitter cold and in the opening sequence, when we go right into a waterfall where it was 37 degrees below. It was pretty intense!
That couldn’t have been pleasant, so how did you cope with a freezing waterfall?
Pierce Brosnan: That is all part of the craic. You have to be up for the game because you have read the script and you’ve signed on. So you do it. You just try not to whinge about it… there’s always a good whiskey waiting at the other end, or maybe more than one whiskey! [Laughs]
The director of Seraphim Falls was excited at casting you because he’d never seen you in a role like this before. And it does seem that lately you have been spreading your acting wings and maybe tackling roles that you previously didn’t have access to?
Pierce Brosnan: There is a bit of that involved. I wish I’d done it sooner. I should have challenged myself sooner. But I was getting away with looking like Mr Sleak and Mr Suave and it paid the rent there for a while, so it was good. But there has always been that nagging question of when was I going to find some dramas and good comedies and darker pieces. Some of that just comes from the way you have positioned yourself as an actor and it takes a while to find that other side.
I suppose Matador really has been a fabulous injection of energy into the career. If I had gone back for a fifth Bond I probably wouldn’t have been able to do Matador and that film might never have happened. So I have had a glorious time working and now it is a time to experiment and try out things. I have nothing to lose. You just try your best and hopefully you will find the best material and the best people and have a crack at it. There is no great mystery to it.
What about working with a relatively new director like David Von Ancken?
Pierce Brosnan: I’ve worked with a few lads who are just out the gate – writer and directors. And I find they’re the best ones because they come with a very textured insightfulness into the material and the performances that they want. David’s script spoke volumes of the maturity of the writing and the balance of it. He had done a short film called Bullet In The Brain that I saw and that really flipped it for me. It was such a well-rounded piece. But you just roll the dice and then set sail with somebody and David acquitted himself really well. He was surrounded by fabulous people, from the art department to John Toll [who has worked with Terrence Malick]. So, it was great.
Read our review of Seraphim Falls
Read our interview with Liam Neeson