Based on the acclaimed novel of the same name, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close tells the story of one young boy’s journey from heartbreaking loss to the healing power of self-discovery, set against the backdrop of the tragic events of 9/11. The films stars Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, Thomas Horn, John Goodman, James Gandolfini, Viola Davis and Max Von Sydow – who we got a chance to talk to about the film…
Was your character harder to play because he doesn’t speak?
There’s nothing different with him from other people, really. The only difference is that he refuses to speak. So, he writes, but I mean, he’s speaking through his writing. And he’s a totally normal human being with totally normal reactions and ideas. Then, of course, the fact that he doesn’t speak creates little absurd situations. And we are in a hurry, the boy and I. So, when he says something, and you ask– And you throw. You throw a piece of paper with a few words, et cetera. It was great fun to do this, I must say.
Did you stay in character between takes?
No. In between the takes I was me.
What did you think of Thomas Horn? Did you spend time with him beforehand?
No, I didn’t. There was no need to because he was very quickly– From having done nothing. Nothing for television, nothing for film, nothing. Very quickly he was totally professional. He’s a very clever young man and very disciplined, I must say. Remarkable, I was very impressed. And it’s a been a great pleasure to work with him.
Did director Stephen Daldry have a different approach because of his theater background?
No, he’s not different from other directors apart from the fact that he’s awfully good, and awfully intelligent, and sensitive, and with lots of imagination. And he deals with actors in a very, how should I say, very sympathetic way. He encourages also other alternatives in the solution of a scene, et cetera. I was very pleased to get this offer because Stephen was going to direct it because I’ve admired him very much.
Did you film in interesting places in New York?
Many, yes. Unfortunately, after the film, my wife and I went home, everything was fine but two days later I was ill. And strange, high fever, and the doctors couldn’t figure out what it was. After two or three days I had to go to the hospital and the doctors there after a day or two realized that I had an illness that I must have got here somewhere, in New York because it does not exist in Europe. It apparently is called babesiosis and it is something that is transported by ticks. And apparently, I was bitten by a tick one of the last days of the shoot. And the tick, apart from probably taking some of my blood, he gave me some microscopic parasites in the blood who eat the blood cells. And thereby affects the lungs and the liver, and the bone marrow and it can be dangerous, it can be deadly but thank God, I survived. But it took a long time. All this because of a nice shoot in New York.
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close is released in the UK on February 17th.
