Captain Fantastic: Director Matt Ro on Viggo Mortensen and Survival Camp

Photo: Erik Simkins/Bleecker Street.

Cannes Film Festival hit, Captain Fantastic screened at the KCET Cinema Series in Santa Monicas Aero Theatre on Tuesday, June 21. The flick stars Viggo Mortensen as the father of six who is intent on raising his kids far outside of the mainstream world. After the family suffers a devastating loss, they must leave their compound in a Pacific Northwest forest and head back into civilization.

Writer/director Matt Ross, who is recognized for his acting roles on shows like Big Love and Silicon Valley, was on hand to chat with KCET Cinema Series host Pete Hammond. An edited portion of his talk appears below the streamable recorded audio of the evenings Q&A.

The KCET Cinema Series is sponsored by the James and Paula Coburn Foundation and E. Hofert Dailey Trust and offers attendees the chance to see anticipated films prior to their public release. The summer season of the Cinema Series launched on June 7 and will continue through August 2 at the Aero Theatre.

Matt Ross on transitioning from actor to director

For me, the question is frequently, what is it like to be an actor turned director? The truth is, there was not a hard transition in the sense that I grew up making short films and acting in theater and I have made films my whole life. As an actor, you obviously have more visibility and people recognize me more for TV shows. It just took me a long time to get here. I made my first short films. I made eight short films, some of them went to Sundance and played all over domestically and internationally. So, the truth is that I do both and it took me a while, I think. I did other things. I got married and had children.

On Viggo Mortensens performance

The truth is, years ago, as an actor, I worked with a director named Mike Newell, who directed Donnie Brasco. I was talking to him about Al Pacinos performance in that and said I hadnt seen Al Pacino be so vulnerable in so long. He played certain characters that were very boisterous or, he certainly wasnt as accessible emotionally. I said, how did that happen? How did you get the performance? He said something like, oh, dear boy, I didnt get anything, he wanted to do that. The point obviously is that, you dont, its a collaboration between us. I didnt get Viggo. I didnt manifest that performance. He manifested that performance. You try to create an environment where people are comfortable and feel safe to explore.

I think we have pre-conceived notions based on other performances weve seen. Its pretty clear from all of his performances that hes a highly intelligent man. People call him a Renaissance man. Its kind of true. Hes a poet. Hes a painter. Hes a photographer. He does all those things. Hes a writer. Hes also emotionally accessible as a person and has a great sense of humor. Some of those things came out in the part.

Pete Hammond and Matt Ross discuss Captain Fantastic. | Photo: Liz Ohanesian.

On collaborating with actors

Only so far as I really believe in collaborations, something Chris [Messina] and I did a lot with 28 Hotel Rooms, and also with Marin Ireland, the actress in that movie. Its a collaborative medium. Its very important to me that hes investing his time and his career, in a sense. Hes part of the filmmaking team and his voice is a loud one because hes the lead actor and I want it to be a loud one.

We shot the script I wrote. I would say that there was a long journey before we actually did the movie and he sent me pages and pages and pages through email and most of them were, I would say, more fact-checking and more, is this true? Is this accurate? We wanted to make sure that everything that was portrayed was authentic from the compound that you see in the beginning of the movie and that continues when you hire the production director, Russell Barnes. We talked a great deal about, there are certain things that youre going to have to believe that people live this way. Those things are sanitation. Whats your water source? You see their shelter. Also, how are they getting their food? You see canning and jarring. You see smoking fish, eating the deer.

Viggo also wanted to be part of the conversation. I think theres a natural push and pull of you wrote this, it could also be this. Sometimes, we decided together that maybe it could bend that way. I think its less about he wanted to change the film, the script that is, and more about wanting to be a part of the conversation and have a dialogue and in some ways asking me to defend my choices, which I think is legitimate.

On preparing the cast for the wilderness

We brought everyone out for I think two weeks, maybe a little more, in pre-production and we had a boot camp for the kids. We sent them to a wilderness skills and survival camp where they learned to build a shelter, make a fire and identify edible plants and they spent a night under the stars. Everyone was doing rock climbing everyday at a rock climbing gym because theres that sequence... Theyre all learning their instruments. Actually, a bunch of the kids actually already have the skills: Nick Hamilton, who plays Rellian, actually plays the drums. Sami Isler, thats her real voice. Thats George [MacKay] playing guitar. They all play their own instruments. The only thing that is fake is that Charlie Shotwell is not that good on the harmonica. Thats the only part. George was doing yoga. The two teenage girls took a class on butchering sheep, because they dress a deer in the movie. At that time, Viggo was also sleeping in the teepee, which we had erected at that point. It was really so that they could begin to bond and trust each other and look at Viggo as their father. They ended up calling him Summer Dad, which was pretty cool.

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On the cinematography

St phane Fontaine. You might know Rust and Bone, or A Prophet or The Beat That My Heart Skipped. Hes made man

LINK:	https://www.kcet.org/kcet-cinema-series/matt-ross-talks-captain-fantas...
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