Video:Watchmen - Jackie Earle Haley Interview
with Rebecca MurrayJackie Earle Haley takes on the role of 'Watchmen' fan favorite Rorschach in the 2009 big screen adaptation of one of the best graphic novels ever written. And at the 2009 WonderCon, Haley talked about wearing Rorschach's trademark mask.See Transcript
Transcript:Watchmen - Jackie Earle Haley Interview
Rebecca Murray from About.com Hollywood Movies at the 2009 WonderCon.
Jackie Earle Haley - 'Walter Kovacs'/'Rorschach' in Watchmen
I can't believe you had to campaign for this role. It seems like it should be you.Jackie Earle Haley: "You know, I heard about this thing and I wanted to just do anything I could to try and get in there and get in front of Zack [Snyder]. The thing that made the most sense was to do an audition tape. So yeah, I was really fighting for it and Zack seemed to respond to the tape. He had me in and we chatted, and woohoo!"
I can't believe you're not going to let us see that tape though.
Jackie Earle Haley: "Well, what are you talking about?
I'd like to see that tape on the DVD. I want to see your audition.
Jackie Earle Haley: "Never."
That's just for Zack's eyes only?
Jackie Earle Haley: "The thing is is I think it's kind of reached this point where everybody thinks it's like this so cool, amazing tape. And it's like I put together a cheesy Rorschach Halloween outfit and just like everybody, I went and made a Rorschach outfit. So I went to the store, got a raincoat. You know, how can it compare to Michael Wilkinson's design under Zack's direction? I mean, it was a cool audition tape but that's the thing – it was an audition tape so it's very simple, very rudimentary. Did it on a camera like this little one that we're shooting on right now, and it worked."
How difficult was it to work underneath a mask because you're not using your eyes, you're not using anything we normally connect with on an actor?
Jackie Earle Haley: "You know, it was scary at first and the thing is I just needed to embrace it and do the work of an actor, and that's work internally and hope that the external takes care of itself. That's what I did. Sometimes I looked at the monitor and realized it's not quite coming through so I'd have to animate the suit a little bit. But luckily that was a real minority of the time. It really seemed like just doing what I normally do as an actor seemed to work."
Did you ever forget that you were actually under a mask?
Jackie Earle Haley: "Not really because it's so warm and fuzzy under there. You know, after about 20 minutes, too, the concentration starts to slip because it's just too, too hot. I can't really complain though because Jeffrey [Dean Morgan] had it really bad. Patrick [Wilson], you'd look over at him just sweat rivulets would be dripping down. And then Malin [Akerman] standing right next to him freezing to death. So everybody had like a different kind of thing going on."
How'd you get that voice?
Jackie Earle Haley: "You know, I would scream myself out and then do it. As time went on I started to find it without having to scream my voice out. But it's the first thing I heard when I read the novel."
That's interesting. That's just what popped into your mind as soon as you read it?
Jackie Earle Haley: "Well, you know how when you read anything, you put voices and visuals? Well obviously the visuals are all there but yeah, when I read it it was just the first thing that I heard. So I put it on the audition tape and Zack seemed to feel that that was the right direction. We talked, like, 'Hey, should we try some other stuff?' 'Yeah, maybe.' But I think at the end of the day he was like, 'No, this is right. Let's move forward.' So we did."