For 'Mr. Brooks' Kevin Costner Enters a Field of Screams

By Emily Christianson , Hollywood.com Staff | Friday, June 01, 2007

Kevin Costner knows a thing or two about playing a hero. From the Wild West to the baseball field he’s got the good guy territory covered, but that didn’t stop the veteran actor from trying his hand at something a bit more sinister.

Costner stars in the new thriller Mr. Brooks as a prominent businessman, upstanding citizen and loving father who struggles with an addiction to murder. Bringing his deadly alter ego to life is fellow Oscar winner William Hurt, who appears whenever Brooks gets the urge to kill or faces a moral dilemma.

Hollywood.com caught up with Costner to find out more about Mr. Brooks, scary movies, and even the new Untouchables movie.

Hollywood.com: What made you want to take on this dark role? We’ve never seen you play a character like this before.
Kevin Costner: The decision was pretty simple. The movie, I thought, was the star. I thought the writing was the star of the movie, and I thought that while I didn't see myself like that person, I thought I could do this…I understood that it would be seen as a departure [laughs]. I understood all the things that would come with it, but I still felt like, if I'm going to make a life of making movies, then I should try to make different kinds of movies. And this seemed to fit in a positive way.

HW: Do you like scary movies?
KC: I don't like serial killer movies. I don't like scary movies. I get scared. I'm uncomfortable. I don't like roller coasters or shit like that. I don't like being scared. It's not an adrenaline rush for me. So Mr. Brooks really had to pass a lot of things for me to want to even be a part of it. And it did.

HW: Did you get scared reading the script?
KC: No. I was in the safety of my own little couch [laughs]. I knew no one was going to get me.

HW: Do you think there is a "killer gene" or a predisposition for becoming a serial killer?
KC: I don't really know… What's clear is people live under enormous pressure. There's too many of us in the city. There's too many of us...Look, it's weird out there. It's weird out there. I mean, we're all like some number, you know? "One out of somebody" gets assaulted, and women have it worse. It’s like, "What the fuck?" I mean, we're like a percentage of something going bad somewhere. It's terrible.

Mr. Brooks Movie Still
HW: Were you concerned that Mr. Brooks’ alter ego Marshall might overwhelm this movie?
KC: Well, I knew it was a really flashy role. And I very often take movies that have scene-stealing roles all around me, and I relish that. I think that's important for movies. I don't get scared by that stuff. I encourage the actors to be really good around me. I want that to happen…I think Marshall was in there just perfectly…I've known William because of The Big Chill, and we both are rehearsal-oriented actors, and writer-driven actors. So it fit into our game really nicely.

HW: Was Marshall based on somebody or did he have a back story for you?
KC: Yes, I found Marshall when I was 12 years old in a book of children's dreams. And he would play basically a Black Knight, an evil person. But I liked him so much in the book because he was kind of cool. And I liked him so much, actually, I was afraid he was going to die in the book, so I never finished it. And my father used to discipline me with the idea that if I wasn't good, that the Black Knight would come and get me. That it would come and get me that it actually hid in my closet. And like any young man, eventually you challenge your dad's theory and you open that closet. And there was my imaginary friend, and he was not scary at all to me. And so he's been with me. Sort of my alter ego.

HW: Comedian Dane Cook plays a witness to one of Mr. Brooks’ murders. What was it like working with him? Were you familiar with his stand-up?
KC: I wasn't familiar with his stand-up. And I'm actually glad, because I don't completely understand his stand-up all the time. But I understand him, and I understand his desire to not be pigeonholed, be conformed. And he read for me. He read for this movie. He did all the things that someone who has a bigger idea about their career does. They want something that they see themselves being a part of, something unique, and he did, and that's why he got the part. And he was sensational in it.

HW: Did you consider directing this movie?
KC: I thought about that, but when I realized what the pedigree of the project was, that the writers who wrote it wanted to direct it, then we had a discussion about that. I could have done that, but in this instance, this was important for [Bruce Evans] to direct. And I've worked with a lot of first-time directors, writer/directors, and I thought, "I'll give this a chance."

Mr. Brooks Movie Still
HW: Did you decide right away that you wanted to produce it as well?
KC: I knew that without a doubt…I knew that I would also have to have final cut on it. If you like the movie, the odd things about it I knew would be things that would be cut first. If you don't like blood, blood would be gone. If you don't like this, that would be gone…But I thought that this piece was dark. It's insidious, what it is. Even though we ashamedly find ourselves laughing at some moments, the oddity of it, I felt that it needed to be true to itself, and I didn't want to see it... So while I know maybe some longtime people who've enjoyed my movies might be offended by this, might think that it's too harsh, I get that, and I accept that. But I don't want to cater to my audience, I just want to feed it, you know? Take or not take it. It's an honest effort.

HW: Bruce had only directed one film prior to Mr. Brooks. What did he do to convince you that visually he could accomplish this?
KC: Well, I didn't look at his other movie [laughs]. I didn't want to. Because once I committed to him as a director, I wanted to try to support him, and I didn't want to get panicked. I mean, I had heard different things. I didn't want to jade that. Once I gave him my word that he would get a chance to direct it, I wanted to back that up. But I wanted also to protect the movie by keeping final cut.

HW: What is something that you look for in a script? What jumps out at you?
KC: Just fresh air. Just like something that seems highly original. I would never do this movie if it was pitched to me. But I would have never done Field of Dreams if it was pitched to me. It takes a writer that really has his muse working on his shoulder, you know? And you just go, "Wow." It was just an incredible window that they found into this subject.

HW: Can you say anything about the western you're working on now?
KC: Yeah, it's just a good cowboy movie about friendship and there's a code. It's done, it's written, it's 100 percent done. People aren't dying to make them. I'll just have to figure out how to make it. I have to mortgage something else [laughs].

HW: Are you surprised that Brian De Palma is going back to do an Untouchables prequel? And do you have any thoughts on Nicolas Cage playing Al Capone, and maybe who should be Malone?
KC: No, I don't think about it at all [laughs].

HW: Even though it was such a seminal film for you?
KC: No, it was a very important film to me, and it was very important for Brian [jokingly]. And I'm not surprised that they've circled back to it to squeeze some more out of that film.