The stars of the new grifter pic Confidence tell us what the similarity is between the art of the con, and the art of acting.
It’s been a favorite concept for films since even before The Sting made heroes out of clever hustlers: The Con. As in “confidence”–meaning trust, the one thing the skilled con artist has to earn from his or her mark to successfully pull off their ploy. And that’s what Confidence–the twisty-turny, neo-noir, con artist thriller starring Edward Burns, Rachel Weisz, Andy Garcia and Dustin Hoffman–is all about.
But it’s also about a different kind of confidence–self-assuredness, cockiness, a knowing spring in your step that borders on a swagger. It’s a con artist’s confidence that allows him to earn one’s unsuspecting trust. And in this film in particular, it’s the confidence possessed by the actors in its powerhouse cast–which also includes the talented character actors Paul Giamatti, Donal Logue and Luis Guzman–that allows them to make audiences believe the slippery characters they play are real.
Acting Confident
Ed Burns, who plays Jake Vig, a seasoned but small-time hustler whose scams land him in the clutches of a twisted L.A. crime boss called The King (Hoffman), affirms there is a certain kinship between an actor and a con artist. “The con man has to believe those moments he’s in, or believe them enough to convince whoever is in the room that he’s trying to win over that what he’s saying is true,” he says. “And the same thing is true of acting.
“I think maybe the only difference is there is no immediate threat in acting,” Burns continues, “so maybe that helps you sort of slip in a little more honestly. Maybe you can inhabit that moment in a more real way than you can when you’re actually pulling a con because there’s no threat that if you’re seen to be lying they’re going to shoot you.”
Rachel Weisz, who plays Confidence‘s requisite femme fatale–or does she?–sees an even closer relationship. “A con man is an actor and an actor is a con man. To be a good con man or con woman you have to be a good actor. Yeah, I think we’re cousins.”
She should know, having taken her training for her role so seriously she learned how to pick pockets. “Unfortunately, not many criminals were forthcoming so we found a magician here in L.A. He spent his life observing pickpockets and he knows pickpockets and he’s written about them. He’s into the whole psychology of it,” she says. “He’d get your belt off, your watch off and pick your wallet and you wouldn’t know. I’ll tell you it’s unbelievable. I learned the techniques and it’s all about distractions.”
But despite her new skill set, Weisz says she’d have a long way to go before she could go “pro” as a con woman. “It would take a long time [to perfect]. It’s not easy.”
Confident Acting
Another element that gave the cast confidence was the presence of the legendary Dustin Hoffman, who explodes a relatively minor role into a tour de force performance on par with his starring turns in Midnight Cowboy, Rain Man and Tootsie.
More than just breathing life into a character on the page, Hoffman literally re-created The King–originally written as a beefy, menacing, 250-lb. ex-wrestler and gym owner that Hoffman thought a better role for Jesse Ventura–suggesting a complete overhaul that still kept the character’s dangerous edge intact.
“I said the first thing that comes to mind is what I don’t feel comfortable doing and that is [physically] pulling some guy down like Ed Burns–because Jimmy Cagney‘s done that so much better. So we started to construct a character, to find a psychological way,” Hoffman says. “The [screenwriter] said that even the 300 pound version, that guy ran a gym, and his sexuality was ambiguous. He had a lot of muscular guys around.
“So I said, ‘Let’s keep the sexual ambiguity, because that’s something we can build from. He’s a choreographer. He runs a club where there’s erotic dancing. And he’s responsible for a lot of the moves. And once I had that, I thought of [stage and film choreographer] Bob Fosse, who I worked with. And Bob had those glasses. That’s where that came from. So, I started to say, yes. Maybe I’m Bob Fosse.”
Burns adds he found Hoffman‘s reinterpretation made the whole story feel fresher. “The old one was actually more clichéd. [The character] would just beat the hell out of me at times. Dustin started to create this thing–I don’t remember the exact moment where
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it clicked for him…I think it’s when he was reading my palm the first time and was touching me in a very tender way,” he says, smiling, referring to a scene in the film. “It made me very uncomfortable and he saw that, jumped on it and ran with it. Um, so, uh, you know, and I think it’s a, it’s a lot more fun than just a big, uh, ominous, you know, uh, threatening guy.”
“It was a real eye opening experience,” continues Burns. “I mean, this is Dustin Hoffman. Midnight Cowboy and The Graduate are two of the films I saw in film school that made me say I’ve got to make movies, I’ve got to do this. This is one of my real heroes now working with me and I’m somehow helping him shape and create a pretty cool part!”
Weisz, who also works with Hoffman in the upcoming John Grisham thriller Runaway Jury, was also intoxicated by working with the Oscar winner. “After you get through the part where you’re frightened and about to work with a screen legend, I was just in awe,” she says. “He’s very, very dangerous. That’s one of the things that make him such a great actor.
“He doesn’t do anything so boring as, you know, stick to the script, just say the lines there. He improvises,” she continues. “And not just when he’s on camera but when he’s off camera. He’s right there off camera and he’s throwing stuff at you that, you don’t know what he’s going to say and he kind of stops you from acting. He gets you to react in a real way…He’s a complete wild card.”
Co-star Andy Garcia insists he wasn’t quite as awestruck when he first met Hoffman: “Well, he was a lot taller on the screen,” he laughed, but then quickly reveals his genuine admiration. “Dustin is a very generous and embracing individual, and it’s easy to become good friends with him right away because of the nature of his personality and how he feels about his fellow actors.”
Taken Into “Confidence
In fact, all the actors eventually put their awe aside, relaxed and got quite chummy, says director James Foley, who also helmed a titanic ensemble in his 1992 film Glengarry Glen Ross. “The best rehearsal we had was they came over to my house and had pizza and beer,” says Foley. “And it’s that thing where people don’t know each other, so it’s kind of polite in the beginning. There are little silences.
“And then I remember at a certain point getting up to get a beer and I turned back and looked at the table and they were all yapping like crazy and trying to get a word in,” he says. “That was when it clicked. They naturally fell into a relationship with each other that we never talked about.”
Burns says their clandestine camaraderie only helped the actors further develop the double-edged, sub rosa relationships that ultimately give the plot kinks of a great con movie extra kick. “You have to try and be savvy enough or witty enough or clever enough to dupe the audience.
“You’re not going to dupe everybody at every twist and turn, but if you get enough of them, that’s what makes the con movie interesting,” he says. “If we trick you once and one character you thought was something he ended up not being, then we’re successful.”
Confidence opens in theaters nationwide April 25.
