[IMG:L]Gamers started playing Agent 47 back in 2000, but today it’s Tim Olyphant who gets to bring to life the trained assassin from the popular Hitman video game franchise.
Born and raised to kill, 47 works as a hired gun for “The Agency,” but when a job turns bad he soon sees his life turn upside down. Despite his lethal grace, unwavering precision, and resolute pride in his work, he begins to develop feelings for a mysterious Russian woman and the stirrings of a conscience.
Hollywood.com caught up with Olyphant to talk about his killer new role.
On developing his character:
“I think the angle I take is you trust that sort of takes care of itself; you kill a bunch of guys in an elevator and you walk out the only guy without a scratch on you that defines who you are. And so you trust that, and you can leave that alone. You can say, ‘I don’t really need to try to convince everyone I’m a badass, cause I just walked into that situation and I’m the one who comes out without a scratch.’ And so you kind of put that aside, and what else you try and do is say, ‘What else is there?’ How many other angles can you look at this and where is the humanity in it all. You start with a guy who goes from job to job to job, and it sounds sort of a cliché, it’s sort of a lonely existence–a traveling salesman … What happens when that guy’s world just turns completely upside down?”
[IMG:R]On skipping the video game and going straight to the internet:
“I did read about [the video game]–the lovely thing about the internet … [is]there’s a wealth of information there – however, factual I’m not sure, but there is a wealth of information. And it felt like we did a–based on what I read and what I understand–a good job of honoring and paying tribute to the game, but at the same time we weren’t really slaves to it. It was a nice place to work from. Xavier [Gens] was a big fan of the game–the director–a big gamer, in general. He got really involved and was really adamant about certain things that were reflected in the game. I also just thought that other than the imagery I saw, there were things like–there were a lot of things that once we got our hands on the script that Xavier and I both saw eye to eye on. It’s hard to tell what came first–whether we read about something in the game that inspired choices that were made or whether they were choices we wanted to do that were also reflected in the game. We were conscious to it the whole time.”
On shaving his head:
“It’s a little chilly, it’s a little chilly, yeah. But, you know, it came with the part.”
On rumors that the original cut was too violent:
“There were never any conversations with any of the executives here or the producers in France or with Xavier that was about fear of being too violent. The only conversations we’ve had have been creative conversations that have been about the kind of violence and where it hurts or helps the story … There’s a difference in the violence in the James Bond films, especially the one that just passed. There’s the violence in a Quentin Tarantino film as opposed to the violence in a horror film or something that’s designed to make you uncomfortable. I think if there was a conversation simply about that, finding the right tone–not about this idea of toning it down or making it less than it already is.”
[IMG:R]On the tone of the film:
“I thought what we were making was reminiscent of, in terms of specific films, it felt like the old John Woo films, some of the films that have come out. South Korea has a certain elegance to the film, but the violence was there as well. It wasn’t comical; we weren’t making something that felt like, ‘50 guys just died, I hardly noticed.’ It wasn’t that kind of thing. And I think that as the movie changed, Xavier and I had a lot of conversations about the type of violence and how it changes throughout the film as the character changes. Xavier was a very thoughtful guy, a very smart guy; he really is the main reason I was enthusiastic about this project. It’s not lost on me, the fact that Fox offered me a project like this, and it’s quite an opportunity and quite flattering. I’ve never done anything like this before, and had this type of responsibility, and that’s all well and good. But Xavier, from the moment we met, his enthusiasm for the material … he was aiming high.”
On finding humor in the story:
“We tried to find some moments, we definitely did. Perhaps not enough, I haven’t seen the final thing, but it’s always nice when you can find those moments … we’re not yukin’ it up by any means; [Xavier] was trying to make a serious film.”
On signing on for future films:
“Yes … There’s certainly a reach of possibility, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves … There’s plenty of guys with bald heads and tattoos on [their] backs; I’m sure they could make Agent 48.”
On Hitman becoming a franchise:
“These days, it seems like everything is intended to be. If it’s successful, there’s going to be another one. It’s hard to find a movie these days that doesn’t have a franchise potential. Someone was telling me about The Game Plan sequel; I was like, ‘Really? It’s a franchise? I didn’t see that.’ But it did great, so why the f*ck not.”
On his next project:
“I’m doing a movie called The High Life … It is a guy named Gary Yates is directing it; he directed a movie a few years ago, which was at Sundance that was called Seven Times Lucky–it was a great little film. It’s a movie about four morphine addicts in 1983, who attempt to rob the bank, and it’s funny.”
[IMG:R]On balancing big budget films and small independents:
“Right now, my mindset is I’m really excited about Hitman, and I can’t wait to do this tiny little film because–God bless the studio executives for giving me this job, but it’s a really different creative conversation. It’s nice to be able to go and just shoot, and just shoot. You’ve got 98 pages–whatever the script is, and you’re like, ‘That’s perfect, let’s shoot that, that’s great.’ It’s a nice feeling. The director’s got all the power in the world, and those are great things. And on the other hand, when that’s done, I’ll say something like, ‘Somebody get me a big fuckin’ trailer, cause this is ridiculous.’ It’s a fuckin’ joke, this didn’t have cable, or anything like that. I can’t heat my pool.’ No, it’s lovely to be able to go back and forth and if I can keep doing it. I had the pleasure of working with Bruce Willis, and what he’s been able to–how he’s been able to go back and forth from big picture to small picture, without any lack of credibility or disrupting the film. There’s no sort of hurdle to get over; when he puts himself in a small picture, you don’t have to say, ‘Well, what the fuck is Bruce Willis doing in there?’ He’s a God damn genius, it’s really impressive, and I’d love to steal a page from that.”
On bad feelings over the ending of Deadwood:
“Honestly, [shakes his head no] … it always comes out as ‘I really could give a shit.’ I mean that in the most respectful way. I had a great time making that show, and I’m very thankful for been given that experience, and to look at it from any other angle is it’s a slippery slope. I don’t think anyone owes me anything; I think I walk away from that saying, ‘Thank God it existed.’ I had great relationships from that show. And you know what’s better than seven or eight years on TV–three years on TV.”
Hitman opens in theaters Nov. 21
