FILM INTERVIEW: TOMER SISLEY
Taking the Leap Into the High-Finance Comic Book Hero in 'The Heir Apparent: Largo Winch'
With his ethnic features, scruffy hair, and laissez faire derring do, Largo Winch is the kind of guy you’d expect to see wittily evading the police at Occupy Oakland, as opposed to being thrown into the catbird seat of a multi-national corporation whose biggest trades just might be murder and financial chicanery. And that’s not to mention the kind of car-driving, love-making, and fist-fighting that are the usual domains of a debonair English secret agent.
Yet, it’s the fact that Largo Winch, not to mention Tomer Sisley, don’t share the obvious action characteristics that make The Heir Apparent so much fun. Adapted for the big screen from Belgium’s Largo Winch comic books, Jerome Salle’s splashy film is equal parts action set pieces, economic maneuvering, and emotional journey. Holding these disparate elements together with ease is star Tomer Sisley, who’s just about the last actor you’d expect for the part. And that’s exactly the point with Salle’s savvy casting of a man most familiar to American audiences for his roles in two Highlander TV series and as a tax collector in The Nativity Soaring.
Uneasy is the head that wears the crown of his murdered, adoptive father’s conglomerate. And it’s that feeling of laid-back rebellion which Sisley uses to make Largo such an inviting “slacker” hero, albeit one with mad action skills and familial angst to boot. Having since continued as Largo in The Burma Conspiracy while also starring as the lead in the forthcoming French thriller, Sleepless Night, Sisley is possessed with Largo’s drive for self-discovery. It’s a quest that’s not only made him a cinematic chairman of the board here, but imbues Sisley with a scruffy charisma that promises more international screen intrigue.
Daniel Schweiger: Would you say your character is like a financial James Bond?
Tomer Sisley: All of the media have compared Largo Winch to the James Bond movies. And I, of course, take that as a compliment because I grew up loving James Bond. But, for me, I didn't have the feeling that I was playing that part at all. I was just playing a guy who wanted his adoptive father to love him. All of his actions come from that. Largo doesn't ask for any of the excitement, let alone the corporation’s money. Unfortunately, his father’s love is the only thing he can’t get.
DS: Yet Largo certainly has some superhuman abilities, when it comes to driving, running, and fighting.
TS: That's true, as it is of those action-driven pictures like the James Bonds and Lethal Weapon pictures. But Largo’s character goes beyond that. Getting it was the best news I had the year that we made the film. I was born in Germany from Israeli parents. My grandparents were from Russia and Yemen. I grew up speaking German and Hebrew at home. When I was nine, my dad told me he was taking me to France. I left my mom and my life completely changed. I learned new languages and went to new schools. All of that was very similar to Largo’s upbringing. While I was not adopted, I knew what it is to feel the lack of love from a parent and to feel like a stranger all over the planet, where you could only count on yourself. I knew Largo Winch was based on a famous comic book. So when I heard the movie’s director, Jerome Salle, was interested in meeting me for the part, the first thing I did was buy the first few issues. I was really stunned by them. I thought, "Holy f*ck, who wrote a comic book about my life?" I mean, the whole thing. Of course, I'm not talking about the millions of dollars and all that, but the essence of the character really was me. It was the first time I felt that close to a character.
DS: You actually started out as a comedian. You even won the “revelation prize” from the Just for Laughs Festival...
TS: I wouldn't consider myself a comedian. I started out as an actor who was struggling like the 6,000 other actors in Paris. I was fighting to read a lousy part in a lousy TV series. I was fed up with that and needed to do something where my name would mean something. So I figured, "F*ck it, I'll just try doing stand-up comedy," even though my main job was being an actor. It was only to get the scripts to end up on my table and for them to be interesting. And that's what happened when I became popular in that way. Though Largo says one or two jokes, he’s definitely not a comedic role.
DS: You're an ethnic-looking guy, which certainly adds another "outsider" quality to Largo...
TS: That’s another thing that made Largo so perfect. Most actors don't look like me in France, which means you don't get a lot of parts. They want you to play the Arab or the guy who steals the car. Of course, that feels very unfair because it's all about the way you look and not who you are. But then suddenly, this part comes along -- a guy who doesn't look like he's going to be the boss of this multi-national company. The people on its board say that Largo will only be the boss over their dead bodies. So playing him is like a big "F*ck you" to all these guys who didn't want to give me leading parts in mainstream movies. Now it's completely the opposite today. They send me parts for midgets, tall guys, funny guys, strong guys -- anything! My looks don't make a difference anymore.
DS: In a movie like this, the hero is usually fighting against the big corporation, not for it, especially in today's world where we see big business as the root of all evil...
TS: I really didn't see it that way, because I don’t see Largo as fighting to save his father’s business. He doesn't even want it. His role as its new boss is something that Largo reluctantly accepts, as there's no use to deny it. He'll do the best with the job, which is the point where he grows up. Largo is a teenager trapped in an adult's body. He doesn't see things in a mature way. But he becomes an adult when he understands he's the boss, with all the responsibility that comes with it. Before then, he doesn't care about any of that. All he wants is to find out who killed his father and who wants him dead.
DS: I read that you did all of your own stunts in Largo Winch. Did that include taking a truly terrifying fall from a cliff?
TS: It did, but they edited that scene in a way where you might not have thought it was me, which kind of pissed me off. I thought, “What's the point of doing it then?” They should have kept the fall in one shot, but they turned it into four. I've loved that kind of sh*t all of my life. In fact, I just came back from Prague where I sky-dived in a wind tunnel. So even though I thought of Largo Winch as an emotional film above all, doing all the action in it was the cherry on the cake for me. But if there was one stunt that truly scared me, it wasn't the most dangerous-looking one in the movie. It's during the opening, when I'm on a motorcycle trying to escape from a car. I had to drive between two walls, with only two inches on each side of the handlebars. And if I made a mistake, I would've been thrown onto the road with no helmet. Plus, I had the actress, Melanie Thierry, riding behind me, who also had no helmet on. And she was pregnant! That was a little scary.
DS: Between Largo Winch and Love Crime, Kristin Scott Thomas is now the power businesswoman du jour in France. What was it like working with her?
TS: My strongest memory of Kristin was when we were shooting a board meeting scene. It wasn't a hugely important scene, just a bunch of us listening. Kristen was sitting on the other side of this huge table. She does her speech, and they turn the camera around to focus on my big speech. But she stayed at the table for all the time it took to change the lighting, which was on me. I didn't even need to look at her for my lines. We did many takes of Largo’s speech. And at around the tenth one, I suddenly changed what I was doing and stopped on Kristin. Keep in mind that she hadn't been talking for an hour and a half. The camera wasn't even on her. But she was totally, completely listening to everything I was saying to her. Like a lot of actors, Kristin could have gotten into the habit of not caring about the scene unless the camera was on them, and not being on camera means not having to act. But listening is often the hardest part of acting. And in that way, Kristin’s attitude really astonished me. She was 100% there, which is a lesson in great screen acting. Those are the the performers I love to work with, and Kristin was an incredibly generous performer throughout Largo Winch.
DS: What are your hopes for breaking into Hollywood?
TS: Of course I'm interested in Hollywood, but it's not the place that interests me -- it's good projects. And if you can work in Hollywood, you have more chances to get them. But I'm just as interested in acting in films that are made in places like Russia, Germany... I'd love to make a movie with Emir Kusturica (Time of the Gypsies), who doesn’t direct in Hollywood. Since the first Largo Winch came out, I've been offered some very big parts. I was even offered a part in the new James Bond film, but I turned it down because the role wasn't interesting. So I don't want to do stunt-filled movies like "Largo Winch 5" in Los Angeles, just to work with interesting directors who come from there. It's just a matter of time, I guess.
Music Box Films' 'The Heir Apparent: Largo Winch' opens on Friday, November 18, 2011.
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