Ethan Hawke stars in Andrew Niccol’s military drama, Good Kill.
Heres what he had to say…
Especially coming from Andrew [Niccol] theres something about the way he films everything.
Even Nevada looks like a foreign planet, or a sunset looks like a foreign moon.
I dont know why.
The level of detachment the characters have between each other its almost Orwellian, you know?
Yet its totally contemporary.
So thats my favorite element of the movie too.
Theres an interesting voyeuristic element to it, too.
The spying on people.
Its almost like a technological Rear Window, in a way.
If you talk to the real drone pilots, thats one of the hardest things you spy on people.
Its easy to start to feel like you know them.
The only problem is, you kind of know the people that are collateral damage.
Drones are even turning up in very mainstream stuff Fast & Furious 7has them.
And theres drones on TV shows now.
Its part of the lexicon, you know?
Its weird, because nobody talks about this.
Theres no need for a sniper anymore, a guy who can shoot from a 1000 metres.
I could shoot that guy from Nevada, you know?
What happens when other countries expand their drone programs?
Its going to change the landscape of the sky, and change the way people feel about drones.
How do you feel technologys going in that respect, then?
Its always two-handed isnt it?
There are always compromises.
How do you define progress?
Drones are cost-efficient, and body bags dont come home.
Body bags stay there.
The drone program is the most efficient way to work it, and it will perpetuate it.
Some of the best scenes in the film, I thought, were between you and Bruce Greenwood.
I thought it was terrific to see you two play against each other.
Hes a terrific actor.
I think hes a really underrated actor hes always been terrific.
You see him wrestling with it in his head, the positives and the negatives.
I find his character really compelling.
You seem to be very good at choosing these kinds of characters with real edges to them.
You havent chosen that path through Hollywood where you play these nice leading men.
For me, its just trying to search for original stories.
And I did this weird science fiction movie calledPredestination…
I love this movie!
And [inGood Kill], I havent seen this character in the history of war films.
A guy whos compartmentalising to such an extent that hes fighting a war from his own house.
It creates a kind of schizophrenia and depression.
Youre one of those rare actors who doesnt seem to have any genre snobbery, either.
I wonder if that goes back to your first film,Explorers…
Im glad that you said that.
He was my first teacher, really, Joe Dante.
And he loves all kinds of movies.
Im just allergic to it its like, urgh.
And I feel the same way about the ones that are chasing $100m or something.
you’ve got the option to smell it on them.
Theyre playing to the lowest common denominator.
A movie likeThe Purgeaspires to be as socio-political as, you know, the early Carpenter films.
I thoughtThe Purgewas really clever.
Its a way of talking about politics without being pretentious.
The beautiful thing about science fiction is it does that.
And I love that.
Ethan Hawke, thank you very much.
Good Killis out in cinemas on May 15th.
