The stars of the boxing drama Bleed For This talk about making the movie on a tight budget.
Heres what the two Hollywood stars had to say.
You guys worked together before onRabbit Hole, right?
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Aaron Eckhart:Yeah, we didRabbit Holetogether.
So did that prior experience account for the easy chemistry you two bring to the screen?
Miles Teller:We filmed that movie, like, seven years ago.
I was really excited about that journey… transforming this guy.
So were not best friends, right?
It was nice, it was secure, there was a lot of trust amongst us.
I enjoy Miless company, so it makes filming a lot easier, definitely.
And when you look at a lot of peoples careers, usually theyre paired up, you know?
Its a great relationship.
So what was that like?
Did it feed into the energy of them?
Did it make them more difficult?
It didnt flow as well as maybe I felt like it needed to.
Because its exhausting; youre fighting, youre boxing, and its intense, even after all those hours.
Then by the end of the movie we got it pretty succinct.
The stakes were so high in those days.
Do you remember that?
MT:Oh yeah, yeah.
AE:You were doing so much fighting.
Getting the other fighters in there… we had an awesome crowd.
I mean the crowd was electric for us.
And so, in that sense it did help us.
There was no time but to act on instinct and to get this thing done.
So that, I think, really worked in the films favour.
I was thinking theres a triangular aspect to the relationships in this.
I wondered if thats something you considered as you were performing this.
MT:I didnt think about it that much, actually.
That was kind of brought to my attention when Ben talked about it.
I think thats a nice visual that sums up so much about these guys individual journeys to this place.
AE:Vinnies got his inspiration from these guys.
Obviously, he has a motor inside him like nobody else the guys a ball of energy.
Hes got a distinct point of view of life that you see in the film.
And then the fathers ingrained in Vinnies career, while the trainer becomes the father.
He becomes that figure, that ultimate figure of trust.
So its a very important relationship.
How he managed that is also interesting.
the manager] and youre the one telling him to calm down.
AE:So Vinnie is a father figure to us in a lot of ways, which is interesting.
Ive found a lot of these stories through interviews and different things.
Who doesnt want to be a part of a Martin Scorsese film.
So we were in very good hands.
Is it important to both of you to support films like this as actors?
Its a film I want to see, and thats not always the case.
But I wonder what the mental transformations like; giving the illusion of lived experience.
Being a boxer; being a trainer.
MT:Do you wanna take the trainer part?
Because you used to box.
How he plays games with promoters.
So I was there when he was wrapping Mannys hand before the fight and after the fight.
He told me all the mind games that he played with everybody, and they were extensive.
Theyre very, very effective hes playing mind games with the refs before the fight, the promoters everybody.
So he had that inside information hed go back and process that.
I mean, it was intense, okay?
That helped me, then, to help Miles or Vinnie in any way that I could.
Even touching another actor, sometimes, is difficult.
You have to break that barrier, you know?
So all that psychological training helps us make that bond for the audience stronger.
But guys do die in the ring, so there are real stakes involved.
Miles Teller and Aaron Eckhart, thank you very much.
Bleed For Thisis out in UK cinemas on the 2nd December.
