Michael Pena (Lions For Lambs) Interview
You appeared in Crash and now Lions for Lambs. What does that mean for your career?
Well, if somebody were to tell you that you are being considered for a movie starring Tom Cruise, Robert Redford and Meryl Streep you are going to be really excited about it especially with Redford directing it. What I’m trying to do is be in the company of the best directors because they are the storytellers. When you are with somebody like Bob he knows what to tell you and what to show you. When I have a conversation with him I just want to listen. He and Oliver Stone and Paul Haggis and Clint Eastwood, they are all great storytellers and when you are in a movie that’s what you want – storytellers who know how to communicate with dialogue and images.
Can you give us an example?
Robert told me a life and death story actually about how he was in a plane and the engine stopped and then another engine failed and it stopped. And I was like ‘Robert Redford in a plane that could have crashed!’ It doesn’t seem possible. And he told me how for nine minutes they were just gliding down and for sure he thought he was going to die. And this was when we were talking about our characters and how you don’t need to over play the gravity, like ‘I’m going to die!’ Nobody does that. So he would talk about a moment that you didn’t understand and then he would relay it in his own experiences, his own words, and then you were able to see what he was talking about.
How did you recreate the mountains of Afghanistan in California?
It was interesting because he had two big mountains and then he put a platform in the middle of it. And then they put fake snow all around except under Derek and me. That snow was real. And I didn’t understand why they would put real snow under us I think it was because of the camera or something but within half an hour it was like slush. And it would go all over your chest, down your pants and then the wind machines were going and it was really cold and we were laying in slush. Robert Redford would come over and go ‘how are you doing?’ and I would be like ‘we’re doing great, if you want to put more snow here don’t hesitate man!’ (laughs). For somebody like Redford you don’t want to complain. He was in his jacket with his gloves and scarf and we were like ‘it’s OK…’
Did you ever think of joining the army yourself?
I thought about it when I was 17 and in the ROTC which is like the Reserves except you are in High School where you basically where the uniform and clean the gun and get inspections. You learn how to march and salute and handle a gun which helped me along the way (for this film). Like I led a platoon of 32 students and to do that, you need some order. It’s very exact. So I thought about joining up for a little bit, like for a week maybe, but I didn’t tell my parents or anything because that would have been a little tough. But it was only for about a week and then I joined a bank the next week so maybe I didn’t think about it too hard.
Andrew Garfield (who plays Todd in the film) was saying that between takes there was a lot of debate about the issues the film looks at. Was that your experience?
We weren’t like that. With the scenes we shot there wasn’t too much time for talking because we were lying down and it would be ‘OK, Michael move your leg.’ We kept it to a bear minimum because our scenes were kind of uncomfortable. When my character tells the teacher, who is played by Robert, that he is going off to war, it’s like telling his Dad because they’ve had that kind of relationship. And that was a very interesting part because in between takes we didn’t really talk too much. I’ve learned more about Bob while we’ve been doing press than I did when we were shooting. Because we all kind of just kept silent and didn’t ask too many questions while we were shooting. Now we talk and it’s all good.
Your character is very idealistic in a way. He wants to help his country for the purest reasons. Is that how you saw it?
I think my particular story can be told at any time in any country. There are different kids fighting different wars and for different reasons but it’s pretty much patriotic and to serve their country. It could be Russia, Germany, Greece, anywhere. There’s that certain loyalty that you feel toward your country that you need to fight for it and preserve its way of life. And who is to disagree with that? I personally wish there was no war, that you could just do it by arm wrestling or something. Or by communicating.
And one of the points of film is that often it’s the people who get least out of a country who are the ones who go out and fight for it. Would you say that is an accurate reflection?
Statistically speaking it definitely is. In Vietnam a lot of the people who went were black and like the white poor and for some reason they went because of the benefits like the GI Bill. A lot of the rich kids didn’t have to go or found a way not to go which I thought was interesting. And a lot of the people now are Latin or black or poor white or middle class. A lot of people are from the Reserves, you know. They enter the reserves to make money and go to college, and other people don’t necessarily need that.
Did many of your friends growing up in Chicago enlist in the services?
Yes, they did. And what was interesting about my character is that we talked about his back-story and there’s not really much of a difference. Like half the people I grew up with in my old neighbourhood are dead – that’s half, that’s an alarming rate of guys who are not with us anymore and it was kind of like a war zone. I was able to relate to that and almost play more of myself in this movie, more than I have in any other movie. It was like I grew up in a war zone.
Was it hard to break into acting?
I worked hard man. I can remember times when I would study for a role and other friends would be like ‘Mike do you wanna come and party?’ and I’m like ‘no, I’m going to study.’ and they would leave and go off and have a good time. And I know how to have a good time – I play Scrabble! (laughs). But I would study and study a lot and really focus on trying to use my character to tell the best story possible, that’s my viewpoint, because I want to communicate the play or the movie to the audience.
You mentioned that you grew up in a tough neighbourhood where there were gangs and violence. Why do you think you survived in your neighbourhood when others didn’t?
I think some of it was luck and some of it was my perseverance. And I pulled in and I had good parents. We were poor and we had some problems and stuff, but I had good parents and when you find somebody who doesn’t have that much guidance, it’s hard for them, especially where we grew up because the peer pressure was hard to deal with. If you walked home you would see like three crowds and they are all gangs and they are like ‘what’s up Mike?’ and you are kind of scared because if you don’t join their gang they are liable to beat you up or kill you or whatever.
Was there one person who helped you to not get involved in that gang lifestyle?
It was down to me and it was close. I could have chosen to be in something like that but instead I got two full time jobs over the summer to put myself through Prep School. Most people weren’t doing that. Most of them were hanging out during summers and it’s weird because I remember coming home like at midnight or something like that, having come right from work, and I would see people on the corner drinking and they would be like ‘how’s it going Mike?’ and I would be exhausted, like just needing to sleep, and they would be like ‘do you wanna drink?’ and I’d be like ‘no, I gotta go to sleep…’ because I would have to get up at five the next morning. Sports also helped I think – playing sports was the first time I realised that if you work hard you can actually see results. I used to play soccer and I really stunk, I wasn’t very good, and then I would train and do drills and then I was a lot better the second year and it was the same thing with (American) football and track. That kind of turned it around.
Did you grow up speaking Spanish?
I think I was five years old before I started speaking English, which was an interesting transition because I missed out on Star Wars and ET and things like that.
Do you have brothers and sisters?
I have one brother and he’s older and he used to beat me up a lot (laughs).
Did you speak Spanish with Robert Redford?
No, does he speak Spanish? Wow, I wouldn’t put it past him, he’s a really smart guy but I didn’t know he spoke Spanish.
You have made some very good choices. Is there some luck in that?
It’s just very simple to me. My favourite authors are (Ernest) Hemingway and (Charles) Bukowski and I’ve tried reading other kinds of novels that I pick up in the airport and it just seems that those are the things I like to do, those are the things that entertain me. So I follow my instincts and go for stories that appeal to me, it’s as simple as that. It certainly helps when you have directors like Redford and Paul Haggis and Oliver Stone telling the stories. Then, it’s easy.
How did you get into acting?
It was my best friend’s Mom. I was working in a bank at the time and she said ‘you need to go to this open call.’ And I couldn’t see it. I was a football player, a track star, you know, what do you mean acting? And she was like ‘you’re good at impressions..’ I would always describe things to my brother using actions, like ‘he did this!’ and we both mimicked people. I was good at that.
So did you go to that open call?
No, but she made me promise that I would go to the next one. And that was for To Sir With Love, part 2. A huge movie! (laughs). It was a movie of the week and I auditioned for it 7 times and never having acted a day in my life before, I thought ‘wow, this is really interesting.’ I got to be an extra and I thought I had made it! I was 19 and I was in the movie!
And now do directors come to you rather than you having to go to them for work?
See that’s the thing; it’s been great, because for the last five years I’ve been getting offers. I’ve been trying to good work for a long time but Crash helped me out a lot to be honest with you. Things have been going great, I must say, especially since then.
What are you doing next?
I’m doing an Oliver Stone movie called Pinkville. It’s Vietnam, the My Lai massacre – no big deal! (laughs). I think I’m one of the bad guys, which is interesting because I’ve never done that before. We’re shooting in Thailand which will be interesting.
Lions For Lambs is released in UK cinemas on 9th November 2007.
