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Sam Rockwell talks up ‘Gentlemen Broncos’
Actor Sam Rockwell is in Austin this weekend following the local premiere of his new film “Gentlemen Broncos” on Thursday night at the Paramount Theatre. The screening kicked-off Fantastic Fest, which runs through Oct. 2.
In “Broncos,” a shambolic mash-up of arch comedy and low-rent pulp science fiction directed by Jared (“Napoleon Dynamite”) Hess, Rockwell plays two imaginary characters from a sci-fi novel. One is Bronco, a wild-eyed hillbilly with a grudge. The other is Brutus, a swishy fellow who flounces in pink and tosses back a long cascade of lank white hair.
Rockwell showed up to Thursday’s premiere with his father and a group of friends, as well as Hess and cast members, including Jemaine Clement. The actor, who’s been seen in “The Green Mile,” “Charlie’s Angels,” “Choke,” “Frost/Nixon” and this year’s “Moon,” headed to the premiere after-party at the all-new Highball, but didn’t stay long. “It was a little overwhelming with all the people there,” he says. “It was intense.”
We sat down with Rockwell for a quick chat on Friday afternoon.
Chris Garcia: You’ve described the character of Brutus as “Captain Kangaroo in drag.” Where did you get such an apt description?
Sam Rockwell: Well, he looks a little bit like Captain Kangaroo. But he also looks like Hulk Hogan. Actually, though, the look is based on these two guys in the band Kansas. You can check it out.
Hence the use of Kansas’ “Carry on My Wayward Son” during the film’s closing credits.
Absolutely.
You’ve made a career doing these more serious, even cracked, offbeat roles. Where do Bronco and Brutus fit in?
I’ve done “Galaxy Quest” and “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” It’s funny, sci-fi comedy seems to be a thread. To me, it’s purely coincidence, but maybe it’s not. I wanted to work with Jared and these fun characters. I really love his films. I don’t do a lot of comedy.
You do, it seems, more scary, dark comedy …
Yeah. There’s some films like “Welcome to Collinwood” and “Safe Men” that are comedies played very seriously. This is obviously really broad, and it was very liberating to not worry about good acting or anything and be silly.
How much freedom did Jared allow you in creating the characters?
It was great. Jared let me go quite a bit. I think he was more hands on with Brutus than Bronco. I had a good take on Bronco pretty quickly. It’s funny, but Jared is actually the only director who can give me a line reading and it’s better than my reading. Actors do not generally like line readings from a director. It’s a major faux pas. You don’t do that to an actor who’s been around for a while. It’s very not cool. But with Jared it was cool and I sort of welcomed it. He’s such a nice man. It is said that he can do all the voices in “Napoleon Dynamite” just as good and maybe better than all the actors in the film. He did Brutus better than I did Brutus. He had it thought out and he would literally tell me how to say it, the lisp and the whole thing. And I would go, “My God, that’s genius.” He’s the only director who’s been able to do that, though.
Were the cheesy special effects fun or kind of a pain to do? They of course look ridiculously cheap and shoddy …
It’s based on “Turkish Star Wars,” the cheap look and silliness. I asked Jared what I should watch and he said to watch that. He sent me a tape. Maybe I wasn’t supposed to tell you that. Jared has weird references, man, like this bicycle movie from the ‘80s called “Rad.” But when I saw “Turkish Star Wars” I totally got it.
This is your second Austin film premiere this year, after “Moon” at South by Southwest in March. You do premieres all over the world. How does Austin stack up?
I love Austin, man. I love it. I’m here till Monday. It’s like a vacation for me. Everyone’s so mellow here. I have a friend here and she introduced me to her friends. There’s just nice people here. You don’t have the hubbub of L.A. or New York. It’s more like San Francisco.
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