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I Start mentioning the most famous story about Ben Foster, and Ben Foster starts rolling his eyes. It’s an anecdote that comes up in almost every interview with the American actor, dating back to the 2013 war drama. lone survivorOne day on the set, in search of clay authenticity, Foster began eating handfuls of clay, “It wasn’t a handful”, he later claimed, explaining that he only agreed with the idea of Navy SEALs displaying pearly-white “Hollywood teeth”,
Foster has other similar stories method acting Libra: The time he took performance-enhancing drugs before playing lance armstrongOr when he dislocated his tooth with a power drill before playing a hillbilly bank robber hell or high water (2016). (With me here today, Foster’s teeth appear back into the power of Hollywood.) When these stories tie together, I say to him, doesn’t that make your work look a little better, right? useless,
“That’s a great word… absurd,” Foster said. “You’re a full grown adult wearing other people’s clothes and saying words you wouldn’t necessarily say in scenarios you wouldn’t believe. As a career choice, this could be considered absurd. I have no problem laughing at it.”
He smiles. Then it becomes serious. “It’s as ancient a profession as any community – a storyteller. Whether it’s here, or in a dark cave by a flickering fire in front of a painting on the wall. It’s ancient.” For journalists, he says, “There’s an allure of either going, ‘That person just wants money and fame’, Or ‘That person is out of their mind, and what they’re doing is absurd.’ And I don’t think it’s really that binary.”
Foster, 45, is sitting across from me in a cozy London hotel room, arriving for the festival premiere of his new film, christieToday, the burning intensity they often bring to the screen has been replaced with eco-friendly LEDs, He is friendly and honest, and his voice has a quiet, slow roughness, like a wheel on wet gravel,
christie Tells the story of female boxing champion Christy Salters, who nearly lost her life at the hands of her abusive husband-manager Jim Martin. ExcitementSidney Sweeney plays the eponymous warrior, while Foster plays Jim – grizzled, bald and charismatic. We see Christie’s meteoric rise to the top of women’s boxing while living as a closeted lesbian in a toxic, controlling marriage, which culminates in an attempted murder.
But the abuse she suffered was not entirely physical. “Coercive control It was a term I wasn’t familiar with,” says Foster. “It’s not illegal in the States like it is in the UK. So I studied it, and talked to some people who were friends with Christie at the time. Whoever is making this type of control – there is no manual for it. But it’s organized, and it seems to come naturally to people.”
In the past, Foster has enjoyed playing villainous roles – a violent mobster in 2007 Yuma at 3:10A malicious NBA executive is feuding with Adam Sandler hustle (2020); A slave hunter in search of Will Smith in 2022 FreedomBut christie This is one of his most disturbing turns – the most banal and indecent display of evil.
I suggest that it would be difficult to find humanity in such a character. “There’s no answer to what he ultimately did to her,” says Foster. “But as a storyteller, you’re not playing the whole story in every scene. Whoever’s trying to play them [partner’s] Coming from a place of deep insecurity in sexuality, their finances, their privacy, their own authority. “For me, at least for myself, it seemed important to understand that this came from a place of extreme fragility.”
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He was full of praise for his co-star, who also produced the film. “Sydney is her own force,” he says fondly. “She came extremely prepared, knew the names of the crew, was always ready to work. I’d be exhausted at the end of the day and she’d train another three hours to fight the next morning.”
Over the past few years, the 28-year-old actor has become the center of tabloid headlines, the basis of a never-ending cycle of discussion – about his body; his acting; his politics; Their commercial for denim jeans may or may not contain a white supremacist dogwhistle. Sweeney, says Foster, “has a zeitgeist worldview that’s unique. And I think she’s handling it incredibly well. She’s a powerhouse.
“I’m not on social media at all,” he adds. “And never have been. I think.” [my representatives] Know better than to push me into that. But she plays on that field. This is very important for this generation, for the future. I find that incredibly impressive.”
Christy Martin – the real Christy Martin – broke all kinds of boundaries in the game with her identity, and survived the impossible
ben foster
christie may be a particularly serious character, but Foster seems inclined towards heavier material – her finest role may be in the 2018 horror drama leave no TracePlaying a single father and war veteran struggling with PTSD. Things weren’t always so bad: Born in Boston to Jewish parents, Foster got her start on the Disney Channel, starring as the tween series lead for two years. Flash ForwardHe had a lead role opposite Kirsten Dunst in the superlative teen romcom get over it (2001), appeared twice in freaks and Geeks — the Judd Apatow-created high school series that spawned a handful of future A-listers — and had a memorable recurring role on HBO’s cult TV classic six feet UnderFrom 2003 to 2005.
six feet Under This would be Foster’s last steady television role. “I’m not against TV,” he insists. “When I was growing up, there was a huge gap between film and television. Other people move in hoping for something more consistent. I get very obsessed with a subject and want to go as far as I can – and then stop for a while and look for another job.”
Foster has also, largely, stayed away from the world of the blockbuster – despite a brief sojourn into superheroism. X-Men: The Last StandHe played the role of the mutant Angel in the film, which was criticized and reportedly surrounded by behind-the-scenes conflicts, “I don’t really have much of a relationship with it,” [that film] Right now,” Foster says.
However, he remembers a stunt sequence that involved a rapid fall from a tall building. He explains, “I’m not a big fan of heights, and jumping from a 180-foot height in Vancouver, shirtless, with just a wire on my back, terrified me. But I’m grateful to have done that stunt.” Despite the criticism, there are supporters of a third X-Men film. “I think the movie means something to different people,” says Foster. “When people come up to me and talk about it, it has a meaning to them. Usually it’s a good meaning.”
christieIt’s also sure to mean good to some people: Although the film didn’t perform well at the American box office, it’s a moving, well-made biopic with strong performances that tells a story that deserves to be told. Foster says honestly, “Christy Martin – the real Christy Martin – broke all kinds of boundaries in the game with her identity, and survived the impossible.” “Ultimately I find it a very inspiring story. So it’s nice to talk about it like this.”
He leans back. “And its In fact It feels good to wake up every day thinking about the gym and not have to go to work. I shook it.” As far as I can tell, he really has.
,‘Christie’ is released in theaters from 28th November.