'Thieves Highway' Interview: Aaron Eckhart and Jesse V. Johnson

Moviefone speaks with Aaron Eckhart and Director Jesse V. Johnson about 'Thieves Highway'. "He's an old-fashioned lawman," Eckhart said of his character.

Aaron Eckhart in 'Thieves Highway'. Photo: SSS Entertainment.

Opening in theaters on December 12th and on digital December 16th is the new thriller 'Thieves Highway', which was directed by Jesse V. Johnson (‘Chief of Station’), and stars Aaron Eckhart (‘The Dark Knight’ and ‘Sully’), Lochlyn Munro (‘Peacemaker’), Brooke Langton (‘The Replacements’), Devon Sawa (‘Final Destination’), and legendary rapper The D.O.C.

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Aaron Eckhart and director Jesse V. Johnson about their work on ‘Thieves Highway’, why it’s not a modern Western, Eckhart’s research and his approach to his character, shooting the action sequences, working with The D.O.C., and why Eckhart and Johnson love making movies together.

Related Article: Aaron Eckhart Talks 'Chief of Station' and Looks Back at 'Sully'

Aaron Eckhart in 'Thieves Highway'. Photo: SSS Entertainment.

Moviefone: To begin with, Jesse, the movie plays like a modern Western with a lone sheriff pitted against a gang of outlaws. Was that what you were going for and what were the themes you wanted to explore with this movie?

Jesse V. Johnson: I was very much trying not to make it a modern Western. I was trying to make it a modern film, set in our present times, but somehow it kept touching on those same philosophies. So, I guess it worked itself in, but the truth of the matter is once it was all said and done, I saw that. When I was sitting with Sean Murray, the composer, we were trying various motifs and banging away at that. Finally, I think I saw a meme, or something came through on Instagram, and it was the ‘High Noon’ theme. I said, “Sean, you've got to use this. This is perfect.” He worked that into it. So, I guess in my heart and soul, it was always a modern revisionist kind of Western. I had tried very hard to keep it as modern as possible, but yes, that moral compass, the sense of duty, the sense of isolation, losing the cell phone and you're in a place where you can't rely on technology, you must rely very much on your own human resources. I think all of us, men anyway, of a certain age, we all strive for a little bit of that in our lives. Like, if I just woke up and I didn't have to go to work at 8:30am, if I could just go out onto the planes and go my horse and round up cows, everything would be so much simpler. I hear ex-military telling me, “God, I just wish I was back inside,” because it's so complicated. I think we live in complicated times, and I think people like that simplicity.

MF: Aaron, can you talk about the research you did into wildlife enforcement and how that information informed your performance?

Aaron Eckhart: Well, I live on a ranch. I own a ranch, I have cows on my ranch, and I also have two ranchers that live right next to me, who have 400 pair and one guy has no fences, so his cows are all over the road, all the time. Come to find out that they do get stolen. People come with panel vans, and they see a little calf, and they just put the calf in the panel van, they go an hour or two down the road and they can sell it at auction for cash. So, you can pick up a thousand bucks, literally, in maybe two or three hours. So, it's real. In fact, I talked to my local sheriff about it too, and he had just busted two guys that had been doing that on my road. Of course, they didn't shoot them like they used to, you know they’d just shoot them in the old days. But it's still alive and well, unfortunately, so there must be people that deal with it.

Aaron Eckhart in 'Thieves Highway'. Photo: SSS Entertainment.

MF: Can you talk about Frank’s moral compass and why he just can’t let this one go?

AE: This what I like about the character, he's an old-fashioned lawman. That's what he is. He grew up on the range. He grew up around all these ranchers, and he's got it in his soul. That's what he is, he's an old boot. There's a code out here and as more people come in that don't know the code, it gets more difficult and more complicated. But that code is a very important code because it's tied into people's livelihoods, their dreams, their hard work, that don't get vacations, that must wake up at 5am and feed the animals, that care for the animals and have an emotional and financial investment in those animals. So, I wanted to bring that in and the idea that there are consequences to your actions. You know, out here, it's different and then when my partner gets murdered, it's game on.

MF: Jesse, I know you and Aaron have worked together before, can you talk about your filmmaking partnership and what he brings to set as an actor?

JVJ: Working with Aaron is one of the great privileges of my career. I love working with him. He forces me to rise and be a better director. He does the same thing with the supporting cast and the crew members because they see this guy turning up early, absolutely committed to what he's doing, always ready to go, with ideas, at the peak of physical readiness always, and never complaining. You know, riling people up, giving them the enthusiasm to do work that they didn't think they had in them. This is something very rare and when you collaborate like that, you find a partner like that, you hang on with your dear life, with your claws, because it's the most important thing for a director, the leading man. I've been out there with a leading man who is not interested, who was less than motivated, who was doing it for the money, and who was phoning it in. I've done everything in my book to try and get their enthusiasm in the project, and it's met with a blank stare. They have too much going on, maybe a divorce, maybe something else, maybe child payments, whatever, and you can't reach them. It's a failure on my part as a director. When you find someone like Aaron, you know, I'm very lucky over these collaborations, it brings everything and challenges. We're there in the morning talking about what's going to happen during the day, how we're going to handle it. Aaron wants to know how I'm going to shoot it, how many takes, are we going to use a stunt double, and am I going to let Aaron do it? Which, by the way, is usually the question, because he won't let stuntmen come in and do his part. This is how committed and how invested he is in making a good movie, a good character, and this is wonderful. So, for my part, I feel extraordinarily lucky, and I will keep making movies with Aaron for as long as he puts up with me.

(L to R) Aaron Eckhart and Lochlyn Munro in 'Thieves Highway'. Photo: SSS Entertainment.

MF: Aaron, what do you enjoy about working with Jesse and why is he a great filmmaking partner for you?

AE: Well, you can see his passion, he cares so deeply, and you must put it all out there. I was thinking, while Jesse was speaking, I always think, we're so fortunate to be given this money and this time and these people to make this movie. Very few people on Earth can do that at whatever level. So, we must take that gift and we must maximize every single second of it. We must appreciate it, and we must augment it. We have to amp it up, bring in energy and excitement, because we're lucky. We're lucky to do this, so we can never take it for granted. Jesse's like that. If I have an idea, if he has an idea, let's do this, let's do that. Let's always be thinking. Jesse's always right there for me. That's important because that's the relationship that counts the most, is the director and the actor. I need to look at Jess and go, if I don't do it, he's going to do it. He'll go out there and do the fight. He'll go ride the horse. That's the kind of director I like to work with.

MF: Aaron, can you talk about Frank’s partnership with Aksel in the movie, and what it was like sharing those scenes with legendary rapper The D.O.C.?

AE: He gives a beautiful performance, smooth as silk, just right there, grounded. I didn't know any of this, I live under a rock but just his voice, his demeanor, and how kind he is as a real person. But he embodied it, and set the pace for it, which was wonderful. He was he was up for everything. He's just got a great presence and effortless really. That's what an actor strives for is an effortlessness, and it's magnetic.

MF: Jesse, can you talk about casting and directing The D.O.C.?

JVJ: He is the most humbled human being you've ever met. We just talk about the character and the movie. The only time there was any kind of resistance, he just told me, “I don't really like guns, Jesse. I don't like them very much. You'll have to talk me through that stuff.” He was very concerned about looking as good as he could with a gun, and it was just lovely. It was a lovely relationship, and he was a gentle, creative soul, who's very about the process of writing and creating. I really liked working with him. I wasn't familiar with this work. He was hired because he'd done another film for the producers. I felt he just did a really good job, and so many people have enjoyed his performance in this.

Aaron Eckhart in 'Thieves Highway'. Photo: SSS Entertainment.

MF: Aaron, can you talk about preparing for the action sequences?

AE: I always like to fight. It's good fighting, shooting, running, always trying to bring energy to the set, whatever it is. That's my job. So, to hit, take a hit, get down, get dirty, that's just what I'm there for. I want the audience to see me doing the fights, see me with the cows or whatever I'm doing. That's important to me.

MF: Finally, Jesse, can you talk about executing the action sequences and the challenges of having to wrangle all the cows and horses for this movie?

JVJ: Cows, horses, trucks with trailers, two miles square sets. It was a lot more ambitious than I thought going into it. But Aaron follows my tastes, which are practical effects and practical stunts. I work with some of the very best stunt coordinators, fight choreographers and car guys in the business. We watch and we plan, and we rehearse. Ultimately, I think the audience is there to see a show and they want to want to know that someone is in jeopardy. They want to feel that visceral buzz of knowing that someone is taking a risk here. If everything looks safe, it tends to be reflected on the actor's face in their focus and on their eyes, and they're pretending the environment around them exists. But if you put them in a real environment in cold water, up to their knees, fighting with a very aggressive stuntman, then he is really throwing those kicks and punches. Aaron wants to be in there, and he wants to roll up his sleeves. This is the kind of stuff that I grew up watching and being on the edge of my seat. This is what we're trying to capture, and this is what it takes. There's so much reliance on visual effects. This is my continual battle, but thankfully, I think I found a conspirator in Aaron, and we love that kind of filmmaking. It's a challenge but it's exciting. We want to put on a show to entertain people.

'Thieves Highway' opens in theaters on December 12th and on digital December 16th.

What is the plot of ‘Thieves Highway’?

After discovering a plot to haul stolen cattle in the middle of nowhere, a desperate and isolated lawman (Aaron Eckhart) becomes the only thing standing between a group of dangerous rustlers and a clear run to the border.

Who is in the cast of ‘Thieves Highway’?

Aaron Eckhart as Frank Bennett
Lochlyn Munro as Bill
Brooke Langton as Sylvia
Lucy Martin as Peggy
Devon Sawa as Johnny
The D.O.C as Aksel

Actor Aaron Eckhart attends the 2010 Governors Awards in the Grand Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland in Hollywood¨, CA, Saturday, November 13. Credit/Provider: Matt Petit / ©A.M.P.A.S. Copyright: ©A.M.P.A.S.