The latestStephen Kingadaptation is making its way into theaters this weekend, withThe Life of Chuckexploring the life of Charles “Chuck” Krantz in reverse, beginning with his death and working backwards to his mysterious childhood. WithMike Flanaganin the director’s chair, the film is already earning widespreadacclaim and positive reviews, currently sitting at an 89% on Rotten Tomatoes, surpassing Flanagan’s last King adaptation,Doctor Sleep.
At the heart ofThe Life of ChuckisTom Hiddleston, who anchors the narrative as the titular character. Joining Hiddleston in the cast to portray key roles in Chuck’s life areChiwetel Ejiofor,Karen Gillan,Matthew Lillard,Kate Siegel,Mia Sara,Carl Lumbly,David Dastmalchian,Rahul Kohli, and more. Rounding out the ensemble cast areMark Hamillas Albie Krantz, Chuck’s grandfather, and Broadway performerBenjamin Pajak, in his feature debut, as a younger Chuck.
While talking with Collider’sPerri Nemiroff, Hamill sings Pajak’s praises, touching on how multi-talented the young performer is and his infectious enthusiasm. Pajak was quick to return the praise, discussing how fun working with Hamill was in his first film opportunity. Pajak also dives into the film’s choreography and the notes he took from Hiddleston’s own dance sequence, while Hamill touches on his work adapting another King story,The Long Walk.
Mark Hamill Sings Benjamin Pajak’s Praises
“Seriously, I wish he were my real grandson.”
PERRI NEMIROFF: Mark, I want to start by making Benjamin blush a little bit because he is absolutely phenomenal in this film. What is something about his approach to the work on set that wowed you and made you think, “This right here is a movie star?”
MARK HAMILL: He is a complete natural. I mean, he does everything. I wasn’t able to see him inThe Music Man, but I’ve gone online and seen clips. He does it all. He sings, he dances. He actually knits!
BENJAMIN PAJAK: [Laughs] I do. I crochet.
HAMILL: I can’t do that. But his enthusiasm is infectious. He loves what he’s doing. And, I have to tell you, I saw a clip of him singing “Where is Love?” fromOliver!. I’ve seen that show several times over the years because I took my kids to see it, and anyway, my point is that song is usually a plaintive, introspective, almost melancholy lament. This guy gets out there and belts it like it’s a 10:30 number with this fantastic voice. I just never heard that interpretation before. He made it all his own.
PAJAK: Well, that was a great question. You definitely made me blush many times there.
HAMILL: See, a lot of times I keep something, like a pair of glasses or a hat. I always ask the producers, “Can I keep such and such as a memento?” I wanted to keep him. Seriously, I wish he were my real grandson.
Oh, that’s such a beautiful thing.
HAMILL: Higher praise cannot be given.
Benjamin, I’ll let you give Mark some flowers back now. You are working opposite a legend in this movie, and when that happens, I imagine you go into it with certain expectations. Can you tell me something that he did on set that exceeded those expectations or surprised you?
PAJAK:The Life of Chuckwas really my first professional film opportunity. I didn’t know much going into it, but the first time that I met Mark, we had lunch, and I really just was able to connect with him, and it really brought me down to Earth a little bit more and made me think, “He’s just a regular person. We’re both there to film this movie.” The first day that we did film, though, the thing that kind of resonated with me the most was he just went into his character. He stayed in it the whole day. He didn’t leave it. I really tried to take that, and it really helped me.
Another thing is,he does something different on every single take, and it’s so much fun to act with him becauseIget to do something different then, and we get to play off of each other. Every single time that we have a moment in this movie, there’s something there that’s happening, something I’m thinking of, or something that he’s doing. There was so much that I was able to play with that he gave me. He was just a great guide to have during the film.
“I Am So Grateful”: Mark Hamill Addresses Luke Skywalker’s Return Status in ‘Star Wars: Episode X’ and ‘New Jedi Order’
“We never expected it to become a permanent franchise."
I’ll follow up on that briefly. Can you give me an example of a specific scene where Mark threw out two polar opposite versions of it, and it kept you on your toes and helped you find new things in it?
HAMILL: I don’t know that it’s a radical difference. I try to do nuance, just because every take is precious and you don’t want to be robotic and do exactly the same thing. And then you discover things from the other actor and react to that. That’s the way I look at it.
PAJAK: I think the scene that turned something on for me, there’s a clip of it out somewhere, is the scene where he’s saying his monologue about math. In that scene, I’m mainly just reacting, buteven if you’re not saying a line, you should still be acting. Every single time he said a word, I was able to say stuff in my head or something to keep me in the moment. He never brought me out of the moment.
HAMILL: Because acting isreacting.
PAJAK: There you go.
Tom Hiddleston’s Dance Scene Was a “Crucial” Day
“If I hadn’t been there that day, it would have been a completely different dance sequence.”
Benjamin, one other thing I really wanted to ask you about was the other Chucks in the movie, because last I spoke to Tom, he said he shot his dance scene the first week of filming, and then Mike and [choreographer] Mandy [Moore] passed some of what they found along to you. Do you remember any specific notes that you got that you wound up incorporating into your own performance?
PAJAK: Yeah. I should state that Mandy was nice enough to invite me to set and watch Tom dance, and that was huge in helping me develop dancing like Tom. I had to put some similarities of what he did into my performance.There were so many things that he did physically. There’s a move that he does with his hand, how he moved his hips, how he even used his face when he was dancing, how he closed his eyes at some moments. There were a lot of things, but I didn’t want to write them down, because then I thought if I wrote them down, then I would be too robotic, and I would attempt to be too much like Tom, which I didn’t want to take everything that he did and just use that. But if I hadn’t been there that day, it would have been a completely different dance sequence, but Mandy was nice enough to let me go to set. Mike and Tom were nice enough to take a moment out of filming to say hi to me. That day was really crucial in the development of the dance for me.
Mark Hamill Says Francis Lawrence’s Adaptation of ‘The Long Walk’ Is “So Effective”
“The premise alone is so ghastly.”
Mark, I do want to squeeze in one question aboutThe Long Walkbecause I’m a big Stephen King fanl. I love this short story and I love that novel so much. What is it about the role of The Major that called to you, something about it that made you think it would fill you up creatively in a new way?
HAMILL: It’s interesting because it’s, I think, the second thing he ever wrote when he was17, under his pseudonym, Richard Bachman. I’m fascinated with Stephen King. I think he’s written 60 novels, and I know I’ve read over 40. That one was pretty difficult. The premise alone is so ghastly, and I don’t like extreme. I don’t go see slasher movies or any of that, and it’s not that.The story is really about these young men.They’re the heart and soul of the story.
I’m nominally the antagonist because the state is the antagonist, but I represent the state. Even though I read it, I wasn’t around to see this young cast of actors, and when I finally saw it put together, I told Francis Lawrenceit’s so effective. It really belongs to this young cast of actors that I’d never seen before. Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson, and all of them down to the people that have one or two lines, even the background people, were perfectly cast, and that’s where the real emotion was. So, it didn’t really impact me until I saw it all put together. But I just show up occasionally to torment them and be a giant A-hole.
That is true of the role, but I have a feeling I’m going to be encouraging you to give yourself way more credit for your work in that film.
HAMILL: I was shocked because they sat me next to Stephen King at the screening ofThe Life of Chuckat the Toronto Film Festival. I went to sit down, and he looked up at me, and went, “The Major!” I thought, “How does this guy know I’m in his movie?” It turns out later that he has control over everything. He has control of casting, director,everything. After some unpleasant experiences early on in his career, he demanded that, and obviously, he deserves it. But like I said, I was astonished that he knew because we hadn’t even started filming it.
