Alpha Dog is an intense meditation on teen violence, with young Hollywood brats playing gangster with deadly consequences. Everyone gets their moment to suffer or rage, but Ben Foster stands out. In one scene, he speaks with his brother's kidnapper in a split screen phone call which escalates to a frothing scream-fest.
Interview: Ben Foster Finds Alpha Dog to be Intense
"Emile [Hirsch] was on the other line," said Foster. "As an actor, I have a younger brother. He's four years younger. I'm not by nature necessarily a violent person but exploring the potential of that in that moment opened something up in me that I didn't know existed. And that I will go to the ends of the earth to protect my loved ones. I knew that in theory but I hadn't really experienced it so it was an interesting day."
Don't call Foster a method actor though. "I don't know what you call it. It was just what it felt like. I mean , that's the ideal I think of anyone who participates in the arts is that eventually there's a catharsis rather than a damaging aspect. And the idea of the method has been so bastardized by kind of untrained people who watch Brando movies rather than whatever works in the moment. And that particular moment was I was talking to somebody who had my brother. And by addressing it and going to its center, one is able to ideally release it and then instead of actors become fatigue and destroyed and distraught over playing a damaged person, you've actually released something so I thought it was a very cathartic experience."
Foster has several such scenes, including one where his character gets fired for his erratic behavior. "Nick [Cassavetes] said such a beautiful thing to me before doing the scene of getting fired, a really wonderful bit of direction. He said, 'You're a fan of Jeff Buckley, right?' I said, 'Yeah.' 'You know when Jeff just gets up there and lets it go? Just let it go.' He said, 'Rolling.' And that was the type of direction that he would use with me. It's not Buckley coming out but it's me letting go of something and it's fun. But that thought is coming from a real place."
Alpha Dog opens to theatres on January
12th, 2007.
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