Kurt Russell 'Escape From L.A.' Interview [Domestic Press Junket/Jul 20/1996/US] By Elisa Leonelli [Courtesy: Elisa Leonelli]


Kurt Russell, at 45 [he was born on March 17, 1951] is starring as Snake Plissken in Escape From L.A. [Paramount] a sequel to the cult classic Escape From New York [1981] that he also wrote and co-produced with Debra Hill and director John Carpenter. The future Los Angeles of 2013, after a big earthquake in the year 2000, has become an island detached from the mainland, a deportation center where an oppressive U.S. government keeps all the undesirable elements away from an hyper-moralistic society; therefore this is the only place where people can be free and the site of an imminent rebellion, lead by Cuervo, of the Peruvian revolutionary group Shining Path. Our hero has to go into the city to rescue a secret black box that can blow up the world, and meets with bizarre characters in a series of futuristic adventures.

Russell, who had started as the child star of Disney films, had become established with the John Carpenter directed TV movie, Elvis [1979] and had starred in that director's other films The Thing [1982] and Big Trouble in Little China [1986]. Among his other credits are Silkwood [1983] with Meryl Streep, Swing Shift [1984] with Goldie Hawn, Tango & Cash [1989] with Sylvester Stallone, Backdraft [1991] with Robert De Niro, Tombstone [1993] with Val Kilmer, Stargate [1994] with James Spader, Executive Decision [1996] with Halle Berry.

John Carpenter, the director of Escape From L.A. has admitted that Snake Plissken, the protagonist, is his alter ego, is he yours also?

Yeah, I think that Snake is a figment of John's imagination and an alter ego that I share. I feel the same way he does, anything he does, we've invented, so we both understand that guy completely.

Snake Plissken is such a cool character that he's almost comical, how do you play him straight so he won't become ridiculous, where do you draw the line?

I suppose that's a matter of taste, you know? I don't think Snake views himself as cool, he doesn't care about being cool, he doesn't care about what other people think of him. He's world weary, he's soul-less, he's got a terrific sense of humor, but he's not a comedian. He just finds life to be such a joke, he can't believe that other people are so myopic about their lives, and they're devastated at moments, because they all have an agenda. Everybody Snake runs into has an agenda, except for him, he doesn't have an agenda, ever. He'd just like to go through life, do what he wants to do, see what's next; but everyone has something they want and therefore they're all corruptible, at some point. Snake is incorruptible, because he doesn't have that agenda, he doesn't care about you or me, which is what we say at the end of the movie: "Haven't you got anything better to do than watch me?" That's something I've never seen a character do and that's why I wrote it that way; I think that Snake should break the 4th plane at the end of the movie and turn, because he feels a presence, after he's finally shut out the lights, he's finally done his Greta Garbo, which is: "I want to be alone" and disappear. He's admiring the simple match and the light that it puts out and the fact that it's a man-made instrument, it's not a monument of industry, as they told him: "It's a simple matchbox, you never know when you might need them", and he needs it then, he lights a cigarette that he got lucky enough to find and the world is all right by Snake, because he finally got to just have a smoke; that's all he wanted; and it was a difficult thing to do, get a smoke; so he's enjoying the fact that he's made it through and looking at the light and then feels something still, feels Big Brother watching him and, basically, turns to the audience and says that line; for the first time the audience gets to see what other characters in the movie see when they look at him. He's just basically a very cold person and my feeling was that he looks at the audience and kind of chuckles to himself like, "Haven't you got anything better to do than watch me? Get a life! Goodnight." And then lights are out on everybody. He holds true to himself and that's why he's a cult character, somebody who's ultimately disdainful of everything we sort of understand or do. Yeah, that must be an alter ego of John's and mine, for me to feel that way about the character; we wrote everything he does and says, so we're responsible for him; and we're true to him even though we may not agree, we may not live our lives like that; but I don't think we can help but admire that part of him.

How difficult was it for you reconstruct a character you had played 15 years ago? Did you go back to watch the original movie?

It wasn't too difficult, we really understood him well enough to find him again and we were very careful about it. I did watch the old movie a couple of times for structure and by watching it I remembered some of the things that I thought in playing a scene, and that was what connected back up with me, as to why he was that way. He's not a dislikable character to watch, he's not someone who you disdain watching, even though he disdains you. I wanted to know why, and I find that's because he has admirable qualities about him. I think if we were all as true to ourselves as Snake is, perhaps we would find ourselves in a better world, a world without some of the problems that we have. But no, it didn't take long to get back into him, because it's always there, it's always in my head, it's always in John's head.

Escape From L.A. offers a pretty bleak picture of Los Angeles in 2013, what is your own outlook on the future?

There's no way to avoid the fact that this film will be viewed as somewhat bleak, but it's only a movie, it's entertainment. My vision of the future is that, for this movie, for Snake Plissken and for this Escape From New York world, it should be viewed as you see it. This is not my view of what history will probably present. I think that there will be a lot of medical improvements over the next 16 years, unfortunately there will also be a lot of political disappointments over the next 16 years, in terms of individual freedoms and things like that in this country. I would hope that America continues to get a handle on uncontrolled violence and things like that, otherwise I'd say it's not only probable, but very possible that we'll be headed for some form of revolt and anarchy, just like we show in Los Angeles in this movie. At least there's a freedom there that is forever appealing to me.

On Escape From L.A. you are credited as writer and producer as well, alongside John Carpenter and Debra Hill. Why did you want to do all three jobs on this movie?

We felt it was important that I show, with Debra and John, an equal amount of commitment. I've worked in the same capacity before, I mean, I've done the job of writing on many, many movies that I've done, I've done the job of producing on many movies that I've done, and I've done the job of directing on movies that I've done. I never have cared to take credit for it, because it doesn't make any difference to me. What matters is what's up on the screen, the final product and the audience sitting there, hopefully getting their money's worth. But my agent said to me: "I just don't think that you're going to be allowed to do that anymore on this picture." So, because I was driving the ball from the beginning, I decided they were right, that I'd have to show this kind of commitment; so I said, "On your terms, in your world, I will co-produce and co-write the movie and therefore I will be credited; that's how much commitment I have to it." Usually I get involved with a picture after a first draft; I sit down with the director and the writer at that point and I say: "This, this, and this. Let's go through this and let's rewrite it, let's rework it, let's try to make this better." And then I go into the process of writing, sometimes a lot, sometimes not so much; most of the time a lot. On some pictures, I've had to do a lot of directing, and I've been asked: "Do you want a credit?" And I've said: "No, it's not important, it's destructive." But I won't tell you on which ones, because that's why it's destructive.

Having worked with John Carpenter not only on this film but in many others, what would you say makes him different from other directors?

Well, John's been the most influential director in my life, in my career, and he's been a great friend. I'm endlessly fascinated by his ability on the dance floor, as we call it, he's really a great dancer. I love his talent and I just happen to see things the same way John does; so we click, we have good times together. I missed the fun that we have making a movie, and I wanted to have fun with John again; so that was a big part of this movie. I asked myself: "What is it you want to do now?" and I answered: "I want to have fun." I was at a point where I needed that and I'm really grateful that we did it, because we had a blast making this movie. John and I have a similar sense of humor and a similar outlook in terms of freedoms and things. He's just a director that I love making movies with, I love being an actor in John Carpenter movies.