The episode was written by Zack Stentz (who posted an entry on the official blog earlier today) and Ashley Miller. Guest stars include Busy Philipps as Kacy, Chad Coleman as Queeg, Erin Fleming as Goodnow, and Yuri Lowenthal as Garvin.
The synopsis says:
As Jesse struggles to recover following her brutal fight with Riley she flashes back to 2011, where in the underground Resistance she was chosen for a life-altering mission aboard a small submarine. Back in the present, Sarah and John (unaware of Riley’s murder) decide to move out of the house. They debate whether or not to bring Cameron with them as the rift between all of them, started by Riley and Jesse in the first place, begins to widen even more.
Are you one of those people who has fundamental changes in yourself based on your work?
You mean like roles affecting you outside of the job? You know, I don’t think I am! There wouldn’t be much craft in it if you actually become those people. I like feeling like I have some skill.
You mean to you? I’m real proud of it, which is an odd thing to be proud of. I’m proud of this rape-and-pillage movie. There are reasons that I consciously did the thing — but there’s something about that basic story that is speaking to people, and I think did to me when I read the script. And I think it’s because the job situation is getting weird, people feel so powerless right now. People feel like they’ve been raped by — fill in the blank, the economy, 9/11. Wes Craven last night called 9/11 the ultimate home invasion. Not meaning to be glib — but that feeling of violation we all had. People are really responding to the film in a visceral way — and I think it gives them some release. I kind of feel like it will defend itself. Wow, I got so deep there.
OK. I will see this movie.
It’s an art-house horror film. I saw it with a couple friends and, man, it’s so relentless and believable. I felt mugged. Sort of happily mugged? Is that possible?
I do hate reading a synopsis with the word “disembowel” in it.
I don’t think we disembowel! Sara Paxton, who plays Mari Collingwood, the victim of the assault, I’ve worked with her before. I was happy about that at first. Then I thought maybe it’s a bad thing — you don’t do this to friends! But she was so game and tired of playing mermaids and Snow White kind of characters. So she really went for it.
I get recognized more — it’s one of the first characters I played that looks like me. There’s a lot of “Terminator” fans out there, which belies the ratings!
The “John From Cincinnati” set — I got the sensation that this was a very weird time and experience for people.
It seemed very similar to the “Deadwood” experience for me. I love writers! I get nervous around writers, because I’m a frustrated writer myself. I’m a terrible writer. I have a degree in journalism, and I thought that was what I was going to do. And I drifted through college and found acting kind of late. [David] Milch was so good to me, and it really changed me — I don’t mean professionally, it changed things for me, in the way I view material. . . . Working that inspirationally must be expensive, which you have to be realistic about if you’re a network or a money guy. What made “Deadwood” special killed it, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. For anything! And I owe a lot to that experience. Spiritually. Praise the Lord! I do that too. I get embarrassed about waxing on and I cut myself off at the knees. That’s a nice little trait there, FYI.
Why did you think you bombed out as a writer?
I might be a little hard on myself. I was a fine writer! I worked for my little hometown newspaper. I thought I was going to write fiction. [LA Times]
*
Dennis Iliadis and Wes Craven had a few things to say to STYD about casting Krug:
Shock: Dennis, how did you come about finding your cast?
Iliadis: We were not trying to be obvious. Trying to get people who won’t play these characters in stereotypical ways. With Garret [Dillahunt], everyone who came in before him was playing Krug with a squinty eye and raspy voice. What the hell? My feeling is, if you get the ambiguities right, he’s much more terrifying. However evil Krug can get, he still has a sense of humor. He’s supposed to be a father and Garret realized all of that, keeping those things alive. By having time to rehearse, I really pushed the actors in the beginning and I just sat back and enjoyed it. They got this extra freedom to keep it very real.
Craven: You always look for someone who is, in a way, going to do it not the way every actor would do it. You’re looking for that originality. Because you have to rely on the actor. You can’t write everything and tell them exactly what they have to do. Even when finding Robert Englund [for Freddy Krueger], I started by looking at big stunt guys who could do the stunts. Then we looked at old men for the “old man” element. Those that were alive had reached a certain gentleness. The stunt guys have a totally different mentality. They don’t want to go someplace dark and creepy. Robert Englund wanted to. You need an actor who can bring a complete sense of commitment to that character without making it silly and not be afraid to go in there to the point where someone might say, “Oh, you got bad in you?” You have to be brave enough and mature enough to know we’ve all got it, and you’re not afraid of putting it out there and if you’ve got a problem with seeing that, tough. [laughs] Garret was fresh and new, he could go there. [ShockTillYourDrop]
Sara Paxton talked about working with Garret in another recent interview:
The rape scene in this film is incredibly gut-wrenching. How did you prepare for that?
I was nervous about that from the moment they said, “You have the part.” We were flying out to this new place where I’d never been before, that is so far away from anybody who could give me emotional support. I started freaking out a little bit. But then, when I got there, and I met everybody and we all started bonding, I realized that they had become my family away from home. Getting on set that day, I was so nervous. I was in my room and I was feeling so sick, and thought I was going to barf. My anxiety level was through the roof. And then Garret [Dillahunt] and I had a talk, and he really calmed me down. We decided that we were going to get through it together, and just go full force, and we completely trusted each other. And I felt like everyone had my back, so I felt like I was able to open up and kind of do things that I didn’t think I would be able to do at all. I felt safe.
After the scene was done, how did you recover from that?
We did that scene for 17 hours. I would have loved to be at the craft service table in between takes, goofing off, and joking like how we normally were—I really just couldn’t that day. Once you lose that headspace, once you go out of it, you can’t go back. I had to stay in that dark place all day. So once they called cut, this weight just went away, and I immediately could just breathe and smile and be happy, be myself. I immediately ran up to Garret [Dillahunt]. He’s really protective of me, and I think it was really hard for him. BlackBookMag.com
Finally, in the clip below, Wes Craven and Dennis Iliadis discussed what will be on the Last House DVD/Blu-ray when it comes out.
Below is the text snagged from first casting side for Garret’s character, Sheriff Baskin, in Winter’s Bone. It’s the scene that sets the plot in motion, in which he meets the film’s main character, the meth dealer’s daughter, and delivers some bad news to her.
EXT. REE’S HOUSE – DAY
Ree, in a big overcoat, is chopping wood. Snow is pelting on her face and neck as she splits the wood. She’s got headphones on and the music is fueling her chopping.
She takes a break and sits on the woodpile, enjoying the beauty of the snowfall which is covering everything. The valley seems in twilight though it is mid-day. Ree sees headlights approaching her house.
A police car pulls up and Ree walks over to see what’s up. She sees her two brothers in the back seat.
She storms around the hood to the driver’s side. SHERIFF BASKIN, 30s, opens his door a crack.
REE
They didn’t do a goddamned thing!
What the hell’re you tryin’ to pull?
Ree steps back as the sheriff steps out of his car.
SHERIFF BASKIN
Hold on, girl – I just brung’em
down from where the bus stopped.
Just give’em a ride is all.
She blushes, embarrassed by having jumped to conclusions.
She sees that her relatives across the way are watching; she can see curtains parted, shapes moving.
REE
You boys don’t need to do no ridin’
around with the law. The walk
ain’t that far.
She points to the woodpile.
REE (CONT’D)
Now get up there and bring them
splits into the kitchen.
SHERIFF BASKIN
I was on my way here anyhow.
REE
Now why in the hell would that be?
SHERIFF BASKIN
Ask me inside. I need to talk some
with your momma.
REE
She ain’t in the mood.
SHERIFF BASKIN
Ask me in or watch me go in anyhow.
Whichever way you like it best.
REE
Goin’ to be like that, huh?
SHERIFF BASKIN
Listen, I didn’t drive close on two
hours just to see your smilin’
face, girl. I got reasons. Ask
me in or follow, it’s goddamn cold
out here.
Baskin heads up the stairs to the door, and Ree jumps ahead of him, stopping him at the door.
REE
Stomp your shoes. Don’t track melt
all over my floor.
Baskin dramatically stomps the snow from his feet, making the porch planks vibrate and the snow fall from the railings.
SHERIFF BASKIN
Good enough?
Ree shrugs and holds the door open for him.
INT. REE’S HOUSE – DAY
Clothes are strung in three lines across the kitchen. Behind a line of clothes Ree’s mother, CONNIE, 39, is sitting by the pot-belly stove. Baskin looks at Connie then back at Ree.
REE
You better just tell me.
SHERIFF BASKIN
Could be we should talk on the
porch then.
EXT. REE’S HOUSE, PORCH – DAY
Ree and Baskin stand awkwardly and silent. The porch is surrounded by a veil of falling snow. Ree notices her cousins, BLOND MILTON and SONYA, both late 30s, cutting down the hanging meat in their yard. They keep looking over at Ree’s porch, very curious about Baskin’s presence.
SHERIFF BASKIN
You know your father’s out on bond,
don’t you?
REE
So what?
SHERIFF BASKIN
Looks like he’s been cookin’ again.
REE
I know that’s the charges you laid
against him. But you ain’t proved
it on him. You got to prove it
every time.
SHERIFF BASKIN
That won’t be no hard thing to do.
But that ain’t even why I’m here.
Why I’m here is, his court date is
next week and I can’t seem to turn him up.
REE
Maybe he sees you comin’ and ducks.
SHERIFF BASKIN
That could be. But where you all
come into this is, he put this
house here, and your timber acres
up for his bond.
REE
He what now?
SHERIFF BASKIN
Jessup signed over everything. If
he don’t show for trial, see, the
way the deal works is you all lose
this place. It’ll get sold from
under you. You’ll have to get out.
Got somewhere to go?
Ree is taken aback but doesn’t want Baskin to see her shock.
She stretches over the rail and lets the snow land on her neck.
REE
I’ll find him.
SHERIFF BASKIN
Girl, I’ve been lookin’ and…
REE
I’ll find him.
After a moment Baskin turns to leave. Across the creek Blond Milton and Sonya stop to look, openly staring at him. He waves to them, but neither move a twitch in response. He goes down to the steps.
SHERIFF BASKIN
Make sure your daddy gets the
gravity of this deal.
The second one is just Garret and AICN’s Capone. It includes some Sarah Connor spoilers and finally the info about the character he plays in Winter’s Bone. Snippets below:
In many ways, the character you’re playing in LAST HOUSE, especially in the way he was played by David Hess in the original, marked a turning point in the way evil was depicted on screen, and the evil that men do. Where is the starting point for you in bringing a character like that to life?
Garret Dillahunt: I guess it’s different for every part. Some you kind of know. Sometimes you’re like, “I’ve met this guy.” I’ve certainly never met this guy. I did read a lot. I got one of the Amazon Kindle things, which I thought I would hate, but I really love, and I packed it with 15 or 20 books I thought would be of interest, about serial killers and spree killers. There’s one in particular, and I can’t remember which one it was now, that kind of detailed a whole bunch of different killers. I think I was looking for little clue to explain why he was the way he was. I do think he’s a spree killer, not a serial killer–I learned the difference in that. Do you remember Andrew Cunanan?
The guy who died in Florida, sure.
GD: Yeah, the guy who killer Versace. I never would have thought that I’d find a lot for my guy in him, but I did, because there was this one story, really horrible. I guess I didn’t really know about all of the other people he’d killed on his way to Florida. There was one in particular that was a home invasion–I think he needed a new car–and he must have surprised someone at home. It was an older gentleman who had a military background, and they said he killed him so viciously and it was odd because that kind of cruelty is usually reserved for people that know the victim.
Did having worked with her before help at all in staging that horrific rape scene?
GD: It was helpful. But it was both, I think. Because you don’t want to do that to your friend, and I considered her my friend. I kept saying how nervous I was and that I was more nervous that she was, and she misunderstood my nerves. It wasn’t that I was nervous that I could do it; I was nervous that she wouldn’t like me after I did. Because I like her. She was 15 when we worked together the first time, and she was 19 or 20 now, and I like her and feel protective of her. So in the end, I think that it was helpful. That scene has to be about her. She’s going to go to a real dark place all day long, and I’m going to grind her in the dirt. There’s no room for joking around between takes. Let’s just be focused and not to this 100 times. We’ll do a good job, and between takes, I’ll help her up and put a blanket around her and make sure she’s safe. I think we made it the least weird we could. She was real nice to me and grateful.
That’s especially good to hear because, if you believe the stories, the actress to played the role in the original essentially lost her mind because of those scenes.
GD: Yeah, there are different philosophies about how to act. I personally don’t think it should be psychologically damaging. There’s no money in that. [laughs] That’s not acting. I prefer a little more craft than that. I don’t see why I would be needed if I actually had to become that thing.
I’m also a fan of “The Sarah Connor Chronicles,” so I have to ask about John Henry. There’s so much being made about how the shift to Fridays is a bad sign for the show’s future and the rating, and they’re kind of missing the point that the show has never been better, especially those scenes with you and Shirley Manson.
GD: I guess I like to be different with each character if I can, and I’ve been fortunate to have some options that way. Krug was certainly a departure from the last thing I did. And since I got to do something like four characters to play on “Terminator“–John Henry, Cromartie, George Laszlo, and that Beastwizard character–I just wanted John Henry to be very different. I thought, he’s going to be so much smarter because he’d plugged into this supercomputer, and he seems interested and curious in humans, so it seemed like a great opportunity to explore human emotions and learning and what I don’t know at times. And I like Shirley a lot, really fun, very well read and articulate, and everything just sounds cool with a Scottish accent.
So where does John Henry go from here. Does he finally get to leave that room?
GD: He does get to leave the room. I wish it had been a little earlier, but I will eventually get to leave that room. There are big fingers crossed for next season where I’ll be going, but I don’t know; we’ll see where that goes.
Is there still more learning to do for that character?
GD: I don’t even know what episode we’re on. I play with lots of toys. Later I get in a fight, a computer fight, that is quite traumatic for him. He loses his innocence a little bit. I’m sorry I’m being so vague.
Speaking of being in a separate story from the main plot, you and Tommy Lee Jones had your own little movie going on in NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN.
GD: Javier [Bardem] was talking about how wild it was that we won this ensemble award at the SAG Awards and we barely got to work with each other. Each of us had our own movie. That’s not really what ensemble means but it was interesting. I never crossed paths with Javier or Josh [Brolin].
Being a part of that film had to mean so much to you…
GD: Yeah, I was just happy to be a part of it. I’m a big fan of Cormac McCarthy’s work, and I was determined to be in every Cormac McCarthy movie there every was. So far two! It was actually “Deadwood” that made me just want to do stuff I was proud of.
And with “Deadwood,” they loved you so much, they couldn’t let you go even after your character died.
GD: I know. Thank God, right? That’s my niche. I’m dying for a niche.
GD: Well, it’s weird because it’s really about The Boy and The Man. No one has names in the book. Viggo Mortensen plays The Man, and Kodi Smit plays The Boy. I play The Gang Member. We all had two days if we’re not Kodi or Viggo, and it’s a great group of people who are willing to do that. Robert Duvall is in it, Charlize Theron, Guy Pearce is great. Molly Parker from “Deadwood” is in it as well. It was just cool to be a part of. I’m a big fan of THE PROPOSITION.
I sat down with Viggo in October right after they’d announced that THE ROAD was not coming out at the end of last year as originally intended. He just really wanted to see it because he hadn’t at that time.
GD: I think it deserves awards. I’m sure he’s seen it by now. I saw a screening here about three weeks ago, here in L.A. I think it’s pretty beautiful. If you’re a fan of the book, you’ll be a fan of the movie.
GD: I’m filming a movie right now called WINTER’S BONE, based on a book of the same name by this guy named Daniel Woodrell. He wrote the book RIDE WITH THE DEVIL was based on. Do you remember that?
The Ang Lee film?
GD: I think that film is kind of underrated. I like that. Same author, but it’s a little more contemporary. It’s about hillbillies cooking meth in the Ozarks. I’m a sheriff in that one, back to playing good guys again. I’m not always bad guys.
Well, you did play Jesus.
GD: Can’t get much better than that. You played him, you can play as many bad guys as you want.
Why do you think guys like [“Deadwood” creator] David Milch or [“Terminator” creator] Josh Friedman or Wes Craven see you as the bad guy? Are you giving off some vibe?
GD: I don’t know. I just like interesting role and good stories. And often, the villain is the most interesting role. Maybe they understand that no one is just good and just bad. It’s always surprising.
You tend to alter your facial hair for each part, does that inform you into the character’s state of mind in any way?
GD: [laughs] I guess I do. I don’t know if it specifically it does, but it is like any other part of your costume. I need the right shoes. I remember reading about Michael Caine. If his feet aren’t in a short, he’s going to wear his old comfy tennis shoes, even if he’s wearing a suit or something. That’s the kind of thing that throws me off completely. I need my heavy boots on for Krug. [Ain’t It Cool News]