Written by Jason Green Sunday, 14 October 2007 04:43

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One other thing that you recently squeezed into your schedule was the movie Wrong Turn 2, and you did Feast not long before that. Do you enjoy acting in horror movies?

Well, we wrapped Wrong Turn 2 about a year ago, so know that. It's kind of "long done."

I enjoy getting the work that I get. I'm not in a position where I can say "I want that, I don't want that." I get what I can get, film-wise. And to me, [with] film, while I work very hard when I'm there, I don't consider myself an actor.

When you look at Feast, it's cool, but it's not Citizen Kane. But I gladly took the role. I went in, auditioned, and he's a funny guy—I liked that character in Feast -- and they said "Great, you've got it, do you want to do this?" And I said "Absolutely." Whereas some people would look at it and go, "What the hell did you do that for?" Well, because it was a job, and I liked it. It was interesting to do.

 

I thought it was brilliant, personally. I loved you in that movie.

 

Oh, thank you. A lot of people really liked that film. I liked it because it was so out of how people think I'm going to be, but as a film, it's not going to change your life. It's not Apocalypse Now. Nor should I be in something of that weight, because I couldn't handle it.

That being said, the last couple of films I did were scary movies. They were fun, because there is a lot of "funny" on the set. [Things like] "Here comes a rubber monster with a small man inside it...and cut!" "How are you doing in there?" "It's hot!" There's moments of light and levity.

Wrong Turn 2 was far more ambitious. A lot of fight scenes, we shot it outside in Vancouver. Shooting and lighting an outdoor scene is a lot of work, we were doing 14 hour days, [getting] mosquito bites and whatnot. It was really a hell of an experience, and a really good cast. It comes out in October, straight to DVD.

But for me, I can't tell you how to be, but I think one should be gainfully employed pretty much all the time. I'm happy when I'm working, I'd rather be working. And if it's a movie for four weeks, I feel nothing but fortunate to have the opportunity to go work. If they throw three more scary movies at me, I'd say "Thank you, thank you, thank you." I'd be happy to do it.

Politically, I know you're a very opinionated guy. Where do you see the country heading politically as we head into an election cycle next year?

That's a good question. I think America is very confused. I don't think anybody likes the war. No matter who you voted for, you don't like reading the news about your countrymen coming home dead, mutilated. And no one, be you conservatives, liberals, what have you, like the idea of hemorrhaging money—unless you're Bill Bechtel, or Kellogg, Brown, or Root, or James Halliburton, if there is such a person. Maybe then, war's a good thing. But for the rest of us, looking at the carnage, none of us are into it. Even if you have a Bush tattoo on your arm you're not happy about this.  

So I think as we head into this next election, I think Iraq is going to be the topic, because it's eating people up, it's eating resources, and our good standing in the world. And we'll see which side shows a way out, or shows a plan B. I think you might have a lot of people who are Democrats who are angry with their party because Nancy Pelosi is not moving fast enough for them or vigorously enough. And you might have Republicans and conservatives saying "I can't stand Democrats or liberals, but right now Republicans and conservatives are not being Republicans and conservatives." The conservatives aren't conserving, they're spending more money than ever in the history of America.

I think these candidates really need to define themselves, because I think the country is in a state right now where push is really coming to shove and the rubber is meeting the road. The middle class has taken quite a hit in the last few years, and it's visible, you can't say it doesn't exist. And when the President says more people are buying houses than ever, he leaves out the part about all the foreclosures.

I think America's got a lot of work to do, but I think we'll be okay because we're America. We're very resilient people, very strong. We'll be alright; we've just got some tough times ahead because we have to undo a lot of things that have been done. I don't know how that's going to mete out at the polls.

I'll take the one who wins, in that if it's an honest election and the guy I didn't vote for wins, I'll say "OK, fair enough. You won fair, you're my president." I don't know if the last couple of elections were honest, and I don't have 100% confidence that the next one will be. If you can hack into a voting machine, what good is it? And why would you ever defend that? How could anyone ever defend a machine that can be hacked? I don't care which side you're voting on.

Yeah, it it's pretty mind-boggling.

It should be pretty distressing that democracy can be hacked. That's pretty terrifying. If you think about it, that's the end of the world as you know it, as far as America [goes]. I like democracy, personally. One guy wrote me and said "It's nothing but mob rule," some Ayn Rand disciple. I went, "Ok, whatever, pal." I'll go with mob rule over anything else: communism, Buddhism, whatevah.

I think America's got its work cut out for it until the '08 elections. How these [candidates] define themselves in the events that come up in the next several months in Iraq will be very determinate.

 

 

HENRY ROLLINS SPOKEN WORD TOUR DATES 2007

Mon. 10/15 - Minneapolis, MN -First Ave
Tue. 10/16 - Milwaukee, WI - Eagles Ballroom
Wed. 10/17 - Madison, WI - Barrymore Theatre
Fri. 10/19 - Chicago, IL - The Vic
Sat. 10/20 - St. Louis, MO - Pageant
Sun. 10/21 - Lawrence, KS - Liberty Hall*
Tue. 10/23 - Denver, CO - Paramount Theatre
Wed. 10/24 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot
Fri. 10/26 - Bellingham, WA - Nitelite
Sat. 10/27 - Spokane, WA - Big Easy
Sun. 10/28 - Calgary, AB - Jack Singer
Mon. 10/29 - Edmonton, AB - Winspear
Tue. 10/30 - Vancouver, BC - Centre for the Arts
Wed. 10/31 - Seattle, WA - Moore Theatre
Thu. 11/1 -Portland, OR - Aladdin Theatre
Fri. 11/2 - Reno, NV - Stoney's
Sat. 11/3 - Chico, CA - El Rey Theatre at 230 W. 2nd St. 95928
Sun. 11/4 - Sacramento, CA - The Crest Theatre
Mon. 11/5 - Santa Cruz, CA - The Rio Theatre
Tue. 11/6 - San Francisco, CA - Herbst Theatre
Wed. 11/7 - Columbia, MO - University of Missouri / Jesse Auditorium
Thu. 11/8 - San Diego, CA - 4th & B
Fri. 11/9 - Las Vegas, NV - House of Bl
Sat. 11/10 - Santa Barbara, CA / Soho Restaurant Music Club

HENRY ROLLINS SPOKEN WORD TOUR 2008

Mon. 1/14 Gothenburg, Sweden Lorensbergsteatern
Tues. 1/15 Stockholm, Sweden Rival
Wed. 1/16 Munich, Germany Muffathalle
Thu. 1/17 Zurich, Switzerland Kaufleuten
Sat. 1/19 Frankfurt, Germany Mousonturm
Sun. 1/20 Hamburg, Germany Schauspielhaus
Mon. 1/21 Berlin, Germany Passionskirche
Tue. 1/22 Cologne, Germany Gloria
Wed. 1/23 Amsterdam, Holland Paradiso
Thu. 1/24 Brussel, Belgium AB
Sat. 1/26 London, UK HammersmithApollo
Sun. 1/27 Bristol, UK Colston Hall
Mon. 1/28 Wolverhampton, UK Wulfren Hall
Tue. 1/29 Dublin, Ireland Vicar St
Wed. 1/30 Manchester, UK Academy
Thu. 1/31 Newcastle, UK Academy
Sat. 2/2 Aberdeen, UK Music Hall
Sun. 2/3 Glasgow, UK Theatre Royal