CKR, HD, et al, and An Oral History of Bruce McDonald's 'Hard Core Logo' (from Vice Canada)
...you can't underestimate how charming Hugh is...
I hadn't seen this before. Ran across it by accident, looking at tweeted info that wasn't sent to an email list I'm on. Although it's from 2016 (HCL's 20th anniversary), I thought c6d fen might be interested to read it, if they also had never seen it before. Selected quotes, and link to the full article, below. Mods: I tried to tag appropriately, but LJ said I'm bit authorized to do so.
"Haebler [producer]: I noticed the chemistry between Callum and Hugh within 20 seconds of them meeting. And a lot of that was Hugh. I think that Callum, and he may agree or disagree with me, but he's a more cautious person. Whereas Hugh was game. He got it. He knew that character, but as a person, it was much more of a risk for Callum than it was for Hugh. But you can't underestimate how charming Hugh is. My experience was that all that tough-guy act was just bravado, it was just a mask. I found him to be very vulnerable. But he was also battling his own demons. But they all were. That's the other thing about the magic of this movie, is that it exposes the vulnerability that was going on with all of those people at the same time."
Rennie: Bruce was talking about a couple different people for the singer, and I immediately said go with Hugh. You know, have at least one musician and someone who has the complete fucked up attitude and energy and chaos that he has. Let's use that. Of course, it wasn't really my decision-it was really only my two cents, but for Bruce, that was a risk. But we were able cover it and make it all work.
McDonald: We had narrowed it down to three or four people who were pretty close [for the role of Joe], and they really wanted it. You could tell they were like, "Fuck this is such a great role…" But those people had that same weird actor thing where they were playing the rock star-it seemed put on to me. And I had done a bunch of videos for the Headstones [Hugh Dillon's band], and at the end, I was like, "You know what, just for laughs, let's bring in Hugh and see how he does in an audition" and our casting agent, after he left the room was like, "Who is this guy, where did you find him?" And I was pretty delighted. But then I said, OK, he's got one more test to pass. Callum is the serious actor, the story is all about Joe and Billy, it's about chemistry, does Callum think Hugh's got the discipline and the chops to pull it off? So we pulled Hugh in and spent a couple hours at my apartment, and after he left, I asked Callum if he thought Hugh could pull it off, and he said, "I got a good feeling about him… I'm not saying no." I mean, that's why people still love this movie to this day: People go, "Why does it still seem so relevant now? Why does it seem so true?" And it's because of that relationship. It was so totally clear that there was this kind of "brodeo" going on and that these guys found each other hilarious. There was great respect on each side. There was this great balance of this actor who was terrified to be a rock 'n' roller and looking foolish, and a rock 'n' roller terrified to be an actor and looking foolish.
Dillon: When I met Callum Rennie, it was like Bruce-he's the most generous, decent actor I've worked with, to this day. He taught me to trust my instincts and to not take any shit.
He came on the road with the Headstones and saw it all, and we were just friends, we hit it off. Like with Bruce we are all kind of kindred spirits, we work outside the box, it's difficult to trust a lot of people in this business, and we really trusted each other. Callum and I just laughed a lot and when you laugh with people that's half of it.
Baker: I was a little on the outside looking in, but I did hang out a little bit with Callum and Hugh as they were getting to know each other, and they very quickly bonded and became very tight friends. It was almost instant. And very quickly they started into their own secret language that was really interesting to watch, and I think that carried over into the film itself.
Haebler: I noticed the chemistry between Callum and Hugh within 20 seconds of them meeting. And a lot of that was Hugh. I think that Callum, and he may agree or disagree with me, but he's a more cautious person. Whereas Hugh was game. He got it. He knew that character, but as a person, it was much more of a risk for Callum than it was for Hugh. But you can't underestimate how charming Hugh is. My experience was that all that tough-guy act was just bravado, it was just a mask. I found him to be very vulnerable. But he was also battling his own demons. But they all were. That's the other thing about the magic of this movie, is that it exposes the vulnerability that was going on with all of those people at the same time.
McDonald: So there was a kind of mutual dependency society with Hugh telling Callum, "Don't worry, man, I got your back, I'll tell you how high or low to wear your guitar, I'll tell you how you should dress, I'll tell you what you should drink…" and Callum was like, "I'll tell you what hitting your mark is, I'll tell you why they pull out fucking tape measures, I'll tell you why you have to do it again, I'll tell you about not overlapping dialogue.." and you know they clung to each other, like the other one was gonna fucking save them.
Rennie: I don't play the guitar. Hugh hadn't worked much as an actor, and I wasn't much of a musician, so I said you cover my ass on the music part, and I'll cover your ass on the acting part, and we'll be fine and that was the deal back-and-forth, and he would tell me this is how to cheat this or a good way to make sure this looks right. He was very very good.
McDonald: It continues to be a lesson to me, that with movies, you don't wait for permission. It is a bit of an act of willpower… I mean not insane willpower. But there's a point when you either lean into the hurricane or fucking run for cover. I kind of always salute Hugh for being the first guy to run into the hurricane, and we all followed."
An Oral History of Bruce McDonald's 'Hard Core Logo'
Twenty years after its release, the classic punk rock road trip movie is just as awesome.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/gqk57y/an-oral-history-of-bruce-mcdonalds-hard-core-logo
I hadn't seen this before. Ran across it by accident, looking at tweeted info that wasn't sent to an email list I'm on. Although it's from 2016 (HCL's 20th anniversary), I thought c6d fen might be interested to read it, if they also had never seen it before. Selected quotes, and link to the full article, below. Mods: I tried to tag appropriately, but LJ said I'm bit authorized to do so.
"Haebler [producer]: I noticed the chemistry between Callum and Hugh within 20 seconds of them meeting. And a lot of that was Hugh. I think that Callum, and he may agree or disagree with me, but he's a more cautious person. Whereas Hugh was game. He got it. He knew that character, but as a person, it was much more of a risk for Callum than it was for Hugh. But you can't underestimate how charming Hugh is. My experience was that all that tough-guy act was just bravado, it was just a mask. I found him to be very vulnerable. But he was also battling his own demons. But they all were. That's the other thing about the magic of this movie, is that it exposes the vulnerability that was going on with all of those people at the same time."
Rennie: Bruce was talking about a couple different people for the singer, and I immediately said go with Hugh. You know, have at least one musician and someone who has the complete fucked up attitude and energy and chaos that he has. Let's use that. Of course, it wasn't really my decision-it was really only my two cents, but for Bruce, that was a risk. But we were able cover it and make it all work.
McDonald: We had narrowed it down to three or four people who were pretty close [for the role of Joe], and they really wanted it. You could tell they were like, "Fuck this is such a great role…" But those people had that same weird actor thing where they were playing the rock star-it seemed put on to me. And I had done a bunch of videos for the Headstones [Hugh Dillon's band], and at the end, I was like, "You know what, just for laughs, let's bring in Hugh and see how he does in an audition" and our casting agent, after he left the room was like, "Who is this guy, where did you find him?" And I was pretty delighted. But then I said, OK, he's got one more test to pass. Callum is the serious actor, the story is all about Joe and Billy, it's about chemistry, does Callum think Hugh's got the discipline and the chops to pull it off? So we pulled Hugh in and spent a couple hours at my apartment, and after he left, I asked Callum if he thought Hugh could pull it off, and he said, "I got a good feeling about him… I'm not saying no." I mean, that's why people still love this movie to this day: People go, "Why does it still seem so relevant now? Why does it seem so true?" And it's because of that relationship. It was so totally clear that there was this kind of "brodeo" going on and that these guys found each other hilarious. There was great respect on each side. There was this great balance of this actor who was terrified to be a rock 'n' roller and looking foolish, and a rock 'n' roller terrified to be an actor and looking foolish.
Dillon: When I met Callum Rennie, it was like Bruce-he's the most generous, decent actor I've worked with, to this day. He taught me to trust my instincts and to not take any shit.
He came on the road with the Headstones and saw it all, and we were just friends, we hit it off. Like with Bruce we are all kind of kindred spirits, we work outside the box, it's difficult to trust a lot of people in this business, and we really trusted each other. Callum and I just laughed a lot and when you laugh with people that's half of it.
Baker: I was a little on the outside looking in, but I did hang out a little bit with Callum and Hugh as they were getting to know each other, and they very quickly bonded and became very tight friends. It was almost instant. And very quickly they started into their own secret language that was really interesting to watch, and I think that carried over into the film itself.
Haebler: I noticed the chemistry between Callum and Hugh within 20 seconds of them meeting. And a lot of that was Hugh. I think that Callum, and he may agree or disagree with me, but he's a more cautious person. Whereas Hugh was game. He got it. He knew that character, but as a person, it was much more of a risk for Callum than it was for Hugh. But you can't underestimate how charming Hugh is. My experience was that all that tough-guy act was just bravado, it was just a mask. I found him to be very vulnerable. But he was also battling his own demons. But they all were. That's the other thing about the magic of this movie, is that it exposes the vulnerability that was going on with all of those people at the same time.
McDonald: So there was a kind of mutual dependency society with Hugh telling Callum, "Don't worry, man, I got your back, I'll tell you how high or low to wear your guitar, I'll tell you how you should dress, I'll tell you what you should drink…" and Callum was like, "I'll tell you what hitting your mark is, I'll tell you why they pull out fucking tape measures, I'll tell you why you have to do it again, I'll tell you about not overlapping dialogue.." and you know they clung to each other, like the other one was gonna fucking save them.
Rennie: I don't play the guitar. Hugh hadn't worked much as an actor, and I wasn't much of a musician, so I said you cover my ass on the music part, and I'll cover your ass on the acting part, and we'll be fine and that was the deal back-and-forth, and he would tell me this is how to cheat this or a good way to make sure this looks right. He was very very good.
McDonald: It continues to be a lesson to me, that with movies, you don't wait for permission. It is a bit of an act of willpower… I mean not insane willpower. But there's a point when you either lean into the hurricane or fucking run for cover. I kind of always salute Hugh for being the first guy to run into the hurricane, and we all followed."
An Oral History of Bruce McDonald's 'Hard Core Logo'
Twenty years after its release, the classic punk rock road trip movie is just as awesome.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/gqk57y/an-oral-history-of-bruce-mcdonalds-hard-core-logo