Remake of The Magnificent Seven falls short
From wild-west blockbuster to biopic, veteran actor does it all
Ethan Hawke follows his creative passion, whether it means co-starring in a big American studio remake or a modest Canadian biopic.
Proof is in his recent career moves. Hawke co-stars in the redo of The Magnificent Seven western and he has a pivotal role in Maudie, the modest cinematic profile of Nova Scotia artist Maud Lewis.
Both films were featured at the recent Toronto International Film Festival. Both productions are equally important to the actor, but for different reasons.
The 45-year-old has a notable history with The Magnificent Seven director Antoine Fuqua, who guided Hawke to a supportingactor Oscar nomination for 2001’s Training Day. Hawke also re-upped with Fuqua for the 2009 cop drama Brooklyn’s Finest.
When Hawke heard the filmmaker was in the early stages of The Magnificent Seven pre-production, he approached him at the L.A. premiere of Fuqua’s The Equalizer.
“I told Antoine, ‘If you have six parts not cast, and I end up not in the movie, then we are not friends,” Hawke said at TIFF.
It turns out Fuqua already had a character in mind for his buddy: former Rebel sharpshooter Goodnight Robicheaux, who joins Sam Chisolm (Denzel Washington) and five other gunfighters to defend a town against hired thugs.
“Antoine and I built this character from scratch,” Hawke said of Robicheaux. “And it was a lot of fun to make a movie where so many disparate people come together to serve a larger cause, not only as characters in the movie but as actors.”
What the cast tried to ignore during the shoot in and around Baton Rouge, La., was the legacy of The Magnificent Seven. The beloved original 1960 cowboy flick was loosely based on Akira Kurosawa’s acclaimed Seven Samurai.
“It’s a strange thing when you are dealing with something as iconic as the title of The Magnificent Seven,” said Hawke. “But Antoine let us know the tone he wanted right from the start.
“That’s the great thing about Antoine. Whatever he’s doing, he makes it his own.”
For his part, Hawke wanted his cowboy to be unique, as well.
“I’ve been waiting 30 years to play something like this,” said the native of Austin, Texas. “And the more cracks you have on your face, the more prepared you are.”
He’s also a fairly accomplished horseback rider who knows how to handle rifles. “And I came in third place at a quick-draw competition at camp when I was 12,” Hawke said.
As for the backstory of his character, Robicheaux suffers from Civil War battle fatigue. So to help with his performance, Hawke studied soldiers’ journals, read books on the key North-South battles and re-watched Ken Burns’ documentary The Civil War.
“A lot of the soldiers were fishermen and hunters who all of a sudden found themselves killing people, and it was extremely traumatic for the survivors,” Hawke said.
His appearance in Maudie was another change of pace he couldn’t resist, especially since he has a summer home on a Gulf of St. Lawrence island east of Antigonish, N.S.
“I have a place in Nova Scotia and I know Maud Lewis is one of the great folk artists from there,” Hawke said.
“I’m also a huge fan of Sally Hawkins, who plays Maud.”
Hawke portrays Lewis’s husband, Everett.
“It’s a different kind of role for me. He’s abusive and dark, but (Maud’s) love turns him around.”
In other words, the results remain the same whether it’s Maudie or The Magnificent Seven.
“When you approach things with as much love as possible, good things just seem to happen,” Hawke said. “That’s always true if you’re lucky enough to find the people you can relate to and speak to, and they get you.”