As damaged father, Foster says more with fewer words
NEW YORK — In “Leave No Trace,” already a critical favorite before its nationwide opening Friday, Ben Foster stars as Will, a veteran who lives with his teenage daughter off the grid in an Oregon park. Inspired by an actual event, “Trace” has Boston-born Foster, 37, mostly silent and yet wonderfully, easily understood as a man with a damaged psyche and an almost telepathic communication with his kid.
That wasn’t exactly the case before filming, Foster explained in a one-on-one interview yesterday.
“You start with the script and ask questions. I took a walk with Debra (Granik, co-screenwriter and director) and asked what she had in mind.
“I was able to tell her some of the stories I’ve been told with those who’ve served and from my talks with folks who struggled with re-entry.”
That awareness was reflected in films he’s done, such as “The Messenger,” “Lone Survivor,” even “Hell or High Water.”
“Debra also works in documentary and is always up for a new idea,” he said.
“As you begin prepping together, I would say the greatest thing about filmmaking is it’s collaborative. Specialists come in and throw their hat in the ring. What works? What doesn’t?
“In this case, it was reading a line she had written with Anne Rosellini, when his daughter asks him, ‘Is it a want? Or is it a need?’
“In (my) 50th reading of the script, there was something in this line we can filter the script through. I brought this idea to Debra, ‘Let’s do a pass on the script with this concept: If Will
wants to say it but doesn’t need to say it, he won’t.’ “So we just took a red pen and went through the script, just slashing and burning. It hurts because they wrote such a gorgeous script! But what we were recognizing was we could take the spirit in which this was written and embody that physically and hopefully that would take the place of exposition.
“Because,” he asked, “what is the most potent and effective way to transmit and express an emotional state?
“The most telling, the most revealing is the space between the words. We felt he would use language the way he used his belongings — and that is spare. It was an exciting way to go with this film.”