ARMIE HAMMER
Since pivoting from studio pic leading men goals to grabbing meaty indie roles, armie Hammer’s career has soared. he tells total Film about taking a fresh eye on acting combined with a dGaF attitude. Yeah, twitter, he’s talking about you…
The star talks sequels, social media and his new drama On The Basis Of Sex.
You wouldn’t know it from his rangy, athletic build and defined musculature, but Armie Hammer is an epicurean. A self-confessed foodie who regularly posts his dinners on social platforms (a lot of meat), talks wistfully of eight-hour lunches in Italy while filming Call Me By Your Name, and is married to the CEO of a bakery chain, he is determinedly rifling through the mini-bar in his Claridge’s Hotel suite when Total Film arrives, in search of beef jerky. Stopping to shake hands firmly, he sighs “it would just be boredom eating anyway”, with the disappointment of a man thwarted in his snack quest before getting stuck into a discussion on the merits of biltong opposed to jerky.
It’s apt that the California-born, Cayman Island-raised 32-year-old should be talking grub when we’re meeting up to discuss his latest role as the husband of Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Felicity Jones) in On The Basis Of Sex, a film exploring how a bright law student morphed into a history-making equality crusader and Supreme Court Justice. Marty Ginsburg was a shining legal eagle, too, but recognised his wife’s talent and drive and became not only her fiercest champion, but also the primary carer of the family – whipping up gastro dinners while she lawyered through the night. Throughout the film, Hammer chops veg at chef-speed and flips sizzling pans like a man who knows his way around a kitchen.
“I know how to cook,” he nods, looking like a parent sitting on a kindergarten chair, his long legs folded almost double to collapse his 6ft 5in frame on a sofa. “I love it. It’s one of the things that brings me the most joy outside of my family. Marty loved cooking – he really relished how food brought people together and loved entertaining, so there was a scene where I was chopping, and I was like,