STEPHEN DORFF
The True Detective and Embattled star talks food, fighting and phones…
What’s the first thing you do when you get to set?
Usually it’s so early I don’t know where I am. Then I’ll eat something and go into make-up. I get into the costume last. In Embattled [in which Dorff plays a toxic MMA fighter], I didn’t have much of a costume for most of the movie. [Laughs until he starts coughing, clears throat] Jesus. I don’t do any weird yoga experimental things. I look at what we’re shooting, think ‘Where am I coming from?’ in the text of the piece, then let it roll.
What do you take on set?
Not my phone. I leave my phone in the trailer. I think it’s part of this new dumb generation. I grew up on film sets where phones weren’t allowed on set. I get turned off when I see someone on their phone. There are people who are texting. For me, when you’re on a film set, everything you do that day will be in the end product. And that’s it – it’s celluloid forever. I like to have all my props in the trailer rather than getting my props on set. I like to come out ready to go. I don’t want to be looking for my badge or my holster or my gun. I don’t want to be saying, “Hey, where’s Dan from props? I need my glasses…”
Any on-set superstitions?
I’m pretty focused when I’m working. I just wanna make sure we get what’s on the call sheet. If I was superstitious at all, my head playing games with me… [shakes head in disgust].
Hot or cold lunch?
I’ve shot in France and they drink wine [laughs]. The lunch is considered part of the work day. I get that, everybody has a rhythm. But I tend not to eat that much when I’m shooting. I don’t want to be bloated from a big meal. I eat light. I snack. If my stomach starts growling I’ll grab a granola bar or something. If I had a big meal, I’d be sleeping in my trailer and forgetting my lines [laughs]. On Embattled, I was coming off True Detective and didn’t look like a fighter should look. I only had six or seven weeks [to get in shape], so I crammed everything between two training camps – fight choreography and weightlifting. I was training all through the shoot. We were pumping up. If the pump has faded, we pump again. I was barefoot, hands tapped, lean and mean. Diet is everything when it comes to looking shredded on film.
Ever stolen anything from a set?
Oh yeah. I always feel I need to keep something from the character, unless it’s a movie I despise, and there’s only been a few of those. I remember when we were doing Felon, this prison movie in New Mexico. Val Kilmer had his driver come around the back of this prison where we’re shooting. They had these old iron prison gates, and he put a couple of them in the back of this truck. And he gave me one. Literally Fedexed me this prison gate that weighs about 2,000 pounds! But it could be a pair of shades, a ring, boots… I’ve got the sword from Blade I fought Wesley [Snipes] with.
What’s the best wrap party you’ve ever been to?
I love wrap parties. It takes a lot more than the star or the actors to make a movie. I become real close with the crew. It’s like being in the army for three, four months. I get bummed if I’m wrapped early and I miss the party. Not that it’s the craziest party in the world, but you’re with your team and tomorrow you don’t have to wake up at 5am and worry about the job. You can just let your hair down. The best one I’ve ever been to? I couldn’t believe the True Detective wrap party in Arkansas. HBO flew in from LA. It was a monster party. They had banners, stations with the photo things, the wardrobe [as decoration]… Put it this way, it was a lot fancier than the Oscars were this year. That was like a bad bar mitzvah. JG
ETA 5 JULY / EMBATTLED IS AVAILABLE ON DIGITAL DOWNLOAD NEXT MONTH..
‘DIET IS EVERYTHING WHEN IT COMES TO LOOKING SHREDDED ON FILM’