One of 2014’s last releases, American Sniper, Clint Eastwood’s drama about Navy Seal Chris Kyle, has received largely positive reviews.
It grossed a stellar $2.2 million since it opened in only four theaters on Christmas
The Warner release expands on January 16, a day after the Oscar nominations are announced..
The Best Actor Oscar race is especially overcrowded this year, but as ballots are due on Wednesday, voters should consider Bradley Cooper’s performance.
Reportedly, Kyle’s widow Taya was in tears the first time she saw the film, and she’s been talking about how Cooper captured her husband’s essence. In the last few weeks, many actors, including Ben Affleck, Jane Fonda, Julia Roberts and Jonah Hill, have also praised Cooper.
To play Kyle, Cooper spent six months working out 4.5 hours a day, but the role went beyond the physical. He practiced a Texas drawl with a dialect coach, learned how to shoot three military sniper rifles and spent time with Kyle’s family and friends, who gave him access to his emails and home videos.
Cooper, who turns 40 this week, had a strong 2014: he picked up a second consecutive Oscar nomination for “American Hustle,” performed the voice of Rocket Raccoon in “The Guardians of the Galaxy” and is now on Broadway in “The Elephant Man.”
American Sniper is Doing Well
I’m always surprised when things do well, because you can never bank on that. We were just hoping that awareness was going to be enough for people to see it on Christmas. It’s such a competitive market that day–with “Into the Woods,” “Unbroken” and “The Hobbit.” We were happy that people came out in droves for “American Sniper.” And then the A-plus Cinemascore.
Actors Praise
That’s been the most amazing thing. I just heard from Ed Helms and Jonah Hill. I don’t know Ashton Kutcher, but he made the effort to contact me to say how he felt about the work and the movie. I’ve never experienced anything like that. It really does make me feel like we’re a community and we’re all invested in each other’s work.
Screening American Sniper at Fort Hamilton Military Base
We showed it to veterans. A few years ago, I had the opportunity to take “Silver Linings Playbook” to Walter Reed. Pat Solatano was a character that many young males and women could relate to coming back from war. It was a really impactful film at Walter Reed. That was probably the best experience I’d ever had showing that movie. And so, when we were making “American Sniper,” I thought if I could make a movie that people could relate to in this field, I imagined showing it at Walter Reed, which we’re going to do on January 13.
We are also going to take it to San Antonio, a hospital there, with Chris’ father and brother. That’s when you really get to experience story telling and the impact that it could have.
Reason for Producing Chris Kyle’ story?
I love the character study. Growing up, “Unforgiven” is one of my favorite films, dealing with the psychology of that character. Writer Jason Hall came with me with this story. I saw it right away as a war movie but told as a Western. But everything changed when Chris died and Spielberg came in and said, “We need to make this movie now.” That’s when I fell in love with the guy. It was an incredible experience–the investigative process of trying to get inside a human being’s mind and emotions.
Clint Eastwood Approach
I constantly talked about “Unforgiven.” When Chris says to his son, “It’s a heck of a thing to stop a beating heart,” it was really right out of “Unforgiven,” when Will Munny says, “It’s a hell of a thing, killing a man.”
At the end of “Unforgiven,” when he goes down to get his friend Ned, there’s this storm outside. In terms of Chris’ last tour, we did this desert storm. He’s almost Will Munny 20 years prior to “Unforgiven.”
Gym Work
In the actual gym? Probably 4.5 hours a day.
Workout for “The A-Team”?
That was totally different. That was cardiovascular and high reps for bodybuilding. This was weightlifting. There was no cardio. There was no toning of muscles. It was just get f–ing strong as a motherf–er.
Self-Perception
My main thing, after each take, the only thing I would ask anybody, “Hey man, am I too big?” When I watched the first cut of the film, I was so monstrous, I thought any more pounds it would have been farcical.
Getting It Right
I knew it was working. I felt him. I felt like I had successfully entered the world of his, so I would be able to tell the story. If you do all the research, you let yourself be open. I had hours and hours of home videos, and all of their email exchanges, and even his workout playlist. I basically had a dossier on this man’s life. And I had his children, his parents, his wife, and the people who knew him. It was a huge amount of information to be digested. Once that all happened, and then I got to the size, and I felt comfortable in his voice, or my voice as him, and I got comfortable with the three sniper rifles that he used. Then it was like, “Ok let’s tell the story.”
Learning from the Emails?
Just how fiery their relationship was–how much love there was, how much lust there was. And how much their relationship is relatable. How I could relate to it, and I think anybody who could read them could relate to it. It just humanized him in a huge way.
Producer Goals?
It was when I was doing “Alias.” I used to get everybody’s dailies. They were video cassettes. I would get back to my little apartment, that I was renting a bottom floor of this woman’s house in West Hollywood, and I would watch them all day long, and then I would go into the editing room. I would only work three days a week and I was from the East Coast, and I was going to shoot myself living in LA. I was just so fascinated by the process of making this show. I did that for a year, basically. It was like going to school. Then I went to “The Midnight Meat Train,” with Ryuhei Kitamura and was very collaborative in the editing room with him. Todd Phillips was like that too with “The Hangover.”
By the time we got to “Limitless,” Ryan Kavanaugh at Relativity encouraged me to be part of it in the post-production process, and I became an executive producer. If a director is open to me helping him or her tell the story, I’ll be there as much as they want. I’m lucky that David O. Russell enveloped me with both arms and made me his partner. Clint was the same way.
Oscar nomination for “Silver Linings Playbook”?
I can’t tell you how many times people came up to me after “American Sniper,” and said, “Hey man, I didn’t know you could act.” I can’t concern myself with that, or I’ll go crazy.
Starring in “Elephant Man” on Broadway
I’m the most fulfilled I’ve ever been artistically. Nathan Lane has gone it all figured it out. This lifestyle of doing it, being able to show up and tell a story to 740 strangers every day and sometimes twice a day, and you have the rest of your day free. It’s ideal, and in New York, it’s absolute heaven.
