If you could use one word to describe “Trucker” what would it be?

James Mottern: One word? Oh, dear, um, well - beautiful? Maybe you should ask me what kind of tree I would be. I could answer that more easily. But, yeah, “beautiful” - to me at least.

While you were writing “Trucker” did you always intend to direct it yourself?

JM: Originally I had intended on directing it but then I tricked myself into thinking someone else could do it. After I had optioned it and that option expired (actually the company went out of business) and I got it back again I told myself I would direct it or it wouldn’t get made.

You’ve directed documentaries in the past but “Trucker” is your first feature film, were there any differences that really surprised you?

JM: In a way documentaries are more difficult because you are very intent on finding a story that may or may not exist. And it is very discouraging when you cannot find what you thought you had - you can waste a lot of time and money; but then sometimes in docs it is so awesome when the story you didn’t know you were looking for is right there and is maybe even better, or at least, deeper than the one you had set out to tell. In features it is already set out on the page so you know what you must do each day. So in that sense I think features are easier, really. However, maybe I approach features in a similar way as documentaries in the sense that I really try to leave myself open to the story and let it tell itself and let the actors tell it, too, and in that way sometimes I maybe see something I never thought of and it is, you know - “beautiful.”

“Trucker” has been a personal journey, how has seeing the film through from beginning to end affected you?

JM: Well, it’s really changed my life in the sense that it was so very difficult to accomplish and in its difficulty I hopefully found a certain degree of humility but also an understanding of the true nature of an artistic endeavor which is first and foremost committment I think - although I could be wrong.  In making a film you really believe in, that is hard to get done, a difficult subject and so on, you really have to turn yourself over to something that is outside of you or outside of your family and say to yourself “This might just **** fail.” It’s hard on the heart but if you get through it and feel you’ve made something good you also feel peace in your battered heart - and excitement to make another one, too!

You faced a lot of difficulties in getting “Trucker” made, was there ever a point you felt like giving up and if so what inspired you to keep going?

JM: Yeah, I faced a lot. There are harder things in life, but this was a tough one. Anyway, it was a little before Thanksgiving ‘06 and I had heard rumblings that my financing was going to drop out. Michelle Monaghan had been cool all along the way about getting the money and so forth; very patient. Anyway, I was feeling pretty bad as another company that was going to make the film had gone out of business at the eleventh hour -  and now this other comapny was on the ropes, too. Yeah, I was really feeling pretty damn bad. But then late one night on email Michelle sent me this sort of montage to music she and her husband had made. They’d gone out to Riverside and just shot a few photos and then her husband Pete, who’s a very good graphic artist, by the way - he did the poster for the film - made this montage of Michelle as Diane out in the desert there and it was really so lovely. I’m not going to embarass myself and say I cried, but, yeah, it meant something to me right then as I was up against it. In a way I’d like everyone to see that little film because it really touched me quite a bit that they’d gone and done that. I’m going on and on but the reason is that it was that night that I said I’m going to make this **** movie come hell or high water. I can’t let this woman down. A few days later I found out the production company had gone under and my financing DID actually drop out; but I got some money later on and went and made the movie and it turned out well I think.

How did you respond when Michelle Monaghan insisted on learning to drive a truck in order to produce a believable character for the film?

JM: Well, we had talked about it a little bit when I first met her and I always told her she didn’t have to if she didn’t want to. But in my heart I felt that she really needed to do it for the character and for the driving in the film. But, listen, I’m not going to teach an actor his or her process. That’s up to them. She knew where I was coming from but it came from her to do it. She had been driving for a couple of days and she called and said it was going well but if she couldn’t learn to drive the truck then she couldn’t do the film and she wonderd if I agreed. I said, “Yeah, okay.” But in my heart I was like, “Shit, I hope she learns to drive the **** truck or I don’t have a movie.” But she learned to drive it great as I really never had a doubt she would. It really never occured to me that she wouldn’t ultimately drive that truck. It seems kind of funny in hindsight as it is actually quite difficult to do. But like her driving instructor Phil told her, Michelle’s got big balls.

Why did you cast Nathan Fillion?

JM: If you watch that movie SLITHER you’ll see it is a somewhat unusual combination of a traditional Troma picture and a big budget movie; kind of  a hybrid. In a way it’s a few movies in one. But there’s a sense of purpose in that movie and it comes from Nathan. He has this way of being very manly and yet self-deprecating, even touching on self-loathing. It’s like he approaches the role very lightly - not like an actor who is trying to blow you off the screen. He approaches it in such a relaxed and easy way that it seems almost effortless, but it’s not flippant; with Nathan there’s always something behind the eyes. That is very, very hard to do. But he was the spine of that film; he grounded it and made it feel real. In SERENITY very similar. And that face. He is very handsome, but there’s something going on with that right eye and there’s something about that incredible nose. It’s not perfect and yet it is perfectly Nathan. And of course the chin which I think if you see my film, there’s one shot where his chin nearly steals the scene. Seriously, it’s pretty remarkable. That’s all I’ll say. But anyway, Nathan has this easy going, yet at the same time DEEP thing going on. I can not exactly put my finger on it. But part of it is that he is one of the most humble people I have met. Not just actors mind you - but people. He has no agenda except to do good work. He puts on no airs. He’s extremely engaging and to me so watchable. I also had this feeling that he and Michelle would have great chemistry and I was right. Those are some of the reason I cast Nathan. I hope I can cast him again. I think he is underated in his naturalness and yet that is what makes him so very great.

You’re currently working on the screenplay for the comedy Boomerang, how’s that going?

JM: That’s going really well. It’s a comedy but sort of Hal Ashby-ish in temperment and I’m casting it right now. Working on something sort of harrowing for Michelle and hopefully she’ll do it in a while after baby comes and they get settled in with that. I have children so it takes a little while but I’m sure she and her husband are going to do just fine. They’re great people.

Were you surprised to discover that “Trucker” had a fan website before the film was even released?

JM: Yeah, I was excited. Honestly, when I was writing TRUCKER I was sort of in a strange point in my life; a little difficult. I was living out in Riverside where I ended up shooting the film and I just wrote the damn thing and was having a tough time of it. It’s a strange experience to write something from sort of a hard place and then you put it out there and people kind of get on board for it and then what came from some degree of suffering is suddenly a hell of a lot of fun and maybe it entertains people, etc. Thanks for putting together this site.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

JM: Maybe just if you believe in something keep at it as when it’s all over you’ll know in your heart you gave everything to it.

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TruckerMovie.net: What did you enjoy most about filming “Trucker”?

Jimmy Bennett: All the variety’s of jerky and pocket knifes at the truck stop we filmed at.

Was there something in particular about the character of Peter that stood out for you above everything else?

JB:I liked that Peter had a bit of an attitude and wasn’t just the typical 11 year old kid.

Most people your age don’t get away with speaking to adults the way Peter speaks to his mother in “Trucker” – how does is make you feel to be able to do that?

JB: Haha. That was pretty funny actually. I probably flipped Michelle off 100 times during filming. It really started being like a game between us, I’d come to set and she’d say “Hey Jimmy”, and I’d just look at her all hard and flip her off, it was classic. Just kidding, Michelle is awesome, definitely one of the best I’ve ever worked with.

You’ve been in a few movies that are highly emotional and at times quite serious, do you prefer the challenges those movies provide or do you prefer roles like animation voices?

JB: Oh no. I love the hard roles. I don’t think there are enough of them for kids my age, most stuff is pretty Disney-ish.

You’ve been acting for half your life now, do you think you’ll always be an actor or do you have other dreams for the future?

JB: I’ll always act, but I want to direct someday, and I also plan on putting a band together. I’ve been playing guitar now for like four years, so I think it will be pretty soon. I’ve already written a few songs and have been jamming with some guys.

What’s been your favourite or most memorable acting experience?

JB: Probably doing the stunts in Star Trek. Jumping out of a car and sliding to the edge of a cliff. It was bad ass!

You play the young Kirk in the new Star Trek film, was there anything you did to prepare to play a young version of a character that has been so well established?

JB: I never saw the original believe it or not. I had my own ideas for it and just went with it. J.J. seemed to like what I was doing so I just kept it up. It was super fun.

Who’s your biggest hero or role model?

JB: Probably Zakk Wylde. He gave me the guitar I played in Trucker. Awesome guitarist and a cool guy, not to mention he is Ozzy’s freakin guitarist!!

Why should people see “Trucker” when it’s released?

JB: It’s a good little story and it’s real. Hopefully people will like it.

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TruckerMovie.net: When you were approached to work on Trucker as the character Runner, was there something about the character that immediately appealed to you?

Nathan Fillion: I love stories about people that aren’t something special, you know there’s the homicide detective, cop on the edge, there’s those big big roles that are a lot of fun but I like the non-adventures roles, I like the regular average Joe roles. What I liked about Runner was his relationship with this 9 year old boy that his own mother didn’t know how to connect with him, yet Runner had a very very easy way about him that connected with this kid. The two of them just found it very very easy to be honest. Even in my own life, I love kids, I just hate it when I see people talk down to kids or talk in a high voice… I hate that it just drives me nuts so the that..the fact that he’s just a real guy I liked.

How did you find working with Jimmy Bennett?

NF: I have worked with a lot of kids and they’re a piece of cake and I think for that reason you get a kid into a role, he or she’s already passed the screening tests, that tells you they’ve got the talent. They’ve got what it takes at least to be at this spot. If you talk to people like they’re normal regular human beings they’ll surprise you and be regular normal human beings, you know. Jimmy by the way, he’s a fantastic actor. He’s a fantastic actor. You can change the entire scene right before the scene and he can handle it, he’s right on top of it. You can mess it up, you can drop a line and actually say your next line and he can flow with it, he’s listening to you every step of the way. I love that.

“Trucker” writer James Mottern says he had to wear his “heart on his sleeve” to make this film, do you think that that kind of investment on his part had an effect on the end result?

NF: James is a particular kind of guy, and he was telling a very emotional story and it’s something you can easily tell he was involved, he was invested in, not just because of his energy, emotionally, he was emotionally involved. When he was happy about a scene you could tell he was happy from his heart. It was great. I really enjoyed working with him. There’s a guy who had a great idea, a vision as to how he wants it to go and at the same time will let something evolve and get a life of its own and find its own way and he’s also very good at helping you find that life in a scene. He’s also good at that.

Michelle Monaghan learned to drive a truck for this film, what did you do?

NF: I drank a lot and some dancing lessons, I took a lot of dancing lessons, six months of dancing.

What’s the craziest or most difficult thing you’ve had to do to prepare for a role?

NF: That would be fight camp. We had to do fight camp for Serenity that was weeks and weeks and weeks and weeks of just getting it down and it truly helped it truly helped. We had some great stunt guys that were helping us along the way. And Summer, I can’t say how much I worked when we talk about how much Summer worked, she really really worked hard but I think that’s the craziest thing. Fight camp. We’re not supposed to talk about fight camp … kinda like “fight club”, but I do anyway.

In general you seem to genuinely like your fans and are known to be kind to them but does it ever scare you how “enthusiastic” they can get?

NF: You know what? I’m just a regular human being. If someone were to walk down the street and say something off color or off-putting to a compete stranger I’m going to react the same way the complete stranger is. I talked about this yesterday, I’ve done a couple of nude scenes, in context they’re great… but when someone gets all “ooh, you did that nude thing” and they get all funky and weird, it’s like “thanks, thanks for making me super comfortable and obviously you’re a big fan of my work, you’re really there for me”. You know what? I’m just, I’m not… I’m in it for the work, I’m in it to tell great stories and I think it cheapens it, I think people get excited, people get excited and they don’t know what to say so they’ll say something silly because they’re over anxious or over excited and maybe just a little unprepared but I try to relax and I try to, you know, I try to just let it roll off my back and not bug me and realise that maybe they’re just in a heightened state maybe a little anxious.

And… the inevitable….

We know that there’s nothing on the horizon right now but it seems to be becoming a trend for Serenity actors visiting Australia (Alan Tudyk & Jewel Staite) to tell fans that it’s not yet time to give up on another movie, but with most of the cast being very busy in your careers right now, in your opinion, is there still any reason for fans to hope or do you think that time has passed?

NF: Firefly was an incredible lesson for me. I really fell in love with that show and the people I was working with and the story we were telling and the character I was playing. I fell in love and when it was taken away my hopes were dashed, I was crushed entirely. I was disillusioned. I was angry, I was so angry and then the fans, the fans came through and then Joss made this thing happen and then this perfect storm of positivity that the wonderful people over at Universal, taking it upon themselves to say “Yeah, there’s a story to be told here and lets do it” so I’ll never give up hope. When people say “Is there gonna be another Serenity?”, not so far as I know, I mean when there will be, you’ll know. People come to me when I’m signing their autograph “Is there going to be another Serenity”, this isn’t where you’re going to find out, this isn’t going to be the arena. But I’ll never say never, I can say :Not right now”, “Not that I know of”, “Nobody’s said anything to me”, I could tell you that. That’s the truth, not right now, nothing right now, that’s the fact, but never say never, I’ve learned that because there’s Serenity of course.

Is there anything you can share with us at this point about the Doctor Horrible series?

NF: It’s gonna rock. It’s gonna rock. For something that looked…I mean kinda felt… I mean, Joss called me up and said “Hey, me and my brothers and one of my brothers’ fiancé, we wrote this thing, a musical, we’re going to put it on do you want to do it?” Sure! Six days of filming, this incredible music that we were singing, these incredible lyrics, these wonderful songs, it’s just… it sounds kinda hokey but in six days all these people pulling together… I saw a rough cut of this thing and it’s frickin’ great. It’s changed my opinion as to how things are going to work in the future as far as taking the producers out of the equation and the internet is now your distribution. I think everything’s going to change and I think this is certainly my first experience in the direction things are going.

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…Half road trip and half learning how to make a home, “Trucker” gives Michelle Monaghan a chance to show what she can do and the result is encouraging, although twelve year old Jimmy Bennett nearly steals the show

… If Monaghan’s acting is sufficient, young Bennett’s is excellent and helped considerably by his wiser-than-his-years lines penned by Mottern.

In many films the writer/director role is too much for one person to handle. In this film Mottern is able to use a simple story to give him the time and space to work on the presentation of the character’s lines. This is vitally important in keeping the film true-to-life and not becoming a moral lecture.

The setting is the sun baked hills of Southern California and points east, and the excellently matched country-western soundtrack produced by Mychael Danna deepens the aimlessness of the open road with a touch of a silver lining. The songs seem to float along with the trucks and cars as Diane and Peter encounter one challenge after another to their attempted bonding. The trucker urban myth is not exploited in this film, but explained with the utmost realism—Diane would rather be a trucker than a waitress or a nurse.

The storyline is formulaic: the young mother has learned to live without her son and the two are only reunited due to the serious illness of her ex-hubby. Both have serious misgivings. This would be a boring story if not for the seriously funny lines of son Peter who, being the parent for most of the film, shows mom Diane why she should stop living like a kid. The two are as much enemies as allies.

Broken family films usually become either maudlin or patronizing. Indeed, this film walks that line but somehow avoids falling into the dungeon of self-pity due to Mottern’s sharp and lean dialog. Great supporting work by Nathan Fillion as Runner, Diane’s married wanna-be boyfriend. The two appear in some pretty durn good drunken shenanigans that are actually funny. Drunk jokes rarely make a film, but these are added with such perfect realism that many will reflect on having been there, whether they like it or not. Also contributing to the overall success of the film are Joey Lauren Adams and Benjamin Bratt…

• Full Review: www.monstersandcritics.com

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I attended a press screening on Saturday at the Tribeca Film Festival. Trucker is great. Strong cast, powerful film. A bit on the predictable side but it still is solid — ProductionGirl IMDB User

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I also saw Trucker at Tribeca and I thought Michelle Monaghan and Nathan Fillion did amazing work on this film! Nathan was so incredibly hot, but not in a way he has ever been seen before. He was downright manly and had women in the audience gasping for air during one esp riveting scene. Michelle Monaghan kicked a** and should def get an Oscar. The audience was filled with people of all ages and somehow this movie seemed to touch a cord with virtually everyone. I saw 3 people who were sobbing so hard, they fled the theatre to recover. I was blown away, too. Amazing movie! Can’t wait to see it again when its released to the public!

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…(A performance like this shows you what [Michelle Monaghan] could have done in Gone Baby Gone if the Affleck Brothers had fleshed out her character with stuff from the novel. But then she would have blown Casey Affleck off the screen.) She doesn’t blow Nathan Fillion off the screen, and their chemistry is just what you’d expect from two people who know that only their scars can kiss. Her scenes with Jimmy Bennett are real and borderline shocking for all the anger and resentment that erupts in them, and … it’s totally believable. This is the kind of role for women that only seems to pop up in small films, personal films, or self-produced films. Diana is a rich, real, complicated part, and Monaghan inhabits every nasty, frustrated, hopeful moment of it. What makes this movie even more amazing: it was filmed in less than three weeks. — Horvendile

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Heart rending/warming pic in the tradition of the great seventies films like Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. — Chris Hawthorne

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Evoking a gritty Diane Lane, Michelle Monaghan convincingly portrays Diane Ford, a truck driver so disconnected she can’t even bring herself to call her estranged 11-year-old son (Jimmy Bennett) by his name.

Writer/director James Mottern hits the perfect tone with Trucker’s fadeout and takes Diane’s relationship with love-struck friend Runner (charming Nathan Fillion) to a surprising climax. Mottern also successfully captures the tired Riverside, Calif., setting and its encircling crossroads of interstates, although the abundant natural sunlight can lead to distracting haziness. — Woman on Film

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The premise (loser bonds with estranged kid) has been done again and again but director James Mottern and the cast do a fresh take on the old premise and make a very honest and emotional story with some great acting.

Chemistry is necessary for this picture to work and the cast has it. Romantic chemistry between Michelle Monaghan, who does a wonderful job carrying this film, and Nathan Fillion and mother/son chemistry between Monaghan and Jimmy Benett. I also enjoyed Mottern’s script and the cinematography. — Yorick Brown, IMDB User

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The movie is a small gem. Not only is it well shot but each frame, although short, is quite seamless in telling the story over a period of time. The main character, the trucker, played by Michele Monaghan, is honest and real. Regardless of whether you support the decisions that she has made with her life, she wears everything on her sleeve and is very much in touch with who she is.

There is absolutely an audience for this film outside of the film festival. I hope that somebody picks up the film. It would play well at the Angelica or the Quad. A heartfelt film that touched me. — Gotham Gal

]]> http://www.truckermovie.net/review-snippits/45/feed/ http://www.truckermovie.net/ifc-speaks-with-james-mottern/59/ http://www.truckermovie.net/ifc-speaks-with-james-mottern/59/#comments Tue, 06 May 2008 12:58:15 +0000 Admin http://www.truckermovie.net/?p=59 [For full interview click the link at the bottom of this post]

IFC: The other thing that was interesting in the film was how gender roles was defined — having Monaghan play a role that usually would be reserved for man and you have dialogue referring to what makes a good man — was that a thread you wanted to follow through?

Mottern: A lot of this film is about identity, that you live your life and you think you have free will. But as you walk around in the day, whether it’s the way you look, your gender, the way you behave, the sound of your voice, you’re immediately identified and categorized by people. They’re trying to tell you who you are at all these points and you begin to believe it, it chips away at your freedom until you have no free will. You’re beholden to these people who are identifying you. [Monaghan’s character] Diane says “That’s not who I am. That’s not who I am.” To me, that’s why she’s a hero — she does resist that categorization by other people. It wasn’t so much role reversal, because I never thought of this movie as being a woman’s movie. It was always [about] a human being first.

IFC: Knowing your background with Slamdance, where you were once a festival producer, what’s the experience been like to switch sides from producing a festival to participating in one as a filmmaker?

Mottern: The thing I like about those films [at Slamdance] is that not all of them are great, but there’s always some little nugget that’s good in each one of them. It’s always like filmmakers first, and to me, Tribeca is very similar in that sense that it was started not by a city to promote the city, but in a response to 9/11. I’m religious about movies anyway, that some of the great films would suggest somebody is finding redemption or salvation or freedom. It’s a very American phenomenon to have that feeling.

The other thing about Tribeca is that they have a very high regard for the history of film in terms of American history and influence and what films have meant to people beyond the box office. It depresses the shit out of me when I’m listening to Indie 103 in L.A. and they have the Sundance Report. You tune in and you’re like alright, tell me what the movies are, and the first thing they do during the Sundance Report is tell what the sales were of these films and it’s pathetic.

IFC: “Trucker” was bandied about as one of the titles that might’ve been selected for Sundance. Were you actually aiming for that before Tribeca?

Mottern: Yeah, but I think that when you’re making a film you’d hope that everyone’s working together for what they believe in — that’s why you’d do it. An independent film, no one’s paying you any money to do it. You do want your film to sell because you want people to see it — you don’t make it to put it in your bureau. But when there are these big festivals, you find yourself almost making a film for the people who run the festival — will it get in? Who’s there? Who will like it? Who knows someone who’s at the festival? It’s almost like the festival becomes a distributor who you haven’t even sold the film to.

For Sundance and this film, it was being bandied about because I always thought it was great and people will tell you, “This is a Sundance film,” but I always thought this is any festival film because it’s going to be great. For me…and Sundance, God love ‘em… I wanted to finish my film. I didn’t have a score in, so we were all like let’s just finish it, you know, because it’s going to be a good film.

IFC: I was curious about it because I knew it did have that history.

Mottern: And that’s the other thing — so it’s bandied about that it’s going to get into Sundance, right? And so people then say “What is wrong with it that it didn’t get in?’

IFC: It comes off as damaged goods when you don’t get in.

Mottern: But it’s…. not done. [laughs] I learned a valuable lesson — the movie that you are going to make you should make, come hell or high water. I’m [actually] very positive about that experience, but it discourages me when I see filmmakers have that feeling that their film didn’t get into a particular festival. I have friends that didn’t get into this festival and it’s divisive. It makes it so that these filmmakers that have worked together or have tried to nurture each other are suddenly divided by a festival because the festival is suddenly qualifying the value of your film.

• Full Interview: www.ifc.com

If video doesn’t load below click here for external link to the Tribeca Film Festival website.

Nathan Fillion plays yet another character that you can’t help but fall in love with. Not a bad thing to be typecast as! The actor (Jimmy Bennett) who played the little kid was very subtle for a child actor. I asked about him during the Q&A and Mottern said “Yeah, he’s really a 40 year old man.” Pretty amazing.

The last question came from Michelle’s brother, who said she made him promise not to embarrass her, but that didn’t stop him from asking “Did she have to stop every half hour and take a piss, liks she did on family vacations?” Apparently he was ok with breaking his promise.

• Full Article: http://mirka23.blogspot.com

“I wanted people to understand her,” she says of her character. “She doesn’t make apologies for herself. She doesn’t play the victim, and she’s not cut out to be a mom.”

To play Diane, Monaghan went to driver’s ed. “I got the (trucking) anarchy. If I wasn’t able to get my license, I wasn’t going to do the movie for the cause that for me, it was such an essential part of the movie. I didn’t want to fake it.”

That same work ethic applied to the taut arms she sports in the film. “It really takes a lot of muscle, actually, so I worked in a puzzle for a couple of weeks, doing weights for arms. I desire a prosy frame, and it needed to look believable that I was driving a truck.”

• Full Article: http://reviewsmovie.wordpress.com

“When I first read the script, I didn’t like Diane at all. She’s seriously flawed and I was appalled by her behaviour towards her son.

“But I realised she’s just being true to herself,” Michelle told me at the Tribeca Film Festival in downtown New York.

It’s a better role than - and the complete opposite of - the woman she plays in the romantic comedy Made Of Honour, which opens in UK cinemas today.

• Full Article: www.dailymail.co.uk