Rory Cochrane Interview, Right at your Door

MoviesOnline had a chance to sit down last week with the versatile and talented actor Rory Cochrane at the Los Angeles press day to talk about his new movie, "Right At Your Door,” written and directed by Chris Gorak.

After multiple dirty bombs are detonated, spreading deadly toxic ash across Los Angeles, Brad (Cochrane) inadvertently quarantines his wife, Lexi (Mary McCormack) outside their new home by safely sealing himself inside. With the city under siege and martial law in effect, Brad and Lexi struggle to survive with little supply, limited time and no information – all the while separated by thin doors and thinner sheets of plastic. When "help” finally does arrive, it appears to be anything but.

The filmmakers saw many actors hoping to play Brad and Lexi during the casting process. "Once the script stared circulating,” Gorak reports, "it seemed as if more and more name actors began to see the material as an opportunity to demonstrate their range and ability to handle challenging material. I met with both Rory and Mary on separate occasions and realized they immediately understood the weight of the story and its relevance.”

Gorak elaborates, "What we liked most about Rory and Mary was that they are extremely talented and experienced actors who have the chameleon-like ability to fit into any scenario maybe because they don’t carry around the baggage of a movie star persona. Rory will always be known as that stoner from ‘Dazed and Confused’ and now millions see Mary every week the ‘The West Wing.’ They quickly became Brad and Lexi and transcended anything we might have expected from either one of them based on their resumes. Without a doubt, it is their believable performances that carry the film. They both can go from 0 to 100 and back to 0 on the emotional scale within a single scene. It’s unbelievably captivating to watch.”

Rory Cochrane was born in New York and spent much of his childhood in England. He eventually returned to New York City to study at the La Guardia High School of Performing Arts. His first performance was in the critically well-received film "Fathers and Sons” in which he played Jeff Goldblum’s son. He followed this up with a stand-out performance in Richard Linklater’s film classic "Dazed and Confused” as Slater, the young comedic stoner. Cochrane gave a tour-de-force performance as a crazed tattooed killer in "Love and a .45” with Renee Zellweger and followed that with a co-starring role in the cult classic "Empire Records” opposite Liv Tyler.

Cochrane starred in the low budget features, "The Low Life” and "Dogtown” for director George Hickenlooper. He also co-starred in "Sunset Strip” which Art Linson produced for Fox 2000, as well as essayed a memorable role in "Flawless,” which Joel Schumacher directed with Robert De Niro and Philip Seymour Hoffman for MGM. Other recent film credits include Richard Linklater’s highly stylized sci-fi noir, "A Scanner Darkly” opposite Keanu Reaves, the ensemble "Hart’s War” opposite Colin Farrell and Bruce Willis, and "The Prime Gig” opposite Vince Vaughn and Ed Harris. From 2002 to 2004, Rory played Tim Speedle opposite David Caruso in the top-rated CBS show "CSI: Miami.” Most recently, he appeared in the Ridley Scott produced TV mini-series, "The Company.” Rory is a terrific actor and we really appreciated his time. Here’s what he had to tell us about his new movie:

Q: What was going through your mind when you read the script for this?

RORY COCHRANE: Well first I thought it was a good script. I thought it was a tight script. What was going through my mind was, "Okay, that aside, how do I play the character?” He comes across when you read it as being sort of a coward and not what you would consider a man’s man. He won’t let his wife in the house so how do you play that authentically without being too much of a coward so the audience could hopefully empathize with your character a little bit. That was a real struggle for me. I asked a bunch of friends what they would do in that situation and I got mixed answers – pretty much 50-50, half and half. So I figured there are some people out there who would do the same thing in that situation.

Q: You spend a lot of time alone on the screen. What was it like getting into that mode when you don’t have someone else to play off of?

RORY COCHRANE: I don’t mind situations like that. It kind of frees you up in a way. I mean they say acting is reacting but sometimes when you’re alone, you just use your imagination and there are no deterrents other than yourself and your own thoughts. So it’s kind of challenging and fun sometimes to deal with whatever is going on inside your mind.

Q: A lot of the time while you were on screen there were radio announcements going on in the background. Were you able to hear that while you were shooting or was that put in afterwards in post production?

RORY COCHRANE: They put that in afterwards.

Q: So you didn’t have the luxury of hearing it? You’re turning and looking at the radio…

RORY COCHRANE: Yeah, they put it in afterwards and they timed it to however they edited the scenes.

Q: Was it as uncomfortable for you in the house when it’s sealed in plastic as it was for your character? Or was it nice and cool?

RORY COCHRANE: I think it was uncomfortable for me and for everybody else in that little house -- the crew, the camera guys – you’re in close proximity to each other for six day a week for long hours and it can be kind of irritating for a lot of people. But I think it added to the claustrophobia and the situation making it more authentic because you are literally jammed into corners and things like that.

Q: Did you have a lot of opportunity to ad lib or did you stick pretty close to the script?

RORY COCHRANE: Pretty close. A few times there’s a little bit of ad libbing but like I said earlier, I think Chris wrote a pretty tight script. Some projects you do you feel like it’s necessary to ad lib or improvise a little bit if you’re allowed to because people get pissed off about that, but in this case I think it was minimal.

Q: Did you shoot in an actual house?

RORY COCHRANE: Yeah. In Echo Park. The neighbors weren’t too happy about that either. They found a location and made a deal to shoot there. First the neighbors were curious and then when they saw the toxic ashes falling all over the street, they started getting a little… [Laughs]

Q: Did you use actual toxic ashes?

RORY COCHRANE: Yeah, like that’s fine. [Laughs] The crew guys were walking around with masks on so the neighbors were like, "Whoa! Should I be wearing a mask?” Obviously it wasn’t toxic, but it was something. People were coughing and things like that.

Q: The beginning of the movie takes some time to set up the fact that the story takes place in Los Angeles but as it progresses, that seems less important. It could’ve been any city by the time you get to the end. How important did you think it was for this to be in Los Angeles?

RORY COCHRANE: I don’t think it was very important for it to be in Los Angeles. Chris mentioned when he finished the script, Hurricane Katrina happened. Things that he had imagined and put in the script came true -- things like the martial law and how things escalate so rapidly after a terrible situation. Of course, for this movie you need that toxicity to have that dynamic between the two characters and the house being sealed and so forth. In any sort of tragic event, the lack of preparation from governments and the complete chaos that ensues with disinformation or very little information, we see that happening all around the world. So I don’t think it had to be focused on Los Angeles.

Q: Was the twist ending always there?

RORY COCHRANE: No, I think originally they had four different endings, then they narrowed it down to two. I think the one that’s in the film is the best way to go because for me I really asked Chris to keep that ending in there because it’s ironic and I think it’s more interesting.

Q: What were some of the other endings?

RORY COCHRANE: That we both get killed or I forget, you’ll have to ask him.

Q: Did you shoot the alternate endings?

RORY COCHRANE: No. It was such a tight budget that the alternate endings were slated that it bought the production an extra day or two. It was kind of like a cheating thing. I’m glad they used the ending that they did.

Q: How does working on a film like this with a minimal budget and minimal cast compare to something like "Hart’s War” or "A Scanner Darkly”?

RORY COCHRANE: The craft service is not that stellar but they do what they can. Of course, if you’re making a production and you’re part of it, it’s nice to have the nice luxuries and the big trailers and the time to be able to shoot it again if you need to and things like that. But on the other hand, if you have such a small production and small budget, there’s so many limitations that it can actually be a positive thing for the production because you can’t have the major explosions and you can’t have these certain things. It leaves it to the audience to be able to imagine those things and I think that’s more powerful in a way.

Q: Here you and Mary essentially carry the whole film so there’s nobody else to pawn off any responsibilities.

RORY COCHRANE: Yeah.

Q: Do you currently reside in Los Angeles?

RORY COCHRANE: Yeah.

Q: How prepared is your home for an earthquake?

RORY COCHRANE: Not at all. [Laughs] I don’t think the point of the film is to exploit anybody’s fears and make them go out and buy duct tape. It’s just something to make them converse and think about afterwards because there are situations that arise in this day and age and have arisen in the past that people aren’t prepared for at all. So when the shit hits the fan, it’s like an ape shit convention.

Q: Were you here during the Northridge earthquake in 1994?

RORY COCHRANE: I was. I remember people were throwing themselves out of buildings because they had been in the Mexico City quake or something like that. None of the street lights worked and people were crashing into each other. Communications were down.

Q: Did you draw on any of the feelings that you may have had at that time to create your character?

RORY COCHRANE: Not really. I think we’ve all had times in our lives where something possibly bad could have happened or has happened and that feeling of not being able to fix the situation or not knowing or just the lack of information makes the mind go to a place that can be a negative place that can invent all kinds of horrible things in your mind. People go nuts and do certain things that they wouldn’t even consider doing – drastic, drastic things.

Q: If you were in that situation, do you know what you would do?

RORY COCHRANE: I would let my wife in. That is why I was struggling when I read the script. It’s a hard thing. Like I said before, I asked friends and they’d say, "Yeah, I wouldn’t let her in.” [Laughs] It’s kind of brutal to say that but it’s honest for some people.

Q: Where did you get your inspiration for the character? Did you have to go with what Chris had come up with on the page or were you using the inspiration from your friends who did say "I would seal the door and not let her in”?

RORY COCHRANE: I just used the idea of self preservation and not the fact that my character’s not in love with his wife and they have a good relationship but just the simple fact that human beings generically want to survive. It’s in their genetic code. They want to procreate and do everything possible to stay alive. If my character really believes that this is something that is fatal, he’s going to tape up the house.

Q: So you felt that he was clearly putting himself first before his wife? He does have that line where he says he’s doing it for her protection also.

RORY COCHRANE: Yeah, I don’t know how much that makes sense how I’m protecting her if I’m locking myself in the house. That’s why I do like the ending that they chose.

Q: In terms of what you would do in that situation, would you listen to the radio?

RORY COCHRANE: Sure. That would probably be one of the only things that would work at the time. I’m sure you’ve experienced some sort of power outage. Things escalate really quickly. You look at your refrigerator and go, "Oh, everything’s going to go bad.” The phone line’s connected by a power cord so the phone line doesn’t work. If you don’t have a cell phone, then you can’t call the Department of Water & Power and you don’t really know what the updates are going to be. Things just start…How long is it going to last? All those things. Things escalate very quickly. What you take for granted in your daily routines and in your daily lives is taken away from you.

Q: This is a small movie and Chris is a first time director. What did Chris say to you that convinced you it would look as realistic as you could imagine? What was the budget?

RORY COCHRANE: I think it was $500,000.

Q: The CGI for $500,000 looks pretty good and realistic.

RORY COCHRANE: We had a great DP.

Q: What did he say that made you think, "Okay, first time director…”?

RORY COCHRANE: I just had to believe. When he was saying, "Okay you’re looking out at the skyline of this toxic nightmare, you just have to believe that it’s going to look good in post because there’s no other option. We had a cinematographer names Tom Richmond who I’d worked with before and he’s a really great DP. He won the award at Sundance for this film for Best Cinematographer. He would do things with the camera like when the ash was falling, he would slow it down so it would look like a snowfall which I think is really creepy. So yeah, I think for the budget they had they did a really good job. I don’t think it looks like a half million dollar picture.

Q: What else appealed to you about the character?

RORY COCHRANE: I guess it was appealing by the fact that it was so challenging. I had never done something with the level of intensity and physical and mental demand that this performance would have on me and I think that was in a weird sense appealing. I knew that I would really have to get in there and do the work.

Q: How was it working with Mary and did you guys eventually get on each other’s nerve from working in such a confined space?

RORY COCHRANE: No. Mary’s great. We had dinner before the movie and laughed and joked. I think there’s one scene in the beginning which is sort of la-di-da-di-da and then everything goes to shit. She took her job very seriously. There wasn’t a lot of joking around on the set. The situation of being outside in that ash or dust or whatever must have been frustrating for her. You’re talking through glass and through plastic and she can’t hear half the time and she has to have an earpiece in. We’re all safe inside and not breathing in this stuff. It must have been frustrating, but it wasn’t that we were irritated with each other. It was just the situation. And then when we were finished, we had dinner again and laughed about it.

Q: How does the plastic covering interfere with your performance? You both deliver great performances but it must have been extremely frustrating to try to react off each other in scenes.

RORY COCHRANE: Yeah. I think that’s why they got her the earpiece. You’re doing these really emotional dramatic scenes and then you can’t hear each other but you don’t want to be looking at the lips and trying to read lips for the next queue. So yeah, it was difficult at times but we managed to get through it.

Q: How many takes did you do for all the duct taping?

RORY COCHRANE: [Laughs] There was a lot of duct taping. I liked that though. When you’re concentrating on an activity or doing something else, you don’t second guess your performance. You’re just literally duct taping and you’re making sure that the place is sealed.

Q: So you don’t turn to the director and say, "Am I duct taping correctly?”

RORY COCHRANE: [Laughs] Yeah, exactly. How was that duct taping?

Q: So you’re a pro at it now?

RORY COCHRANE: Yeah. You have to check the cracks. I think it was pretty much after 9/11, people in the Midwest were running out and saran wrapping their houses. People were building bunkers during the Cold War. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with preparation but I don’t think people should be absolutely paranoid walking around. That’s no way to live life. I think we live in a fairly safe universe.

Q: What do you have coming up next?

RORY COCHRANE: I have that Company thing right now, the Ridley Scott mini-series. The last Sunday will be next Sunday.

Q: Is there any chance that will become a regular show?

RORY COCHRANE: No, it was a limited series. It’s based on a novel about the CIA. It’s pretty good. I saw it.

Q: It’s very well done. I’d love to see it become a regular series.

RORY COCHRANE: You’d have to talk to them about it.

Q: Would you do a series if you were offered more?

RORY COCHRANE: I did CSI Miami for two years.

Q: Would you go back?

RORY COCHRANE: It’s funny, they just asked me to go back for an episode and they had killed my character off because I had left the show which I don’t blame them. But then they asked me to come back three years later for an episode so I did it.

Q: Was it like flashbacks?

RORY COCHRANE: No. I guess I’m not allowed to talk about it but it’s not that big of a deal. I interact with one of the characters on the show but I’m not coming back from the dead. It was kind of random.

Q: Thank you very much.

RORY COCHRANE: Thank you.

"Right At Your Door” opens in theaters on August 24^th.