oth Aaron Eckhart and Carrie-Anne Moss are familiar to fans of science fiction and suspense; Eckhart's last project was John Woo's Paycheck, and not so long ago he commandeered a drill to the center of the earth in The Core; Moss' name was permanently etched in Hollywood granite on the strength of her performances in the Matrix films alone. At the same time, neither actor has encountered such a curious blend of the real and imagined worlds as in their latest picture, Suspect Zero.
Eckhart stars as Thomas Mackelway, an FBI investigator drawn into a case that revolves around the apparent existence of "suspect zero," a killer so named because of his or her apparent lack of identity—specifically, that the killings follow no discernible pattern. Moss is Fran Kulok, Mackelway's former partner and lover, who is drawn back to his side to help catch this faceless murderer. Eckhart and Moss recently spoke with Science Fiction Weekly about their experiences on the film, about director E. Elias Merhige's innovative inclusion of "remote viewing" and about keeping yourself sane when your character dives off the deep end.
Aaron, because the movie is so dreamlike, does the final product resemble what you were expecting?
Eckhart: I think it reflects the script and what we set out to do. Obviously film is a director's medium, and that's the general. He's the captain of the ship, he's got it all in his head, and then they go and cut it. I mean, obviously he knew more about that than I did when we were filming it, [but] I really enjoyed watching this movie, I really enjoyed making the movie, and I really enjoyed being a part of Elias' vision. I didn't know exactly what was going on at all times in terms of how he was going to cut it and how lyrical it was going to be and all of that sort of stuff, but I love it.
Did you do any "psychic training" for this, like the "remote viewing" in the film?
Eckhart: I went out with the remote viewer, but I didn't have training sessions because I didn't need to know how to do it in the movie. I went out and spent time with him and he remote viewed in front of me. He did a current case that he was working on, and drew and got the key word and all of that sort of stuff and got me believing in it, but I actually never tried it myself. I [also] went around and played around with the FBI for a while, which was cool. You know, we went to target practice and went up in Westwood and checked them out, which I thought was really fun.
Was there any one part of that experience that made you believe in this phenomenon?
Eckhart: He was working on a case where a young girl had been abducted here in California, and everybody was out looking for her, and he broke down that case to me right in front of me and determined that she was dead and where she was and stuff like that. And I thought, you know, even though it's a fifty-fifty chance whether she is or she's not, I felt like this guy had a pretty good idea what he was talking about, and he believed in what he was doing. He did it right in front of me in a crowded hotel lobby. I was pretty impressed with that, and I thought that if I ever had somebody go missing or something like that, I would definitely give this a try.
Was the remote viewer you spent time with as tortured as the ones in Suspect Zero?
Eckhart: He had a lot of pressure, but I think the burden that was on his shoulder was the burden of knowing things that he couldn't convince other people of because it was gotten in a way that was unconventional. It was not within the boundaries of conventional law enforcement. That was his burden, I thought, him knowing where somebody was but he couldn't get to them because it was on private property or he couldn't get the permit or warrant from law enforcement because he couldn't show them evidence that you could show to a judge. I felt his burden was knowing things that other people would not believe; I talked to the FBI after I was with him, and they said we do not condone that, we don't use these guys, I don't know what he is talking about, the guy is a lunatic, blah blah blah. I said, "You know, but you guys do use them, because it's documented that they do," not that a foot soldier would know that. But it's interesting to see how law enforcement is much more meat and potatoes, and these guys are over here working in truffles.
How difficult was it to come to terms with your character's uncertainty between the intuitive and empirical worlds of his investigation, especially since the real agent disavowed the usage of remote viewing?
Eckhart: It's really kind of that whole question about intuition and not being able to trust something you can't see. Especially when it's new to you, if you're having delusions or [hearing] voices or having any sort of confusion, the first thing to do is not to follow that, it's to distrust that, and that's what I think is happening here. It is an inherent distrust for anything new, and I think the FBI or law enforcement in particular is very apprehensive about condoning anything like that because of the way the public takes remote viewing. They're not going to accept that; if you say to the wife or the mother of a kidnap victim, "We're going to go remote view," [the public will say,] "What the f--k are you talking about? Get some officers out there!" In this movie, the wonderful thing is that our two worlds do coincide to get the man.
Did this role give you any new acting challenges?
Eckhart: Yeah. I don't want to sound pretentious or anything like that, but it took me to places that I had never been to before as an actor, on and off the set. I felt maybe sometimes during the making of this movie I did lose my mind. Where it [specifically challenged me], I'm not really sure, but I did feel that I was in character for the movie.
How hard was it to rebound from those feelings after the cameras stopped?
Eckhart: Sometimes it's difficult, especially if you have to go to places that are unpleasant or that if you have to get yourself so worked up [in the film] that it drives you crazy. Some actors can do it, but I seem to have to hold on to it for a while, and it can create problems.
Did your co-stars help you remove yourself from those feelings?
Eckhart: Yeah. Carrie-Anne Moss just was a breath of fresh air, just the greatest, she kept the set loose, kept it nice and, you know, had that great female energy on the set, was really kind of a good place for me to go. We would sit next to each other and eat lunch together and talk and stuff, and I think she really saved me from some intense moments and stuff like that. I really thought she was a great actress and so, just so simple and so beautiful. I really can't say enough about her and how much I'm thankful that she did the movie.
Carrie-Anne, did you and Aaron work together on a backstory to help develop your relationship on camera?
Moss: A little bit, but when you're acting, you kind of have your own [internal process]. I could have a totally different story than Aaron has, but it's not really that important, I think, as long as people have strong points of view. We talked a little bit about it. I definitely felt that we had a relationship and were in love with one another, [but] I think that my character, Fran Kulok, is able to separate her work from her life, and he's not. And so he's a very dangerous guy for her to be in love with. I think the love was definitely very strong, but that was one of those situations where somebody that you love is just not right for you, but you still love them.
Did the finished film accurately reflect your experiences on set?
Moss: I was pretty amazed by what [Elias] did with it visually. It was a surprise, but I tend to be surprised on pretty much every movie that I make, because when you're an actor and you're there and you're doing your work, you don't necessarily take into consideration the way they're shooting things. So I was pretty surprised.
What about this script appealed to you?
Moss: I was interested in the whole idea of remote viewing, to be honest. I had seen a special on Oprah about a guy who had written a book about remote viewing just about a week before I received the script, so remote viewing is something that was on my mind, and I was interested in that idea probably because it's sort of psychic and spiritual in nature. I'm attracted to things like that.
Were there things you added to your performance to distinguish Suspect Zero from other serial-killer movies?
Moss: I don't really think like that. Because of what you do, you probably have to look at it like that, and that's sort of here [points to head]. As an actor, I think you kind of have to come from here [points to gut]. Here [head] is kind of boring and doesn't work for me, so I didn't think like that at all. I just had my journey as an actor and didn't try to think of a way to do it different. That's what the producers do and what the writers do, but as an actor you really want to respect and honor the script. You want to try to be in the moment, and you also realize that you're one part of a bigger picture, so when they call action, you have your dance and you try to do it right.
Because you are naturally receptive to the idea of psychic powers, was it hard to play a skeptic in the movie?
Moss: I felt that her skepticism came mostly from her past with him and from her protection of what she does for a living. I think that in order to do what she does for a living, you have to be able to play by the rules. I mean, she plays by the rules, and [Mackelway] doesn't play by the rules. Now, if I were really an FBI agent, I probably wouldn't play by the rules. I mean, I'd have to break the rules. But that's probably why I would never get that job, besides the fact that I'm too old and never went to college, although I think I'd make a fantastic FBI agent and definitely would love to have been one.
Were you involved in any specific training for the film?
Moss: I talked with a female FBI agent and a male FBI agent. I'm interested in what people do for a living [because] I think everyone has such an interesting journey and profession that they really commit to. I talked to people and I [researched the role], but ultimately it's like when you play a doctor. You have to look like you can do it, but you don't actually go and do it; it's not like you learn how to cut open somebody and go do surgery. You have to think of a human being and not play the idea of what that would look like.
Are you continuing to find the kinds of roles you want?
Moss: I'm pretty thrilled by the jobs that I'm getting offered. I feel very lucky to have the career that I have. I mean, I get asked that question a lot, because I tend to play strong characters, and people just assume that I would want to play romantic comedies, which I would love to do, but there are other women that do it so great, and they maybe couldn't play the kind of characters that I play. Although I think that it would be interesting to see us all play all kinds of characters, it doesn't always happen that way. I don't have any huge desire to show you all that I'm not tough and strong, that I'm all feminine and soft.
I remember being in acting class years ago, and my acting teacher saying to me—and this was way before The Matrix—"You have an ability to play really strong women, but you're also very vulnerable. And so it's a really interesting combination that not everyone has." It was interesting when I kind of accepted that what I was good at wasn't necessarily who I am as a person, because believe me, inside I'm Julia Roberts. But as an actor, I'm something different because of the way that I look, and something about me is different. So I really kind of embraced who I was and how people saw me, [and] I feel pretty lucky that I am working at all. I just thank my lucky stars that I make a living as an actor, that I am able to do a job where I can have children and I can take breaks and it's not like the be-all end-all for me to go out and prove that I can play everything.
What have been your proudest moments as an actor thus far?
Moss: Well, I'm so proud of The Matrix, and I'm so proud of playing Trinity, and I loved making Memento as well. That was really an incredible journey for me as an actor. I loved Suspect Zero because my role is a small role, and I'm a supporting character, but I was really thrilled to be there to be with Aaron to execute his journey. I felt it was about him and the director, having his vision. Elias told me that he really wanted me in this movie, and I had just finished The Matrix and I really wasn't feeling like working, but I wanted to give him what he wanted. I literally left Australia and went and worked on it, and I really wanted to execute his vision, and it became about me supporting Aaron's character's journey. It never felt like it was about me and what I wanted to do, because it's not that kind of part. I was really there to support.
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