Chris Pine: “I have an anxiety attack every time I go on Netflix!” (interview)

Tonight, on TMC, Chris Pine makes his return as sidekick Steve Trevor in Wonder Woman 1984. In full promotion of Patty Jenkins’ film, in September 2020, the actor told us about his obsession with a Hollywood that has now disappeared , between two anecdotes about Quentin Tarantino, Denzel Washington and Tony Scott.

PREMIERE: Quentin Tarantino recently explained (the interview took place in January 2020) that filming with Tony Scott in Unstoppable changed you as an actor. That at that moment you were at the peak of what a “movie star”. What does this inspire you?
CHRIS PINE : In any case it’s very flattering. Let’s see… In Unstoppable, I was managed by Tony Scott and I played opposite Denzel Washington: two heavyweights in our industry whose entire filmography I have seen several times. I was alone with Denzel for twelve to fifteen hours a day in a very small space, and I didn’t miss a beat. I took it as a lessonacting, a two-month masterclass. There is no doubt that when you play with an actor like that, it pushes you to surpass yourself. And then we must understand that Tony became a director at a time when Hollywood cinema still highlighted the movie star: it was the era of Kevin Costner, Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone… Tony Scott filmed men like no one else, he had it in his blood. So maybe what Quentin meant was that given the caliber of the director and the talent of the actor I was playing with, I found myself filmed in a fairly unique way. Or maybe he was really talking about the quality of my work, I’m not sure. (Laughs.)

I still think that there is something to resolve around your relationship with the movie star.
What’s on your mind?

I do not know exactly. I watch you with your clothes vintage (he wears green velvet pants and a pie server shirt), your slightly sulky face, your natural charisma. I perfectly imagine you as a movie star from the 50s, 60s or 70s.
Not false. I would have liked that a lot.

And I have the impression that the era would have coincided with your vision of cinema as an industry.
Yeah, most definitely. I am… (He thought for several seconds.) I have a romantic vision of the past. I like old cars, old houses, old furniture, old clothes, old watches… I don’t know why, but it’s the aesthetic that I like. And I’m fascinated by the great studio era: I would have loved to go to the MGM cafeteria and meet guys in togas who had just come out of a movie. Spending entire nights filming a Busby Berkeley musical… I totally fantasize about it, and the idea that it will never come back scares the crap out of me. I think we have lost the romantic aspect of our profession. When I watch the Oscars or the Golden Globes, I’m a little sad for us. There is a kind of self-loathing, no one seems happy. But maybe I’m wrong, maybe it was the same in the 50s or 60s.

How do you explain this state of mind? Do you think the world is sadder today?
Above all, I think people are angry – and rightly so – by the lack of diversity and everything that the #MeToo movement has revealed about the functioning of the film industry. In fact, I almost feel like our little club should take a two-year break. Let’s stop patting ourselves on the back and come together to find a way to move forward. Afterwards, we can go back to patting each other on the back and telling each other how great we are (Silence). And at the same time, I’m the first to love seeing Brad Pitt receive awards. He seems to be having the best time of his life at these ceremonies. It’s fun to see someone like that, a real movie star: he enjoys it, he winks, people smile and he leaves the stage triumphantly. It’s beautiful, this old-fashioned elegance.

What’s a stylish movie star?
It’s George Clooney, Cary Grant. Charming people without making an effort. They smile because they like what they are experiencing. But how to be a movie star today? It all seems a bit dated, what with TikTok and all that bullshit.

Will Gal Gadot play Wonder Woman again?

The importance of streaming must give you a cold sweat…
Yeah, I miss the days when there were only three or four studios. I want spotlights, a room plunged into darkness. The rituals reassure me. I struggle with change. Streaming is cool because people in the sector have more work, but I have an anxiety attack every time I go on Netflix! There are so many things, I don’t know where to start. I spend thirty minutes on an iPad just to find what I want to watch. And then I’m lazy. I should surely be positive, accept that the world is changing. But sometimes it’s hard. Besides, it makes me think that the last time I saw Quentin Tarantino, we went to the Sunset Tower with David Mackenzie to watch a forty-minute exegetical analysis on the advantages of film over digital. That speaks to me!

Have you spoken with Tarantino since his statements about you?
No, no, I didn’t get him on the phone. But I’ll tell you something about him: my grandmother was an actress in the 30s and 40s (Anne Gwynne, one of the first scream queens). Once, I brought my mother to the Oscars and we ran into Quentin, who I had already met at a party. My mother wanted to ask him where she could go to have a poster of my grandmother properly framed, because Quentin is a huge fan of posters. We start talking, and I realize that he knows absolutely everything about my grandmother. I mean: EVERYTHING, absolutely EVERYTHING. My mother was obviously more than delighted. A few years later, she sees Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and in the Spahn Ranch scene, she notices that the movie playing on TV is one of my grandmother’s! I don’t believe for a second that it’s a coincidence and I really need to contact him to thank him. It was the highlight of the year for my mother.

To finish with Tarantino, he has a vague film project Star Trek that he could achieve. The opportunity for you to tour with him…
(Laughs.) I would love to make a new Star Trek, and I know the whole team thinks the same. I just think there was a lot of restructuring at Paramount, and years went by without a sequel being filmed. All three films were quite successful, although today people believe that success means billions at the box office. But we are more than up for it if it has to be done. We’ll see.

You haven’t even read a draft of the script?
(He shakes his head, smiling, as if saying: “ Man, there’s no point in trying to pull the wool over my eyes “)

At the time of the release of The Ryan Initiativeyou told us this: “I take myself much less seriously than before. »
Ah! (He laughs.)

This is what allows you to accept secondary roles like in Wonder Woman 1984 ?
I have a very big ego, I’m not going to tell you otherwise. I love that my name is first on the duty sheet. But luckily, my ego isn’t so inflated that it makes me demand to always be number 1. As long as the right roles and the right people come my way, I’m happy as hell to be in an ensemble film. . For this particular movie, I was predisposed to say yes no matter what, because I love Gal Gadot and Patty Jenkins. I trust Patty and know that whatever story she comes up with, it’s sure to be great. And then it feels really good, sometimes, not to carry a film on your shoulders alone. Because it can be terrifying: I’ve made plenty of feature films that didn’t do well, and it’s such a disappointment when you’re struggling to sell them… It wears you down. This industry is made up of very few highs and many lows.

Do you think a lot about your career, which roles really matter and which ones you accept because they give you visibility?
More and more. Right now, I’m trying to think about the career I want to build for the next fifteen years. I think about the actor I will be when I’m 55. I’d be lying to you if I told you there wasn’t a little strategy in there. For example, I am super proud of Comancheria (by David Mackenzie), but since it’s very, very hard to make films of this level – in fact it’s very, very hard to make films at all – it makes things easier to play in a big project from time to time. It allows you to remain desirable.

Patty Jenkins: “Our times are addicted to irony and sarcasm” (interview)