Talking with Steven - Yahoo Chat
Jan 19, 2001
Question: Mr. Culp, Robert F. Kennedy is my hero, I know that during the making
of this movie you studied him a lot, and I would like to ask what you
think of him?
SC: I just had a general idea about him when I started, probably the idea
most everybody has you think of the Kennedy's and Camelot and this sort
of magic they brought into the political realm and the fact that both
their lives were tragically cut short. Then as I started to research
and read and watch film and listen to speeches I grew to admire him more
and more. I love the fact that he had so many different sides to him,
and it seemed too, that he was someone who was capable of personal growth
and personal change, I guess he was someone who never seemed to stop evolving
and I find that very admirable.
Question: What research did you do to play the part?
SC: Just hours and hours of reading about his life and they Kennedy family
history. As well as Bobby's life both before and after the Cuban Missile
Crisis because in a sense you are trying to capture the spirit of someone
at a certain point in their life's journey and you want to be as true to
that moment in time as you possibly can. I also watched a lot of film
and videotape and spent many hours working on the accent and also worked
with a personal trainer to shape, to get that gaunt look because Bobby
was very skinny and wiry and I am naturally a couple of inches taller
and have broader shoulders than he. I had to lean myself down to this
Bobby Kennedy body.
Question: Was it your intent to imitate RFK or just capture his 'essence'?
SC: What I really wanted to do was to go for the essence. I didn't want it
to be an imitation. Basically, you answered the question when you asked
it. I basically tried to capture the essence. But getting a lot of the
external things right helped in a way to locate the essence.
Question: Is there one thing that rfk did that you wanted to duplicate exactly?
crossed arms? posture?
SC: I did have to change the way I folded my arms... lol because he crossed
them the opposite way I cross mine. I had to practice crossing my arms
his way so that it would come naturally when we were shooting. And the
same can be said for his... the way he moved...the way he walked...
the way he carried himself. Because I think his inner life is in some
ways reflected physically. For example, he was a very competitive athletic
character. He was somebody who willed himself to be this competitive
athlete, but at the same time when you watch films of him there's something
almost delicate and fragile about him. And I think that's a reflection
in a way of the man.
Question: What kind of work did you do on the accent? I though yours was the most
realistic of the three characters.
SC: When I got the job I asked Roger Donaldson, the director if they were
going to get me a dialect coach, and Roger didn't want Bruce or I to use
dialect coaches. I think he had people audition for him who had worked
for coaches and he thought they all sounded phony like they were doing
a dialect and not speaking like a real person. So I just listened to a
LOT of tapes and would learn speeches. Whenever I drove anywhere I would
have the tape playing in the car and I would speak with the tape. Or I'd
be home hiding out in the garage so that I wouldn't annoy my wife too much.
One thing that I would do that I found very useful I'd have two walkmans
and I would play a speech in the headphones of one walkman and speak the
speech as I was hearing it into the other walkman and then I'd compare
the two tapes and try to make adjustments based on what I heard. If my wife
could tell the difference. If she I knew I was doing well.
Question: There's the Boston accent and then the Kennedy Boston accent.
SC: I've never heard anybody in Boston speak with a Kennedy accent.
Question: This is the second time you've played RFK... true? How did each time differ?
SC: I played RFK in an HBO movie called Norma Jean and Marilyn. Norma Jean
and Marilyn. It was one three page scene with Mira Sorvino. And it was a
good scene, but basically we shot it in an afternoon. But even for that
short scene I remembered doing a lot of preparation having become this icon.
I didn't want to have to worry about becoming the icon while the cameras
were rolling. But the preparation for Thirteen Days was about a thousand
times more intense than that.
Question: Don't you think Robert Kennedy ignited the bay of pigs more than it should
have been?
SC: I'm not sure I understand the question. Bobby was not involved in the Bay
of Pigs, which was one of the reasons that he was so much in the loop
during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Because JFK felt that he had placed too
much trust in his military advisors and the CIA during the Bay of Pigs.
Because of that he wanted to have someone around who's judgment he could
rely on who would give him an honest objective opinion. And who would
also run interference for him with the military. It is true that there
were some far fetched plots hatched by the CIA after the Bay of Pigs that
Bobby was at least indirectly responsible for because he was determined
to get rid of Castro. And we do make a brief mention of that in the film.
However, one of the things that I find really admirable about Bobby was that
when he was confronted he realized how inflamed the situation had become
he became a very strong advocate for not invading Cuba. He felt that it was
morally responsible for the United States to launch a sneak attack on this
smaller country and his moral fervor changed a lot of minds in the Ex-Com
room. This was what I meant, earlier, when I said that one thing that I
admire about him was that he was someone who's capable of change.
Question: Did you talk to any of the Kennedy family to prepare for the role?
SC: I had an opportunity through a friend to contact Rory Kennedy, Bobby's
youngest daughter but I thought it would be too intrusive especially given
the fact that John Jr. had just died when we were starting the film. There's
so much material out there that I felt comfortable with the materials I had and
that I didn't need to intrude on the Kennedy family. If I had felt it was really
necessary I probably would have tired to contact them.
Question: Were you excited to get this part in such an incredible movie?
SC: I spent three months going to auditions for it I was stunned :-) And of
course I was excited. Anything else I could say would sound really lame.
Question: You're a dead ringer for RFK in the movie- do you get stopped on the street?
SC: No, because a lot of that resemblance was enhanced by the false teeth,
the fact that they colored my hair, and by my work with the personal trainer.
I don't really look that much like him in real life. There's just a slight
resemblance.
Question: Who does Kevin Costner play in the movie?
SC: Kevin plays Kenny O'Donnelland had worked with JFK from the earliest political
campaings. He was JFK's top aide in the White House and one of their oldest
and closest friends. They used to call him "Kenny the Cobra" because he was
the guy you had to get past to get to JFK. The press also used to call them
"The Three Brothers". They liked having him around because they knew he wouldn't
bullshit them. And he would say exactly what he thought.
Question: How much time did you and Bruce Greenwood spend together to try to bond
as the Kennedys did?
SC: Bruce and I spent a lot of time on the phone before we started shooting.
We'd talk about research we were doing whatever discoveries we were making,
or difficulties we were having. And we'd try to have these conversations
in our character's voices so that way we would get used to talking to one
another as the brothers. By the time we arrived on the set we had a real
rapport going. There was a lot of mutual respect and support as well as shared
sense of humor. That seemed very like the Kennedy brothers.
Question: I went to see the movie , and I thought it was a very Good movie. Would
you say if this really did happen with the bombs , where would we be now
in this day and age?
SC: Well, if we had gone to war most of the world as we know it would be wiped
out. I think one reason this movie has been resonating so strongly for
people even people who weren't alive then is that what happened then and who
these people were is so much a part of our national consciousness. In a
way what the Kennedy's did then defines who we are as a people today.
Question: Is Kenny O'Donnell still alive?
SC: Kenny O'Donnell died in, I think, 1977. He apparently never quite recovered
from having two of his best friends assassinated.
Question: Was Kevin pretty cool to work with?
SC: Kevin was terrific. He's always very generous with his ideas and his
input and he encourages you to bring in your ideas. He gets excited when
you're good. He's very passionate about making movies. And he was very
passionate about telling his particular story. So much so that he took
on what is in some ways a supporting role because he just wanted to get
the movie made.
Question: How much pressure did you feel playing a person who is still so fresh
in the public's mind?
SC: There's always a moment when you get a job like this when the task seems
really formidable. But after that there's no time to be intimidated.
There's too much work to do. Whenever I had time to sit back and reflect
I'd just felt fortunate to be working with these great people on such a
great story and to be playing this extraordinary player.
Question: Did you learn anything particularly interesting about the Kennedy brothers
while researching the part?
SC: Nothing really surprised me because I went into it with no real preconceptions.
The thing I think that affected me most was the deep and unspoken bond of
love and loyalty between the two brothers. These are guys that I think
would literally died for each other. You don't get that enough in real life.
Question: What was your favorite scene from the film?
SC: I don't have a favorite scene. The one that sticks in my mind was my first
day of shooting. which was the scene with Bobby walking around the table
in his shirt sleeves, paranging the members of ExCom to come up with
a better idea. It was a real exciting day and at the end of it we all
knew that we were onto something good, But the entire shoot was just wonderful.
Question: Did your opinion of Bobby change at all for the better or worse while
portraying him?
SC: It only got better
Question: Do you think Bobby would have changed the world if he had lived?
SC: I would love to have seen him try.
Question: How bad did you want this role?
SC: That's a tough question. Because you have to work really hard to get the role
but at the same time if you want it too badly you'll trip yourself up you have
to be in sort of a Zen state to go after it. But I did work very, very hard
on the auditions.
Question: Are you working on anything right now?
SC: I have a pile of scripts in front of me. And I'm sifting through offers.
And it's very exciting.
Question: Is this role anything like your role at JAG?
SC: Not really. I think they both share the same pragmatic nature and I think
they're both men of action in their way. They're not what you call reflective
but I think Bobby is a lot more vulnerable and empathetic than Webb
Question: What was the location (city/country) for most of the interior scenes? There
were lots of Canadian actors involved.
SC: We shoot it right here in LA. I'm proud to say except for the Cuban scenes
which were n the Philippines, some exteriors of DC nd the scenes with the naval
ships, which I believe were off the coast of Rhode Island.
Question: Does filming a movie about this event make you feel closer to history??
Or were you detached due to shuffle of the scenes?
SC: Closer
Question: Mr. Culp do you have any political aspirations of your own?
SC: I function much better in the world of make believe I'm not sure I have the
temperament for the day-to-day grind of politics
