THE HERO

TOM BERENGER THE AMERICAN ACTOR ON LONG TAKES, TOUGH SHOOTS AND ELEVATOR MEETS

Tom Berenger is the archetypal Hollywood survivor: an Oscar nom for Oliver Stone’s Platoon, he’s worked with everyone from Jim Sheridan (The Field) to Christopher Nolan (Inception). When Teasers meets the 74-year-old, he’s in London Stansted Airport filming ‘unbroken take’ terrorist thriller One More Shot, playing veteran CIA task-force officer Mike Marshall…

What drew you to making One More Shot?

James [Nunn], the director, he did say, ‘It’s a little challenging, you’ll find. It’s different from anything you’ve done.’ I agree with that. It was challenging. It was strange. Technically, it wasn’t the usual. Exhausting, too. You have to be perfect. Because you can’t cut… I saw it in 1917. I saw that movie and I got the gist of it. I go, ‘But there’s got to be cuts in there somewhere! They’re just hidden.’

Do those technical challenges interest you?

[On 1991’s Shattered] I worked with Wolfgang Petersen – rest in peace. He passed away last year. He did Das Boot, and they had an opening shot like that, where this military journalist is taking a tour of the boat with one of the petty officers. I asked him, ‘How did you do that shot? Did you put the camera on a cable and push it? What about the bulkheads?’ And he said, ‘Tom, there’s a straight cut in there.’ I said, ‘Where!?’ He just started laughing and walked away. I think it was a trade secret.

How would you describe your character in One More Shot?

He’s kind of questionable. You’re not quite sure how good he is, or how efficient he is. He’s a highechelon officer in the CIA. And he’s feeling really pressured.

‘RICHARD HARRIS? IADORED HIM. ICALLED HIM ALION. HE WAS SO MUCH FUN...’

What’s the toughest shoot you’ve ever done?

I did a boxing movie called Flesh & Blood, with Denzel Washington and John Cassavetes and Suzanne Pleshette. I was really in shape. I’d get up at five in the morning and run. I remember being in Chicago running along the lake, trying to do three, four miles and come back. I’d do a 100 sit-ups. I’d do some push-ups and did some jump rope. And then would go to work. I lived like a priest. No drinking, no smoking, no this, no that. I was a little crazy, I think, too. But I loved it. It was just such a great character and story.

What was Platoon like?

Platoon was tiring because of the three-week training [with] Dale Dye, the Marine captain… He had three tours in Vietnam. When we came out of there, we wouldn’t talk to the crew. Because we knew they were living in air conditioning in Manila, going to Vietnamese restaurants and drinking beers, while we were digging foxholes. It was a ‘they’re not us’ kind of thing. And I remember Oliver’s wife, Elizabeth, said, ‘My God, you guys.’ We said, ‘Elizabeth, we’re ready. We look like your husband probably did back then.’ A thousand-yard stare, sleep deprivation, exhaustion.

Who do you look back on as the great directors that you worked with?

Richard Brooks, who I did my first movie with [Looking for Mr. Goodbar]. Wolfgang Petersen. Oliver Stone. Costa-Gavras [Betrayed]. Jim Sheridan; I did The Field with him, with Richard Harris and John Hurt.

What was Richard Harris like?

I adored him. I called him a lion. He was so much fun. It was so great to work with him and John Hurt – he passed away, too. Bill [William] Hurt and I met John Hurt in an elevator when we were doing The Big Chill and he was in LA doing something. We were in the same hotel so we all ended up in John’s room with a bottle of wine!

Do you think you’re as enthusiastic as ever for acting?

Secretly, I think I am. But on the outside, I’m a little jaded. So many years, you go, ‘Oh, come on. Geez. What now?’ That kind of feeling. But secretly… it’s what I do.

ONE MORE SHOT IS ON SKY CINEMA AND NOW TV IN JANUARY 2024.