Interview: Young Indiana Jones
By Sean Lynch
Interview
with Sean Patrick Flanery
Star of
the TV series The
Adventures of Young Indiana Jones
More Indiana Jones - The
Temple of Indiana Jones
Like most things in life, everything comes
back. If it isn't Sly Stallone and his Rocky and
Rambo
characters, it's fluro coloured tshirts and bad 80s haircuts.
The latest retro-return is that of the coveted George Lucas/Steven
Spielberg franchise Indiana
Jones (which is set for release in 2008). To celebrate,
Paramount has released the cult series The Adventures of Young Indiana
Jones on DVD.
Sean
Lynch caught up with its star, Sean Patrick Flanery, to talk about
what it was like filling in the shoes of Hollywood legends like
Harrison Ford and the late River Phoenix.
What
went through your mind when you first got the nod to play Indie,
knowing you were taking on such an iconic role and with George Lucas
retaining such a close interest in the production?
I mean, it was kind of too unbelievable to ever really get intimidated
about.
The
whole audition process was kind of like "Well, this is funny -
I'll get to meet George Lucas", because I was thinking "There's
obviously no way I'll get the part". So I wasn't even really nervous.
And then it got down to two people and I was like "Jesus, I could
actually get this!".
So was
this your first major role? Had you had much experience prior to this?
I'd done a couple of little films for
The Disney Channel - you know, just tiny - so this was a pretty big leap for
me....
Well
nowadays, you would have been in High School Musical
and things would have been completely different!
[Laughs]
Exactly!
How
much of the on-screen personality of the young Indie was a direct
contribution that you made - compared to George Lucas’ vision, or River
Phoenix’s effort as the young Indie, or what Harrison Ford brought to
the role?
Well I think that they kind of take care
of all of that in the casting. I don't think they cast too wide of the
mark.
Obviously
there were certain things I would try to incorporate. For example,
Harrison has a very distinct way he takes off his hat and puts his hat
on, so little bitty mannerisms like that which fans may notice.
But
other than that, it was sort of wide open. This was the version where
he was experiencing everything for the first time - which ended up
creating the Harrison Ford version we all know from the movies. So it
was kind of an open slate.
I
recall that Harrison Ford actually appeared in one episode of the
series as a much older Indie. Did you ever actually appear on-screen
together or get to spend anytime together off screen?
Actually,
he was on the set. They shot that in Chicago, so the bookends were shot
in Chicago - and I happened to be out of the country that week. Because
he's recollecting it from his porch - and obviously I would have loved
to have met him. It would have been very cool. But it just wasn't to be
I guess.
What I
like about the
show is that the series has this cool historical and educational value
- but still had a 'Boys Adventure' type feel. Did you have a particular
favourite storyline that you really enjoyed or was it "just another
job"?
No, this was anything but another job. I
mean, I was working with huge
directors, so it was something unheard of. Everybody would always say
to me "Yeah, but you've done TV before". And I would have to say "Well
not really". I mean, it was single camera - and some of the episodes
took six weeks to shoot. So it was like filming a movie, there was
nothing "television" about it.
Some of the scripts that are my
favourite were "Verdun", you know, a French director did that. A little
art house director - it was the first time I'd ever worked with an Art
House director.
Stunts
are a big part of the Indiana
Jones mythology. What
was one of the most hazardous stunts you had to personally do? Did you
enjoy this part of the job or was it something best left to the expert
stuntmen?
Yeah, I did pretty much all of them
myself. You
know, not from a macho stand-point, but just because there was nothing
to do. I mean, I found myself in Zimbabwe - and I'm there all week and
there's one day off. The stuntmen were building scaffolding and doing
fan descenders from 100 feet, so you know, that was the most enticing
thing to do on a Sunday [Laughs].
Was
there a particular stunt you had to do, where you've just gone "This is
Awesome!"?
Oh
man, I tell ya, I did everything! I did Fan Descenders, bit falls into
boxes, bit falls into airbags, I've been set on fire before. I
literally was their guinea pig. I mean I had harnesses on, hung from 12
story windows - it was crazy!
You
mentioned Zimbabwe, and the nature of the role requiring you to film
across the globe. Was that ever disruptive to your personal
life,
to be away from home for such extended periods?
No, not at all. It's where you want to
be. I mean, I was going to new countries, meeting new people. It was a
free world tour!
What
was the best country you got to hang out in?
Prague, Czechoslovakia! I mean, it was
right when the curtain came down, so
there was a huge influx of international artists and DJs. People from
London and Spain, you know, everyone sort of converged on Prague. It
was a great, great time to be there.
How
did you first learn the series was to end or did George Lucas have a
fixed idea about what the series would cover and when it would end?
There's
an infinite number of stories, I mean, that's a very ripe time period.
We could have gone on for quite some time, but I think he [George
Lucas] was satisfied what he wanted to get out.
There's
a good mix of Action and Comedy during the series. Did you enjoy
playing the 'Action Hero' more, or were you quite satisfied going for
the laughs?
You know what? I really did enjoy both
of them, I
really did. I had a ball working with Terry Jones [a member of Monty
Python] he directed an episode. We just continued to laugh. I did an
episode with Timothy
Spall who's just a brilliant
comedic actor. So that kept me in stitches the entire time.
What
were your experiences like with Terry Jones, were you a fan of Monty
Python before that?
Yeah,
I was a huge Monty Python fan as a kid. I mean, we went driving up to
the castle in Prague, and I remember Terry Jones was in the trunk one
night.
Rick McCallum [one of the producers] and Terry Jones
were in the trunk of the car, because the police would only let like
three people per car through the gates. So we stuck a bunch of people
in the trunk, then we got pulled over and they popped the
trunk.
So there we are, with these two guys squished in the trunk [Laughs].
They really got suspicious and wanted to arrest us, they thought we
were smuggling people into the castle [Laughs]. And
Terry's popping out like [in his best Terry Jone's impersonation]
"Hello!".
What do
you believe has been your best work since the series finished?
The most high profile thing has obviously been Indiana Jones, but
the reason actors get into the business is in hopes that one time in
their career, they'll get a script like Powder
to do. And I, luckily enough, got that in my career. And just an
opportunity to get a script like that is the reason I got into the
business.
Is
there anything you're not to proud of?
Oh Man [Laughs]! I think
everyone has them on their resume!
Man,
there's things where you read the script...where the first incarnation
of the script, there are things you are initially attracted to. But
then by the time they re-write it ten times... you're like "What!?".
Are you
willing to reveal which projects you're talking about....
[Laughs]
I can't do that! The good intentions are there. They intended to make a
good project, and then it ends up falling on its face [Laughs]...
What's
next for you?
I'm currently in Pre-Production with a
film that I wrote and
I'll be directing. So that's in the direct future. It's strange. I
actually originally moved out to LA to write, and this is something
that I wrote a while back and I've been perusing getting it made for quite some time.
And now, it's finally coming to fruition.
Finally, will you be donning the Indie hat again any time soon?
You know what, I think they've pretty
much got it covered. I'm a huge Harrison Ford fan, so, I wanna go and
see a Harrison Ford
Indiana
Jones movie. That's what I want to see.
THE ADVENTURES OF YOUNG
INDIANA JONES is out on DVD from FEBRUARY 2008.
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