Charlize Theron Interview On ‘The Road,’ Working With ‘Unshowered’ Viggo Mortensen

She’s the gorgeous star of The Road, now out on DVD. Charlize Theron takes questions from uInterview.com.

Q: I recently read The Road and loved it and saw that you also felt that way. I was wondering how you got involved in this movie?

A: My really good friend Nick Wexler, who I’ve done five movies with, is the producer of the film, and we’re really good friends, and he called me and we were just casually talking about the book. And I mentioned to him how much I loved the book. And so when we were in production and they were casting, I think he brought me up to John Hillcoat, the director, and they called me, and I said I’d be honored to come out and work for a couple of days on it.

Q: What was your favorite moment working with Viggo Mortensen?

A: Pretty much every moment with Viggo is memorable. He’s an incredibly powerful actor. And I’d have to say the surprise of the shoot for me was the little boy, Kodi Smit-McPhee, who just really blew both me and Viggo away. There was something just unbelievably powerful about being around this kid and watching him play this character. So it was material that I loved, and it was just a pleasure to work with everybody on this.

Q: I heard that the men didn’t shower for days preparing for the role. Did you do anything similar to that?

A: No, I didn’t – not that I would have a problem with that! But, I mean, most of my stuff is kind of set in the house, and, you know, once she leaves the house it’s kind of the end of her story. So, I didn’t feel the need to do any of that, but I had no problem with the boys doing that. Whatever it takes to get it done!

Q: How would you fare if civilization collapsed, and what do you think the message of the movie is?

A: It’s very easy to just kind of sit in your cushy circumstances and pretend to be a hero and think that you would do all the right things and that, you know, you’d be able to survive it. But I think once you are actually in it, it’s a completely different story. And I think that realization was what really helped me with the character and her decision. Because off the bat her point of view on survival is pretty harsh. So I had to really understand this world and these circumstances to really, truly understand why she would feel the way she does. Well, and I think it’s a cautionary tale. What people know mostly about the story is probably pretty accurate. But I think the thing that really stood out for me and the thing that really made me feel the way I did about the book and the story is that there is so much hope in humanity. There really is. And I think this book really made me kind of aware of that. I was going through a little bit of period where I got a little, ya know, angry and there was just a lot of stuff going on in the world that just kind of made me lose hope in a way, and I think this book kind of made me realize that there is a lot of hope in humanity. It’s in us — it’s just whether we choose to be good or not or to reach out or to help. So I think it’s a cautionary tale of what could happen if we don’t kind of step up and look after what we have.