 VAL
KILMER:
"This movie was harder to do than The Doors. I think the music in
The Doors was an outlet for me. With this movie, the mood was pretty
relentless to be in, even though there's a lot of comedy in it, and there was a
great spirit on the set. This was a hard role to play."
D. J. CARUSO:
"The only thing I changed in the original script was that Val's character
was pretending to use drugs. That didn't ring true. To me it was more
interesting to dramatize a story about a guy who had an agenda, but got lost in
the drug use."
DOUG HUTCHISON:
"When I read the script, I wanted to play Pooh-Bear, and I called my
agent, and he said, 'Vincent D'Onofrio's doing it.' As it turned out,
thankfully so; he's so good in that role."
 VINCENT
D'ONOFRIO:
"I felt there was a lot I could do with Pooh-Bear when I first read the
script. He's a foil character who really helps the story along. I always try to
avoid making typical choices with a character, and villains are particularly
fun and interesting for me because I try to humanize them and give them heart.
I have a very short attention span, so I pick the most interesting and complex
characters I can find to keep from getting bored."
DOUG HUTCHISON:
"I was invited to hang out with the cops in Riverside, California (to
research my role). I actually went on busts with these guys, literally kicking
down doors. I learned a lot, not just from the busts we were on. I ended up
changing a lot of the dialogue in the script, with D. J.'s consent, because I
listened to the cops' lingo."
D. J. CARUSO:
"The scariest day for me was the first day of shooting when I had to go in
and give Val my first directing note, but it went smooth and well."
VAL KILMER:
"I was particularly interested in D. J.'s personal motives for telling
this story. He'd been looking for a story about loss, because he had lost his
older brother. I'd lost my little brother, so I knew we had this kinship right
away about something that is at the core of the story. And no matter how wild
it gets, there's a heart to this film that comes from D. J."
DOUG HUTCHISON:
"I was thrilled to work with Val Kilmer. Val rides that line between
genius and madness. Sometimes being around his orbit, because he's on Planet
Val, is a little like taking a hit of acid; you never know what's going to
happen from one moment to the next. Sometimes we'd have these amazing lengthy
conversations, and when Val would walk away, I'd go, 'What did he just say?'
With Val, I never knew if he was giving me his character or pieces of Val.
Whatever he was doing actually worked."
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THE CONCEPT:
