Aaron Eckhart

Spotlight By: Rocco Passafuime
RoccoPassafuime@TheCinemaSource.com

Aaron Eckhart is not your typical actor. He does not seem as enthralled with the Hollywood glow many of the great actors are advertently or inadvertently sucked into.

He's enjoyed a fairly lengthy career mostly by and large under the radar, playing roles that he feels that he will most enjoy. His noteworthy films include In The Company Of Men, Any Given Sunday, Erin Brockovich, and Thank You For Smoking , which he won a Golden Globe for Best Comedy/Musical Actor.

His latest role is Nick, a rival chef to Catherine Zeta-Jones character, in the film No Reservations. Eckhart, when we interviewed with him, explained that he had a rather spiritual attraction to the film.

'What struck me about this was, Scott [Hicks] said, 'So many things about this movie, so many layers between the food and the love and the loss, the healing, how food can help you heal, music, and philosophy of life,'' explains Eckhart, 'My character is so breezy and fluid and just has a more relaxed way of life as opposed to Catherine's character Kate and how we can help each other and how that is all intertwined. And then Scott directing it, that was just a perfect fit and Catherine, of course, the whole package was, for me, I was really happy to be in this film for all those reasons and I still am.'

Unlike most actors, Aaron was quick to add that he had no reservations, pardon the pun, at all about acting in a romantic comedy.

'That's why I loved the script and wanted to do the movie,' he stresses, 'Because I felt like it's not even how I'm perceived as an actor, as much as what I want to go to work and do. I would like to go to work and try to make people happy as opposed to backstabbing somebody and whatever it is.'

'And I found that very refreshing,' he adds, 'I felt like going to work on this film was a lot of times, not even like working. You go there and do your thing and make some people laugh and you cook some food and it was a good day's work. Whether or not it would help to take off the edge, I don't know because it just seems like that I can't get away from Chad [in In The Company Of Men] or things like that. But I do like playing romantic comedy roles and I had a lot of fun doing it.'

The film is a remake of the 2001 German film Mostly Martha. When we mentioned this, he responded by saying that any concern about living up to the source material was far from his mind.

'My characters are so different,' Eckhart explains, 'Besides, when you're making a film, you really are focused on what you're doing that day. I mean there were other issues to deal with such as chopping, saut'ing, opera, love, that consumes my now. Scott says it's a touchstone and we all loved the movie and referred to it, it's not something that you have to put away and can't mention.'

'I think [Sandra Nettelbeck] actually came to the set one day and I think they both stand on their own,' he adds, 'I don't feel that one is completely separate from the other, I don't think I even consider that, it's not something that even bothers me.'

Both he and Zeta-Jones, in preparing for the role had to learn from a professional chef how to exquisitely cook for the film. Aaron claims that the schooling proved to be a great way to get to know his co-star.

'We had a great time getting to know each other in the kitchen,' he recalls, 'I mean, at first, Catherine and I, Scott got us hooked up with Fiama with chef Michael White. And we came in there, we're in the kitchen, we're trying to stay away and be very courteous with each other, move around the kitchen. By the third day or the second day, you're bumping into each other, you're reaching over each other, being very familiar, that was a lot of fun to do that. I've never had a fantasy about being a chef, nor will I.'

We played around with the questions with the 39-year old actor for a bit like we had with co-star Catherine Zeta-Jones. However, his answers were more to the point when we asked him what he'd cook for his lovely co-star and his favorite restaurant.

'Well, you know, I'm just really a surfer. I just like fish tacos and things like that. I like shepherd's pie,' Aaron answers, 'Malaise is a good one. They have truffled eggs and all that sort of stuff. Scott's so much more knowledgeable about this stuff, he'd give you a good answer.'

As with Catherine, we noted that the film has scenes where she and Eckhart sang opera. We asked him whether or not he enjoyed doing opera in No Reservations.

'I did when I was making the movie,' says Aaron, 'I was listening to one song a lot. It doesn't come totally naturally to me, obviously. I'm not a great singer and it was interesting to do those days. Scott really helped me out, but yeah, it's all on the DVD. I did actually like doing it, to experiment and Scott says there's such amazing voices to see the difference between the layman's voice and their voices, it's amazing stuff.'

'And saying the words, and having the poetry and the words and the meaning in the images that go along with the music really is inspiring and it's art typical and really is all the symbols and imagery,' he adds, 'And that's why I think theatre and opera is important because they're telling tales and this is the tale of a guy who lost his love and all that sort of stuff, so it's very appropo for the film. But to sing it was a stretch. Catherine has a beautiful voice and so to sing in front of her was tough.'

However unlike Zeta-Jones, Aaron says he doesn't have as nearly as much of a hard time dividing time between his personal life and his career.

'I'm always trying to get both of them,' he says, 'When I don't have one, I have the other. I don't distinguish between the two. They're both very pleasurable. I'm single, the girlfriend, and I can go to Romania, if [Catherine] is not available.'

Finally, we asked Eckhart to share any tidbits about the prospect of playing Gotham City district attorney Harvey Dent, who in the future will become the villain Two-Face, in the new Batman film, tentatively titled The Dark Knight, set to be released July 18 of next year. However, to our great disappointment, he says he is legally barred at the current time to discuss anything regarding the film,

'We're not here to talk about Batman,' Aaron claims, 'I have people likely to hurl poisoned darts at me, if I talk about Harvey. It's really incredible.'