Timothy Olyphant

Spotlight By: Damaris Olivo
DamarisOlivo@TheCinemaSource.com

Most of us remember him from Deadwood co-starring with Ian McShane (that HBO show with the cowboys and the really elaborate sets). We've also seen him star opposite Jennifer Garner in 2006's Catch and Release, and with Elisha Cuthbert in the comedy The Girl Next Door. Now Timothy Olyphant is well on his way to becoming the next action film it-boy. So how did the actor react when he got the role of the villain in Live Free or Die Hard the fourth film in the Bruce Willis / Die Hard franchise'

'First I just got the call that said they were looking for one, and my first reaction was, 'that's awesome, they're making another Die Hard,'' says the University of California graduate. 'It's funny that that franchise has that reaction.' In the film directed by Underworld director Len Wiseman, Olyphant plays Thomas Gabriel, a cyber-terrorist who heads an organization that's planning to take down the U.S. computer infrastructure.

As complicated as it all sounds the actor says the technical jargon wasn't the biggest challenge in playing Gabriel. 'I think the challenge of this role is you want to try to humanize him as much as you can, and it felt like a fairly daunting task, because the character in the film is not in the film that much,' says Olyphant. 'So it's not like the great Alan Rickman in his role in the first movie. I mean, he was carrying a lot of weight on his shoulders, and this is not that case. I was in and out within a few weeks. '

Since he wasn't present for a large portion of the shooting, it was a treat for Olyphant to actually watch the finished product. 'They had shot for almost three months, and I was there for a few weeks and was out. It was amazing to see because I was really quite removed from the process.' Yet that doesn't mean he wasn't active in the decision-making process, along with Wiseman and Willis. 'I think the biggest thing was the final sequence. I remember I felt like we really turned that upside down,' he says. 'I remember this clearly because we sent the crew home so we could work on it, which I'm sure the studio is not pleased about. He also takes pride in that he had something to do with the love story between his character and his co-star Maggie Q's character. 'Len and I talked about that together, and I thought it was kind of a fun idea, giving a little hint to that relationship. There's something about her, she's so gregarious. She's got so much enthusiasm and she's very accessible and fun, says Olyphant. She has that scene where she kicks Bruce's ass for like five minutes, I could've watched that for an hour and a half. I think I might've been more nervous about her than I was about Bruce,' he reveals.

So how did it feel to work side by side with Hollywood heavy hitter Bruce Willis' 'We really clicked right from the beginning. He couldn't have been more generous. He made me feel very relaxed, and so when we did work together it was really easy, we had fun. Plus, together it felt like we collaborated a lot,' he says. 'The movie was more or less a work in progress, as these things often are. He and I had a nice sort of creative dialogue, and it was great.'

Although Olyphant very much enjoyed working with the Die Hard actor, they didn't actually work side by side during shooting. 'We have two or three scenes where we actually are speaking to one another via some technology, and we were not present for each other,' he reveals. 'Even the scenes we did have together, we weren't in the same room.'

Having starred in the previous three Die Hard films, Willis has grown accustomed to the fast paced environment on the set of an action flick. This proved to be a well-received lesson in patience for action newbie, Olyphant. 'It was so funny to see how relaxed he was in the middle of all that craziness,' says Olyphant, 'he was just like, 'whatever they're always like this.'' A lesson that will come in handy for Olyphant's next action movie, Hitman, where he plays a gun for hire named Agent 47.

So how did he feel when he got the role of Agent 47 while shooting Live Free or Die Hard' 'It all happened fairly quickly and it was quite flattering, by the way. I was paying closer attention to Bruce, learning from him, knowing that I was going to go into the Hitman movie not having ever been in that kind of vehicle,' reveals Olyphant. 'Not necessarily about the acting and that part of the job, but just how he handles himself on the set. He's quite involved in everything, he's very invested in everything, he's very smart, and he is very calm. He's just been there done that. I remember countless times on the Hitman set asking myself, what would Bruce do' How would he handle this'' Okay, okay we get it. Who doesn't love Bruce' Yet we all know if there's one thing you can count on (besides Bruce Willis) when going in to see a Die Hard movie is some really big action scenes and a lot of stuff getting blown up. Olyphant assures us there's a scene in which Maggie Q schools Bruce Willis, and that there will, in fact, be exploding helicopters.

'I'm thrilled. Its new territory for me and it's exciting,' says Olyphant. 'Traveling with Bruce this last week and going to Berlin and London, and seeing him handle these events, and these press conferences, and the international journalists. For me to have that experience before Hitman came out was incredible education.'

Alright, so since we can't help steering the conversation away from bad ass Bruce Willis, Olyphant reveals how they first hit it off. 'Our relationship started after a few hellos and some general me kissing his ass.' An honest man, ladies and gentlemen.