Matthew Fox

Interview By: Rocco Passafuime
RoccoPassafuime@TheCinemaSource.com

As any actor will most certainly tell you, the road to success is almost always an uncertain one. For many, the road can often end with no light at the end of the tunnel.

However, for some, the road has merely been a long one, as in the case of Matthew Fox. He made his breakthrough back in 1994 as older-brother-turned-patriarch on the Fox drama Party of Five.

After returning to Fox on the short-lived paranormal/mystery series Haunted, Matthew attained his most prestigious TV role as surgeon Jack Shepard on the popular ABC drama Lost. The show's popularity and the immense acclaim he's received has led him to a burgeoning film career with roles in films like We Are Marshall, Smokin' Aces, and Vantage Point.

Now, at the age of 41, Fox has finally achieved what is arguably the biggest and unlikeliest role of his long career. He plays the mysterious, masked Racer X on The Wachowski Brothers' long-awaited film adaptation of the classic late 1960's Japanese TV anime Speed Racer.

As Matthew first discusses, Racer X proved to not only be one of the film's most interesting and complex characters, but also the toughest physically. He recalls The Wachowski Brothers explaining to him early on what would be in store for him.

'I remember, in the first meeting with Larry and Andy, was largely, on their part, sort of warning me about the challenges of what they wanted to do in the film,' Fox recounts, 'What the technology challenges were going to be like, what was it going to be like shooting on green screen, for me specifically, the suit, and, as an actor, what it was going to be like working, without the use of your eyes, and all of those.'

'And I was just really excited by all those challenges,' he adds, 'And felt it was going to be a really interesting process to try to figure out how that kind of suit, what was that going to manifest in me as we were trying to complete this disguise.

As shooting began for the film, Fox says he realized very quickly The Wachowskis' caveat regarding the demands of the role was an understatement.

'The logistics were tough,' he claims, 'I mean the one fight sequence that I do in the suit was really grueling. And the amount of sweat and heat and dehydration that I experienced was really intense and that was on sequence and we did that over many days. I was really exhausted during that time. I had to really consciously make sure that I was drinking a lot of electrolyte replacement fluids and that type of thing.'

However, despite this, the actor gives his immense gratitude to the film's costume designers for making him at the very least as comfortable as possible.

'Leather actually breathes better than any material that they would do,' Matthew notes, 'I'm really glad that was the material and the guys that built the suit are the best. It was a lot of fittings and a lot of adjustments, but I'm really happy.'

Despite Racer X being a perennial fan favorite of the original series, the actor was also deeply aware of the potential drawbacks that could come from playing a masked cartoon character. However, with the The Wachowski Brothers' helming the film, Matthew claims any lingering initial doubts he had with the role with were immediately erased.

'I was both more excited to be a part of this and really terrified in a lot of ways, because anytime you're talking about playing a guy who is a masked vigilante wrapped in leather, there's a lot of ways that can go terribly wrong,' Fox admits, 'I mean, there are and I went and looked at some other movies where that did go terribly wrong.'

'I'm not going to mention any names,' he adds, 'Obviously, I felt I was in incredibly great hands with The Wachowskis. I felt so confident about them, but I was trying to make sure that what I was doing and how that fit into the context of this world and this sort of vocal quality that I wanted to find, the rhythm I felt that I found in the way that they wrote, the way that the X has a staccato sort of rhythm. It was challenging, but it also kept me up at night for a while and until I got on set and into the shooting of it, there was a period where I felt I was in it and good and fun.'

On the contrary, like with fans of the original series, Matthew believes Racer X holds a special significance in the world of Speed Racer.

'This guy's really kind of lost himself in this identity,' he believes, Which is what I wanted to play was that he's allowed himself to become this thing that almost on a disturbing level is using it to run from what his past was and was at the same time using it to serve an idea, fighting for what he believes is right, being a solution to the problem rather than race-fixing and corruption and all these things.'

'Wardrobe is always a really interesting thing,' Fox continues, 'It affects you and it's a really important part, at least for me, on how I get into things and how it informs stuff. For this particular role, the Racer X suit was the most'two weeks into shooting, when I put that thing on and I dropped the helmet over my eyes and I get fully into gear, it was all there, like I really felt I knew who I was and who the guy was, and yeah, it was fun. It was also really interesting once you drop that thing on, the people around you really take a different tact towards you, it's really interesting.'

In discussing the The Wachowskis'further, Fox says the brothers brought a highly-detailed sensibility to Speed Racer that created an atmosphere of stability and security almost unheard of for a high-profile film.

'As far as a movie like Speed Racer, I felt an enormous amount of faith in Andy and Larry,' he says, 'I figured out every single thing in that world that I didn't have to worry about. The only thing I had to worry about was the inner-life of the guy that I'm playing. Because they were even figuring out what the suit was going to look like and how the glasses would be angled.'

'I had some input in that, but there's a certain freedom in knowing that you're in such great hands that they're figuring out every single tiny detail of everything in that world around you,' Matthew continues, 'Everything that you need to figure out is the inner life of the guy that you're in the skin of. I mean, yeah, particularly in a movie that's so visual and big and a world really unto itself. Really, this world only exist in Speed Racer-world, which is what I love about it. I mean you immediately get sucked in.'

Speed Racer has a uniquely stylish look that's achieved from being filmed almost entirely on green screen. We asked the actor if the process allows actors to be immersed in a more unique world than what they are normally accustomed to being surrounded by in a film.

'They do an amazing job and the technology really allows them to do so pretty well,' Fox believes, 'When people imagine you shooting on a green screen that you show up and you're in your costume and there's other actors there and you say your lines and they shoot it and you leave. And then, all the rest of it is built around you, the reality of this process was that we could be standing on green screen shooting a scene and you couldn't walk around behind a bank of plasma-screen monitors and see technicians on computers laying already-built bubble world.'

'And you'd see yourself within the context of the scene like a rough sketch of it onscreen immediately after you just shot it,' he adds, 'And so, all the artist renderings, the amount of material they brought to help us, build in our minds what it was going to look like, which would ultimately help the tone of the quality of what we brought to what we were trying to do and fitting into that world. They were amazing that way and that's really an important part of what I think they brought.'

When we asked Fox whether he believes fans of the original TV anime will be pleased with the results of the movie, he says The Wachowski Brothers pulled out all the stops to create an adaptation that will equally entice both the show's original fans and new audiences.

'Well, I'm hopefully thinking the movie will be reaching a completely new audience,' he believes, 'Certainly, the movie is a family movie and it's also really geared towards kids. So those kids are probably not going to have any idea of what the original source material was like. They're not going to have a lot of knowledge about who Racer X is. Obviously, for people who are huge fans of the original source material, they're immediately going to have a lot invested in who that character is, know things, and they're going to be ahead of it a little bit.

'Although there is a Wachowski twist in it that will astonish them, like 'I can't believe they'd do that with him' and that ultimately in the end, will be revealed,' Matthew adds, 'So I think in the way that they wrote that, I think they satisfied both ends of the spectrum, people that weren't fans of the show and didn't know anything about it and people that were. They put some new twists in there on Racer X that would keep them on their toes.'

Matthew says he himself is deeply excited about the final results of the movie and so is his son.

'He can't wait,' Fox claims, 'I haven't seen the movie yet. Because of my shooting schedule on Lost, I didn't get to see it with a lot of the people that I worked with. The amount of phone calls that I've gotten is really, really great. There's been something really rewarding about that, but I can't wait to see it.'

'I did show him a few of the trailers at ShoWest,' he continues, 'I went there, this four minute piece, and he just can't wait. Everyday, he watches those things over and over again. He's already really ensconced in that world. I also got to do some stuff when I was touring Vantage Point and the Mattel toy line coming out, so they sent a bunch of those things and he's just nonstop playing with that. He's really excited, really excited.'

Having Speed Racer now under his belt, Fox is confident he has finally reached a major inroads in his career and that his long years of struggle have finally begun to pay off.

'It's been incredibly rewarding,' Matthew believes, 'I feel very fortunate. I also been waiting a long time and I've been very patient for this moment to come. I always felt like this moment would come a little bit later for me.'

'I had been through it a little bit and Lost was sort of a really great thing for me as an actor and created a lot of these opportunities outside of the show,' he adds, 'Just to be in a place where I get an opportunity to be working with directors like The Wachowskis and Joe Carnahan and Pete Travis and get to work on films that are movies that I just want to go sit in the theatre and watch with great casts.'

As he continues, Matthew says that the success he has attained since Lost has been largely due to a methodical approach to picking roles. However, he says he now prefers to slow down for a while and enjoy the success he's achieved thus far.

'That's been an incredibly rewarding experience for me over the past couple of years,' he says, 'It's been a lot of work and it's been pretty much non-stop for two years. I think I'm going to take this hiatus off and look at some projects for next hiatus, just because I want to take a breather and sort of allow myself to enjoy what I've accomplished over the last couple of years.'

'I really feel very happy about that,' Fox continues, 'I always looked at this business as a marathon and not a sprint. I always thought that I wanted to be patient with it and look for projects that I think are going to be great and work with people that I really admire and I think that are really pushing the envelope and talented. It's working out for me so far that sort of take on it.'

We also asked Fox whether he plans to take on more lucrative roles from now on at this important juncture in his career.

'Obviously, yeah, I'm getting those opportunities,' Matthew replies, 'And eventually, I think that's going to happen. It's just right now, honestly, I never really look at that stuff that way. I look at the entire project and especially with films, it's who's directing. Obviously, you got to love the material and the idea for what the film is. But when you start breaking down the elements of decisions in how you get involved and things, in filmmaking, there's no question that the director or directors is the largest piece of that pie.'

'And then, the next thing you look at is how am I being asked to serve that story and these opportunities are where I'm thrilled to be part of a project where I'm going to be served in that way,' he adds, 'There's definitely projects where I'm looking at and putting some things into development and certain studios for down the road where I will be sort of taking that leading man role and that's going to be another level of responsibility. And also, that's exciting as well.'

Matthew says despite all his immense success, he's still proud of the one project that has enabled to get through to where he is now, a potential new path on the incredibly perilous and seemingly almost endless road that has long been his career. And that is none other than Lost.

'It's been great,' he exclaims, 'Every year, I feel that Lost has been top-notch and I know that the audience maybe would look at this year and feel that it's a better season than season three. Everybody's going to have their own taste thing. What's happened this year is that the direct result of [executive producers] Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse and J.J. [Abrams] and everybody involved in the creation of this show getting to have a final date on the show.'

'Damon always explained it to me as if somebody told me we're going to go out and have a marathon tomorrow, they said you might run a twelve mile marathon or a twenty-six mile marathon, but you wouldn't have any idea how to run that race,' Fox adds, 'It would be totally lost. We wouldn't know how to pace ourselves and finish. We wouldn't know what it was. So Damon knows just how long that race is, so he can let the story rip and that's what's happened this year. That's why this show is moving faster and more is being revealed because now he knows what story he has in his mind and how many chapters he's got to get there. And he didn't have that knowledge for the first three years, so I think that made it a little more difficult for him. Although I'm very proud and feel like the show's got nothing but better as we've gotten along, really.'