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
