Plane Payne - Film Review Interview

Mean 'n' Moody actor Bruce Payne, co-star of Passenger 57, reveals his lighter side to Anwar Brett

It may be the curse of the British actor in Hollywood to constantly be cast as the well-spoken heavy opposite to the wholesome all-American hero - Alan Rickman, Joss Ackland and Steven Berkoff are memorable examples - but Bruce Payne is one actor who plays that Hollywood game rather well.

Last seen in Blake Edwards' cautionary comedy Switch, as a delightfully wicked Satan, Payne portrays an altogther more topical villian in his latest film, Passenger 57; international terrorist Charles Rane. What makes Rane that little bit different from many a real terrorist, however, is that he doesn't follow a cause, he bombs areoplanes for pleasure.

While he is being transported to justice by federal agents, Rane breakes free and takes the 200 passengers and crew hostage. It is left to airline security chief John Cutter, by coincidence a passenger on the plane himself, to save the situatuin as the tense powerplay between the two men unfolds.

EYEBALL TO EYEBALL

"I think Wesley and I approached our roles in a similar sort of way" explains Payne, "and we devleoped an understanding. It's always great when you get down to it with somebody who's a like minded spirit.

"We went eyeball to eyeball at the reading , sure, but it wasn't a threatening situation at all. When you work on a script, a lot of people either sit the actors round a table and get them to do a read-through together or sometimes they'll break you off and you'll work together, depending on your involvement in the film.

"But it's always like tennis, you can only be as good as your partner, and if your partner isn't making the effort to return the ball, then you're not going to have a very good game. I think Wesley and I just had a strong mutual respect for each other and got down to it. For a bystander it might have looked a little worrying, but if you're into the work then it's par for the course. I think Wesley and I were both saying 'I want to do this if you want to do this', so that's where that came from."

BORDERLINE PSYCHO

"I found playing Charles Rane a very hard thing to do, because a terrorist who has a cause would be so much easier to identify with, you'd try and identify with their cause. A terrorist who's in it just for his own survival isn't as easy to get into, because you try and think what motivates this guy, what could have possibly happened to him in his life to get him to this point.

"Maybe he is borderline psycho, maybe he just sweeps through life and thinks that everybody else lives like this. But those are questions that I didn't need to find the ansswers to. I just liked finiding out the question. There's a lot of material available on terrorism, which is what I was fascinated by. Obviosly a lot that is 'back story' and subtext for me, and I found a very interesting phenomenon, but a very scary one as well.

"There are actually examples of situations where hostages have fallen for their captors. There was a story in one of the books that I read where the hijacker was convicted and this woman hostage began writing him in prison. That's very strange isn't it?"

ABSOLUTE BEGINNING

Clearly enjoying the lifestyle of LA -"I have fun" he smiles - Payne has worked non-stop since relocatng there. Prior to the move he was perhaps best known for the TV sseries Yellowthread Street and his visceral performance as rascist teddy boy Flikker in Absolute Beginners.

"That film was judged on things other than its merits as a movie," he sighs. "One magazine wrote an article entitled 'Thirteen Reasons Why Not To See This Movie'. I mean, thanks! We were only three weeks into shooting the movie when that piece came out. It's like your wife's just about to give birth and the doctor says, 'If I were you I wouldn't go through with it'.

"But the funny thing is in America the film did very well, and I got to audtion for Martin Scorsese on the strength of it. I think one of the problems was that the director, Julien Temple was an unkown quantity and had been given a lot of money, and both he and the producer Steve Wolley represented a very young talent that I think people felt they had to constanly knock. It's very sad."

BASE REACTIONS

With his most recent success putting such disappointments even further behind him, Payne seems to play such memorable bad guys that you feel he must get some reaction when people recognize him on the street.

" A lot of people see movies, which is obliviously good, and when you are dealing with a character like Flikker, who has a very powerful impact on the audience, then I suppose that sometime the reactions can be in the form of base emotions. People might want to walk the other way very quickly or have a go. But I don't ever go out as anyone other than myself.

"If I went out as an act-or, then sure I might get noticed, but there are ways of living your life without having to do that. You don't need to stroke your ego to get through life. That really hasn't happened for me because most of the time, unless people have a really long hard look at my face, then they don't recognize me.

"These roles are pretty fun to play, you just bring whatever you can to the piece, and if they take it, film it, edit it and put it in the movie then certainly it's enjoyable. For those darker characters there are less taboos to worry about, because they are so lawless."

Charles Rane certainly embraces a taboo or two, and Payne's performance should ensure he gets courteous and efficient service from the crew the next time he has to fly anywhere. Chances are Passenger 57 won't be the in-flight movie being shown though.

"We went on a press junket to New York and one of the flight attendants asked me if they should see the film, and I asked how long he'd been flying, and he said he'd been doing the job for 17 years, so I told him it wouldn't be a problem. If someone has only been in the business for a short time I don't think they'd enjoy the film.

"If it was me working in the airline business then I don't think I'd like to see a film that was about terrorism," he laughs heartily, "but then I don't like flying anyhow, so it doesn't matter."

-Film Review June 1993-

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