The 1987 movie that almost played a pivotal role in ‘Before Sunrise’: “I didn’t think it made for good drama”
Richard Linklater first met Ethan Hawke in the early 1990s, having witnessed him star in a play alongside one of his Dazed and Confused actors, Anthony Rapp. From here, the beginnings of a creative partnership were born, spawning the greatest romantic trilogy of all time, Before.
The director’s decision to work with Hawke wasn’t instantaneous, but he knew he needed someone incredibly engaged in the idea to film a conversational, rather plotless tale of boy-meets-girl, one that would see the two actors reunite over the coming years. This wasn’t going to be any old job – Linklater needed to cast an actor who could actively contribute to the script and make it as naturalistic as possible.
Hawke was initially on board, telling The Hollywood Reporter, “We talked all about it, and he sent me the script, and I thought he was offering me the movie, and I had a lot of notes about it. But then in fact he wasn’t offering me the movie, he wanted me to audition.” So, off to the audition he went, and of course, he was offered the part.
But Hawke started to have some nagging doubts about the movie, mainly because there were some parts of the script that he just wasn’t sold on. “I said, well, I’m not sure I want to do it,” the actor revealed. Linklater wasn’t about to give up on Hawke; he knew that the actor had it in him to bring the character of Jesse Wallace to life like no one else.
So, the pair discussed what was wrong, and it all came down to Hawke’s lack of conviction regarding a monologue that was initially part of the script, specifically occurring when Jesse is trying to convince Celine to get off the train with him in Vienna, despite essentially being strangers.
“I had a lot of concerns about the script,” Hawke said. “I mean, there was, I had a long monologue, I mean, I’m talking long, like four pages long, about why John Huston’s The Dead is the greatest last movie ever made in the history of cinema. And while I agree with the sentiment, I didn’t think it made for good drama.”
Released in 1987, Huston’s swansong was penned by his son, Tony, and featured his daughter, Anjelica. Inspired by James Joyce’s story of the same name from his terrific short story collection Dubliners, the movie earned acclaim, although Huston sadly wouldn’t be alive to see this, passing away shortly before its release.
“It is a great film,” Hawke said, but he just wasn’t convinced that a long monologue about how good Huston’s final film is would keep audiences engaged. “That was what I was supposed to do to woo her to get off the train or something,” the actor revealed. He knew it wasn’t going to work.
Instead, we see the pair bond over an arguing couple, which leads them to show each other what they’re reading, before sitting together and discussing where they’ve come from and where they’re going. There is no discussion of The Dead, although it seems like Hawke is in agreement with Linklater that Huston’s movie is the best ‘final film’ in cinema history.
