The one role Woody Harrelson has always wanted to play: “I played chess with him once”
There’s something of an enigma attached to Woody Harrelson. He has always managed to remain entirely uncategorisable in his position as one of Hollywood’s most beloved actors. Of course, he has taken his place among the mainstream, with turns in the sitcom Cheers and the huge The Hunger Games franchise, but he has also provided some of the best character actor performances in the modern era.
For every performance in movies like Zombieland which see Harrelson’s natural charm exude through his portrayal is the cultish vision of Captain Thomas Smith in 2022’s A Triangle of Sadness. Add to this roles in classic movies like Seven Psychopaths, Natural Born Killers, No Country for Old Men and, lest we forget, White Men Can’t Jump and you have a career that few can match.
In an interview, Harrelson said: “I was a pretty happy guy, but I also had a lot of rage. When I was a kid, I had real emotional problems. I would have these tantrums. [Later] I used to fight a lot. I used to go to bars and fight the guys I thought were bullies. I’ve got scars everywhere.” It surmises Harrelson’s career — never wanting to stay the same or live life too deeply entrenched in the middle of the road. He notes, “But it’s like my buddy says: ‘If you’re not living on the edge, you’re taking up too much room.’ And I guess I do live on the edge.”
It’s an unusual talent that Harrelson possesses. He is not only able to accurately embody these characters and deliver a portrayal of them, including former president Lyndon B Johnson, but do so while comforting his audiences that it is just our old pal Woody underneath those layers. Harrelson is both a recognisable face and a chameleon, meaning he has had the choice of many incredible roles in his career.
However, there is one role which he has always wanted to play but never quite got his hands on. While speaking to ScreenDaily about his turn as the titular president in LBJ, Harrelson confided that there is one real person he is still very much wanting to portray, Václav Havel: playwright-turned-president and a searing Czech a revolutionary.
Havel was a dissident icon. With wit and wisdom, he helped to topple communist rule, using his poetry and stage productions to seed new thinking in the population. From the theatre stage to the world stage, Havel’s legacy remains one of resilience. He seems absolutely perfect for the silver screen, something Harrelson almost had a shot at.
He revealed: “I did get a script to play Václav Havel. He was extraordinary. I was lucky enough to meet him a couple of times, actually. I played chess with him once. I’m not doing that script, but he’s a fascinating guy.”
He concludes: “I’d like to play someone of that calibre, someone who really stands for something.”
The chance to play such an exciting character rarely comes along, but for Harrelson, it is one he will likely jump at the chance to play.
For Harrelson, with a career as storied as his, roles are now not necessarily all about entertainment or a paycheque but what they can bring to his life and the story he is then able to tell.
