How can you tell a director has created a good set? When actors not even in the scenes being shot stop by just to say hello. That’s what happened when we recently visited the set of “Eagle Eye” and got one thing more than we bargained for…make that The Thing.
A surprise visitor, “Fantastic Four” star Michael Chiklis discussed with MTV News his role in the D.J. Caruso thriller, why it’s a cautionary tale, and even let loose on how the film opens.
Read below to see what Chiklis had to say about the film, than check out MTV.com tomorrow for our exclusive report from the set, including interviews with stars Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan.
MTV: Who do you play in the film?
Michael Chiklis: I play the Secretary of Defense, this guy named Jeffrey Callister– very lofty, [laughs], pretty cool. Obviously, the Donald Rumsfeld of the film, but not modeled on him or by him in any way. He’s a very thoughtful man and under some considerable strain throughout the course of the movie - trying his best to manage a ton of different threats and potential threats and figure out what’s going on and how Shia’s character relates to all of it.
MTV: When you say, figuring out who Shia’s character is, I’m curious – how does he become aware of his character. What’s the event that puts him on your radar so to speak?
Chiklis: Well, the film starts with an identification of a possible terrorist out in the Middle East and we have to determine whether or not we’re gonna take him out. And that’s where it begins and those are the very, very difficult questions and situations that these men and women are put in every single day - they’re deciding whether or not to launch an attack or a defensive position. And it’s, as you can imagine, incredibly stressful and something that these people take incredibly seriously. And because we’re a free and open society and want to stay that way, it makes us that much more vulnerable.
MTV: And based on what D.J. told us, I take it then that Shia’s character is somehow framed in connection with this. I wonder, did you talk to people at the DOD to prepare for how they might actually react to something like this?
Chiklis: Yes. We have a gentleman here on set who’s from the Pentagon and he works with the Secretary of Defense. I was actually supposed to go and potentially meet the secretary his aides, but, unfortunately, at the time I was supposed to go I got a horrible flu and ended up with a 103 temperature and couldn’t go.
MTV: So that’s it? One and done? That sucks.
Chiklis: I am going to be going to the Pentagon at the end of the shoot, which is really exciting. I mean, what a great thing that we get to do. One of the great things about being an actor is that you get to do things like land on the front lawn of the Pentagon in a Black Hawk helicopter. We have a running joke at the house where it’s one of those ‘Dear Mother/Diary’ moments, you know, ‘Dear Mother, today I landed on the green in front of the Pentagon in a Black Hawk helicopter.’ [laughs] It’s one of those things.
MTV: Talking to the gentleman from the Pentagon, what was the thing that he told you that you were surprised by the most in terms of the way he goes about his daily life or the threats that we face?
Chiklis: You find out all these fascinating tidbits about protocols and whatnot. But also you find out about all the legalities that are involved, like for example, the opening scene, where we’re just determining whether or not we’re going to launch on action against a potential terrorist. There’s so much that goes into it and very quickly – all of a sudden there’s this fury of action and lawyers and people going, ‘Alright, where is he? How much of a percentage is it that it’s him? What potential collateral damage will there be? What other possible political ramifications?’ And all of these questions are immediately being addressed. The man I play is a very, very conscionable man and he wants to do things for all the right reasons, and without giving too much away, one of the wonderful things that he says is that we judge success by the least amount of collateral damage. He’s a man who wants to protect the country with the least amount of human loss.
MTV: How would you describe the tone of the film? Action? Thriller? Something else?
Chiklis: Well, it’s a little bit of both. It’s also a bit of a cautionary tale at the same time.
MTV: How so?
Chiklis: Well, we live in interesting times. We live in a time where technology has taken tremendous leaps forward. Anywhere you look you can see all kinds of surveillance equipment, and we see it now when we go through a red light even. There are all kinds of listening devices, all kinds of different surveillance, and that’s a little disconcerting. There’s a great upside to it, and like anything else in technology, there’s also a potential danger and insidiousness to it.
MTV: Do you get to go outside the office at all, do any crazy stunts in this film?
Chiklis: Actually, no. Man, I’m the one who doesn’t, and it’s actually kinda cool for me. On the ‘The Shield’ I’m constantly kicking in doors and jumping on someone’s back and kicking someone’s ass so it’s actually kinda cool that in this one I’m more of an intellectual.
