From grunge rocker to French merchant
May 12, 2006. 01:00 AM
HUGO DUMAS LA PRESSE

MATSUMOTO, JAPAN—Michael Pitt, dressed in a green army jacket, torn clothing, and a striped toque pulled down over his blond hair, looks out of place in the bar of a preppy hotel in Matsumoto.

Pitt has been on the movie set of Silk in Iriyambe, 30 minutes outside Matsumoto, all day.

This day, the 24-year-old actor was in every scene. The next day's shooting will not be any easier, since the call is for 5:30 a.m.— sharp.

Now, he has to sit down with a reporter, a prospect he doesn't find particularly appealing.

"I'm not very good with interviews," he says lighting a cigarette.

Québécois filmmaker François Girard, who is directing Pitt in the screen adaptation of Alessandro Baricco's novel Silk, had warned: "Michael is a meditative sort. You sit down with him, you talk to him, and 10 seconds later he answers. He is very intelligent and his artistic instincts are remarkable. But he is not very talkative."

It takes some time to coax Pitt out of his shell.

He is the only American actor involved in Silk.

"I'm used to being the only American on the set," he says in a monotone. "I really liked the fact that Silk was not an American film."

Pitt has few Hollywood megaproductions to his credit other than The Village (directed by M. Night Shyamalan) and Murder by Numbers.

Instead, he has been in a string of independent films by talented directors, including Bully (directed by Larry Clark), The Dreamers (directed by Bernardo Bertolucci), and Last Days (directed by Gus Van Sant), in which he played a character based on the late Kurt Cobain.

"I'm not sure I have any relationship with Hollywood," says Pitt. "I never go there. I try to stay as far away from there as possible because it makes me hate my work."

When I suggest that Hollywood doesn't just produce trash, he replies: "It's not just Hollywood films, even though most of them are garbage, it's also the people, the attitudes and the values. It depresses me. It's not very healthy for me."

Pitt had a brief fling with the Hollywood star machine: he had a recurring role in the teen soap Dawson's Creek as football player Henry Parker, opposite Tom Cruise's future fiancée, Katie Holmes.

During the interview, Pitt rarely lifts his head, compulsively tucking a strand of hair behind his ear, and toying with a toothpick in a small ceramic bowl. Despite all of this, he is surprisingly likeable. In fact, he is charismatic.

"Michael is a relative newcomer to the business. And his career is hot right now. But he's not into that; he's not looking to become the greatest Hollywood star. He's rather suspicious of the film crowd, very much into his music, with his band, Pagoda," says Girard.

With Pagoda, Pitt sings and plays guitar. The group's first CD, reminiscent of the Seattle grunge sound of the early '90s, is due out next month and will be followed by a tour. "I'd really like to play in Canada," says Pitt.

What happens after Silk? "I think I need a break. I don't do a lot of films, but when I choose one, I give it 100 per cent. Silk is a lot of work and the hours are long. But I love a challenge, otherwise it's not fun," he says.

For each day's shooting, Pitt sheds his grunge threads and dons the attire of a 19th-century merchant: straw boots, hat, a beige kimono-like jacket and brown fur coat.

During breaks, he puts on his toque and chain smokes with the crew. He checks on the proper pronunciation of his Japanese lines, and watches rushes with Girard.

The Japanese star of Silk is Kôji Yakusho, who recently appeared in Rob Marshall's Memoirs of a Geisha.

In 1996, Yakusho became a star in Japan for his role in Shall We Dance, playing the repressed businessman who discovers a new life through ballroom dancing.

In Silk, Yakusho, 50, plays Hara Jubei, who acts as go-between for the merchant Hervé Joncour. "Girard is an extremely patient director. I trust him completely," says Yakusho through an interpreter.

Yakusho also had a part in Babel, the latest film by Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (21 Grams, Amores Perros), starring Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchette and Gael Garcia Bernal.

When asked which of the two Pitts (Michael or Brad) is the better actor, he laughs. "Michael. Because, in Babel, I had no scenes with Brad. Michael is a natural," he says.

After seeing about 100 actors, Girard chose Sei Ashina, 22, for the part of Joncour's love interest, The Mistress. Unknown in Japan, Ashina has little experience, except for a role in a low-budget, sci-fi television series.

She has quickly learned to behave like a star, however. When we asked her for an interview, she replied that she had to wash her hair first.

"Come back at lunchtime," she said. So there we were at noon, but the beautiful Ashina had not finished eating.

We sat for 30 minutes, watching her finish her meal, until she was ready for the interview.

"It's really interesting working with Michael Pitt. He has magnificent blue eyes. I'm fascinated by his eyes," she says in Japanese.

Ashina says her favourite film is Saw. She hopes Silk will launch her international career. "When I was chosen, I couldn't believe it. It's truly an incredible experience," she says as she leaves to get her freshly washed hair done.

Translation: Lyse Hébert