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Holt McCallanycan talk for a long time about filmmakerDavid Fincher, with whom hes worked three times.
On the beloved crime-thriller seriesMindhunter, which was unexpectedly canceled by Netflix after its second season.
McCallany can mimic Finchers tone and jokingly recites his advice from years on set together.
And he can just as vividly recall a grudge hes harbored since the movies release.
Its demented, its depraved.
I dont think Ive ever hated a movie more.
Im thinking,Gee, Rosie.
Do we go on TV and bad-mouth your show?Is this really necessary, this kind of abuse?
Youre making a classic, and you know it.
Im talking about once or twice in a career.
I knew this was not your average cop show.
And withFight Club, Jared Leto used to walk around and go, We are theFight Clubelite.
Wed go, Hmm.
30 Seconds to Mars.
That could work, but we were all a little skeptical.
And let me say, he did it.
Ive listened to some of the music.
Some of it is really good.
Hes got a lot of fans.
So a little hat tip to Jared Leto.
Sorry we doubted you, bro.
Where were you in your career whenFight Clubhappened?
You will either be some kind of a warrior or some kind of a lover.
Thats certainly the kind of character that I played inFight Club.
It could be the love of a particular cause.
It could be the love of country.
It could be a desire to get to a particular place for a particular reason.
It could be that kind of longing.
Im willing to go out and fight for it in any way that Im asked to.
I had read and loved the book, and I had worked for David.
The way David shoots that, you cant even really make out who it is.
But I wanted to be inSe7en.
I had tremendous loyalty to David.
I dont think so.
And I was like, Yeah, maybe youre right.
I really like the director and its part of this big franchise.
And she goes, I dont want you gone for that long.
And just one scene as a rapist?
You play bad guys all the time.
And he said, David Fincher is going to want to speak to you.
Can he call you at home tonight?
And I was like, Well, no, David, its not that.
Its just that hes only got one scene, and its a rape scene.
He goes, Dude, dude.
Youre going to be in lots of scenes.
Ive got lots of ideas for your character.
Youre going to be all over the movie.
Trust me, I want your character to participate in a lot of different ways.
And I said, Okay.
And true to his word, he did exactly that.
In Davids version, he really did allow the convicts to express themselves.
And nothing against Sigourney.
But she was very gracious.
I want this to feel real.
You dont want to overstep.
But shes a consummate actress.
And I was very grateful to her.
So David says he wants you to be inFight Club.
The characters dont really have backstories in this.
Did you imagine more about the Mechanic than what we see?Sure.
In a story like this, you have to create a character history.
The Mechanic is a more prominent character in the book than he is in the film.
As long as you know it and you commit to it, itll play.
The audience will subconsciously pick up on that.
I used to bang out those things up.
I used to print them out.
I dont have it in front of me.
What was the atmosphere like on set?There was a certain ambience.
There was a certain camaraderie.
Theres forty guys in the film space monkeys.
Were there all the time and we really bonded.
There were actors that I developed close friendships with, like my friend Meat Loaf.
We were all young.
But we knew that we were a part of something that none of the other studios was making.
I didnt predict how controversial the film would be upon its release.
I remember sitting in a dentists office, and the TV happened to beThe Rosie ODonnell Show.
Shes talking aboutFight Cluband she says, Whatever you do, dont seeFight Club.Its demented, its depraved.
I dont think Ive ever hated a movie more.
Im thinking,Gee, Rosie.
Brad and Edward are very good in the movie, as is Helena Bonham Carter.
Right up until his death, I would get occasional phone calls from Meat.
We called him Meat, because Meat Loaf is not one word.
His first name is Meat, and his last name is Loaf.
A lot of people really didnt like the film.
But you cant control how audiences are going to respond to a piece of material.
I still get 15-year-old boys stopping me in airports, saying His name is Robert Paulson.
Say it one time, man.
His name is Robert Paulson.
It had a profound impact on a lot of people.
Youre soaking the priest and his Bible with a hose and chasing him down the street.
Its probably the funniest scene in the film.
What do you remember about it?I was educated by priests my entire boyhood.
I started with the Christian brothers in Ireland when I was only 5 years old.
I got expelled from that school.
Certainly not in the 70s.
Theyd just [mimes backhand], you know what I mean?
Youre never allowed to talk, except at lunchtime.
Im standing in line and they slopped some food on my tray.
It was just absolutely disgusting.
There was a priest standing next to me, Father Conway, big, tall guy, Dublin guy.
And I said, I know this isnt what you guys eat in the rectory.
But youre not supposed to make reference to that, and this is day one!
I never forgot that.
Youll learn to keep a civil tongue in your head.
That was day one.
And it was all downhill from there.
So, you know, beating up a priest …
Ill tell you a story.
The Cork accent is [slips into accent] way up there.
It almost has kind of a Caribbean lilt to it.
Even some other people in Ireland cant understand a real thick working-class Cork accent.
My friend was absolutely convinced that we were gonna get our teeth knocked out.
I got all this stuff: the real Cork accent, all my lines.
Were driving back from Cork to Dublin, and I see a sign that says Newbridge.
And I was like, Oh my God, thats where my school is, Newbridge College.
Pull the car over.
Were going to go look for Father Conway.
My intention was just to give him a little bit of a scare.
Id say, Hey, Father.
My name is Holt.
Do you remember what you did to me?
Look at me closely.
Tell me you remember.
Just so I see that fear in his eyes, and then Ill leave it there.
Im walking around the halls, and everything seems small, because now Im a full-grown man.
I see a priest.
I say, Excuse me, Father.
Im an old friend of Father Conways.
Id love to have a chat with him.
He says, Father Conway died a couple of years ago.
We miss him very much.
I said, Oh, I see.
Well, my condolences.
I never got my revenge.
So, cathartic is the way to describe that.Yeah, thats the word Im looking for.
The Mechanic says, I understand.
In death, a member of Project Mayhem has a name.
Most of the male members of the cast are in this scene.
People still quote it to you.
I was fortunate enough to have both.
Im inFight Club, and I have that scene people still remember after all of these years.
I really liked Meat, and we had spent a lot of time together.
Its a powerful scene, its a scene that involves all the actors.
At that moment, the Mechanic is a very important character in the story.
It was a very proud moment for me as an actor.
You dont have a lot, but what you have is really good.
And then, of course, he remembered me again, and he brought me back forMindhunter.
You make certain choices.
But until I get the note, Im gonna assume that hes comfortable with what Im doing.
You gotta stay active and you gotta stay busy when youre in frame.
You cant just be sitting there in frame scratching your head.
I had tremendous admiration for both Brad and Edward.
They were both movie stars.
Theyre both very talented.
Then I was right.
But now there are.
Its always hard to feel like a success in this town.
Im curious what your answer would be to that.My own father was kind of a gypsy.
He was a producer.
He was always jumping around, but he never really had a fixed residence.
This is my place that I built, that I own.
Thats something that my father never thought was important, but it was important to me.
Ricky wants to paint a self-portrait I dont need a self-portrait.
I have a refuge.
An actor isnt always elated with the scripted dialogue.
On this occasion, I was very happy that that was my line.
