Dane DeHaan starred as Andrew Detmer earlier this year in the hit film “Chronicle”. He is co-starring with an ensemble cast of Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy and Gary Oldman in his new film “Lawless”, playing Cricket Tate. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Dane about his new role and what we can expect.
Mike Gencarelli: Tell us about the dynamic that your character brings to this film?
Dane DeHaan: I play the role of Cricket Tate. He is the heart of the movie in many ways, like the light at the end of the tunnel. It is a very broodish and violent world that the movie takes place in. They say about Cricket that he “can never hurt a fly”. Well the three brothers have hurt their fair share of files. He soups up the cars and makes the moonshine better. So I would say that Cricket is also the brains behind the operation, as well as the heart.
MG: Did you explore the novel, “The Wettest County In The World” prior to shooting?
DD: Yeah I read the novel. For me, what I got out of the novel most was Cricket physicality. It talks a lot of about how he crouches a lot, which it didn’t necessarily say that in the script. So I got a lot of that from the novel.
MG: It is such a phenomenal cast, tell us about working witheveryone on this film?
DD: It was a dream come true. It has a lot of my favorite piers and my heroes. I got throw in and got to have a good time with them. It was a great experience.
MG: What was your most challenging task working on this film?
DD: The film presented a lot of challenges for me. The way I walked in the movie was physically taxing on my body. Keeping the hope within the movie was challenging to fulfill in that role. When I make a movie, it’s like every day presents its own challenges and I like overcoming those challenges each day. I don’t know it is just one thing sticks out as the hardest.
MG: How was it going from a apex predator (in “Chronicle”) to a moonshine bootlegger (in “Lawless”)?
DD: It was really fun. That is what I look for. I look for the variation and the difference in roles and new ways of challenging myself. They are very different people. Cricket Tate and Andrew Detmer are definitely very different people from very different times and with different sets of problems. I love playing those different spectrums.