Despite being one of the most acclaimed and iconic American filmmakers to ever grace the medium, Terrence Malick remains a pretty big mystery to many film fans. This, largely, has to do with the fact that Malick is reluctant to do any sort of press and doesn’t make massive Hollywood blockbusters. He releases a new film on his own schedule and only makes movies about subjects he finds interesting enough to work on. But even when working with Malick, as in the case of Colin Farrell, who acted in “The New World,” you still don’t fully understand what makes the man tick.
Speaking on a recent episode of “Hot Ones,” Colin Farrell was asked about whether or not the stories of Terrence Malick are true, regarding the way the filmmaker would interrupt takes to shoot something else that caught his eye, often without letting anyone else know. Not only did Farrell confirm that is true, but he shared a story from the set of “The New World” that sums up, as best as he can, the essence of Malick.
“I remember, one time, there was a rainstorm when we were shooting [‘The New World’] in West Virginia. Sheet lightning coming down. Then forks. Loud claps of thunder. Deafening. And then I hear one of the producers go, ‘Oh, Jesus! Oh, Christ! Will somebody go get Terry!?’” said Farrell. “And we look out and fucking dude, Terry Malick, has a conductor—he has a camera that’s a fucking conductor, basically—on his shoulder and the grass is blowing and he’s in the middle of a fucking lightning storm. It was the most beautiful thing ever. And he’s not stupid. Terry is a very bright, very wise man. But he is just so enamored with and so fascinated with nature—which is why human beings aren’t sometimes the central aspect of his films. Extraordinary fellow.”
To speak more about the aforementioned tendency of Malick to end takes to film whatever catches his eye, Farrell confirmed that during one scene, in particular, the actor realized that Malick had noticed an osprey and decided to turn the camera to catch the bird instead of the scene that was playing out in front of him.
“I found myself somewhere between insulted and so enamored with his honesty and his sense of presence, you know?” said Farrell.
These are far from the only stories that have been told about Malick and his unique presence on set. However, you can’t help but smile when you hear these anecdotes. And it goes to show you that, no matter how famous and/or respected someone can be in Hollywood, they can continue to march to the beat of their own drum.
