Exclusive: James Purefoy Talks ‘MOMENTUM,’ Being A Hunk, and Big Swords

In a FilmFad.com exclusive interview, Pooya chats with actor James Purefoy about everything from his new action thriller to being a ‘Hunk’ to playing with really BIG swords.

That’s right FadFans, join us as we have a diverse and wonderfully interesting conversation with Joe Carroll himself, James Purefoy, about everything from “MOMENTUM,” to which on-screen traits he would most want in real life and the surprising roles he wants to take in the future.

So, without further ado… here is an exclusive look into the mind of James Purefoy.

FilmFad:

James, how’s it going?

James Purefoy:

Hi Pooya, How are you?

FilmFad:

Am I reaching you in California?

James Purefoy:

I am not. I’m in London.

FilmFad:

How is London weather treating you right now?

James Purefoy:

It’s good. i just got back from Cannes which is very interesting and crazy, which I’m sure you are aware.

FilmFad:

How did you come to join “MOMENTUM?”

James Purefoy:

To be honest, I’m a terrible fan boy of Clint Eastwood. I have seen every single Clint Eastwood movie there is, both ones he’s directed and ones he’s been in. I have always been a fan boy of Clint, so I was very aware of Stephen’s [Campanelli] work with him. When I spoke to Stephen about it, I liked the script at the start. I thought it had a lot of momentum for a script called ‘MOMENTUM.’ I liked the character, I thought the character was interesting. Bad guys come in all shapes and sizes and he was a different kind of one. I spoke to Stephen and it just seemed to me he had been spending so much time with Clint Eastwood. The way he was gonna direct it, the way he was gonna treat his actors, the way the atmosphere on set he was going to be very strict about, it was going to be very Clint-esque in the way that he was gonna approach making the film. I just liked the cut of his jib. I have enormous admiration for Stephen as a camera operator, and now I have even greater admiration for him as director. I think he’s going places. He’s terrific. Boy can he move a fucking camera. You know he can move a fucking camera like nobody else. I think sometimes he was frustrated that he couldn’t be camera operating the show himself. Sometimes he did, sometimes he’d grab hold of the camera and did it himself because he knew exactly what he wanted. I think the way the camera moves in the show is fantastic.

Click HERE to for FilmFad’s exclusive interview with ‘MOMENTUM’ director and Clint Eastwood’s former camera operator of 20+ years, Stephen Campanelli.

FilmFad:

You mentioned South Africa, how was it working in Cape Town? Have you worked there before?

James Purefoy:

I lived in Cape Town and South Africa quite a lot actually. I’ve done a couple miniseries there. I did a show for ABC called “The Philanthropist”, so I was there for nine months on that. Then I did ‘MOMENTUM.’ So it’s good. They’ve got incredibly good committed crews, they got terrific young actors, great locations. The South African film department in the Ministry of Film or Ministry of Art are very keen to attract talent and get people over there. They did a really great job and I really have nothing bad to say bout them. Crew especially. They work so hard and they’re just really tremendous at it and they know what they’re doing. I’ll work with them again and again.

Click HERE to for FilmFad’s review of Director Stephen Campanelli’s fast past action thriller,  ‘MOMENTUM.’ 

FilmFad:

From a diabolical mastermind with a Killer Following on Fox to Mr. Washington an unrelenting master assassin in the motion picture “Momentum,” it seems like America loves seeing you play the bad guy. If you could, would you chose any starkly contrasting role and if so what would it be?

James Purefoy:

Funny enough, I just did a show called “Hap and Leonard” for Sundance TV. Every time I went back to “The Following” it sorta felt like you were going into a long dark bleak tunnel at the beginning of the season. You had to really kinda brace yourself a little bit. The man [Joe Carroll] was so bleak in so many ways. Even when he was being charming he was never really being charming. He never had anybody else’s vested interest at heart, always himself, like all the great psychopaths. So, when I finished “The Following” I really wanted to come out into the light and play somebody who had a good heart. This character came along Hap Collins or “Hap and Leonard” which is written by Joe Lansdale who’s a really terrific east Texan noir punk writer. The character has a heart of gold. In the truest definition of the word gentlemen, he is a gentle man. He shows vulnerability and he shows kindness and sensitivity. I know he probably doesn’t sit well with people who want me to continue doing bad guys forever, but a change is as good as a rest. You need to change every now an then, or the well runs dry. I really needed to play somebody who was just the opposite of Joe Carroll. Fortunately I was given that part and it’s a terrific show, a really good show, and I ‘m very proud of it. If it’s successful, people watch it and we get good reviews we’ll do more of them. I’m playing an east Texan blue collar rose field worker. For an Englishman from the countryside in Somerset that might seem a bit of challenge, we shall wait and see.

FilmFad:

Let’s jump back to ‘MOMENTUM’ briefly. Mr. Washington and Alex have a unique on-screen dynamic that is one part competition and one part respect, was that difficult to balance that sense of endearment and intent to kill?

James Purefoy:

Well I think Mr. Washington obviously he’s got a super objective which is get the fucking job done, and over. Get it done. So, he’s very different. When I say he’s a different kind of bad guy, he’s a pragmatist. He’s not a psychopath, in that sense, he’s a professional. He just a professional man doing a professional job. Whatever it takes is really what’s needed. He’s kinda cold, but he works in that dark area of private armies, CIA, and MI5. He’s that kinda guy and I think he really likes her. He thinks she’s cool, He think’s she’s professional, he enjoys having one pulled over on him. He thinks, obviously, he will win the day because he always has and he always will. Little does he know who he’s playing with and I think Olga is terrific. She does what she does so beautifully. She’s a very beautiful, intelligent, smart actress and I really enjoyed working with her and I think that come across as well.

FilmFad:

You’ve had a lot of skills and talents onscreen, from horseback jousting in a Knights Tale, to sword fighting in Iron Clad, to devious manipulator in Fox’s the Following to Master Assassin in Momentum. Of all your on-screen personas, which skill or trait would you most want to have in real life?

James Purefoy:

Good one. That depends on what era you’re living in, doesn’t it? If I was happening to talk to you know and we were in the 12th century, then I would choose the long sword, the very long broad two-handed sword I used in “Iron Clad.” The was without a doubt the meanest and nastiest piece of weaponry I’ve ever used in my life. Having spoken to a lot of people who are very used to those kind of weapons, that weapon, there was something phenomenal about the way those guys used those weapons. They didn’t just use them to stab and slash people, it was a weapon that was used in it’s entirety. So it was used two-handed, you’d use it like a stave, you’d use the cross-piece on it to gouge out eyes, you’d use the pommel of it to take out brains. I mean, It’s the most complete weapon ever if you’re not talking guns. There’s something a lot more honest about a sword. You could shoot people from two feet away and not feel too bad about it I imagine, but with a sword you really know you’ve done it. I think it kinda makes you aware of the consequences of your actions using a weapon like that. Whereas guns, guns are kind of for pussies.

[Both laughing]

FilmFad:

I’m gonna throw an off-beat question at you, so forgive me for this one. According to the all-knowing internet, In 1997 you were voted “Hunk of the Year” by a British television magazine. Is that true?

James Purefoy:

[Laughing] I am ashamed and slightly delighted to say that was true. I think in 1997 that meant a lot to me. Now I feel like I’ve been knighted.

FilmFad:

Well that’s my question. Now In 2015, after all the accomplishments you’ve made, what do you think you’d be voted for? Blank of the Year?

James Purefoy:

Blank of the year, I don’t know. That’s an impossible question to answer. Blank of the year, I don’t know what it’d be. Man who doesn’t have early onset of rheumatism of the year [Both laughing]. I’m alright. I’m kinda fit, I work out, and I’m okay. I’m still able to a lot of that kind of stuff, but at 51… you know. If I can continue doing this in the way that Liam Neeson is doing it at his age, then I will really be onto something.

FilmFad:

Absolutely. So we’ll just amend ‘still’ to the front of that. STILL Hunk of the Year… 2015.

James Purefoy:

[Laughing] Still Hunk of the Year. I so wish that would be the case, but sadly… I fear not.

FilmFad:

Again, I apologize for that one.

James Purefoy:

No, that’s okay.

FilmFad:

So, I’ve been talking your head off and I wanna let you go get to what you gotta get to, but I wanna ask you one more question. What’s next? Romantic comedies or Superhero films seem to be a huge trend in Hollywood, is that something you would purse?

James Purefoy:

I would love to do a romantic comedy, because I’ve never done a proper… I did a tiny little romantic comedy when I was 23/24 and it wasn’t really a great film, to tell you the honest truth. I’d love to do more of that, because I think I probably could. What is next literally? Literally what’s next is we’ve got the London Film Festival premier of Ben Wheatley’s “High Rise” which we’re doing Tomorrow. That’s with Tom Hiddleston, Sienna Miller, Luke Evans, and Jeremy Irons. So that’s tomorrow. Then I got “MOMENTUM” premiere the week after that. Then February comes along and we’ve got “Hap and Leonard” coming out. What am I doing next? I’m doing a radio adaptation of “El Cid” next week only because I love that movie. I’m doing my Charlton Heston next week. I won’t be doing an American accent. Then I’m doing “Roots” for the History Channel with a whole bunch of people, Forrest Whitaker, Lawrence Fishburne, Johnny Reese Myers, a whole bunch of people doing that. Going out to New Orleans in the beginning of November to do that. I think I might be in a new movie in February that I can’t tell you about, because I haven’t signed off on it yet. Then maybe season two of “Hap and Leonard.”

FilmFad:

You’re very busy

James Purefoy:

Busy, which is good.

FilmFad:

It’s great.

James Purefoy:

“Hap and Leonard” only does maybe between 6 and 8 episodes a year. I think one of the things of not doing a network show, if you’re fortunate enough to get other parts, it frees you up to do those other parts. I like getting as much as I can, I feel like I’ve got an awful lot of parts still left in me.

FilmFad:

Well James, thank you so much. I’m very much looking forward to your busy slate of upcoming projects and hopefully I’ll have the pleasure of chatting with you about some of your upcoming stuff.

James Purefoy:

Well good. I’m sure we will and I shall look forward to that one. Take care.

Check out the trailer for ‘MOMENTUM’ below and stay tuned to FilmFad.com for updates on what James Purefoy does next!