The Purge Interview: We talked with Ethan Hawke and Producer Jason Blum

We had the pleasure of attending the press conference of The Purge (in theaters Friday), a thriller that injects speculative science fiction elements into the home invasion sub-genre.

The synopsis reads “A family is held hostage for harboring the target of a murderous syndicate during the Purge, a 12-hour period in which any and all crime is legalized”.

See what Ethan Hawke and producer Jason Blum (Paranormal Activity, Insidious) said about his second collaboration, after the successful horror movie Sinister.

DesdeH.com: You are movie star but we don’t see you in big movies like superhero franchises. What do you find attractive in small projects. Is it the freedom you have?

Ethan Hawke: “I have always done small projects, there is nothing recent about that. The truth is that the more money you get paid the less creative freedom you have. They never pay for nothing, that’s always the way it is. I’ve managed to do this for more than 20 years, and keep dodging and weaving and not being one thing. I’ve always resisted that. I wanted the freedom to do something else. I didn’t want to try to do Long Day’s Journey into Night and have the audience go, “Oh, there’s Batman.” You know what I mean? There is nothing wrong with it. In many ways, as I get older, I wish I had made other decisions. Sometimes I watch how some people have parlayed their careers one way or the other, but I’ve just tried to do things that interested me, sincerely. They don’t all turn out good. I haven’t made all perfect decisions. But, I’ve tried to stay interested in my job, and I’ve succeeded at that. And doing little projects helps me because I feel like I don’t work for anybody.”

Here is an extract of his other answers in the conference:

“My favorite part of the script is Lena’s character. She and I did a movie together, I was like 18 and she was like 14. The movie was called Waterland. We didn’t have a scene together but I thought that she was magical. She is one of my favorite aspects of the movie.”

“When I was younger I loved genre movies. One of my first directors was Joe Dante, who directed The Howling, Piranha, Gremlins… He thought me what was possible in a genre movie. A great one should be fun to go watch on Friday night, but also a subterranean political message. So The Purge is perfect!”

“It is a very violent film with an anti-violence message. I find it powerful to see an African American running through a gated community and being shot at. Suddenly it is not wild science fiction. Our country is obsessed with violence. Some people call you unpatriotic if you are not violent.”

“This character think he is a good guy. It is easy to play a villain, but he is in a weird grey zone. He is culpable of many negative things but he is not aware of that, until he wakes up. […] He’s making money on a society that is corrupt. The most dangerous thing is that all of us could be that person.”

“I secretly wish to be in one of those movies with crazy fights, and train for it. I have done some things here and there so I have some training. But I wished I was Jackie Chan, to really get crazy running through the house.”

DesdeH.com: The designs of the masks represent people’s faces. Was that intentional?

Jason Blum: Yes. We produced with Platinum Dunes, Michael Bay’s company, and they were very involved creatively in all stages of production. One of the reasons I asked to come along is that James [DeMonaco] hasn’t done a horror movie before. I have to give them and James credit for focusing on how the masks look like. I am really pleased with what they chose. It was a conscious decision not to make it like an animal but instead a face gone wrong. I think it’s effective for that reason.”

The Purge is in theaters this Friday, June 7th.