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Absolutely. There was a guy I met with James (Kent, director) whose father was one of the colonels who was helping to rebuild Germany in the aftermath of the war and the son of the guy I met was involved with the EU very early on. And he was heartbroken that Britain is leaving the EU. There’s so much gratitude there. If you think about how many times in history that this has been done – this great act of forgiveness – it’s not that many. One of the other great examples is the South African truth and reconciliation commission, which was another attempt to forgive, to bring back a country into the fold and to understand that blame is pointless in the end and responsibility is key and we’re stronger together than apart. And these are things that reverberate in this film and make it so complex. The British did a lot of quiet, hard work helping to rebuild Germany after the war and I met Germans, too, who remembered that and are very appreciative of what the British did.
Did you meet the author Rhidian Brook? Yes, he came to see us when we were filming and he is lovely. To see his family’s story, his book, being filmed was a wonderful experience for him.
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We talked about the themes of loss and showing compassion towards refugees. Did that strike you as a very contemporary theme? Yes, absolutely. It’s contemporary because it still goes on and yet it’s as old as the Bible. You must have compassion in your heart and you have to have compassion for your neighbours because these are the things that bind us – our relationships with others; our partners, our families, our neighbourhoods, our country. And that means compassion. There have always been refugees and war but showing compassion shows what we are capable of and the great things that can come of it. They don’t come over night but if you look at what happened from 1945 to 1985 with Germany, that country was ready to take a leading role in the world. And they have taken a lead not just economically but in accepting responsibility as well.
You’ve worked with Keira Knightley before on Everest. Did that help when you worked together on The Aftermath? Keira was my wife on Everest as well and I think we knew each other’s styles really well. I’ve always liked Keira but the last, say five
years, she has gone deeper and deeper. I think she is a fantastic actress and we never over did it; we just sat together, worked together and supported each other. I’ve been fortunate to work with a lot of great actresses – Carey Mulligan, Jessica Chastain, Helen Mirren – and Keira is a great actress and they give you confidence. They give you the confidence to be free together and that works on so many different levels – your emotions, the ability to play, your instincts for how a scene will work – and you can really start to find what is at the bottom of a scene. Keira is easy to work with and brings so much to it. We had some wonderful scenes together. She’s great and like I said, she gives you confidence, gives you space and gives you so much to bounce off of.
You also have some great scenes with Alexander Skarsgård who plays Lubert. Tell us about working with him… Yes, I had lots of great scenes with Alexander. And you know, you can see that Alexander is in the middle of a great patch at the moment, he is very free and open and he is clearly enjoying his career and enjoying his character work as well as his leading man work. He has a lot of choices and he deserves it because he’s a great dude. He really is. I like his philosophy on life – and his philosophy on football teams (laughs). There’s a simplicity and a joy in Alex. He’s a lovely man.
Each film is obviously a different experience and a big part of your life. What was this one like for you? This one was wonderful. We shot this film with a German crew and there were a lot of Germans involved in making this movie and I really enjoyed that. I’ve made a couple of movies in Europe recently and I’ve enjoyed them. And with this particular one, you always want to play a character that you’ve never done before, you want to put these things into your cupboard, and I loved playing this man who found a way to forgive and to be honest with himself. And working with an English and German crew was wonderful. I’m an Australian along for the ride (laughs). There was a lot of love. Movies like this are labours of love for everybody – the director, the art department, the set dressers, costumes, production design – they are not big flashy pay days and it takes everybody involved to get them made and everyone involved was a pleasure and James led the way. This film was a labour of love for me and, I think, for everybody involved and I think that shows up there on the screen.
Read the full interview with Jason Clarke in the March Issue of Live 24-Seven Magazine
LIVE24-SEVEN.COM
CE L EBRIT Y INTERVI EW JASON CLARK E
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