Although now one of the biggest subjects of scrutiny in Hollywood, constantly surrounded by controversy and backlash, Armie Hammer was considered one of Hollywood’s gems. Having starred in movies like The Social Network, the 37-year-old had established a fairly renowned position for himself. So much so that he even didn’t want to star opposite A-lister Leonardo DiCaprio in a movie that was offered to him!
However, after his agent revealed to him the name of the legendary filmmaker who was going to direct it, Hammer didn’t quite have a choice but to say yes to the movie.
Armie Hammer Didn’t Want To Star In J. Edgar With Leonardo DiCaprio
Cast in the supporting role of J. Edgar starring as Leonardo DiCaprio’s gay love interest, Armie Hammer initially didn’t want to take on the role. The actor shared how he couldn’t really understand the character of Clyde Tolson.
“He didn’t make sense to me,” said Hammer. “I didn’t get why Clyde stuck around and took Edgar’s hot-and-cold abuse. I didn’t understand the depth of their love and the complications of their relationship.”
So when the casting director, also J. Edgar Hoover’s ‘trusted adviser and lifelong companion’, wanted him to audition for the part, he passed on it. However, when his agent persisted, telling him that Clint Eastwood was directing the movie and ‘really’ wanted him to audition for the role, the Call Me by Your Name star had to agree to do it.
“I was like, ‘Okay, well, now that you use his name like that, I guess I have to come in.'”
Thus, he auditioned to portray the character of Tolson, and a week later, got a call from the filmmaker that he was selected for the part.
Armie Hammer Left No Stone Unturned For J. Edgar (2011)
After accepting the role, Armie Hammer tried his best to explore every option to understand his character best. He talked to his older gay friends to figure out how it felt to be in a gay relationship at a time when everything related was entirely taboo. In fact, he even hired a researcher to dig into the characters of Clyde Tolson and Edgar Hoover.
Sharing how intellectually he approaches acting as possible, he said,
“I know it’s an art of emotion. But if you’re just doing it for emotion every time, it can be wild, cumbersome, and unwieldy, or it might not work. If you truly understand intellectually who these people are or what their deal is—not what they did but why they did it, their headspace—I find it’s easy to occupy them.”
Yet, despite working so hard to perfectly portray his character, neither Hammer nor DiCaprio discussed much about the chemistry between their characters before showing up on set.
“We didn’t even put things up on their feet,” Hammer recalled. “We just read through the script and discussed some scenes. Basically, we both came up with our characters and showed up to [the] set. We didn’t even have a discussion about how in love should these guys be or is there any connection. We didn’t address it, which I thought was appropriate because they didn’t address it. The characters would have never addressed it. It was always like, the elephant in the room. I think that worked out well.”
Besides this, there was another thing that made it easy for the Call Me by Your Name star.
“But also working with Leo made it so easy. It’s like if you’re playing tennis with someone that’s better than you, it elevates your game, you know?”
Regardless, working with an A-lister like Leonardo DiCaprio and under a legendary visionary like Clint Eastwood certainly proved fruitful for Armie Hammer, for while the movie received mixed reviews from critics, it did end up getting a Golden Globe nod along with 5 wins and 17 nominations for other accolades.
You can watch J. Edgar on Amazon Video.
Source: Backstage
