Tim Roth

Tim Roth (b. May 14th, 1961)

Remembers The War Zone
The words "lighthearted romp" and "Tim Roth" rarely appear together in a sentence. The British actor first made a splash playing tortured genius Vincent van Gogh in Robert Altman's Vincent and Theo. A few years later, he appeared in Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs, a movie in which he spent most of his time bleeding from a bullet wound in his stomach. Since then, Roth has been a fixture on the American independent scene, with gritty turns as a gangster in James Gray's Little Odessa and as a junkie in Vondie Curtis-Hall's Gridlock'd. He also earned an Oscar nomination for his role as an evil fop in Rob Roy. It's no surprise that for his first directing project Roth chose the The War Zone, a moody and deeply disturbing drama about an English family's dark secret. Roth talked with Barnes&Noble.com about the transition to directing and working on depressing movies.

Barnes & Noble.com: What made you decide to take on The War Zone as your directorial debut?

Tim Roth: If you're going to direct, it's a huge commitment. And there's only so many stories you can tell in a lifetime, so why not do the one that you would normally make maybe ten years down the line, or ten films down the line? Why not just do it? And especially for me it makes sense, because I have a day job I can go back to. What better way to find out if I can hack it as a director?

B&N.com: What would you like people to walk away with when they see The War Zone?

TR: The film is an adaptation of the novel by Alexander Stuart, who also did the screenplay. Most of the adaptation is about how I felt when I read the book. It is as accurate a portrayal as possible of what it feels like to be a victim, and also to be an abuser.

B&N.com: A victim, specifically, of incest. Did you have qualms about accurately portraying that on screen?

TR: As far as responsibility? I feel absolutely responsible in the sense that when victims see it, I want them to identify completely with the experience that the character is going through, that all those characters are going through.

B&N.com: And what about people who haven't? Don't you assume that's most of your audience?

TR: If you can't handle it -- I respect you for it. If you stay with the film, I'll respect you for that. When we were working on The War Zone, we had victims working on the film. We were very, very true to the subject. My advice would be, if you are feeling at a certain point in the film that you need to look away, then do so. But stay with the film, because you will not get completion if you don't finish it. But I understand it's tough -- it was tough for me.

B&N.com: You have a family. Were you concerned how they might perceive the film?

TR: Absolutely. I'd ask myself, "Why would I want this topic in my house?" I mean, you don't want to talk about incest over dinner, you know. My son is now 15, and I don't want him watching The War Zone yet. He's too young. I don't want this to be one of the first movies he sees that deals with sex. I would urge people to wait until they're 18 to see the film.

B&N.com: You're not known for appearing in family films. Have your kids seen many of your movies?

TR: I have a real tough time with what my kids see. My son was ten when he saw Reservoir Dogs, but he was on the set when we filmed it and he knows the process. He knows Quentin Tarantino and Michael Madsen and all the guys, but I still have a problem with him having seen it so young. I had a problem when I watched it, even though I was in it.

B&N.com: Did you ever have that kind of discomfort playing a character?

TR: Yeah. It's depressing to play someone like the guy I played in Little Odessa. Basically, I had to get up in the morning and kill people over and over again in really, really cold weather. Whereas in Rob Roy it was all very camp and silly and much more fun. I really believed I was going to get fired from that film. I was on the phone with my agent at four in the morning saying, "I'm going to be on the first plane home." Because it was so over-the-top.

B&N.com: Rob Roy proved you can be funny. Did you enjoy that?

TR: Actually, I am doing a comedy right now. It is like a vacation. It's a Nora Ephron film called Lucky Numbers with John Travolta and Lisa Kudrow, and it's just like a breath of fresh air. It's a small part. I play a guy that John's character comes to for help -- a misguided decision on his part. The film is very sweet, very funny. It's not a romance. Nora's doing something different. She's great.

B&N.com: The War Zone was released in the theaters without an MPAA rating. Will it remain unrated on video, too?

TR: No, we will rate it for tape and DVD. But we couldn't put an NC-17 on a theatrical release. That shuts down your advertising. Even A Room with a View was unrated.

October 23, 2000