General Discussion - What initially attracted you to the character of Richard Har wdz123 - Thu Dec 15, 2011 7:16 pm Post subject: What initially attracted you to the character of Richard Har
What initially attracted you to the character of Richard Harrow and how much of his mannerisms did you create?
Jack Huston: It was probably the best character that I had ever read. It was simply written: a man with an affliction on half his face who wears a tin mask to cover it. It was written with a lot of what we in Britain call “full stops” or what you would call periods in the middle of sentences at weird moments. “My name, period, is Richard Harrow,” which I interpreted as Richard having trouble speaking.boardwalk empire dvd I was in London, putting myself on film for the audition. I put some cotton wool in my mouth and came up with a voice when I was on a train with my brother. I imagined this voice because his face was injured, so his throat could have been injured as well. Everything was in [that audition tape]: the clicks, the slurping. I thought, if he had an affliction over half his face, maybe he was missing part of his mouth. I imagined the pain and suffering that someone like that would go through.
What are the challenges involved in the physicality of acting with only half of your face?
Huston: I think you have to emote a lot more. As an actor, your eyes are probably your most important asset. You can almost read any emotion through someone’s eyes. Having one eye, that eye has to do double time. He’s written so well and it comes so naturally:boardwalk empire season 1 dvd the pain and the anguish, they’re so deep-rooted inside of me now. I feel like when I put that mask on, I transform.
t’s not just half of Richard’s face that's missing, but also a part of his soul, as we see in the story he relates about his twin, Emma.
Huston: Absolutely. Growing up in rural Wisconsin on a farm with his sister in that time—in the 1910s, 1920s—he didn’t see many people, so he was probably quite isolated as it was. Everything—his life—would have been his twin sister. She would have been his best friend, his confidante; they would have done everything together. Going off to war, as a good-looking young lad and having such a severe affliction to your face, it not only affects you emotionally, but everyone else looks at you, externally, as a monster.
You sort of act like how people treat you, or you hide away.boardwalk empire box set He probably wasn’t the most social person anyway; hence, why he was a sniper, because he could be on his own. I feel like he lost everything when he was at war. He lost his soul, his confidence. All he wants is a normal life. Everybody always wants what they can’t have; that desire shapes the show. It’s interesting when he comes back. He can’t connect with anyone, even his sister, because now, externally, he sees himself as a monster.