‘My advice to Indian actors is to make a name for themselves here first, before going to Hollywood’: Matrix actor Hugo Weaving | English Movie News – Times of India

At IFFI Goa for the premiere of his movie The Rooster, Australian actor Hugo Weaving talks to ETimes about Hollywood, working with Keanu Reeves, and Indian cinema…
Unlike other Australian actors, you haven’t gone to the US to become a Hollywood actor?
It’s very simple. I’m not an American. I know that people worldwide go to Hollywood but by and large, they express American interests. It’s a broad question but the simple answer to that is that I live in Australia, and therefore I would like to be involved in Australian storytelling and that’s always been my rationale. I am not a big fan of American politics. I have many friends in America but am not a big fan of America for many reasons. I don’t really seek to work there or live there.
What measures are taken for Australian cinema to travel to the world?
I wish I knew the answers. It’s so tough. It’s the same here in India. There are so many filmmakers I met here who have made experimental films. It is so hard to take your stories to the world, especially because of the way we have been watching films these days – mostly on our phones rather than going to cinemas; unless you go to a film festival like this. Films have come under existential threat.
I am always about prosecuting my own film culture and promoting Australian films but not as a business. It’s just because of the stories I’m interested in. The landscape is changing a lot, the rules are changing, and the way we view films is changing. I think I’m just gonna keep working on asking what’s not working and how to make things work and just keep doing better work.
What do you like about Indian cinema?
I watched the first film of Satyajit Ray’s Appu trilogy back in the late 1970s. I was really moved by the film. Ray really introduced me to India because I had not been to India before that. I had some sense of India and its complexities from history books. Then I was introduced to India via Ray’s Appu trilogy, Chess Players, and some other films. Then I’d be watching one or two Indian films at the Sydney Film Festival. The popular concept of the Indian film industry is that it’s Bollywood world. I actually don’t know Bollywood films at all.
Once at the Sydney Film Festival, I watched Anand Gandhi’s Ship of Theseus. It was a contemporary, urban Indian film about three lives woven together about organ transplants and health. It was based on the idea – if a ship is rebuilt, is it the same ship? So, it was a wonderful, philosophical idea and exploration by Anand.
I met Anand and got to know him because I was the head of the jury and he was a member. He and I had a bit of a battle because the film we both loved, the other three jury members preferred another film that we didn’t love as much. So, we bonded over that. I hope to one day work here with Anand.
Are you looking forward to collaborating with Indian filmmakers?
I would love to work with Anand. I am meeting him soon as he lives here in Goa. We are talking about something. It would be a pleasure working here in India. I have been to Delhi, Chandigarh, Agra, and Kashmir in the past.
Is Hollywood also as politicized as the politics of the US?
I’m sure it is. The way the world is at the moment, you worry about free speech and how a country like America and its democracy. You worry about democracy when the organs of expression and communication are in the hands of people who have a business model, they want to make more money out of. When the now president of the United States demonizes a lot of media that is independent and critical of him, you’re talking about shifting to an autocratic world. If the organs of power start to control expression, then you’re talking about censorship. This can translate very much to films and film censorship.
For example, films coming out of Russia or China are heavily censored. There are certain topics you can’t make films about. Then the people in those countries cannot see those films. So, they become brainwashed. So, yes, Hollywood has always been an expression of American politics and power. Having said that, it’s also an expression of humanity and dreams, and some incredibly great filmmakers have worked there for many years.
Any expression of human life if it’s powerful can be subject to censorship. So many reporters around the world are dying. We have to be very mindful about protecting our democracies and freedom of expression.
Tell is a little about Keanu Reeves, with whom you have worked in the Matrix franchise
Keanu is an absolutely beautiful human being. It was a pleasure to meet him years ago and work with him on those three films. I think he is a special soul who always cares about other people. If he meets someone in the streets, he will take time for them. He’s not a selfish, ego-bound individual. He is a lovely human being who is caring. He is very well-read. He’s philosophical. He’s not a selfish, ego-centric Hollywood actor at all. I don’t find him as a Hollywood actor. He’s Keanu to me. He’s a genuinely good human being.
Any particular reason for not being part of the last Matrix film?
Simple reason. Lana Wachowski very much wanted me to be in it. I read the script. I had some criticisms of it but it was largely to do with the need or desire or the rationale behind doing another film. But we talked about that. After some time, I said that I’d love to be a part of it even though I had some reservations about the script. But I was already engaged with working in London with the National Theatre Company. I do a lot of theatre as well and that became problematic for Lana because I was already engaged with that. She couldn’t find a way to fix my dates with her filming.
Many Indian actors are interested in working in Hollywood. Any advice for them?
My advice to them would be, rather than going to Hollywood, why don’t you stay here in India and be in your films? That’s what I find interesting about cultures; they are different. Why do you want to be an American when you are an Indian? Having said that, it doesn’t mean that we can’t be global. I am not a flag-waving nationalist. I hate that. But I do believe in supporting your own culture, language, and beliefs, yet being open to other things. Don’t change yourself for the sake of someone else.