HUSTON:I suppose the cheesiest way of saying it is lightning never struck.
Whats the guy fighting for?
It is in essence that sort of penitent man, it is that journey for forgiveness.
Jack Huston at the ‘Day of the Fight’ photo at Venice (Stefania D’Alessandro/WireImage)WireImage
DEADLINE:And why shoot in black and white?
And we didnt have a lot of money, black and white gives you that gorgeous depth.
I was very lucky that I got a brilliant DP in Peter Simonite.
We discussed at length.
DEADLINE:How long was the process?
HUSTON:Surprisingly quick, four years.
It became my lifes mission and quite rightly so because I loved it.
DEADLINE:How did you land on Michael Pitt?
HUSTON:When I conceived the idea, I saw Michael Pitt instantly.
DEADLINE:Were those conversations you had with him?
HUSTON:Yes, yes, oh, boy.
Weve sort of stayed close sinceBoardwalkand I found him beautiful to work with.
I thought this film is him, its Mikeys journey.
Hes living in purgatory right to the end in that taxi, hes crossing the River Styx.
Did it ever happen?
Its meant to be this journey of this man, this wanderer, this traveler, this fighter.
The most basic human parts.
No one suits that better than Mike.
DEADLINE:And what about the rest of cast?
Was that a dream team for you?
HUSTON:Oh, absolutely.
Funnily enough, everyone in the movie Ive worked with.
Thank God everybody probably got sick of me so they had to say yes.
Getting Joe Pesci was sort of landing the white whale.
Thats him singing in the film.
But I had no idea that Joe was a singer.
So I listened to this music and my jaw dropped, like who the f*ck is this?
He says its Joe Pesci, and I was like are you kidding me?
Then it came to me.
Its such a beautiful piece of casting because what were using is his body of work.
Thank God his body of work sort of supersedes him in some circumstances.
And I thought, what if he doesnt speak, what if he sings?
DEADLINE:It was a good epiphany to have.
HUSTON:I love that quote, Good artists borrow, great artists steal.
In this essence, I had to steal from everything.
Ive been lucky enough to be on set with my absolute heroes, a lot of them.
So thats always there, theyre just so confident about what theyre doing.
Its not my movie, but for us to make this movie you have to have direction.
I always felt confident in those directors as an actor.
It was brutal but emotional, it was sort of what this whole thing was about.
I cant explain how much I loved it.
It puts us between a rock and a hard place.
It breaks my heart, literally, the thought of not being there specifically with Mike.
Were not the enemy, thats the hardest part.
I think its the wild west out there.
Karmas a bitch and its beautiful to share in the wealth, share in the beauty.
What people are getting very wrong right now is, its affecting everybody.
I always believe that.
DEADLINE:I want to talk about your family a bit if you dont mind.
Im finally getting around to readingFive Came Backin which your grandfather John plays a big role.
I mean, theyve left this indelible mark on my soul.
But I do feel that they passed the baton and its my chance to just keep running.
My son plays the young Mike in the movie and hes fifth generation of my family on screen.
Weve been in the business for nearing 100 years and I find that beautiful.
Its a wonderful thing.
Thats why lightning had to strike, I didnt want to do anything before I felt that feeling.
