Int: Dennis Hopper

Last Updated on July 28, 2021

JoBlo.com/AITH interviews Dennis Hopper

It’s not everyday that you meet a
cinema ICON and to be honest, it was quite the thrill. Dennis Hopper
is a veteran of the industry. let me put it this way: Rebel Without
A Cause (with James Dean), Easy Rider, Hang Them High, Apocalypse
Now….and the list goes on. I was a little nervous talking with the
man but swiftly realized that he was kool as a cucumber, with zero
pretenses. I also really liked that said the word “man” way more
than I do. Dennis shared  his Land of the Dead thoughts with us and here’s the result.

Who is your character of Kaufman?

He built the city
to keep all the zombies out. That’s who he is.

Is your character a good guy or a bad guy?

I think he’s a
wonderful guy, he’s built this wonderful place, he’s misunderstood
you know.

How is he misunderstood?

Well obviously he
has a few enemies but he’s trying to keep a clean house and keep
things straight. I’d just never though the undead would get across
the river honestly.

LOL! Who does he house in this complex?

It’s for a select
few members that Cho Lo wants to become. Cho Lo wants to live in the
“Green”, it’s called the “Green”. And I explain to him that there’s
a long waiting list. He says “how long?”, I say this is a prime
location, the space is very limited, I mean I do have a board of
directors and a membership committee that have to approve. He says
don’t do that to me man, I’ve been taking your garbage out, don’t
tell me that I cant…you’re the bad guy…. That’s what I mean by
misunderstood. So I ring for my guys to come in and take him away. I
say we’ll talk about this when he’s less excited.

So he’s kind of a politician and a CEO too?

Yeah he’s running
everything actually so he makes games and vices for the people on
the street to distract them from getting to the “green”. And he’s
paying an army that he’s trained, he’s spending a lot of money but
because its his responsibility cause someday you may be able to earn
responsibility of your own but right now there all mine. He believes
in his world but he has an escape route, he has outposts, he’s going
to take care of everybody and so on.

How do you see this as a metaphor as to what is going on today?

I just see it as
doing a part in a script.

LOL!

You know what I
mean; I think it probably all fits together; George Romero, that’s
what he’s about.

Do you see your character as an interpretation of real people that
are out there.

Well I’m sure that
people like this exist for real out there.

You are a Cult figure of the 70’s, the Golden age of cinema, how do
explain the ghost of the 70’s coming back today?

I mean it was a
time where we were freer, we had broken away from the Studios for a
moment, basically due to things that came out of Europe, that came
out of France, Goddart, Truffaut, we heard them saying that you can
leave the Studios behind their walls, the whole world is Studio, go
out there and make movies. And so the 70’s became a breakaway and
suddenly there was a group of directors that were free for a while
and for one moment Hollywood thought that the Directors made the
movies, but it was very short lived because they grabbed it back. It
was a very free moment, it wasn’t driven by the same things the
industry is driven by now.

But today the 70’s are still alive with all these remakes and now
you and Romero…

Yes Romero’s first
Zombie movie came out in 1969, the same year that Easy Rider came
out. It’s wonderful that he’s making this film.

Are you a fan of his other films; do you like them?

Yeah! Zombie
movies!

Are you a horror fan? If somebody would have told you 2 or 3 years
ago; Dennis you’re going to be a in a Zombie movie; would’ve you
have stopped it?

No, it’s probably a
great up for me.

What attracted you to this production and this character?

Well I’ve played
golf with Mark Canton for the last 8 years, every Friday and
Saturday. And George Romero is doing it, its Universal Pictures
distributing it, it’s a lead heavy and it sounded right to me. I
couldn’t find any downside to it, maybe except the money.

How much room is George giving ya to improvise?

I’m not planning on
doing any improv.

Oh no! I’m surprised actually!

I didn’t do any
improve when I worked with Lynch on Blue Velvet, lots of films I
haven’t improved in. Then there’s some films where I only improved
in like Apocalypse Now. But I don’t really see any reason to improve
here, I think he’s got a really tight ship. I’ll stick to the words
unless he asks me to improvise.

Do you see your character as evil or is it the power that’s
corrupted him.

Well he’s really
responsible, I mean he’s in charge of this whole thing but he’s a
psychopath and he’s a murderer. He throws people out to the zombies…
if they don’t work out, he just tosses them out. But he does keep
the people behind him safe and the things he promises, he delivers.
He never expected that the zombies would come across the river and
never expected that the Dead Reckoning would be stolen by Cho Lo who
is one of his henchmen, one he thought he’d had gotten rid of but
that got away.

Dawn of the Dead was a metaphor on consumerism; what do you think is
behind this one?

I think that if I’d
ever read anything more than my part, I would probably know more.

LOL!

I find it confusing
for a guy to be playing just one part and know about all the other
people.

Do we get a background on Kaufman, how he came to be?

You don’t get a lot
of that; you don’t get a back-story. You can only imagine, he must
have been….

A
Prick.

Yes…

LOL! All of the actors come from a different background; how are you
all meshing on set?

I haven’t started
work yet, I start tomorrow. But I have worked with John Leguizamo
before and think he’s one of the moist gifted actors they’re is this
man is really talented. I’ve also seen him in some dailies and he’s
going to be sensational in this picture.

How do you feel about working with George Romero?

I admire him and I
think he did a wonderful thing with his films in Pittsburgh, I know
this is more money than he ever had before and you have to admire
him. Where he came from, how far he went and how he influenced so
many people. It’s an honor for me to be here.

Are you conscious of the evolution of the characters you’ve played?
In 69 you were a hippie and now the total opposite of that in
playing a big mogul?

Yeah, its possible
man, yeah this can really happen…well you know when you’re young
you’re one way, when you’re older…well…you know this guy was
probably a hippie once. He probably built this place out of
hippiedum.

Your character boxed himself in because its very dangerous outside,
being a celebrity; is your life a little bit like that now?

Well I think being
an actor, you’re already in a privileged position, you don’t get a
good look at things, you think you do but you’re not really. But I
don’t have bodyguards; I never had all that stuff. Body Guards get
in the way, you trip over them, and they cause attention. It just
seems to be a ridiculous way to deal with anything. So I never
really think about it unless I’m going through sox at a store,
people are staring me so I think, what they think I’m going to steal
something and then it dawns on me oh I’m Dennis Hopper. But I don’t
think about this most of the time…

What do you foresee to be your character arc?

Its like this
(points up) and then like that (swooshes down); it’s a down hill
slide quite rapidly.

After all that time doing movies; are you still learning?

Hopefully you’re
still learning all the time; every experience is different but the
way we make movies hasn’t changed at all, its still the same
process.

I’d
like to thank Dennis for being as kool as ever with us raving
fanboys. It was a honor for me to meet the man. Hopefully some of
his greatness will rub off on me. COME ON! I NEED IT!

 RETURN TO
 PART
1
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 PART 3
OF MY LAND OF THE DEAD SET VISIT