Her interview with Bolger can be found at this site Click here: Town Times
Dr. Tanya Feke
Diagnosis: Movies
Beyond the LA Film Festival:
Public Enemies interviews –Part 1
I had the pleasure of meeting John Michael Bolger, the duplicitous Martin Zarkovich, at the LA Film Festival premiere of Public Enemies
I interviewed the gentlemanly Bolger on July 7.
How did you prepare for the role of Martin Zarkovich?
I went out and bought Bryan Burrough’s book Public Enemies and I read it, ate a few pages with a little salt and pepper on it. Because of the fact that I’ve played a lot of police officers and I’ve known a lot of people in the world of larceny, I sort of put my mind into that. And then when I got the part, I got so much research material (from Michael Mann). I just hit the streets in Chicago and Wisconsin and walked where he walked and started to think how he thought.
How did you feel playing a detective who plays both sides of the law?
I’ve played a detective who’s played both sides of the law before. The only thing that bothered me was that I had to be a rat. In the world I come from, you’re not a cheese eater. But I did it for a dame, I did it for Anna Sage, the love of my life.
With the exception of Johnny Depp as Dillinger, Public Enemies feels more like an ensemble piece.
Everybody did a great job. There were a lot of actors in that film. The guys who stood behind Hoover or stood in the jail cell when he went to Indiana or the extras or the people in the street, the people in the courthouse, even those soldiers, they didn’t say a single word but they said a lot.
Michael Mann is known for his attention to detail. It can be intimidating to live up to that expectation of perfection. What was it like to shoot a scene with him?
If Michael Mann called me right now and said “John, I’m doing a film in Topeka. I don’t have any money. Get here.” I’d be hitching on the West Side Highway. I think that guy is a genius, I think he’s George Patton on the front of a jeep, I think he’s Hannibal going through the mountains. I love that he’s into detail. I love that he knows exactly what is going on, and I love that he is the first one in and the last one out.He’s got more energy than ten of us put together.
You filmed quite a few scenes at the Poser house in Columbus, Wisconsin. (My physician partner’s wife, Mary Wilkinson, grew up in and around Mary Poser’s home. Connections being what they were, I had the good fortune to tour the sets of the Poser home in May 2008.) I met her (Mary Poser). She’s a riot. That woman was great. She said, “Come over here” and she gave me a punch in the arm. “Welcome to my house. I think we’re going to rename this place the whore house.” I said to her, “If I was older or you were younger or vice versa, we’d be flirting.” She said, “We are flirting.” She was just a lovely lady who opened her home.
If you could say anything to her today, what would you share with her?
I would say my love and best regards to you. I remember your spunk, I remember your moxy, I remember your smile, I remember your warmth, I remember your hospitality, I remember your spirit. You’re memorable, Mary Poser.
If there was one thing you could take from the film, physically, what would it be?
It’s funny you ask me that. When I was leaving, Colleen Atwood (costume designer) said to me, “Hey, John, I want to give you these shoes.” She gave me these two-toned brown classic vintage Church of England shoes that inside they wrote Zarkovich. They’re beautiful. Whenever I wear them, people say, “Look at those shoes.” And I go to the shoemaker and I keep them highly shined and I keep a shoehorn in them. I’ll wear them for the rest of my life.
What did it feel like to have your fans waiting for you at the premiere?
When I got out of that car, you lovely people were right there to take care of me. What I’ve always said about my experience with the fans is that when I fall off the high wire into my net, they pull me in and love me. They take care of me and they protect me. I’m a 53-year-old character actor from New York City who had a dream,and my dream is happening. And for a guy like me to have anybody call me across the room to say hello to me, for me, it just blows my mind every time it happens. The premiere was so surreal. The red carpet was unbelievable with people calling my name, “John, John.” All the cameras, everything. I did the press, and that was lovely because I got to talk about things that matter to me, like my family and my training and my beliefs. That I was just a kid, a little schnook with a dream, and that all you kids out there wherever you are in the world, just believe in your dreams and follow your dreams and know that your life doesn’t take place in one summer or one weekend or one night. That you can make it to the other side.
What was it like to watch yourself on the big screen at the premiere?
The movie theater was packed. It was a who’s who. Everybody was there. I sat and the lights went down.Was I nervous. Then I just locked in and enjoyed the story just like I loved watching movies as a kid. But it’s hard for any actor to watch himself. I mean, I have a hard time looking in the mirror.But that particular night I just sat back and really enjoyed it.
What would you say to people who have not seen
Public Enemies yet?
It’s a movie that has a big message about honor, about friendship, about tough times, about love, about betrayal, about a country in upheaval, about a new day, a new way. A movie like that,if you look at it for its historical content and for the fact that it was only 75 years ago, proves that things get better. It will get better. There’s a lot of hope in that movie. Although it looks bleak and like this is never going to end, things will get better.
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Meeting John Michael Bolger
Special thanks to Karen from Johnny Depp Reads. com for making this interview possible.
Dr. Tanya Feke is a physician at Middlesex Hospital Primary Care – Coginchaug in Durham and a freelance movie columnist for the Town Times. With a lifelong love of film, she garnered press credentials to the 2009 LA Film Festival.
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The article is posted with permission of the author.
