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KURT RUSSELL:
“It really appealed to me that Eldon Perry was a complex person in a real job, at a time when things added to the complexity. I had great fun doing the movie and I like the way it was put together and edited. I think the outcome is really good, so I’m enjoying being satisfied.”
SCOTT SPEEDMAN on doing research for his role:
“I went to the police department and hung out with some robbery/homicide cops. But the problem was, we’re playing people from the SIS, which after the riots was no more. Some people wanted to talk about it, some people didn’t. I was just trying to find out about their lives more than anything. What it took to get to where they were.”
MICHAEL MICHELE (Sgt Beth Williamson):
“Policemen’s issues are universal – the cities change, but the issues stay the same. But they seem to have better physiques in Los Angeles than they do anyplace else in the world I’ve ever seen. That whole mentality that everyone is in great physical shape in LA definitely trickles down to the police department.”
KURT RUSSELL:
: “For the purposes of our movie the riots were the backdrop, it wasn’t the story. The story is a personal confrontation basically between two men. And when Perry, discovers that he’s a pawn on a chessboard, he begins his self-inspection. I think that that comes down to what Ron Sheldon’s take on the movie was, very simply – if you descend into hell, is it possible to take a step out? And that’s what we focus on.”
SCOTT SPEEDMAN:
“I’ve grown up watching Kurt’s movies. Just to be around him and see the way he attacks the role, and attacks acting, was a real exciting thing for me.”
MICHAEL MICHELE:
“I’ve spent a lot of time talking to cops, and the truth is no matter how long you’ve been a cop, when you’re faced with the possibility of losing your life or taking another human being’s life, that is not something to be taken lightly. It is something that causes the hairs to stand up on the back of your neck.”
KURT RUSSELL:
“We had two days to shoot the riot scenes, which was from our standpoint the most difficult part. But it did push us towards gorilla filmmaking which I think lent itself positively towards what this kind of movie should offer. There’s a feeling that comes when extremes come together, extreme heat, extreme frustration, extreme anger and there’s a moment where all of a sudden it just snaps. Dark Blue is a film that is deeply based in the controversial subject matter and time, and overall it has something to say about that, but it’s brought to you within a context of a few individuals and where they were in their lives at that time.
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THE CONCEPT:
