LA Times article – Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines

July 8, 2003
Los Angeles Times

Nick Stahl is best known to audiences for his moody and intense performances in festival and art-house films such as “Bully,” “The Sleepy Time Gal” and “In the Bedroom.” Which makes it rather surprising to find him taking over the role of predestined rebel leader John Connor (previously played by Edward Furlong) in the new “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,” opposite Claire Danes and, of course, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Acting since he was 14 (his feature debut was in Mel Gibson’s “The Man Without a Face”), Stahl, 23, doesn’t seem to be waiting around for bigger roles and paychecks from the ephemeral “heat” of his connection to the “Terminator” institution. It’s almost as though he sees his turn as an action hero as more a résumé item than a shot at mega-stardom. Stahl will also be seen in two coming independent films, “Bookies” and “Twist,” the latter shot after he finished principal work on “Terminator 3″ about a year ago. And this fall, he stars in the new HBO series “Carnivale,” about a Depression-era traveling carnival. He describes it as ” ‘Grapes of Wrath’ meets ‘Twin Peaks.’ ”

Was there something on the first day of shooting “T3″ that let you know this wasn’t like the kind of films you had done before?
I knew from the get-go. I knew what it was before I got there — a well-known franchise, elaborate sets, larger-than-life effects. Leading up to it, there was so much pressure because I had built it up so much in my mind. That first day, to see Arnold with the glasses and the wardrobe, I had to walk off set originally to collect myself and try to get centered. During filming, one of the bigger changes from anything else I’d done — besides the fact people would actually see this movie — was that it seemed so set in stone. There was no veering from any lines and, in a sense, this very volatile, free character was confined by the shooting. I had to really stick to the script exactly. I’m used to being able to throw in words here and there, to be more free with the material.

Was that the biggest adjustment for you in moving from character-driven independent films to a big-budget action movie?
Even more so the pace of the movie. The goal of any commercial movie is to appeal to as many people as possible, so I think there’s a real obsession now with speed. You might have an emotional beat, but it has to keep moving. [Director] Jonathan Mostow certainly understood the value of the characters and the emotional +through lines, but you still have to move it along. That’s something I wasn’t used to. I definitely felt the pressure of, “OK, let’s get on to blowing up that cop car.”

If “T3″ is a success, would you be up for another one?
I’m actually signed on for two more. But I can’t even think a week into the future, much less like that.

The ending of the new film certainly feels like it’s setting up another movie. Do you have any hints on what happens next?
I wouldn’t find out until a couple months before they filmed it. I barely knew where the movie I was in was going, to a degree, until the last second. It was such a secretive thing. I read a script, but it was under lock and key. Once I was going to screen-test for the role, I came in and I was kind of sealed into a room with this guy standing there, the script keeper guy, who waited until I finished the script. It was intense.

TAFs INTERVIEWS NICK, OUR FUTURE LEADER!

TAFs INTERVIEWS NICK, OUR FUTURE LEADER!
Pull up a chair with TAFs and Nick Stahl!
Reported By: Randy Jennings
Thursday, June 26, 2002

TheArnoldFans.com sat down with T3: Rise of the Machine’s star Nick Stahl just the other day to learn more about mankind’s great military leader! Nick, sitting just a couple of feet away from me and wearing a white dress shirt and a scruffy beard, was ready for my questions.

TheArnoldfans: Nick, now that the film is finished, how are you liking all the tours, press junkets, Cannes and video game parties that goes into promoting such a big film?

Nick Stahl: It’s pretty fun, you know. I mean, I’ve never even done this part of the job as well I guess. I was always more comfortable with just the acting but this is like a whole new world, the publicity stuff. I’ve done junkets but nothing like this. You get to go to Cannes and lounge on a yacht (smiling) so you don’t have much grounds to be complaining.

TAFs: And the video game party? Did you kick Arnold’s butt with the game?

N.S.:I was a bit of an athlete on the video gaming circuit. I took to it pretty quick. Yeah, it was fun! I’m a video game fan so I like that stuff.

Later, I questioned Nick on his experience on the indoor filming of the future war scene and asked if he was able to keep his battle scare. Although he did not get to bring it home, we did learn he was appalled to see the Academy Award winner Jeff Dawn’s old man make-up on his face. It really freaked him out to see how he may really look one day.

Maybe he wasn’t able to make it off the set with his scare but he did keep one memento.

N.S.:One of the gifts that Jonathan gave me when we left was the C4 (explosive prop) that I am carrying around towards the end (of the film). So, I was taking a trip to Atlanta and obviously I knew it was fake. It’s some clay with a timer on it. But I threw it in my travel bag and I was going to take it to my nephew but just as I was walking out the door, it took me that long to realize, ‘hey, do I have a block of C4 in my bag?’ Is that what they’re going to see? So I didn’t take it with me and it’s still in my apartment.

TAFs: Have you always been an Arnold fans and what are your favorite movies of his?

N.S.: Yeah, I’ve always liked Arnold. I’m a Conan fan. I like me some Conan. (smiles proudly).

TAFs: So on the set, were you pushing for him to play the role again in King Conan: Crown of Iron?

N.S.: (Nods) I kind of mentioned it to him. I said ‘Arnold, that would be cool if you could hook me up with some more Conan’ but I think he has other elements to contend with. You know, I don’t think ME wanting him to do it would necessarily be the breaking point. But Maybe.

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines Interview – Nick Stahl

BBC.co.uk
Interviewed by David Michael

Since being picked out by Mel Gibson over thousands of other boys for a role in “The Man Without a Face”, Nick Stahl has put together an impressive and diverse CV. His films include “The Thin Red Line”, “Bully”, and “In the Bedroom”. Now he takes over from Edward Furlong to play potential saviour John Connor in “T3″.

What was your impression of the first two movies?

I was a huge fan of the second movie; I saw it about six times as a kid. I was a bit young when the first one came out.

Did you audition for the role, as you were replacing Ed Furlong?

I did. It was actually quite extensive. I had maybe five or six lengthy sessions working the scenes, which was pretty exhausting.

Do you know when you’re doing it, who you’re up against?

I knew there was me and like two other guys.

Who were the other guys?

Er… Shane West and Jake Gyllenhaal.

What were your first impressions of doing the film and Arnold?

Initially I was pretty intimidated by the scale of the whole movie, but also him, and just being part of this larger than life world. I’ve never done anything a fraction the size of this scale. [Arnold] very much puts you at ease, because he’s very calm with his work. He’s a very hard worker but at the same time doesn’t seem to take it too seriously. It was such a long shoot, it was pretty imperative that we had some laughs to get us through it.

You’ve just taken up golf. Did you play with Arnold, because he’s a good golfer?

I can barely hit a ball, so I held off. He’s also a big chess player and he loves to play chess on set. He said we should play, because I play a bit, but I was a bit scared to play him. So I never did.

Did Arnold encourage you to get on the weights?

He had this 20ft gym trailer, and he said I could use it any time. He invited me in, but after one look at all this gym equipment, I declined and went outside for a cigarette.

The man behind the menace

The man behind the menace
Actor Nick Stahl looks for the good side of his sexually confused character in Bully

By Bruce C. Steele
The Advocate July 2001

Based on the book by Jim Schutze, the film Bully casts actor Nick Stahl as Bobby Kent, a real-life suburban Florida bully with a fascination for gay bars and gay pornographyand possibly an unrequited attraction to his best friend, Marty, who bore the brunt of his violence. Bobby is the latest in 21-year-old Stahls impressive, ever-growing résumé of “confused youth” roles, which also includes parts in the teen thriller Disturbing Behavior (1998), the much-buzzed-about upcoming indie drama In the Bedroom, and the latest from iconoclastic gay director Christopher Münch, The Sleepy Time Gal.

Himself a son of suburbia (outside Dallas), Stahl sat down with The Advocate to talk about playing Bobby”more challenging than any role Ive done,” he saysand about the harsh realities of growing up in a place where conformity is the one rule kids dare not break.

How much research did you do into the actual incident?
Stahl: As much as I could. I read the book, and right when I got into Florida, my driverthe guy who was picking me uphe took me around this area that it happened. He went to high school with the actual guy [that I play in the movie, Bobby Kent]. So he was able to take me down to the neighborhood that he grew up in, which is remarkably generic suburban. It reminded me of where I grew up, in that they all seem to be similar, you know? It’s just outside of the cityits just a lot of strip malls and things like that. So I was able to get a visual of what the character was seeing day to day. Otherwise, I pretty much just went on my own [instincts]. It was a true account, but, of course, the dialogue was fictionalized. And so I just sort of took it upon myself to try to give some depth to the character.

Youre physically different from the real Bobby, who was first-generation Persian-American, and he was this big guy doing steroids.
Yeah, the guy was massive. He looked like Stallone or somethingjust this big blockhead, and he looked a lot older than high school. I was small for my age growing up. But I recognize that pushing other kids around and bullying is not really about physicality. Where I grew up there were kids who were much smaller who would push around big guys. Its really psychological. I mean, the character to me was really about fronts, you knowthats why it was such a challenge for me. There was just this really broad front to him.

By that you mean how he presented himself, how he wanted other people to perceive him?
Oh, yeah. Everythingthe way he moved and the way he talked to kids and to peers and to girls, and everything. And then hes got this side of him when he was with his family, with his fatherwho was a pretty strict disciplinarian had him taking piano lessons, you know? So there were two pretty polar opposite sides to him.

What was the casting process? How did director Larry Clark and you get together and decide that you could reinterpret this character in the way that you do?
I expressed my interest [in playing the role], and then I guess I read for it after that, like, maybe a week later. I just say “hats off” to [Clark] for giving me the opportunity, because I think it took a lot of imagination on his part. It was pretty bold of him not to go the stereotypical route. I guess he recognized that it was more psychological bullying. That gave me some security going into the movie that I would have some freedom to do what I wanted to do.

The very first shot of the movie is Brad Renfrowho plays Martydoing gay phone sex for money, which is something that Bobby has set up. Whats going on there?
There were a lot of different things going on with these two kids: Theyre best friends, they grew up together, and in the actual account in the book, kids who knew them talked about this strange sort of sexual tensiona kind of ambiguous sexualityto their relationship. And one thing in this part of the country that really separated it from where I grew upor at least what I saw growing upwas, theres a real hustling aspect to the kids in these suburbs. Like, Marty and Bobby had this kind of hustle set up in gay clubs, where they would go and Bobby would make Marty get onstage and dance, and guys would pay to see him dance. And the phone sex. And also the girls in the movie, Bijou Phillips’s character, you know, was busted in real life for this teen prostitution ringthere was this sort of white-collar pimp who had these young girls and palmed them off for money.

Bobby mentions that in the movie, but you dont really know whether hes just making it up or if its true.
Right. Apparently it was true. But I think [his saying] that also goes hand in hand with his [need to maintain his] superiority over Marty and him trying to secure his place socially in making Marty do these things.

Theres a lot of watching going onBobby likes to watch. In that first scene when they pick up the girls and Marty’s having sex in the back seat and Bobby’s getting a blow job, Bobby really looks like hes more interested in whats going on with Marty in the back seat than he is in whats going on in his own lap.
That was actually shot [to show that Bobby was] looking at Marty. The way they have it edited, it looks like Im looking at [Martys girl Lisa] in the eyes, at [actress] Rachel [Miner].

Oh, its pretty clear that hes watching what Martys doing.
Hes a real voyeur, I guess, in that way.

It’s also interesting later that that scene is repeated in flashback when Lisa has decided that she needs to kill Bobby. Shes thinking to herself, and in the movie they show that shot from her point of her viewBobby watching her and Marty have sex. That really underlined for me the point that Lisa feels like she needs to get rid of Bobby not just because Bobbys a bully but because hes competition with Marty, and Marty will not give her his full attention as long as Bobbys around.
Right.

Bobby and Marty aren’t having sex, but its like a love triangle. Like Bobby is the competition.
There is that, yeah. I mean, she was a girl who was just really unhappy just growing up there. And it is sort of a competition. She also sort of projects a lot of her problems onto [Bobby]. He was a mean guy to Marty, but I think her own problemsthe competition [for Martys affections] and her own sort of family problems and all that stuffwere just as much of a factor for her wanting him killed as it was caring for Martyif not more so.

Bobby plays into that triangle thing too. In a scene where Marty’s sitting outside the shop that Bobby has opened, where Marty gets a job, theres a skater girl who comes by, and Marty tries to pick her up. And Bobby comes out and screws it up for him by telling the skater girl about Martys relationship with Lisa.
Right.

And its certainly not out of Bobbys loathing for Lisaor his trying to protect Lisa and Martys relationship. Its about Bobbys trying to control Marty.
Exactly.

Bobby doesnt like to see Marty with someone elseunless he can watch or join in. Hes jealous.
Oh, yeah, for sure. I think when youre that age and you have all these problems, you look at other kids and for some reason, other kids seem to have it figured out and you dont. I think that every kids got problems and, you know, no one has it figured out. Thats kind of the illusionthat someone else might have a step up on you. But, yeah, he wanted to control, really, every aspect of Martys life.

I think hes got some real sexual questions, and hes really insecure about it, and it makes him react stronger and angrier. He does have some real issues with Marty and maybe with other guys. I think theres a part of him that enjoys going to the gay clubs, and thats what hes really trying to push down and cover up.

So why does Bobby wash his hands all the time?
Well, hes got some real obsessive qualities, you know? That was just one more aspect to his real obsession with facade and image. All of suppression kind of just comes out in that way.

What do you think is going on with his father? That hes trying to please his father and thats one of his issues?
Definitely. His dad has a real influence over him. Bobbys dad was actually Middle Eastern, so there was some of that cultural influencea real family bond and pressures to succeed and live up to [expectations].

Something thats not even in the movie that kids have to deal with are religious pressures. And that would probably be something that was true to real-life Bobby, since his family was Muslim…
Right.

…living in Hollywood, Fla. Gotta be hard to follow religious tenets in that situation.
Yeah. His father almost had Bobbys life mapped out for him. And that was also interesting to me, was that Bobby on the outside was a very together kid: he had straight As in school; he was pretty much at the top of his class. That was definitely a lot of added pressure.

Of all the kids in the movie, Bobby is really the one who has it together, despite his behavior toward his friends. He does his homework, starts a business, and all the other kids just have sex and do drugsand plot to kill Bobby.
Yeah, its a real strange paradox. Thats what I was hoping would come across, because by the end Bobby seems almost like the better kid, you know?

Larry Clark thrives on that kind of moral ambiguity. Not so Mel Gibson, who goes more for the black-and-white. At what point did you find out that Gibson had removed the gay content from the book on which your first movie, The Man Without a Face, was based? You were only 12 when you shot that film.
I dont knowmaybe a few years after I did the movie. Id heard stories, and then I started to sort of piece certain things together about [Mel], you know? I was completely ignorant to it at the timewhich I think was good, I guess. Not that it wouldve have made a huge difference at the age of 12. But it was strange to find out.

Replacement Part

Meet ”Terminator 3”’s hot new star. For next summer’s certain blockbuster, Nick Stahl steps into Eddie Furlong’s shoes as John Connor

Entertainment Weekly
By Liane Bonin
April 20, 2002

In the Academy Award-nominated ”In the Bedroom,” Nick Stahl played a son who gets blown away by a bloodthirsty bully. Luckily, his character in ”Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines” can turn to assassin cyborgs for protection. As John Connor (played by Edward Furlong in 1991’s ”T2”), Stahl joins Arnold Schwarzenegger for what’s likely to be next summer’s box office annihilator (the movie opens July 4, 2003). EW.com talked to Stahl, 22, about getting in shape for Ah-nuld and outgrowing his first director, Mel Gibson.

Is this the kind of role that demands abs of steel?
I’m not quite there yet, but for the first few weeks of filming I have very few scenes, so that buys me some time to get in better shape. I like physical roles like this since I need excuses to work out; I haven’t the willpower to do it on my own.

Has training forced you to cut out all bad habits?
Not really. After working out, there’s nothing like a cigarette. And I figure that your body just works that much harder if you have the lungs of a 4-year-old.

Everyone from Edward Norton to Shane West was rumored to be up for this role. How tough was the audition process?
I auditioned about five times, and there were three screen tests, which is more than I’ve done for any movie. But the director, Jonathan Mostow [''U-571''] is a pretty thorough guy — probably because everyone knows there’s going to be constant comparisons to the first two films.

Did they let you read the top-secret script before you auditioned?
The first time I did a screen test, I had to come to them, go into a room, and sign all these documents before I could even look at it. And they only let me read the first two acts. Don’t ask me anything about it, because if I tell you, someone will come to my house and kill me.

How difficult was it stepping into a role created by another actor?
I haven’t talked to Edward Furlong. The fact is, it’s been 10 years since the last movie, and people change, so it’s like creating a new character. I think audiences love these movies so much they’ll give me the benefit of the doubt.

What was it like meeting Schwarzenegger? Were you tempted to imitate him?
When you meet him you realize just how bad all those imitations are; no one else can really do him. I had these nightmares that he’d be a vicious anti-smoker and he’d throw me into the gym and scream at me, but he’s very nice and incredibly humble. He has a gym in an 18-wheeler that follows him wherever he goes, and he said I could use it. I may take him up on that.

You made your feature debut as the little boy in ”Man Without A Face.” Do you ever see your costar/director Mel Gibson?
It’s not like we go to bars and hang out. I saw him at an after-party not long ago, and it was great to see him. But it was weird — I’m actually taller than he is now.

Nick Stahl Talks About “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines”

ABOUT.COM – JUNE, 2003

By Rebecca Murray
Source: About.com

Stepping into a role created by another actor is never an easy task. In “Terminator 3,” Nick Stahl fills the role Edward Furlong occupied in “T2.” Questions about the casting change are inevitable but one look at Nick Stahl’s performance in the critically acclaimed relationship drama, “In the Bedroom,” put aside any doubts the filmmakers had about his ability to express Connor’s internal battle.

“Connor is very preoccupied with the existential dilemma in which he finds himself, so I needed an actor who could convey all that pathos, that emotion, that gravitas. It’s difficult to find an actor who is 22 or 23 years old, and yet feels in some sense they’re carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders. That’s what I thought was so compelling about Nick Stahl. He gives you that sense,” explains director Jonathan Mostow.

NICK STAHL (’John Connor’)

What is one little tidbit or surprise about your character that you can give away, without giving away too much?
I would say that John Connor is a little bit more hardened by his experiences and he’s a little more cynical now. So he’s coming from a different place than he did in the second movie. When he was a kid, the world was a little more wide open and now he’s a little more grounded and a little more closer to reality.

Did you ever meet with Edward Furlong?
I actually never did. I watched the second movie a lot – and the first movie for that matter – but I think he did a great job with the role in the second movie. I didn’t nessarily emulate but certain qualities you naturally pick up from a performance.

Are you feeling any pressure?
Tonight I’m just trying to have fun. I’m trying to rub the pressure off a bit. This is exhilarating, you know? I didn’t expect this big of an event. Now I just want to have fun and see the movie and see the crowd’s reaction. It’s going to be fun.

Have you seen the movie yet?
I have actually seen it once but not with a crowd. I want to see it with a whole crowd.

What’s happening with your movie, “Bookies?”
I don’t know. I know it went to Sundance Film Festival and hopefully it will be distributed. I don’t know but we’ll see.

JoBlo Interviews Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines star Nick Stahl

JOBLO.COM – JULY 1, 2003

One of the fresh faces appearing in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines is Nick Stahl, veteran of such acclaimed films as In the Bedroom and The Thin Red Line.

With Edward Furlong officially entering into the drug-addled, self-destructive phase of his E! True Hollywood Story, understandably skittish producers booted the troubled child actor from the project and offered the role to Stahl. Seeing Stahl in the role of John Connor is a little odd at first, but the feeling fades quickly. It’s kind of like when your favorite rock band changes bass players – it’s not nearly as big a deal as one would think.Joblo.com interviews Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines star Nick Stahl

One of the fresh faces appearing in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines is Nick Stahl, veteran of such acclaimed films as In the Bedroom and The Thin Red Line.

With Edward Furlong officially entering into the drug-addled, self-destructive phase of his E! True Hollywood Story, understandably skittish producers booted the troubled child actor from the project and offered the role to Stahl. Seeing Stahl in the role of John Connor is a little odd at first, but the feeling fades quickly. It’s kind of like when your favorite rock band changes bass players – it’s not nearly as big a deal as one would think.

Stahl, looking a little bit like a rock star himself (unshaven, mussed-up hair, untucked shirt), talked about stepping into the blockbuster Terminator franchise.

Do you consider yourself more of an “In the Bedroom” or more of a “T-3” actor?
I always respond to good material, good roles and stories. I can see the importance of doing a movie that’s a little bigger, that more people will see, just to create more opportunities.
But that was the furthest thing from my mind. It’s not that I didn’t want to do a blockbuster, but I just always was cast in smaller movies. More people will see this than any other movie I’ve done, by far. That’s a positive thing, I guess.

Were you a fan of the Terminator movies?
I was. Mostly the second movie, because I was really young when the first one came out. I watched the first one once I was cast in this. But I loved the second one – I saw it multiple times.

Can you talk about meeting Arnold?
I met him when we started rehearsing for the movie. I quickly discovered that he likes to sort of give you a hard time. That’s his sense of humor. He said, “You know, I saw your audition tape.” I was all nervous, and he said, “It was…all right.” (Laughs)

That’s sort of his sensibility. But it was great. He has a really strong work ethic. It was evident that he really wanted to make this movie as good as possible, so he really wanted to collaborate with the director and worked really hard.
That was definitely something refreshing to see, from someone of his stature.

What’s it like stepping into a movie franchise that you were such a big fan of when you were a kid?
I didn’t know what to expect from it. There was some initial pressure I felt, I guess, just because the role had been done before. I know that there were a lot of fans that wanted to see that again, to see that formula repeated. But I realized that I really couldn’t think about that and I had a responsibility to make it my own.

This was a pretty intense role, from a physical standpoint.
Yeah. I’ve done physical roles before, but not as physical throughout as this one is. There’s such a furious pace throughout the movie – we never stop running. There were times in the movie when I felt like my role consisted of looking over my shoulder and saying, “Come on!” And Claire’s role consisted of saying, “Oh my God!” (Laughs).

I also did some weapons training for the film. It was as if I got to do everything I wanted to do as a kid. I got to learn to ride a motorcycle, too, which is something I’d wanted to do anyway.

But it really doesn’t matter how much you work out – you still have to face Arnold each day.
Right. It’s definitely an uphill battle. Arnold has a gym housed in this huge truck – an 18 wheeler that followed us around wherever we went. He told me I could use it whenever I wanted to, but I never did. I was a little freaked out by the notion, I guess, but I looked inside a few times. It’s a nice setup.

What was the audition process like?
When I found out they were doing the movie, they didn’t have a script or anything. But they did say they were going to focus more on John Connor as a protagonist. I felt like it was an interesting idea, to explore what he’s like 10 years later. The one thing that struck me with the second film was that, despite the fact that it is a commercial movie with all this action, there was a really strong story. That really intrigued me.
I knew I wasn’t really an action star or whatever, but if it’s a good role, then maybe I’ll have a shot.

So I went in for the first audition, which led to five or more auditions and two or three screen tests. It was pretty intense – each time it was one or two hours, really hatching it out.

Was Arnold involved at any point in the audition process?

No. There was just a couple of readers who tried to do Arnold. It was like two or three USC students reading opposite me. And they could not help doing at least a mild impression of him. But I didn’t meet him until rehearsals started.

When did you get to see the script?
I didn’t get to read it until after I got the role. I went to an office and had to go into this room, where some guy was standing there. I think he was the “script-keeper” or something. It was very much under wraps. I sat in the room – I felt like I was sealed into a vault – and read it. But I couldn’t take it with me.

Are you signed on to do a sequel?
Yeah I am. But, it’s all speculative, I guess – depending on the success of this movie.

AZ Central Interview: Nick Stahl ‘Quid Pro Quo’

AZ CENTRAL – JUNE 18, 2008

In 1984, at the age of 4, Nick Stahl realized he wanted to act. In 1993, the native Texan got his big break, playing a fatherless boy opposite Mel Gibson in “The Man Without a Face.” Another opportunity came in 2003 with the role of John Connor in “Terminator 3: The Rise of The Machines.” Following that, Stahl moved to the small screen with a lead role on HBO’s “Carnivale.”|In 1984, at the age of 4, Nick Stahl realized he wanted to act. In 1993, the native Texan got his big break, playing a fatherless boy opposite Mel Gibson in “The Man Without a Face.” Another opportunity came in 2003 with the role of John Connor in “Terminator 3: The Rise of The Machines.” Following that, Stahl moved to the small screen with a lead role on HBO’s “Carnivale.”

His latest film is a psychological thriller called “Quid Pro Quo,” in which he plays Isaac Knott, a paralyzed public radio reporter who receives a news tip that takes him on a journey into an unusual New York subculture.

Sitting in a comfortable chair in his public relations firm’s conference room, Stahl talks about why he chose to do “Quid Pro Quo,” his take on “Carnivale” and his future with the “Terminator” franchise.

Q: Tell me more about Isaac Knott. What drew you to work on this film?

A: I just thought it was really unusual and unique, and I’d never read anything like it. The character was very complex, and it just looked like a real challenge as an actor to take on. It’s such a unique story with a lot of plot twists, and the dialogue was great.

Q: Did you go through any process of dealing with the character’s physical disabilities?

A: Yeah. I went around New York in the wheelchair and tried to manage that and to get comfortable with that so I would look like I knew what I was doing and not have to think about it. That was something concrete to focus on – the physicality of it.

Q: Just being in New York must be hard for a physically disabled person. Was it really hard to be in a wheelchair?

A: Yeah, it’s very hard. It’s harder than what I had imagined. First of all, you don’t realize that the city is on a slant, so your arms are pretty much dead when you get to the end of a certain block. And going uphill and curves are a challenge. I only had two weeks to do as much as I could with the wheelchair.

Q: With your character trying to figure out why another character wants to be disabled – what is called a “wannabe” – didn’t that make you wonder why someone would want to be that way?

A: Sure. Psychological disorders. It’s very real. I saw a documentary about “wannabes,” people who want to be amputees or paralyzed. It’s a very real subculture of people, and I think it just kind of falls in line with sort of odd psychological disorders that are different from everyone.

Q: Do you think Isaac had some psychological disabilities?

A: Of course. I think the whole idea of being paralyzed is a great metaphor for trauma and psychological trauma that you suffer at a younger age. I think most people I’ve met have that to some degree. Life is suffering. Dramatic events happen to you as a kid and it stays with you.

Q: How was it for you, going from kid actor to adult actor and taking on all these serious roles?

A: It’s something that I feel lucky that I’m getting better at. I really do feel that with each project I do, I get more dedicated to acting. I feel that I learn things from every film that I do. People ask me a lot, “Why do you do a lot of dark-themed films and heavy drama?” The truth is, these were the films that were available to me, and when someone sees you doing darker movies, those are the movies that come your way. I would love to do a variety of things. I would love to do comedy, more commercial movies, and I think I will.

Q: Has anything come up in line with the “Terminator” franchise?

A: No. No. They’re doing a fourth one. They’re sort of retooling the franchise so John Connor is older, and there is a new director, so I think they are reconceptualizing it.

Q: Do you keep in contact with Arnold Schwarzenegger?

A: Ha. No. We don’t text message or anything.

Q: Why do you think “Carnivale” ended?

A: It ended because there weren’t enough people watching it. It’s pretty simple and comes down to not enough people watching versus the amount of money they spend on each episode. I would say more people come up to me about that than anything else. It was on a premium channel, which narrowed the field of viewers off the bat. It never had the numbers that they wanted. But the fans that it had were very hard-core and loyal fans that loved it. It kept us going for two seasons.

Q: You mentioned you wanted to do more comedy – slapstick or verbal jokes?

A: “Three’s Company: The Movie.”

Q: Playing Jack?

A: Chrissy.

Q: I see the resemblance.

A: Ha. Ha. Mr. Furley. I like all kinds of comedies. I would say I am more attracted to the quirky type of stuff like Wes Anderson-type movies or Tim Burton things. Coen Brothers I love. Sort of the more absurdist type of things. I’m a pretty tough critic on movies in general. I like seeing all kinds of movies and usually there are redeeming qualities in every movie. But I don’t know. There are some comedies that are just intolerable and that are so stupid that I can’t drag myself to sit through. So I don’t see myself in slapstick stuff at all. I don’t think anyone else would see me in that.

Exclusive: Nick Stahl in ‘Quid Pro Quo’

PREMIERE – JUNE, 2008

Nick Stahl talks exclusively with Premiere about his new film, ‘Quid Pro Quo,’ a dark thriller that explores a shadowy subculture of disability fetishists.

By Karl Rozemeyer

What is that makes a sexy, able-bodied blonde bombshell not only a devotee of paraplegic men but also determined to live out her own life in a wheelchair? This is just one of the many puzzling questions explored in the thriller Quid Pro Quo, which stars Nick Stahl as Isaac, a semi-paralyzed journalist, and Vera Farmiga as Fiona, a beautiful wheelchair wannabe with a thing for leg braces and corsets.

An anonymous tip from someone who calls herself Ancient Chinese Girl leads Isaac into a subculture of people who seek various forms of amputation and/or paralysis at any cost. In the course of his investigation, Isaac meets Fiona and finds himself lured into her strange world, perhaps aware that a deeply buried truth about his past is inexplicably connected to her dark desires.

Nick Stahl (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Sin City, The Thin Red Line) chats exclusively with Premiere about the subculture of disability fetishists, the psychological and physical challenges of playing someone in a wheelchair, and acting opposite the red-hot Vera Farmiga.

PLEASE NOTE: THIS INTERVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS.

PREMIERE: The film explores a subculture I didn’t know very much about before the film.
I didn’t either, until we started. I had heard of them because there was [a] documentary about these people that want to be amputees or paralyzed, and so I knew it existed.

Did you do any research about voluntary amputees or wheelchair users first? The film explores the different types of fetishists: devotees, pretenders, wannabes, and then Vera’s character puts herself in a totally different category.
Yeah. I didn’t do as much research into that as probably Vera did, because I’m the guy who doesn’t know [about] it in the movie. I didn’t need to do that kind of research. The research I did for the movie was kind of being in a wheelchair and all that stuff, getting used to the wheelchair. Because I was sort of the detective in the movie, I was kind of finding out all this stuff as I went along, and so I really didn’t want to do the research to learn about all that stuff.

So, was it more about the physicality of the role?
Yeah. Well yes, that was a big factor, psychologically too, just — which is what I do pretty much for every movie I do, just to get a solid idea for where the character is coming from, and the character’s background, history, what they want in life and things like that.

Did you spend a lot of time in a wheelchair before going on set?
I did. I had a couple weeks. I didn’t have too much time, but yeah, for two weeks I wheeled around Manhattan.

That couldn’t have been easy…
No, it’s not, it’s not at all. It’s exhausting. Not just the traffic of people and stuff, but it’s physically exhausting. And the streets — you think they’re flat, but they’re slanted. If you’re going down a sidewalk, and it’s slanted sideways, you’re using one arm to stay up. And then if it’s uphill, of course, that’s really hard. And then curbs and things like that, it can get difficult. I was just trying not to fall out of it because then people would have freaked out around me.

Aside from the physical aspect, can you discuss the psychological impact of being wheelchair-bound? Did you experience anything like people regarding you as “half of a man”?
I did. Yeah, you get a kind of pity. I found it common for people to look away — and maybe that’s just New York in general — not make eye contact. People seemed to shy away or not want to acknowledge you, or pretend you’re not there, because I think when they see people with disabilities it strikes fear in people, sometimes. They inevitably think, “What if that was me?” And then there were the people that were overly nice, trying to push me. And I was like, “No, that’s OK.” Or [they were] opening doors… compensating in the other direction. So it was really interesting to see those reactions, kind of get a feel, a sense, of what Isaac had been experiencing for so many years.

When did you first come across this script?
They approached me about it. This was years ago. And it was taking them a while to get off the ground, to get money. In the meantime I started doing this show for HBO [Carnivàle], so once they finally got their money to do it, I was unavailable. I couldn’t do it anymore… Years later, all the elements kind of came together, and I was available and Vera was available and they had their money and so we just did it.

So did you and Vera spend much time together in order to get that intense chemistry?
Yeah, we did. We got along well. We didn’t really have to, in a way… We definitely had a certain rapport, I think, friendship and similar sensibilities in some ways. So yeah, I was really thrilled to work with such a dedicated professional actress.

The introduction of the magic shoes later on in the movie introduces an element of fantasy, and then Vera’s character suggests that perhaps Isaac suffers from hysterical paralysis. What’s your take on his sudden ability to walk?
I think it was just something that he had suppressed, and the pain that he still had about his parents and his life was preventing him from coming to terms with it. It’s about growing up maybe in a way, his evolution. And I knew that that can occur: hysterical paralysis… Your mind is very powerful, and [if] you’re told that you’re never going to walk again, you kind of give up hope and your mind doesn’t allow for you to ever walk again. But really you might have that ability again, you don’t know. So I just thought that whole idea was really interesting.

And your take on Vera’s character, her desire to be paralyzed and lose the ability to walk?
Well, to me, I always saw her character as just racked with so much pain and guilt over what she had done to this family that she felt like she deserved it.

And that’s where the wires between guilt and sexuality and all sorts of other aspects begin to entangle?
Yeah, yeah. Exactly.

Nick Stahl Makes His Move

PARADE – JUNE 10, 2008

Nick Stahl got his big break at 14, when he was handpicked by Mel Gibson to co-star in Man Without a Face. Even with all the attention he got, Stahl’s career didn’t exactly take off despite films like Larry Clark’s Bully and The Thin Red Line. It seemed Stahl was getting a second chance at stardom when he scored the coveted role of John Connor in Terminator 3.

Now, after co-starring in HBO’s Carnivale, Stahl is being seen in a pair of strong performances in low-budget indies: Sleepwalking, produced by Charlize Theron and now Quid Pro Quo, in which he plays a radio reporter confined to a wheelchair who discovers a bizarre group of fetishists afflicted with a desire to become disabled.

It may not be his shot at the big time, but Stahl proves once again he’s honing his talent with every big screen appearance he makes.

Did you actually get in a wheel chair off the set?

“I went around New York in one just to try to get used to it physically and also gauge people’s reactions. I felt like there were two main types—people that really avoided eye contact with you or ones that were overly helpful almost to the point of sometimes being annoying. I was going up uphill and some stranger started pushing me without asking me if I wanted help or even saying hello. It was really bizarre.”

Did people recognize you?

“It only happened a couple times mainly I think because people just didn’t want to look at me in a wheelchair. I think it scared them and made them really uncomfortable. But it wasn’t as bad as someone looking at you with pity. In just the brief time I was in the wheelchair I got feelings of isolation. I can’t imagine what it would be like to confined there for a lifetime.”

How do you feel about getting great reviews and still being somewhat on the fringe?

“I’ve been lucky to be able to do some intriguing movies like this. I’ve had to do a lot of movies for money as well because I was broke, and some of them weren’t my favorites. I certainly thought that after Terminator 3 that I would be doing more commercial movies. And that wasn’t the case. There weren’t a bunch of big movies that came knocking on my door.”

You’ve delivered some very intense performances in dark roles. Does that affect you?

“I’ve learned to make a real conscious effort to separate it from my personal life, which is hard to do sometimes. I obsess. I’m a perfectionist. If I don’t do a scene right, it keeps me up at night. But in a way, I’m glad that I have that because it makes me want to be better.”

Any memories of working with Arnold Schwarzenegger on Terminator 3?

“He’s a big chess player and he loved to play chess on set. He kept trying to get me into a game because I play a bit as well. But I was kind of scared to play him. He had in his trailer a board that had his name on one side and whoever his competition was on the other side. And it was all these slashes for wins. His side was filled completely and there was like two marks on the other side. So I held off on that.”