In his latest film, “The Place Beyond the Pines,” actor Dane DeHaan plays Jason, a scrappy high schooler in search of clues to his past. The film, directed by Derek Cianfrance, also stars Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper and Eva Mendes.
It’s a movie DeHaan is very proud of, calling it “my kind of film.”
But while promoting “Pines,” DeHaan keeps having to field questions about his current, very high-profile project: Harry Osborn in Marc Webb’s “Amazing Spider-Man” sequel.
“That’s definitely the most popular thing I’m involved with and I understand why people are asking questions about it,” he said with a laugh. “I’m happy to do it.”
Besides “Pines” and “Spider-Man,” the actor — who previously starred in HBO’s “In Treatment” and the film “Chronicle” — also plays Lucien Carr in the coming Beat Generation film “Kill Your Darlings,” murder suspect Chris Morgan in Atom Egoyan’s film “Devil’s Knot,” and a roadie in a 3D movie about Metallica. Those three films will come out later this year or early next.
The Journal met DeHaan at a cafe near his Williamsburg home overlooking the East River, where he works out six times a week and sticks to a strict eating regimen in order to stay fit for the monthslong “Spider-Man” shoot. Below is an edited transcript of the interview.
In playing Jason, you had to get to a place where you are in a family with supportive parents, and yet you still feel a hole in the shape of your real father and his story. How did you get there?
Jason is a person that feels like there is something deep down inside of him, in his blood, that is missing. He feels out of place and also knows that the identity of his biological father is being consciously withheld from him. To Jason, that information is the key to his life. If he can find those answers, he will be free to blaze his own trail out of the place where he has never truly felt at home.
Was there ever a time when it was difficult to access?
Acting is a day to day thing. I never know when I show up to set what days are going to be easier days and what days will be harder days, that’s just the nature of the beast. So yes, of course there are times it’s difficult to access. But working with Derek, he made that process intriguing and fun. His work is about exploring. About failing. So oftentimes the most challenging scenes are the most rewarding ones. I will never learn if I don’t fail.
How does Derek’s directing style get you there differently?
It’s the most creative process I’ve ever been a part of. I’m very lucky to have had many very collaborative experiences, but with Derek, you really feel like you are creating something every day. I kind of showed up to set with an understanding of the scenes we were shooting that day, and an understanding of what had to happen in those scenes, but after that there are no rules. Three pages of dialogue can be turned into silence. A scene of silence can turn into three pages of dialogue.
“Pines” has a unique structure, one that is almost novelistic in that characters can at a certain point, just be left off while the story continues. By the end I yearned for Jason to meet his dad Luke. Did you have contact with Ryan Gosling on set?
I intentionally did not meet Ryan. He left the day I got there. I didn’t watch any of his footage. Jason has never met his father, but thinks of him as almost this mythical creature that can free him if he finds him. I have a lot of respect for Ryan. I really wanted to meet Ryan. And it wasn’t hard to look at him in almost mythical proportions at the time of the shoot, so I just let that inform my relationship that Jason had with his Father.
How about Bradley Cooper and Eva Mendes? Did you deliberately distance yourself from them?
Yes I deliberately didn’t meet Coop until we shot together. Jason hasn’t met Avery until they meet in the movie. So that one’s a no brainer for me.
I spent a lot of time with Eva. She made me watch her get a pedicure. We went bowling. She cooked us rice and beans. Family walks in the park. She’s my Mother in the film. So a Mother/Son bond had to be there. Every time I’ve seen her since we’ve had a joyful embrace and she shouts “My son!” The tension between us is dictated by the given circumstances of whatever scene we’re at in the movie. But Romina is Jason’s mom, and he loves his mom.
This time seems like the cusp before your new films come out, all in the run-up to “Spider-Man.”
Yeah, it’s definitely going to be a snowball effect. I don’t really know what to expect. I’m totally excited. It’s what I have been working towards. All of those things, just looking at it on the paper [the list of films] are things that I did for very specific reasons and I’m proud of all of them and I want the world to see them all.
Are you a little nervous about the attention to come?
I don’t know. I’ve been around plenty of people that get plenty of attention. So in a way it won’t be so foreign to me because I’ve seen it happen to other people. I’ve spent a lot of time with Shia [LaBeouf] doing “Lawless,” and just being around Dan [Radcliffe, in "Kill Your Darlings"], I understand how it can go. I’m okay with that. They’re still very capable of living their lives. They just have to be careful about it. I’m a very boring person. I don’t do anything scandalous. I’m kind of just chilling out all the time and walking around and drinking coffee, so. Maybe I’m in denial about it but I just don’t expect it to get overwhelming.
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