Hitcher, The : Zachary Knighton Interview


In The Hitcher, 28-year-old Virginia native, Zach Knighton, marks his first major film role. As Jim Halsey, Knighton plays a college student who gets more than he bargained for when he comes to the aid of a mysterious stranger (Sean Bean) in the New Mexico desert. An action packed battleground of blood and metal, The Hitcher is a reworking of 1986 cult-classic, produced by Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes productions (The Texas Chain Saw Massacre; The Amityville Horror) and co-stars One Tree Hill’s Sophia Bush. Knighton talked about his breakthrough role at The Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles.

CONGRATULATIONS ON THE HITCHER… IT’S A BIG FILM FOR YOU…
Thank you…. Yeah, it’s pretty big... I guess it is big…

ESPECIALLY, I NOTICED, ON YOUR MY SPACE PAGE…
Well, a lot of my friends have been really supportive. But also a lot of fans of horror films. And, I guess, a lot of girls. A lot of girls have been trying to contact me, too!

DO YOU ANSWER THEM?
They’ve just been doing ‘the friend’ request. But I feel weird about the whole My Space thing in general. It’s just strange to meet people on My Space. For me, I need to physically be around somebody. But yeah… It’s cool. Hopefully it means these people are coming to the movie and it’s a good sign of the press that’s been generated.

PEREZ HILTON HAS EVEN PUT YOU ON HIS INFAMOUS CELEBRITY WEBSITE. BUT HE WASN’T SURE IF YOU WERE ‘HOT OR NOT’...
No, no – he said, “I’m hot”. I’m his new boyfriend!

ARE YOU SINGLE?
I am single, yes. And I feel honored by the inclusion on the website. The truth is I’m not really part of the Hollywood machine, at all. I live in Venice. I surf. And I stay out of Hollywood as much as possible. It’s my business. But I don’t subscribe to the party scene. I lived in New York for five years and I feel like I got it out of my system. Now I just want to work and live quietly. I pretty much stay out of the public eye.

HOW DID YOU GET YOUR START?
I’m from Virginia Beach. I was always that kid who was entertaining people and stuff. I got serious about it in high school. From there I went to college, Virginia Commonwealth University. Then I studied classical theatre overseas at Oxford. After Oxford, I went back and finished my last year of undergrad. I won this collegiate theatre award for a performance of Peter Shaffer’s Equus. That was a big launching pad for me. It got me an agent in New York and I started working there, doing theatre, television and film. From there, I came to LA about two years ago.

NO FAMILY CONNECTIONS?
I’m the only one in my family in the film business. My sister is going to school in Virginia, right now. My dad is a telephone man – he climbs the poles and repairs the lines and stuff. My mom is an accountant. It’s good, though. It makes me feel like I’ve earned it for myself.

I’VE HEARD YOU’RE AFRAID OF HEIGHTS – TRUE?
Yes, I am (laughs).

SO YOU REALLY DIDN’T GET ANYTHING FROM YOUR PARENTS AT ALL?
Basically, no (laughs)! And I hate math, so…

WHAT ELSE DO YOU FEAR?
Heights… And failure, like anybody… And, of course, like any surfer, sharks.

HOW DID YOU GET CAST IN THE HITCHER?
I was up for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning. I met those guys back then, but I ended up taking a trip to Central America instead. So I couldn’t do the movie. Still, we knew that we wanted to work together one day. So when this came around, I was like, “This is mine. I’m going to get it.” That’s how we developed our relationship.

YOU DIDN’T HAVE TO AUDITION?
I actually auditioned six times for it! I came in. They thought I should lose a little weight… So, it was about 15lbs, total, by the end. I lost 12lbs in one week. In five days.

HOW DID YOU DO THAT?
It was really hard (laughs). I’d wake up. Surf. Workout for three hours… I ate very healthy. No drinking. And then I would work out at night for three more hours. Basically, six hours of cardio a day.

WHY DID THEY WANT YOU TO LOSE THE WEIGHT?
It was more that I wanted them to know that I wanted the part. So I was coming in, looking different and looking healthier each time. It’s not that I was overweight. I just looked better and better and tried to be more appealing to them in knowing what it is you have to look like to be in a movie. Why six auditions? I’m not sure. But I think it came down to the fact that they liked me and the studio wanted someone famous. Ultimately it was just decided that I was the one who was right for the part.

DID YOU REALLY SHOW UP FOR THE AUDITION ON A MOTORCYCLE?
Everyone keeps talking about that! I didn’t really intend for them to see me on it, but I guess they just saw me… All I had at the time was that motorcycle - until I got this movie.

WHAT CAR DID YOU BUY?
A 1959, Chevy Pickup.

WHY DIDN’T YOU KEEP THE 1979 OLDS FROM THE FILM?
Well, I could have kept it... But I really didn’t want to drive around in a car I drive around in on screen. “Look, there’s the guy from that movie!”

WERE YOU A FAN OF THE ORIGINAL FILM?
Yeah, it’s one of my favorite movies of all time, actually. It was the first horror film I ever saw. I watched it with some friends when I was 7 or 8. And it was awesome. It was that moment in my life where it introduced me to the whole genre. Ever since then, I’ve just loved horror films. It’s like comfort food for me. Some people like macaroni & cheese. I like horror films. And I like this film. It’s a fun movie. There is a great little dynamic between the three of us. A fun thrill ride and very entertaining. I hope!

WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST SURPRISE IN MAKING IT?
Seeing it all come together. You have a version in your head of your performance or how a scene was or should be and it’s different when you see it put together. I guess that’s the only surprising thing about making the movie.

WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE?
My first scene with Sean Bean. The first scene that we shot was the first scene you see us in on screen, in the car – when I’m trying to figure out who he is, making small talk. That was his very first day on the set as well. It was good that we shot it then. I didn’t know him. So it was perfect. And I was nervous. Up until that point, shooting the movie, I had been doing the cutsie driving scenes with Sophia. Suddenly I was doing my first big dramatic scene with Sean. I felt I had to prove myself to him, to everyone and to myself.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TWO VERSIONS?
In the original, it’s one man versus The Hitcher. He meets a girl along the way. Half-way through the movie, she goes up on ‘the stretcher’. In our version, it’s different. We split that main character into two characters – we have a couple now. And I think that creates an interesting dynamic. There’s also this eerie, quiet mood to the original. I think our version is more of a thrill packed version of the same story.

HAVE YOU BEEN GETTING MORE WORK OFFERS AS A RESULT?
It has definitely put me out there in the public eye. But whether it’s going to lead to more work, I don’t know yet. The word of mouth seems to be spreading, though.

HOW DID YOU CELEBRATE WHEN YOU HEARD YOU WERE CAST?
I took a little trip to visit some friends up in San Francisco. But once I got there, I just tried to mentally prepare and get ready. It came at a very good time in my life. I was beginning to question whether or not this was what I even wanted to do anymore. So it came at great time.

DID THE EXPERIENCE CHANGE YOUR OPINON ABOUT HOLLYWOOD?
Yeah. I figure I’ll stick with it a little bit longer and see what happens. I gave myself five-years in New York to do Broadway, which I did. And then I kind of told myself I’d give it five-years in LA. Let’s put it this way, if I hadn’t gotten a film like this, I probably would have stepped down. Now that I’ve done this movie, I’ll probably stick around longer…