30Ninjas Trespass Exclusive Photos and On Set Interview — Cam Gigandet and the High Octane Level of Emotion » 30ninjas

30Ninjas Trespass Exclusive Photos and On Set Interview — Cam Gigandet and the High Octane Level of Emotion

Share on Facebook posted 11-22-10 by Max Tedaldi

Cam Gigandet is one busy guy! In the past three years, he’s been in 10 movies and including Trespass he’s got 4 more in the can. You’re probably familiar with at least one of Cam’s bad boy roles, be it from Never Back Down, Pandorum, The O.C. or even Twilight. But with a number of roles that tred new territory for the 28-year-old, we’re about to see a whole new side to the guy who went head to head with Robert Pattinson. I caught up with the Steve McQueen look-alike on the set of Trespass.

Cam Gigandet in a scene from Joel Schumacher’s Trespass.
Photo Credit: Alan Markfield (c) 2010 Millennium.
Scroll down for more exclusive Trespass photos.

Trespass and the High Octane Level of Emotion

Max Tedaldi: How did you get involved in this project? What where the steps leading up to you signing on?

Cam Gigandet: It started off with a meeting with Joel Schumacher and as soon as that happened I was sold. That’s all that really mattered at that point. As soon as he approved me everything else just fell into place perfectly. I knew immediately that working with Joel, as well as the entire cast, was going to be such a learning experience because these people are such legends. I knew I couldn’t pass up this opportunity. I had to do it.

MT: How about your character Jonah, can you tell me a little bit about him?

CG: Sure, my character as you said is Jonah, and it’s all very complex. Even now on day, I don’t even know what day we’re on, fortysomething, I am still trying to figure out everything and how it works. It’s all very complex. I play Elias’ (Ben Mendelsohn) younger brother. It’s me Elias, Elias’ girlfriend and this sort of babysitter. The four of us are robbing this family because they have money and diamonds, and we have other motivations, but everything kind of unfolds as time goes on. My character inserts himself into his brother’s plans of robbing this place. You find out his motives for robbing the place later.

MT: I’ve heard that you trained in Krav Maga, is that true?

CG: To say that I trained in Krav Maga is not entirely fair. I was at a Krav Maga training facility for about a year, so I don’t know if that counts, it’s far fetched. Most of my training, in terms of fighting, was when I was a kid. I trained in karate for self defense, but I always quit after a couple months of training. The most training I ever got was for a film called Never Back Down, which was 6 months of nonstop training. That movie gave me a really good, solid base to try new things and figure things out quickly.

MT: When you do a movie like Never Back Down, where your character is fighting pretty much the whole time he’s on screen, is your preparation different than a movie like Trespass where there are few action scenes and the themes of the movie are much more psychological?

CG: Yeah, something like Never Back Down, where so much of the film is based around fighting, the fact that you are fighting is telling the story. In terms of the action and any sort of stunt, it’s not really about that [fighting] aspect, it’s not really about them fighting. So you’re always trying, and this has been the most difficult thing for me, even while you’re doing those fights, to tell such a specific story. That’s the first thing that goes out the window when you’re getting pummeled, you still need to have some clarity and specifics as to what is going on in the story and where you are emotionally. It’s such a high octane level of emotion in the scene, and you need to keep in mind where the character is.

Cam Gigandet (L) and Ben Mendelsohn (R) in a scene from Joel Schumacher’s Trespass.
Photo Credit: Alan Markfield (c) 2010 Millennium.
Scroll down for more exclusive Trespass photos.

. . . So You’ve Been Pretty Busy

MT: Looking at what you’ve been working on, Easy A came out a couple months ago, Burlesque is coming out soon, Priest, The Roommate , Making Change, and of course Trespass, you’ve been really busy. You’re approaching Nicolas Cage territory with the amount of films you’re doing.

CG: Good! Yeah those are all finished. Burlesque comes out Thanksgiving weekend, it actually started screening in NY. Then Priest, which I am super excited about, comes out next May I believe. That one keeps getting pushed back because they’re doing the conversion to 3D, and they want to do it correctly, fingers crossed, it’s done well.

MT: In Priest you’re playing a vampire hunter. Was that a conscious choice to break the Twilight image?

CG: Hmmm, I don’t know. Twilight was such a separate phenomenon, so anything that came to me after that I couldn’t compare it to Twilight because it was just so different. It was really on its own playing field. I loved the idea of playing a good guy and obviously working with Paul Bettany was so great. There are so many variables that go into any role you choose and any project, so as long as there is some sort of variety in terms of the past and what I’ve done, is good enough for me. I don’t like to strategize too much.

Behind the scenes of Joel Schumacher’s Trespass.
Photo Credit: Alan Markfield (c) 2010 Millennium.
Scroll down for more exclusive Trespass photos.

Playing the Hero VS Playing the Bad-Ass

MT: Don’t do that you’ll drive yourself crazy. So, you’ve sort of established yourself with this bad boy image.

CG: Oh yeah.

MT: What’s it like playing the hero? You’re the hero in Priest correct? The sheriff?

CG: Yeah, I’d call him the learning hero, I think that is the better way to put it. Yeah, I loved that, that was the variety I was looking for. Just being a good solid guy, not being the guy with issues, being the guy who can do everything right, not being the bad-ass or the mentally unstable one was nice. He’s just a solid guy trying to do the right thing.

MT: So I just watched Pandorum the other day, and your character, without giving away too many spoilers, is mentally unstable to say the least, but you got the chance to play opposite Cung Le. I don’t know how familiar you are with his MMA background, but was there any temptation so spar with him behind the scenes?

CT: Oh good God no! I like to think that I have the balls to live not on the safer side of life, but that would be pushing it. Even when he’s just walking or standing there it’s unreal because you can tell that he knows how to fight. Even the way that he looks at you you can tell that it’s just not even going to be a challenge for him, there’s no chance, so no, I’d stay away.

MT: You won the MTV movie award for best fight scene two years in a row. Any desire to follow that up for a third?

CG: That would be a blast. I don’t know if it will be this year or next year but I’ll definitely make it a priority in the future. (laughs)

MT: Great, so what’s next for you? Do you have anything lined up?

CG: Nothing yet. It’s so difficult when you go off to work and you leave home. It’s so hard to focus on this and then, “whats your next job?” So right now I have no idea, hopefully I will know soon.

MT: Do you enjoy your time off or do you get antsy?

CG: I’m not good with time off. That’s why I worked for two years straight. Afterwards, I had 3-4 months off and I think I ruined every single room in my house or at least damaged something. I can’t actually do anything in terms of house fixing up, so my efforts to be a handy man failed completely. That was this break’s goal, and my house probably didn’t even need fixing up. There were times where I would literally paint a wall five or six different times.