Hirsch
Though this year's Oscars failed to recognize Emile Hirsch for his breakout performance in Sean Penn's "Into the Wild," plenty of movie lovers gave him kudos. Yet, even they were late to the party compared with those who first noticed this actor's range of diverse parts dating back to "The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys" (2002), "The Mudge Boy" (2003) and "Alpha Dog" (2006).
No matter. Hirsch makes his mark on a much wider canvas this summer in theaters, thanks to "Speed Racer," a Hollywood redux of a Japanese cartoon series. It's a potential blockbuster that combines live action and computer animation, but there are similarities to his previous movie-role picks.
"The last couple characters I've played have been very uncompromising, and that's even true of Speed," Hirsch says of the race-car driver. "He has ideas of right and wrong, and he's not willing to shift them at all."
Hirsch has nothing against films that generate big coin, but he picks projects because they resonate.
"I'm not trying to make a bigger movie or a smaller movie. With 'Into the Wild,' I just responded to it. I didn't think about the size. At the end of the day, if I like the material, I get attached to it, and that's what I want to do. 'Speed Racer' is a huge movie, but I really responded to the script and those directors," he says of Andy and Larry Wachowski.
The actor is in most respects miles from Chris McCandless, the real-life, reckless character he played in "Into the Wild," yet Hirsch also feels the allure of the unknown, expressing a desire for a career with its share of adventure.
"I don't know what kind of adventure that would be," he says. "But that's kind of the fun of it, not having a totally secure future. Not knowing what's coming next -- that's the fun of being an actor."
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