30 Nov 2009

 Milo Ventimiglia is still trying to be a hero. On TV, Heroes’ Peter Petrelli absorbs whatever super power he needs to save the day. In Armored, he’s only got human strength and wits to stop an armored truck heist. We met with him on the set, emerging from the overturned truck covered in movie blood and bruises, to find out what trouble he’s into this time.

Source: About.com

Milo Ventimiglia Armored Set Visit Interview

How did your character get into this current state?
Milo Ventimiglia: “You mean dirty, bloody and half-way dead? My character Officer Eckhart responds to a siren. When getting to the location, he thinks he hears the siren and the siren goes off. He gets himself shot when he does his job and pulls his weapon. He gets a shotgun blast to the gut.”

You have a fairly leading role in the film, is your character in this state the whole time?
Milo Ventimiglia: “Quite a bit. The majority of the film I’m in the back of an armored car laying, dying, wailing, crying, thinking about my own morality. He’s a mess, but this is the worst where I’m at.”

Is there extra stuff seeping from the fake bullet holes?
Milo Ventimiglia: “Oh yeah. There’s actually tubes connected to this that run down. Some of the scenes on the truck they’re pumping a lot of blood in me. This is all very dry right now. But it’s pretty wet and pretty sticky and pretty messy.”

So this is kind of your homage in Tim Roth in Reservoir Dogs?
Milo Ventimiglia: “I intentionally didn’t watch that because he was so genius in that role. It’s kind of hard to be there and witness somebody getting shot in the gut and do an honest interpretation of it. I think for me it was just understanding more the mental pain and disconnect from the physical of what you go through if you know you’re going to die, which is pretty painful and pretty tiring too.”

What was it about this project that you liked?
Milo Ventimiglia: “First of all, the actors. To be able to work with Matt Dillon, Laurence Fishburne, Jean Reno, Skeet Ulrich, Amaury Nolasco and Columbus Short, that was an initial draw of course. Then the story to tell. This kind of hopeful youth going against the desperation of guys that are kind of at the end of their rope. There’s a story to tell there. I think ultimately I’m never going to jump into anything that I don’t think there is a story to tell or a character arc to understand, so for me it was just being a part of that.”

How long does it take you to get into wardrobe and makeup?
Milo Ventimiglia: “Makeup is about an hour and wardrobe is about 15-20 minutes. If I were to take these pants off and just stand them here, they would stand on their own. They’re saturated in blood and dirt and sh-t. Not sh-t, stuff. There’s all kinds of junk in here that allows them to have a life of their own.”

Are you wearing an authentic vest?
Milo Ventimiglia: “It’s pretty thick. It’s pretty heavy, but I think adding the full gun belt and all of that stuff, it has the authenticity and feel of what these guys go through. I mean understanding that you’ve got your vest strapped to your chest and it’s going to save your life, hopefully. It’s easy when you walk around and feel like if I get shot I’ll be okay, but people also would target you to get shot. By being sheriff you put yourself in that position. I don’t know. There’s a psychology to putting on as much of the real thing as you can.”

This movie seems pretty action-intense. Does it compare to Heroes?
Milo Ventimiglia: “Yeah. We were on the Sony lot and I was walking around and I had a huge opening on my hip and side. Some guy said to me, ‘Oh you guys are shooting over here?’ I go, ‘Yeah. No, no! A different job.’ He’s like, ‘Oh, you’re not back on Heroes.’ I’m like, ‘No, no no.’ It’s the same and I treat it the same. We do a lot of stunts. There is a lot of blood on Heroes and I’m pretty comfortable with it.”

Since your character is in the back of the armored truck a lot of the time, does he befriend any of the bad guys or does he get a better understanding of why they’re doing what they are?
Milo Ventimiglia: “He does get a better sense of what they’re going through, through Columbus Short’s character. But I think ultimately Eckhart is on the opposite end of the law. Like, ‘You don’t do this. You don’t break the law. You don’t shoot people. You don’t do any of that stuff.’ So there’s never going to be a full understanding. But when it comes to a perceived bad guy possibly trying to save the life of the good guy, there’s got to be some unspoken camaraderie, regardless of being on opposite sides.”

Can you talk about working with the director Nimrod Antal?
Milo Ventimiglia: “Nimrod is great, man. He and I didn’t get a chance to meet until two days before I started so we dove in. I see what he does with the camera. I see the way that he speaks to the actors and it’s very effortless. He’s incredibly talented and encouraging with what his vision is and giving that to all of us. I’ve never felt in the dark, which is great.”

by Aniek | Category: Armored,Press Alerts