In Padraic McKinley’s The Weight, Samuel Murphy (Ethan Hawke) and a group of fellow inmates are recruited by Warden Clancy (Russell Crowe) to smuggle gold bars through the Oregon wilderness in exchange for a chance at early release. Along their treacherous journey, they’re joined by Anna (Julia Jones), on the run from her own demons and just as suited for this arduous trek as the men.
Awards Buzz spoke with Jones about her enthusiasm for the era in which this film was set and what she wanted to learn:
“I had watched Train Dreams and I had loved that, and I thought that was actually a pretty apt reference point in a lot of ways for The Weight, in terms of time period at least. But I really enjoyed that process of researching and then also getting to see what everybody else was bringing to their characters because the characters are all these snapshots of America at that time.”
She spoke to the isolating nature of filming and how that enhanced the experience:
“We were in a very remote location. We were all together. It was such an ambitious schedule. The locations were so beautiful and so difficult to get to, and as time went on, I think we all just wound up having to lean on each other in the way that the cast did and the way that those characters had to in order to see it through. One of the things I love about the script or the story is that in the beginning you have these characters who are all coming from completely different places and don’t seem to have anything in common and they clash in so many different ways. Then nature brings them to their knees. Something larger than them is happening and it brings out the humanity in all of them. So I just I thought that was beautiful, and the fact that we were filming it on such a limited budget in such an ambitious way made it very easy to play that.”
Watch the video above to hear whether this role has made her want to backpack or relax and how it compares to the landscape of another recent project of hers, Dexter: New Blood.
The Weight opens in theaters nationwide on Friday, September 18th.
