STACK Feb Issue 124

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more like a previous project of Linklater’s, the
filmmaker believes, over Boyhood. “I would
think the Up series is probably close to my
Before trilogy in that I have a nine-year gap
in time to see how much time changes you,”
he explains. “[Boyhood is about] a fictional
character we’ve created, so it’s more artistic;
it’s not like an intrusive camera asking you
about your life and your aspirations and what
you did the last seven years.”
The central character in the film is Mason
Evans, Jr., played by Ellar Coltrane, whom
Linklater cast when the actor was just six
years old. “That was certainly the wildcard
moment of the whole movie,” he
chuckles. “Casting him was going to
set the tone for the whole movie. It
was such a big decision. I just went
with the thoughtful kid, the kid who
was excited about storytelling, the
kid who could tell you everything about
music and movies and wasn’t trying to
be too cute. He was just himself.”
It must have been difficult
not to spend many anxious
hours trying to foresee
what this boy could
potentially turn into, as an
actor, but Linklater went
with his gut. “He just
had wonderful qualities,
and I think that’s largely
the young man he is
today: a very thoughtful,
sensitive guy with plenty to say
about the world and himself, art and
culture. Along the way I think he became
a very good actor; it was fun to see that
craft get honed over the years,
working with myself, Ethan
and Patricia.”
Linklater admits that
initially, he was stymied
about how to portray a
load of time passing
without utilising clumsy
techniques like wrinkly
make-up or an older
actor portraying the
same, younger character.
“There was a moment early on
where I’d kind of given up on it
as a film, because of the limitations
you just mentioned,” he says. “I thought, well,
this is more like a novel. This isn’t a movie,
I’m in the wrong medium here. But, when I
actually sat down to write that novel, I swear
to God as soon as my hands hit the keyboard
this idea popped into my head. I’d solved my
problem after a couple years of thinking about
it. I just saw Boyhood in my head, the movie,
and everyone was aging, you know, gradually.
So there it was. I’d solved my problem.”
And once the idea had come to him, he
says, he couldn’t imagine proceeding in any
other fashion, which is why he simply could
not get frustrated with the process. “We
looked at time as our companion, as our
asset rather than our enemy,” he says. “Time
was something to be collaborated with. This
unknown future that rolls every second right
before us – that was our friend. It was going
to be the secret sauce that made this movie
work.”