STACK NZ Mar #60

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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.”
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