Prepping for any movie is a task. Whether you are settling on an accent, figuring out a backstory, or researching the one of a real person, there is lots of work to do. Sometimes, an actor also needs to get their body in a certain shape, or even go through months of rigorous training to learn a skill they didn’t previously have any knowledge of.
The team sport of rowing crew is not something you learn in a few months, but that is what Callum Turner needed to do to get ready for his role in the new George Clooney film, The Boys in the Boat. We spoke with Callum and his co-star Hadley Robinson about preparing for their roles in the film, which depicts the true story of the Depression-era rowing team that went on to win Olympic Gold.
Callum Turner, Hadley Robinson-The Boys in the Boat interview
ClutchPoints: Lovely to see you both, thank you so much for your time. Has it been a long day already?
Callum Turner: No, we're just starting!
CP: Okay, perfect. So maybe I'll be the first of a thousand people to ask Callum, how deep did you have to, or even want to, go into learning about rowing itself to prepare for this?
CT: I went so deep.
We did five months of training. The first two months were solely about the rowing. The last three, we shot the film simultaneously. We rowed four hours a day, and then trained physically for an hour after. We really built a bond. It was so important that the rowing was good, so George [Clooney] could use us instead of doubles.
And I think that adds to the nature, it gives it a different texture because we're actually doing the thing that's on screen. For us, as individuals, the task was to become one and to surrender ourselves to the boat. That was hard because that's a unique thing in sport.
You know, in basketball, a star player could win you a game. In this. it's just about the boat, man. And it took us a while. But once we got there and they say this is poetic and it's spiritual and it's otherworldly and it really is. This sport is a wonderful thing to do. And I was very lucky that I got to do it with these guys.
CP: So the shot with the blisters on your hands, are [those] your real blisters or still makeup?
CT: That actually was makeup [laughs], but we did get calluses that were severe and injuries.
Yeah, it was a grueling experience, but that hardship just made the reward so much greater at the end.
CP: Hadley, as far as the relationship between Joyce and Joe go, as when we meet them for the film, she's very much the pursuer and she's not shy about hiding it in any way whatsoever. But when he finally starts to reciprocate, at first she seems to kind of back away. Would you say that's her nerves, or was that like her shock in saying that he's finally opening up?
Hadley Robinson: [smiles] Wow. Wow. I feel like you're pointing out things that maybe I didn't even pick up on, but I mean, she's definitely the pursuer. She backs away, yeah, I guess she gives him space. I think she gives him a little space because she knows that he's busy. So it's sort of that natural flow at the beginning of a relationship.
But yeah, I think she is the pursuer. It's more fun that way, to be honest, especially because Joe's character is a little bit more closed off and shy. And so she kind of wants to have fun with it and I think they've always liked each other from when they were kids and she knows deep down and so she's like, “All right, I'll be the first one and make a move then I guess.”
CT: Thank God that she did because Joe wasn't gonna!
HR: No, he was not.
CT: And these two have like the greatest love story of all time. They married and they had beautiful kids and they lived with each other until the end, you know? Good for Joyce.
CP: Were they playing either the actual radio transmissions when you were listening in on the radio or playing something in the script or something completely different and [you were] just reacting to it and that's all we had.
HR: No, I think actually George and Grant [Heslov] took turns reading what was being broadcast on the radio and we were listening in, so it's just George's voice reading and so then we could had actually something to respond to or react to, which was helpful.
CT: That's old school Hollywood magic too, right? You know the trains that go along the races? That was Joel [Edgerton] on a little car and then ADs behind moving it.
HR: Was it really?
CT: Yeah. [They used] those old-school Hollywood tricks in this.
HR: [It] looks good!
The Boys in the Boat will be released on December 25.
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