This week, we sat down with Emile Hirsch to discuss his role in Prey, a new survival thriller which sees him clash with lions and his co-star, Ryan Phillippe. The movie is a blast, but many of you will likely remember Hirsch best for his role in 2008's live-action Speed Racer.
Directed by The Wachowskis (The Matrix) and also starring Christina Ricci, John Goodman, Susan Sarandon, and Matthew Fox, the movie received a mixed response at the time but has since found a devoted fanbase.
During our conversation, we asked Hirsch what it's been like to see the tide change. "I’m so pleasantly surprised," he admitted. "When it initially came out, it didn’t really do very well. It didn’t even get good reviews. It was panned and you could almost say ridiculed. To have the public perception and affection for the movie grow so much over the years is cool."
"At the time, that did not seem like it would ever happen based on the initial release of the movie. I was like, ‘Oh man, they’re never going to come around to this thing even though we all loved making the movie.’ Myself, the actors, and the Wachowskis loved [it]. It’s kind of crazy that it’s come around as much as it has to the point where it’s almost hard to believe."
"In certain forums, it’s really, really well regarded now as the ultimate manga adaptation. It’s cool," Hirsch continued. "The esteem the film is held in now has exceeded my wildest dreams in a way."
"The idea that we would make a movie as many years ago as we made it and it would still be talked about to this day...I definitely did not imagine that happening, especially when you think about how many of those big budget tentpole movies come out every year."
Despite taking centre stage in Speed Racer, the actor never followed that up with a major Marvel or DC role. His name has frequently come up in Wolverine fan casts, though, and while the actor would be open to that, it sounds like Speed scratched that particular acting itch.
"I always looked at Speed Racer like it was a superhero," Hirsch says. "I watched the cartoon so much as a kid, I just viewed it like that. I had a lot of fun playing Speed and that movie has aged really, really well. It really does hold up."
"I don’t know, I mean, Wolverine? That’s definitely...I used to watch X-Men: The Animated Series as a kid and that was amazing. I loved watching that show. I don’t know. It would be awesome, though, sure."
Check back here tomorrow for our full interview with the Speed Racer star about his role in Prey.
After an extremist militant group threatens their lives, a young couple (Ryan Phillippe and Mena Suvari) is forced to flee their Christian missionary post in the Kalahari Desert. After being granted passage aboard a rickety plane, piloted by a corrupt smuggler (Emile Hirsch), their escape to safety is nearly in reach. But when their aircraft loses power and crash lands, they discover a bigger threat awaits them as they find themselves stranded in the middle of an animal preserve populated by maneaters -- lions, leopards, and hyenas. Injured, frightened, and being tracked by the extremists, this ragtag group of passengers must fight for survival from both man and beast where only the strong will survive.
Prey is now playing in theaters and available on demand.