'The Isolate Thief' Exclusive Interview: Sean Bean

Sean Bean in ‘The Isolate Thief’. Photo: Radial Entertainment.

Opening in theaters on July 10th is the new Western ‘The Isolate Thief‘, which was directed by John Suits (‘Breach’).

The film stars Sean Bean (‘The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring’ and ‘Game of Thrones’), Mackenzie Foy (‘Interstellar’), Odeya Rush (‘Lady Bird’), Ty Simpkins (‘Iron Man 3’), and Joe Pantoliano (‘The Matrix’).

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Sean Bean about his work on ‘The Isolate Thief’, his first reaction to the screenplay, his approach to his character, working on the accent, preparing for a difficult scene, collaborating with Mackenzie Foy and director John Suits on set, and if it is fun making a Western.

(L to R) Mackenzie Foy, Sean Bean and Jack Kesy in ‘The Isolate Thief’. Photo: Radial Entertainment.

Moviefone: To begin with, what was your first reaction to the screenplay and the idea of playing this character?

Sean Bean: I first received the screenplay; it must have been nearly three or four years ago now and I was just blown away by it. I thought it was such a fantastic script. An incredible story, suspense and very well drawn, very interesting characters and the dialogue was fantastic. I think that’s what impressed me above all else. It was just such a naturalistic style of dialogue. Very punchy, but very moving and poignant in certain points. It was a long time before we got it off the ground, but I stuck by it. We just persevered and eventually got the money together and then we shot it, but it was a kind of labor of love. We weren’t prepared to let such a brilliant independent script just go by the wayside, and it came to fruition in the end.

MF: Can you talk about your approach to playing this character and working on the specific accent?

SB: I did a lot of work on the accent because it’s not an accent that I’ve played before, because we were shooting up in Arkansas so I thought I’d base his accent around there. Of course, it was slightly different in the 1860s, but I think it was probably more pronounced than it is today, so I had to bear that in mind when I was learning the accent. But I had a wonderful voice coach over in the UK and we went through the script word by word and sentence by sentence. I prepared quite thoroughly for that. I went there slightly ahead of time so I could be around people and listen to their rhythms and their vowel and consonant sounds. It all sounds very technical, but I think I possibly got it in the end. Then there’s a relief that it does ring true to one’s own ear. But that was very important for me to try and get that right and to become part of this ensemble who are all otherwise genuine Americans.

Sean Bean in ‘The Isolate Thief’. Photo: Radial Entertainment.

MF: Did you create a backstory for the character? Is that part of your process?

SB: I didn’t know much about this guy. I don’t really tend to create much of a backstory. I kind of glean what I can from the script and talking to the director and the writers that can fill you in on a little bit more about what this case, what his history would have probably been. But he was not a very nice guy. He was very charming in some sense, especially at the beginning, the scenes with Mackenzie and I, but when that didn’t work, he resorted to very nefarious, cruel, and vicious tactics. He was a loner, he met a bunch of men who were villains, they were outlaws, and they were just out there. I guess there were hard times towards the end of the American Civil War and people were just picking up the pieces and trying to survive and that’s just what he was doing. He was probably quite normal in that respect at the time. Everybody was trying to survive, and he was just trying to put a life together and survive in those terrible times.

MF: Without giving anything away, there is a scene at the end of the movie where your character explodes in anger during a monologue. Can you talk about how you prepare as an actor for shooting a scene like that?

SB: Yes, that’s right. I was just thinking because I didn’t know his backstory, but he is a very religious man. I mean, that’s the kind of dichotomy of it. He’s very religious and towards the end, he becomes this psychopath preacher man. I thought that was a great scene at the end at the cabin where I went crazy and because it was quite physical at the same time, it was very vocal and it’s not until you get on set and let rip that you realize what it’s all about. You can practice that in your hotel bedroom or in your kitchen, but it’s not until you get there and you’re in that situation that you really find out what this character is capable of. I just thought I was going to go all in on this scene. I’m really going to enjoy it and let rip. That’s what I did, and it was a thoroughly satisfying day for me. It was a bit like that cadence of ‘Cape Fear’, with Robert Mitchem. He has always been an inspiration for me. In ‘Cape Fear’ he was speaking in tongues, and it had that kind of feel to it for this scene.

(L to R) Sean Bean and Mackenzie Foy in ‘The Isolate Thief’. Photo: Radial Entertainment.

MF: Can you talk about the dynamic between your character and Mackenzie Foy’s character, and what it was like creating that relationship with her on screen?

SB: She was fantastic, and she was just so natural and open in her performance. It’s difficult to describe her really. She’s a person who obviously listens and she listens to what is happening. She listens to other people when they’re speaking to her, and she reacts. She’s got an open face and an open mind, and I think she’s a wonderful actress. She put in such a super performance with so many dynamics to her performance, the innocence, but the strength of this woman towards the end to battle it out and fight. It’s such a resilient and graceful performance that she put in.

MF: What was your experience like collaborating on set with director John Suits?

SB: He was very good. He knew what he wanted. He was very well-prepared, but at the same time, he was a charming guy. He was very open to suggestions, but he had to be. He had to be quite firm and disciplined in the work because it was a low budget film, and we didn’t have a great deal of time to film it. The conditions were constantly changing. So, he was a great director, and a nice guy at the same time.

(L to R) Mackenzie Foy and Sean Bean in ‘The Isolate Thief’. Photo: Radial Entertainment.

MF: Finally, director John Ford once said, “If they knew how fun it was to make a Western, they wouldn’t let us make them.” What do you think? Is it fun making a Western?

SB: Yeah, it was great fun for me. I’ve never really played in a Western before, and it’s all those things you see when you’re a kid growing up with cowboy films and this and that. There’s a lot of good cowboy films that I was always fascinated by and made quite a big impression on me. The prospect of doing it was very exciting and doing it myself was brilliant. Riding a horse, shooting guns, and playing this psycho religious guy was kind of a real dream.

‘The Isolate Thief’ opens only in theaters July 10th.

What is the plot of ‘The Isolate Thief’?

A young woman (Mackenzie Foy) struggles to conceal the gold she stole from violent outlaws who have seized control of her remote outpost, outwitting them amid a deadly winter where survival becomes a game of cunning and betrayal.