Ben Foster stars in the new action suspense drama Contraband.
The film, which also stars Mark Wahlberg, Kate Beckinsale, and Giovanni Ribisi, tells the captivating story of Chris Farraday (Mark Wahlberg), a former smuggler who has to go on one final mission to protect his family from a drug lord (Giovanni Ribisi), who’s coming to collect a debt.
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Ben Foster who plays Sebastian Abney a recovering alcholic and best friend of Farraday, who knows how to smuggle like the best of them. While Farraday heads to Panama, Foster helps his friend from a far.
We sat down with Foster to discuss his role in the movie, and much more. Check out our interview below.
Global Grind: First off congratulations on the movie, we really enjoyed it. I’m curious when you read the script, because with a movie like this, you want to be able to watch it and you want to try to figure out what they do in the end, but you don’t want to know, you want to be surprised, and I was surprised by how it kind of wrapped up. I’m curious when you first read the script did you see the end coming? What did you think?
Ben Foster: I’m trying to remember, I didn’t see the original film. Mark called up and said he had an interesting script, that maybe we would play together and read it and spoke with Balthazar about the role of Sebastian. They had originally called me in to play the kid at the beginning, and I was like I’m not 12 anymore guys. Life is happening, but Sebastian was curious and it was written a little more straightforward to the end result of the picture and was excited to work with Mark and Balt in developing a character that is a little less streamlined.
Your character seems to be the only one that isn’t fighting for his family rep. At the start it seems like he is more after a typical American dream, a better job, house he has control over, and access to a family. Can you talk about creating that character with a foreign director, especially if you elevated a lot out of the original movie?
His goals are well set. The American dream is one. He is living beyond his American dream and that is important to us to show a man who needs to be liked by everyone. He needs to be present to the world as an American and that he is successful and powerful, meanwhile his internal structure is falling apart. Working with Balt on that, I don’t think it takes a brain surgeon to figure out the metaphors there. He is a very smart fella and he is game to adapt and go more in a direction that is with those themes, but interweaved with family. And the family being, Marks character, Mark’s family and more importantly how do we humanize somebody who does things we don’t necessarily agree with? And the dorian is how we’ve all let our loved ones down. we’ve all let ourselves down and done things that maybe we wish we hadn’t and then approaching it that way rather than values that hold true to on how we treat our loved ones.
Part of what you were just saying, towards the end when your character is kind of getting the beatdown from Mark Whalberg and kind of facing up to everything he’s been doing up to that point. He has this kind of resignation about him, like he almost wants to be punished. It seems like that cause you aren’t fighting back. Was that your interpretation of what was going through the character at point?
We all want to get caught, to some degree, when we do things that we don’t feel are living up to our truest self, our highest selves. On some level we want to get caught, we don’t know what that part is. It’s his best friend, I don’t think its sociopathic, I cant approach it that way at least. it’s letting yourself down, trying to do the right thing. He’s trying to do the right thing. It’s just addictive personalities. He has such a large appetite.
Which leads me to my question- did you delve into that part of the character?
You know when you are in love and making movies about being in love, every song on the radio for you or vice a versa or you’re breaking up and your like ‘God!’
Did you have fun exploring the addictive personality?
We’ll leave that be.
I thought it was really interesting that you were in this movie with Giovanni Ribisi. I feel you guys have similar approaches, taking acting really seriously. How fun is it working with another actor like that who has a similar approach?
I was living in Iowa, before I moved to Hollywood, and long story short, I saw an X-Files episode and I saw this young man, not much older than myself, doing something that I thought I had never seen. Something that really excited me and I waited for the credits and there was this name that I had no idea how to pronounce, I was maybe 14, 13 at the time, somewhere around there, and looked up at the TV guide when they played it again and looked at his name and wrote it down. Giovanni Ribisi, that’s an actor and I had been doing mostly comedy, school plays, stuff like that and then when I got to Los Angeles it was such a kick to meet him. He started running in similar groups that I was running in and I looked up to him in the sense that he takes so many chances. He’s an electric performer and somebody that was grateful to get to know a little bit socially, having the opportunity to play with him was a real kick here on Contraband. Hes always fascinating to watch. He does his homework.
What if I was a producer who had 10 million dollars and was absolutely sold on doing a project of your choosing. As a character you’ve always dreamed of playing. What would you say the pitch would be?
That’s such a beautiful question. I don’t have a role but I just watched All that Jazz again and for one reason or another I watched ‘Singing In The Rain’ and I was like you know what we need? Some good musicals! Some strong musicals and I don’t know what that is, but that’s floating out in the atmospheres. Those movies were great.
I was wondering how your production company is coming along and are you looking forward to doing a lot more directing?
The first film was Rampart, January 27, and it is Woody Harrelson’s finest performance. The production company is going very well. This is the first film that we did. Oren Moverman and myself started the production company on Third Mind Pictures. Right now we are in pre production for Queer by Steve Buscemi based on the William S. Burroughs book. We got a few projects floating around. That’s the closest one to going. I’m excited to play with her friends and I guess that’s what it’s about right now. I’m insulating a little more and after doing this for a minute; protecting and supporting our loved ones make their projects is an absolute thrill and I want to keep doing that as much as possible.
How important is trust within relationships?
Well, its everything right? That’s the bedrock. Once trust has been brutalized, it is very hard to earn back. It is possible, and forgiveness is the goal. To get at the heart of a person, one must suspend judgement to be on the receiving end of the deliverer.
Yeah, trust is the whole game, but I suppose trust is never broken if you can communicate.
I believe Sebastian and Mark could have let down some of their masculine bravado and stop hiding in his need (Sebastian in particular) to say I got everything under control when he doesn’t. There are so many times in the picture, so many times in our life that we say “I just don’t know!’ and say that’s ok. Give yourself permission to say I don’t know, actually makes you stronger, but we wouldn’t have a movie.
