Not many American actors make the transition from TV to movies, but even fewer cross over from Hollywood to Europe. Four years ago, while still a bankable name in commercial studio franchises, Woody Harrelson swanned effortlessly into the international arthouse, playing the Marxist captain of a doomed cruise liner in Swedish auteur Ruben Östlund’s second Palme d’Or winner Triangle of Sadness. This year Harrelson returns to Cannes in Full Phil, the latest by Quentin Dupieux, France’s wizard of odd, acting with Kristen Stewart in a film the director describes as “Emily in Paris in hell.”
DEADLINE: How did you get involved with Quentin Dupieux?
WOODY HARRELSON: There’s a lady who works with me, Ilya [Bronchtein]. She was my assistant, and then she became a producer. Within two weeks of starting producing, she was telling me, “You have to watch this guy’s movies.” I finally watched his [2023] film Yannick and I was like, “Oh my god, this guy is amazing.” Then I watched The Second Act [2024] and I’m like, “Holy sh*t.” Because you never know. The first one, well, maybe that’s just luck. But not when you see another one that’s also brilliant. I was super interested. And she says, “Why don’t I arrange a meeting?”
Well, I wasn’t planning on going to Paris, but we arranged a meeting with Quentin and Hugo [Sélignac], his producer, and it was great. I said, “What are you doing next?” and Quentin says, “Oh, I’m doing this movie, Full Phil. I’m trying to get Jim Carrey, but he hasn’t read it, and I can’t get him to read it.” I’m like, “I know Jim! I’ll get Jim to …” And then I feel a kick under the table and it’s Ilya. [Laughs.] She’d already read the script, and it was in her mind that she wanted me to be able to do it. Luckily, after that meeting, he was like, “Well, I think Woody might be good for this too.” And that’s how it all went down.
DEADLINE: How long did it all take?
HARRELSON: Oh, from that meeting to the end of shooting? I think all took place within two months. Maybe two and a half. I mean, it was amazing. He’s like no one else. He writes it, he directs it, he shoots it, he edits it. So, if you have a question, you got every department right there. It was amazing, because he shoots so fast. The first day, I think we did maybe nine pages, just me and Kristen in a hotel room, and then we came back the next day and did another eight or nine pages. You’ve got to be on your game with him, because he’s ready to go.
DEADLINE: What can you reveal about the plot of the film?
HARRELSON: Well, I can tell you that it’s a father and daughter who are in a very often combative situation. They decide to take a trip to Paris to try to get the relationship on a better footing, and things don’t go to plan, necessarily. I don’t think I should say too much.
DEADLINE: Did you know Kristen before?
HARRELSON: Oh, yeah. I met Kristen when she first started out and there was this project that I did, which we wanted her to do and she agreed to do it, but then she ended up dropping out of it. But I’d heard about her from Sean Penn, who was saying, “This girl’s really got it.” And of course, that’s proven true. She was fantastic in this [Full Phil]. I haven’t seen it yet, but I hear it’s very good, so I’m excited to see it.
DEADLINE: What kind of performance is it from you?
HARRELSON: Well, it’s kind of theatrical, in the sense that Quentin doesn’t do a lot of different sets, so it’s very much like doing a play. It’s the two of us going back and forth. And even when we do go to another place, we go to a restaurant, you know what I mean? But it’s got his signature sense of humor, and also his intensity. It’s pretty cool.
DEADLINE: People thought you’d be coming to Cannes with Ruben Östlund’s new film, The Entertainment System Is Down. Did that reunion happen in the end? Because you said you were going to be in that film — whether he wanted you to be in it or not.
HARRELSON: Oh, I was determined to be in it. [Laughs.] But no, it didn’t work out, because the part I wanted to play, he ended up cutting that part out. I mean, he’s got so many people in that film, because it’s about an airplane full of people. So, yeah, I get it. It wasn’t important to the story, but it would’ve been a fun part.
DEADLINE: Does Östlund have a similar personality to Dupieux?
HARRELSON: They’re much different people. I look at Quentin as more like a Fellini. I don’t know why, but that’s how I imagine Fellini would be. He’s a big personality. Ruben is also super fun, an interesting guy, but they don’t seem similar to me. They seem very different.
DEADLINE: Why did you want to do Triangle of Sadness?
HARRELSON: I saw The Square and Force Majeure, and I was like, “Oh, man.” But what was funny was that my agent, Jeremy [Plager], was the one that wanted me to watch them. I think I watched The Square first. And you know how Ruben has such a unique vision, and how he’ll frame a scene, and the camera will stay on it for too long? And so, I watched the first 10 minutes and I turned it off. I’m like, “Jeremy, are you out of your mind?” And he says, “Watch the rest of the film.” So, I watched the rest of it and then I saw what he saw: “Oh my god, this guy is a real unique talent. He’s brilliant.”
DEADLINE: Full Phil is in the Official Selection at Cannes. How many times have you been there?
HARRELSON: I don’t know. Half a dozen, maybe? But the greatest experience was, for sure, with Triangle of Sadness. I mean, it was incredible. The reaction of the audience to that film, I couldn’t believe it. I thought it would be good, but I didn’t know it would be like that. At the time I was doing a hundred days of no drinking. I remember going afterward to the party on the beach, and I met literally the greatest sommelier in Europe. This guy! He could guess the region, the year and all that, with just his sense of smell. It was a big night already, and he says, “I’ve got a special bottle for you.” I was like, “Oh, I’m on my 98th day of no drinking.” [Laughs.] Oh, my f*cking god! I realized later, that was so stupid — I should have taken a mulligan. But I wouldn’t do it. I didn’t drink that night.
DEADLINE: Are you planning a renaissance in European cinema?
HARRELSON: I’m really interested in doing European films, particularly French. I’ve got to meet a few great French directors. You’re not necessarily going to get paid [big money] in Europe, but you’ve got to overlook that. The Europeans make great movies. They do. They make great movies here in America but, per capita, I’d say they’ve made more great movies over there.
DEADLINE: After True Detective, a lot of people thought you’d be going into that space more that you have. How do you feel about streamers and serial television?
HARRELSON: Well, it’s probably what I watch the most. It is what I watch the most — I get hooked on a series. But I did do another show with Matthew [McConaughey] that’s coming out this fall. We play ourselves, and it’s fiction, like Curb, in a way. We play ourselves, but everything’s fictionalized.
DEADLINE: What can you tell us about it?
HARRELSON: I can tell you this: I end up coming to Texas to hang with him, and I bring my bus. And once the bus is inside the gates of his ranch, it’s not going to go anywhere. That was the concept, and that’s what we’ve done for the first eight episodes.
DEADLINE: Is it based on the internet rumor that you are related, or could possibly be related?
HARRELSON: That’s going to factor in. Yeah. That’s definitely going to factor in.
DEADLINE How long have you known Matthew?
HARRELSON: I’ve known him since ’97. Yeah, quite a while. We’ve had a lot of fun together. Yeah, I love him. I love him like a brother, for sure.
DEADLINE: The title of the show is Brothers, isn’t it?
HARRELSON: Yeah.
DEADLINE: Is there an explanation for that?
HARRELSON: You’re going to have to watch it!
DEADLINE: You’ve been fairly prolific lately. What kind of things grab your attention?
HARRELSON: Well, did you see that movie Wasteman? You gotta watch that movie. So, the guy who directed it, his name’s Cal McMau. I met with him in London. I’m really interested in these young directors who haven’t become known yet. They haven’t become Josh Safdie yet, but they could be. You know what I mean? And so, I’m really interested in these kinds of people. I’m also going to do a movie with Sam Rockwell and Jason Bateman directing. And that’ll be the next film I shoot in June. I just want to work with the best possible people. I mean, I’ve always wanted this, but I just want to be really more intractable about the notion of doing something that just might not turn out well.
DEADLINE: Are you afraid of failure? You seem like a fairly robust person.
HARRELSON: Oh, I’ve had my fair share.
DEADLINE: Really?
HARRELSON: Fair share of failure. But I’m still willing to roll the dice sometimes. I remember talking to Emma Stone, about two or three years ago, and it was about this thing I was trying to decide on. She says to me, “Woody, unless you absolutely have to do it — have to do it — don’t do it. It can’t be one of those where you’re, ‘Oh, this could be cool.’ The level of passion has to be really hot.” So, I’m still trying to listen to her advice.
DEADLINE: What, for you, would constitute a failure?
HARRELSON: Well, certainly there’s movies I’ve done, like Last Breath and Suncoast, that weren’t widely seen, but I don’t consider them a failure because they ended up being really good movies. I think a failure is just when the movie turns out not good. And that’s tough.
DEADLINE: How do you know when one of your films is a failure?
HARRELSON: I watch it. It’s easy to tell.
DEADLINE: We hear these stories about Hollywood that if your film’s not a hit, people blank you at parties and stop returning your calls. There’s a sort of passive-aggressive way that you find out.
HARRELSON: I’m sure that’s all ahead of me!
DEADLINE: What’s the movie you’re doing with Jason Bateman?
HARRELSON: Oh, it’s called Cackling of the Dodos with Netflix.
DEADLINE: Are you playing a bad guy? It’s been a while.
HARRELSON: Well, he’s an Iowa farmer. Not a bad guy, not a bad guy.
DEADLINE: You don’t seem to play bad guys very often. Is there a reason for that? You’re very good at them, by the way.
HARRELSON: No, I like playing the bad guy. Yeah, I have no problem with that. I just take these things as they come. I remember I did this movie called Out of the Furnace [2013] with Christian Bale and Casey Affleck, and that movie is the first time that I can ever remember doing a part – a bad-guy part – where I was like, “I’m not even going to try to get a laugh, or have any kind of redeemable thing about me — I just want to be true to what a terrible guy this is.” You know what I mean? Not try to make myself likable. Because even in the really good bad guy parts, there’s often a likability to the character. Maybe that makes the guy even more insidious, I don’t know. So, I think the next time I do try playing a bad guy, I don’t want to feel like I have to be somewhat likable.
DEADLINE: You do the voice of Freewheelin’ Franklin in Tubi’s Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers series. Have you had a chance to meet Gilbert Shelton, the author, yet?
HARRELSON: No, I never got to meet him yet, but I’ll be in Paris soon. That’s where he lives. Maybe I’ll get to meet him there.
DEADLINE: You must have read his ’60s underground comic books — The Freak Brothers and Fat Freddy’s Cat?
HARRELSON: Yeah. It’s just such good, funny humor. Stoner humor can be pretty great. Sometimes it’s just silly, but with him, I love it.
DEADLINE: Is there an art to sifting good stoner comedy from bad stoner comedy?
HARRELSON: What was that one about the end of the world? This Is the End? And what was the one with all those guys, but Brad Pitt was in it? He was hitting a bong. Remember? That one was funny too. Pineapple Express? That was great. Yeah, I think that might’ve been the one Brad Pitt was in. [Editor’s note: Pitt wasn’t, but the lead character was inspired by his performance in True Romance].
DEADLINE: How can you tell the difference between an actor that’s faking it and a real stoner performance?
HARRELSON: I don’t know if it’s going to be too obvious because these actors are all pretty good.
DEADLINE: Do you have plans to work again with Martin McDonagh?
HARRELSON: I just saw him, not long ago. I was over in London. I went by his house and I saw a couple of scenes from his new movie. Oh my god! Phenomenal. Just phenomenal. I was like, “You could just put that out as your trailer, either one of those scenes.” John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell. Oh, delicious. But, yeah, I hope to work with Martin again. I really would love to work with Martin again. I got to work with him twice. I turned him down one time and boy did I regret it. It was The Pillowman. Did you see that play ever? I read it and I was like, ‘Oh no, the darkness…’ I mean, he always has that balance between the dark and the light. But in that, I thought, ‘No, the darkness has overcome the light.’ I mean, there’s a kid crucified on stage! Anyway, I didn’t do it, and Billy Crudup did the part. I went and watched it on Broadway and I was like, “Oh, shit.” It was incredible. John Crowley directed it.
DEADLINE: Do you still like to do theater?
HARRELSON: Yeah. I did a play in London a couple years ago called Ulster American; it’s in New York right now with Matthew Broderick. But, yeah, before that, I think it’d been 20 years, because the time before I didn’t have the best experience. The play was Tennessee Williams’ The Night of the Iguana, which… I honestly don’t think it’s a great play, and I don’t think I was great in it either. After that play, I determined I would only do comedy in theater. You know what I mean? I don’t want to go do a heavy Long Day’s Journey into Night and then at the end of it, just feel … [Sighs.] For Night of the Iguana, I think Tennessee Williams’ intention was that you feel like you’ve been punched in the solar plexus by the end of the experience. I don’t want to do that. I want to do one where people laugh, they have a good time.
DEADLINE: A lot of theater actors say the first bad review can sit with you for the rest of the performance. You have to go up twice a day with it ringing in your ears still. Whereas by the time you get a bad review on a movie, it’s been and gone. It still hurts, but it’s not affecting your performance. Do you feel the same way?
HARRELSON: That’s true. It’s a poison pill in the brain, not just for the actor – which is bad enough – but everybody else, including the audience. I don’t ever read reviews. Never.
DEADLINE: Seriously?
HARRELSON: I did a play in San Francisco with Sean Penn and Nick Nolte and Cheech Marin and some other cool actors. It was written by Sam Shepherd, and Sam Shepherd directed it. It’s called The Late Henry Moss. Anyway, when we finally opened, people were telling me, “Man, I can’t believe how good your reviews are! Oh my god, You want to look?” Oh no, I said, I’m not looking. Well, anyway, one day I’m stretching on the floor of the apartment I was renting there in San Francisco, and I see the L.A. Times newspaper. There’s a picture of me and Sean. And before you know it, I’m reading the review and I’m saying to myself, “Hey, why not take a little pat on the back every once in a while? What’s it hurt you?” [Laughs.] Oh, it wasn’t a pat on the back! It was very damning. Just so mean-spirited to me. And so I was like, “Never read another review. Just never read another one.”
DEADLINE: Do you read the news?
HARRELSON: I honestly do try to avoid reading the news. It’s so depressing to me. It only depresses me. And what’s going on now, I just can’t look at it. I don’t want to. It’s like 24/7 Trump, Trump, Trump. I don’t want to read the news. I don’t want to see at the news. For my own mental health, I try to avoid it. But I do miss big stories sometime. People will say, “Did you know we invaded Venezuela?” and I’m like, What? I’m astounded by some of the things I don’t know, but I just think it’s better for my mental health.
DEADLINE: What do you do to decompress?
HARRELSON: I’ll exercise and I’ll stretch and just be around my family as much as possible. We’re lucky, because everywhere we go, we have friends. We’re going to New York tomorrow, got a ton of friends there. Friends in London, friends in Paris. So, I really do find being in the bosom of my friends and family is… [Pauses.] Well, what else is there? I don’t need anything else.
DEADLINE: One last thing. Is it true that you once turned up, unannounced, at Daniel Craig’s home in Brooklyn?
HARRELSON: At what!?
DEADLINE: There’s a story that you were talking to him at a party in L.A. once, and he said, “Let’s hang out next time you’re in New York.” And then not long afterwards, you knocked on his door — even though he lives on something like the 20th floor in a condo with private security.
HARRELSON: Ha! Yeah. That’s true. I like him. I haven’t seen him in ages.
DEADLINE: So, you have a ninja quality to you then?
HARRELSON: Yeah. I’m going to continue to surprise people, show up at their house.
English (US) ·