Interview with Mos Def—Ford Prefect
Credits include The Woodsman, Monster’s Ball and The Italian Job. Mos is also a very talented hip-hop artist.
Robbie Stamp: So tell me, had you ever heard of Hitchhiker’s before you were approached to be in the movie?
Mos Def: Actually I had, although I had never read the book. It was just part of my consciousness. Maybe you’ve never heard the music of Miles Davis but you sure know the name, and Hitchhiker’s is one of those things that many people know well and many people don’t but everyone is familiar with it somehow.
RS: How did you come to be cast?
MD: I think that Suzie Figgis, the casting director, had seen me in Topdog/Underdog at the Royal Court in London and she suggested to Nick and Garth that they should meet with me when they were in New York. So we met and talked about the project and their perspective on what they wanted to see not just in this film but also in films in general. Their taste just hooked me. They’re unconventional. They have a great deal of imagination. They’ve done a video that I was a huge fan of, actually a couple of videos but I didn’t know that they had worked on them, Supergrass, “Keep on Moving,” and Blur, “Coffee and TV.” Hammer and Tongs just have great presentation. I liked everything about them, their energy, their enthusiasm and their sense of wonder. You could tell they were very serious but there was also joy.
RS: That sense of wonder—it’s absolutely right.
MD: And that’s really important to have as a director. I also think that Garth embodies the spirit of the book in a unique way because he’s very serious, very thoughtful and yet he’s not taking himself so seriously … he’s aware that this is a mammoth project, that it is very ambitious and he’s not daunted by any of it. He’s up for the task, which is very attractive to an actor. When he sent me the script I was really engaged from the first line— “It is an important and popular fact that things are not always what they seem.” It’s a great way to open a movie. Hitchhiker’s is high-minded and big and in the wrong hands it could be so ponderous, it could feel like the work of some smarty pants, but he makes it very, very human and approachable. He also allows space for perspectives and viewpoints other than his own, without discrediting them or ridiculing them, whilst being very steadfast in what his own perspective is. I was really taken aback by the way he dealt with the whole issue of religion, of God. It’s clearly individual but it leaves room for perspectives other than his own. It’s very rare to work on something with that sort of scope and feeling.
RS: You were telling me that when you were cast kids came up to you to let you know how cool they thought it was that you were going to be in Hitchhiker’s.
MD: People from all sorts of backgrounds, whenever I mention it, there’s only two or three responses: some people have no idea what it means, others go, “Oh, OK,” and then there are people that are just like, “What, that’s so cool!” They just love it. And I do, too. I really love the humour in it and I really love the sense of awe and wonder, that curiosity about the world around us, it’s kind of like the kid looking at the sky and just thinking, “What’s out there?”
RS: I think you’re absolutely right, Douglas’s curiosity—his intellectual curiosity—was absolutely a defining characteristic.
MD: It’s been very satisfying. I like things that have some element of risk, and with the time it’s taken to get this movie made, and the mix of ideas and humour, it’s going to make people pay attention. It’s extraordinary in the literal sense of the word, it’s extra and very ordinary. There’s this whole universe out there that has been created that is fantastic and mundane at once.
RS: How did you set about finding the character of Ford?
MD: It was really interesting because Ford has gears. He has a gear when he’s extremely intense and other gears where he’s totally carefree and almost away from it all; not disengaged but outside of things, taking it very relaxed. Before we started rehearsals I was thinking of him as much more aggressive or harsh, a Walter Winchell type of character, a journalist planning the story. There are elements of that and there are heroic Indiana Jones elements to his personality too but rather than make him be any one thing I tried to make him be the sharpest, to have the most honest response to all of his situations and his endeavours; I think that Ford is prepared for anything, the best or the worst, and he sort of embraces it. He accepts things as they are, he doesn’t really moan or judge. Another thing I like about Ford is that he’s very loyal to his friends; he’s very selfless in that way. He believes in the things that his friends want and wants to help them but it’s not sentimental. It’s like in the airlock when they are about to be thrown into space and Ford asks Arthur if he would like a hug … Martin’s reaction is funny so it manages to be a tender moment that doesn’t get cheapened by something didactic or predictable.
RS: Douglas would have appreciated that. He would have been very wary of the sentimental button, so with a moment like that he would have wanted to twist it, give it an edge. Thinking about helping friends, you played the scene when you explain to Arthur about towels as if it genuinely mattered.
MD: Yes, you’re going to need your towel. You have to have it, this is important; it’s a tough galaxy out there.
RS: Talk a little bit more abut the relationship with Arthur, because I think I mentioned to you that one of the things that was in an earlier draft of the script, which sent some of the fans crazy, they didn’t like it at all, was a running joke whereby Ford was constantly trying to get rid of Arthur and Arthur kept on saving his life and he felt bound to save his life back. Maybe they didn’t like that because through all the books the friendship between Ford and Arthur is the most enduring relationship of all.
MD: I like the friendship between them. Often when there are stories about other life forms coming to Earth, it’s a hostile attitude they have towards humans, whereas Ford has grown quite fond of the species for all their foibles. As far as Arthur himself is concerned I really like the scene on Magrathea where Ford consoles him, it’s almost tender.
RS: Just explain to me what’s happening then.
MD: Well, Zaphod finds this portal on Magrathea that he believes is going to take them to Deep Thought and Arthur is apprehensive. Ford is more calculating. He’s just assessing the situation and reckoning, “We can do this.” Arthur is just totally afraid.
MD: It does. It’s the jumping-off place and I like the metaphor that that situation represents: when there’s an opportunity to go, go. You know, just go through to the other side because the doors do close. There are points in everyone’s life where you have to make a decision, good, bad or otherwise, and you got to just go for it. And Arthur makes his decision just a little too late. He needs to be pushed, to get him outside of himself and be a citizen of the universe. His anxiety and apprehension are internal. He’s not wearing them on his sleeve in some predictable way. I love what Martin is doing with his character, man. Arthur is faced with all these urgent situations in a beautiful, ludicrous galaxy and in the face of all that he just buckles down and jumps. Sometimes because he’s being dragged kicking and screaming …
RS: Literally.
MD: Yes, literally, but he makes the adjustments, he adapts.
RS: And how’s it been, working with Martin?
MD: He’s got a fantastic ease about himself as an actor that is really nice to work with. This is one of the best casts that I’ve worked with.
RS: Tell me about your costume.
MD: That was a really involved process because I wanted to do something that was traditional but also a little odd. He is from outer space, he is an alien but he does have to blend in. It was just subtle things—take a normal three-button sports coat, make it four and let’s give him a waistcoat. It’s all very purposeful. If it’s cold I’ve got a hat, utilitarian but also gentlemanly and straightforward. He’s a working man, so he’s got a suit and tie, and he’s very serious about his work, but not pompous about it. As a researcher he’s also totally prepared for head of state or president or a celebrity. He would command a certain level of respect from anyone who he met without seeming unapproachable. And I wanted comfortable shoes!
RS: And what about the inside of the jacket, the colours?
MD: Yeah, the orange, the orange and purple just appealed to me.
RS: They’re your colours?
MD: Yeah, I know. I asked Sammy to put purple wherever there could be purple. Wherever there was lining, wherever there was a flap, just small subtle things that she might not necessarily see on clothes from Earth, just small details, small details that could be avant-garde, but that also just blend. I was really, really pleased with the result.
RS: So what’s Ford got in his satchel?
MD: Well, the things Douglas described in the book and more. He’s got water, the Guide of course, peanuts, his towel, his camera, a pen, a pad, his glasses and his shades for moments where sunlight on a planet might be very intense and he needs to cover his eyes or for times when he wants to conceal his identity or assume a character. I love that the satchel has the space-age element; it’s this small thing that everything is in. I also love the design of the Guide itself. Just sort of simple, straightforward, elegant and streamlined, which I imagine is what it would have to be considering that he’s travelling from planet to planet. The idea is that Ford’s whole existence is portable and he is ready to go at a moment’s notice. He travels light and swift and efficiently, which certainly appealed to me.
RS: Tell me about all the “stage” business you’ve developed with the towel.
MD: Well, you want to make it interesting. You want to have it slung over your shoulder, try to make it where it’s as much a part of his wardrobe or his identity as anything else that’s on him. So he uses it as a weapon, he uses it as a napkin, he uses it to create warmth, he wraps it around his head. I think he has some sort of emotional connection with this towel that’s almost able to absorb danger or clean things up or provide comfort. But it’s all still real, believable somehow. It’s just a towel and we haven’t turned it into some kind of high-tech gadget.
RS: And how’s it been, working with Sam’s energy?
MD: Oh my God, Sam is actually a great marker for me in terms of my character. I came in to rehearsals thinking that Ford would be more pronounced in his strangeness. I didn’t want to make him to be this zany space guy but I did think that there would be things about him that were pronouncedly strange and I think there are still. But seeing Zaphod, I thought, “Oh, there’s somebody already doing that,” and I wanted to be able to provide a contrast. Ford is very matter-of-fact and Zaphod provides a good counterpoint for my character. Working with him just created a very clear place for what it is that Ford has to do in Arthur’s story and what his position is in the midst of all four of them. If you have two characters that are both doing zany in a movie it kind of gets silly. You see Ford at the beginning of the movie and kind of think he’s crazy but then you meet Zaphod and he almost makes Ford look like another version of Arthur.
RS: He’s like a bridge, isn’t he?
MD: Yes, Ford is definitely the bridge between Arthur and Zaphod and it’s really nice to have them on either side.
RS: And what about Trillian?
MD: Zooey’s a wonderful actress and is totally believable, her disaffection, her boredom, her intelligence and her sense for adventure are very clear. It’s a fantastic cast all round. It’s sometimes nerve-racking because it means a great deal to be in this movie and also the story is complex, very layered. I found myself every week, or every couple of days, discovering something new. Even in the closing stages there are new things that I’m discovering. Starting work on Magrathea was one of those moments. It’s the great lost planet and Ford didn’t believe that it was real and now he’s there, his feet are on the soil, or rather the ice, and after the first day on that set I went back to the book and there was the passage which gave me another clue to Ford’s relationship with Zaphod.
“OK, so I’ve bought the fact that it’s Magrathea—for the moment. What you have so far said nothing about is how in the Galaxy you found it. You didn’t just look it up in a star atlas, that’s for sure.”
“Research. Government archives. Detective work. Few lucky guesses. Easy.”
“And then you stole the Heart of Gold to come and look for it with?”
“I stole it to look for a lot of things.”
“A lot of things?” said Ford in surprise.” Like what?”
“I don’t know.”
“What?”
“I don’t know what I’m looking for.”
“Because … because … I think it might be because if I knew I wouldn’t be able to look for them.”
“What are you, crazy?”
“It’s a possibility I haven’t ruled out yet,” said Zaphod quietly. “I only know as much about myself as my mind can work out under its current conditions. And its current conditions are not good.”
MD: I love that Hitchhiker’s exists in this twilight of fantasy and reality, this inventiveness based in real situations and actors can play off that too. Like the scene when Zaphod and Ford meet up on the Heart of Gold. It’s just two old friends seeing each other for the first time in years, but we invented a little greeting ritual, which also gave Arthur something to play off. All the time though we were all trying to avoid any of those situations being cartoonish or caricatured.
RS: I think it’s been important to take it “seriously,” to avoid those nods and winks to the audience which might pull the audience out of the worlds you are trying to create for them.
MD: Straight ahead, but not too traditional. Garth was very keen on the performance element of all this and it’s definitely great to have worked on a science-fiction movie for the last three or four months and not have stood in front of a blue screen or had to act to an imaginary character. Our imaginations were activated by the presence of real things, except for the pad.
RS: I think that’s one of the things that really gives this movie a heart and a charm that some science fiction doesn’t have.
MD: Yes, people can detect that too and also it does something for you as an actor. It’s interesting because Garth has done a lot of things in this film that you would do in theatre, like the creation of real creatures and sets. The sense of place and environment is very defined and really strong. That’s great for us as actors and it’s also extremely important for the audience to sense that this is not some fabricated digital world. That it’s a world and a place that has been created not only by people’s minds but by their hands as well.
RS: Talking about doing things for real, I was impressed with what you and Martin did this afternoon, that was quite a sight!
MD: Ah, the escape hatch of the Vogon ship! Martin and I did that stunt ourselves and it was quite a long way to fall. I love that the role is so physical because it almost brings to mind Laurel and Hardy. I’m a Laurel and Hardy fan, as is Martin. I’m a big Chaplin fan, a Buster Keaton fan and there’s a lot of room to incorporate that sort of spirit and that is fun in a science-fiction setting.
RS: How do you make your entrance?
MD: On a shopping trolley full of beer and peanuts coming down a hill towards the bulldozers that Arthur’s lying in front of. It’s really quite an awesome entrance. As I was reading the script, I could see that Ford was going to be this very way-out sort of guy because when you see him on Earth he does literally look off his trolley. He’s excitable and jumping over the fence to Arthur’s house, but there’s also a very low-key matter-of-fact dimension to him, which makes him seem even dafter. There’s a sense of precision to him and having to do physical things, especially on this film, has required a certain sharpness from all of us. I know people always say, “I’m really excited about this movie.” But I’ve been working on Hitchhiker’s for the last eighteen weeks and I’m dying to see it. I feel the same way that I felt when I got here, which is totally enthused, really excited, very open and really pleased and assured that people are going to be floored by this. In a movie with special effects there is a lot you don’t get to see as an actor, but I can see from looking at the sets that everything is there for a reason and serves a purpose. In their intelligence and playfulness I think that Garth and Nick have captured the spirit of the book. You have been really helpful as well, because of your enthusiasm, and we’ve had loads of conversations just about Douglas and small things in the book. I know what it’s like to have love for a book and then to see a screen adaptation that doesn’t quite do it. I don’t think the readers mind it being different and new at all but they want the core of it and that’s why I have had the book on set with me every day and in between my naps I’m always dipping in! Ford can be played in so many different ways … tender, otherworldly. It’s an exciting character to embrace but it’s also a character you’ve got to keep your eye on and pay attention to. That’s the type of situation I try to put myself in as an actor and as a singer, where you really have to be paying attention and be involved. Not “put your back to the seat of the chair and relax” type of work. You should be on the edge of your seat, watching, having to stand up, sometimes getting on top of the seat and it’s been very much that experience for me and I’m really happy.