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<\/p>\nSitting down with Clive Owen and Jaeden Lieberher, the first thing one notices is the fun loving relationship between the two, especially as Owen decides it\u2019s \u201csnack time\u201d for the boys. \u201cI\u2019m just gonna raid the mini-bar. You can have chocolate raisins, chocolate chip cookies, jelly beans. Which do you want? Bar of chocolate? Let\u2019s raid it!\u201d. And just like that the mood is set, but as one looks and listens, Owen never strays far from his own inherent parental sensibilities, encouraging and buoying his young co-star at every turn.<\/p>\n
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THE CONFIRMATION is quietly moving, laced with the humor and pain inherent to life. A beautiful character study in the dynamics of a father and son, the chemistry between Owen and Lieberher is magical – and absolutely believable. Writer and first-time director Bob Nelson has crafted an emotionally nuanced script with a defining arc that, thanks to the religious aspect of “confirmation”, sets the stage for decisions premised upon \u201cThe Golden Rule\u201d and raises questions of right and wrong and little white lies as a young boy – and his father – not only find each other, but themselves.<\/p>\n
Watching the story of Walt and Anthony unfold, one can\u2019t help but think of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn as Owen and Lieberher in their roles as father and son embark on the adventure of a lifetime. Similarly, watching the two of them together during this exclusive interview, always quick to credit Lieberher for the chemistry, Owen enthusiastically raves, \u201cHe\u2019s the real deal. All I\u2019m gonna say is you\u2019re gonna be interviewing him a lot over the coming years.\u201d With a rich hearty laugh, Owen jokes with Lieberher, calling him \u201c[A] scene stealer for sure! Oh my God! I have to watch every<\/em> scene. He\u2019s just taking it from me! I thought it was my movie until I got on the set with him.\u201d<\/p>\n As father and son, we see the connection between the two develop as the film progresses. There are moments where Owen is more of a little boy and Lieberher has a wise-beyond his years sensibility, and vice versa. But somewhere along the way they meet in the middle for a perfect bonding experience as each becomes who they are meant to be. We have seen this type of dynamic and emotional growth in many of Owen\u2019s prior films where his role is that of a parent, so it begs the question of how he consistently does it; how does he make these parent-child relationships so resonant and wonderful. According to Owen, with THE CONFIRMATION, it comes down to Jaeden Lieberher. \u201c[W]e got together a good 4 or 5 days before shooting and we rehearsed and went through every single scene in the script; not necessarily playing it or over doing it, but just talking it through, making sure we were all on the same page of what the scene is about. But I have to be honest. When I read the script, which I really loved, and I spoke to Bob [Nelson] on the phone and said I wanted to do it, I said the crucial thing is obviously, we have to find the right kid. The film rests on that. There\u2019s a lot on this. It\u2019s unusual for a young kid to shoulder a movie of this level because it\u2019s delicate. It\u2019s funny, it\u2019s poignant, it\u2019s sad. It moves through a lot of things. And then he sent me the tape of this guy [as he tousles Lieberher\u2019s hair]. . . And I went, \u2018We\u2019ve got it!\u2019 He was unbelievably good. I was thrilled. I just jumped on the phone and said, \u2018He\u2019s fantastic! Get him.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Displaying a keen sense of humor, Lieberher jokes a bit laughing, \u201cI was excited to work on this film but then I heard Clive was in it and I thought, \u2018Oh. No!\u2019.\u201d But he quickly turns serious, explaining how a few people – his mom, his manager, his agent – \u201ctalk through the movie and see if I want to do it. It\u2019s a group decision.\u201d But at the end of the day, in this case, the choice was obvious. \u201cI think everybody felt the same way with this one because it was such a really brilliantly written script. I definitely wanted to be a part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n With a reflective tone, Lieberher expounds, noting, \u201cBob [Nelson] is very good at creating very real characters and he\u2019s really good at creating such real relationships between people. I really enjoyed reading about the relationship between the father and the son. Also, their adventure in meeting in their relationship with all the other people that they meet and how they\u2019re such interesting characters. . .There\u2019s always just some way that they can just work together, just enjoy being with each other.\u201d But when it comes to talk of him doing his own stunts in the film, Lieberher lights up like a Christmas tree, grinning from ear to ear as Owen sings his praises. \u201cHe\u2019s already an action star! He dives through windows! He knows how to handle a gun! . . . The world\u2019s your oyster!\u201d<\/p>\n Clive Owen is clearly moved by the \u201csensibilities of the film.\u201d. With themes of right and wrong and \u201cThe Golden Rule\u201d as part of the film\u2019s fabric, Owen delves even deeper into the story, attributing its depth and texture to Bob Nelson. \u201cWhen you get to know Bob, you see where it\u2019s all coming from because he\u2019s one of the nicest guys you\u2019ll ever meet. He\u2019s respectful of everybody. . .He gives everybody in this film respect. People are struggling. People are having a hard time. They\u2019re struggling to make ends meet. They have tough lives. But there\u2019s no sense of judging any of these people and what they do, even people who do some terrible things. My character was a very flawed character, but it\u2019s not judgmental. . .There\u2019s a warmth and humanity about the way he draws these characters that is really attractive. He\u2019s not sentimental. It\u2019s just respectful and it really separates it from a lot of other material that would be involved in this kind of world. I was really taken with that. I thought, there\u2019s a real warmth about this without it ever falling into sentimentality.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But THE CONFIRMATION isn\u2019t all Clive Owen and Jaeden Lieberher. The film boasts an outstanding supporting cast, among them, Lieberher\u2019s fellow Philadelphian Maria Bello, screen legend Robert Forster, Patton Oswalt and Michael Eklund, just to name a few. When asked about working with Forster and the rest, Lieberher astutely and tactfully posits, \u201cI think you can definitely see that Robert\u2019s been around for awhile because of his experience, his knowledge of the business. And you can see that with a lot of people, a lot of people that we worked with, including – I don\u2019t want to say young, but \u2018younger\u2019 than \u2018other people\u2019 [pointing to Clive] – like Patton Oswalt. He\u2019s relatively young. But, yeah, you can really see how many films they\u2019ve done, in their eyes and the way they act.\u201d And the experience of working with these veterans wasn\u2019t wasted on young Lieberher. \u201cI definitely learned a lot. I think you learn a lot from watching them. But then to meet them, to see them in person, I definitely learned so much more. . .I think I learned a lot about method, and ways to become a better actor, and the different things that Clive did and the different things that other people do to become better. And just to keep going as an actor.\u201d<\/p>\n Of course, this now begs the question, just what did Jaeden Lieberher learn from watching Clive? \u201c Well, Clive, although he\u2019s a talented, brilliant actor, he does so much and he just keeps working. I was just so surprised by how he takes his job very seriously and he works so hard at it. And he also has fun. He\u2019s always working on his accent, and the way he acts, and he\u2019s always growing, becoming better. I was definitely inspired by him.\u201d<\/p>\n So if Jaeden Lieberher is inspired by the experience of working with Clive Owen, what did Owen learn from watching and working with Lieberher. \u201cI learned that it\u2019s strange sometimes with acting how some people just have it. I started acting and I did a school play. And when my kids got to a certain age, I went to see the school productions. And every now and again you\u2019d come across a kid and go, \u2018They\u2019ve got it!\u2019 Whatever \u201cthat\u201d is, you want to watch them. There\u2019s something innately gifted that draws you in and is very watchable. I had one of the best times with Jaeden of any actor I\u2019ve worked with. I promise you. And I don\u2019t say that lightly. I looked forward to going in everyday because he\u2019s unusual. He\u2019s the fully formed deal already. I don\u2019t know where he gets it from, I really don\u2019t, because it\u2019s way advanced from his years. Not only is he very real and very gifted, he has an innate restraint that takes time to learn; the trust and the confidence that people are going to get it and you don\u2019t have to overstate and overplay. We\u2019d sit in the car and we\u2019d do scenes together and I\u2019d look at him, and I\u2019d believe him. That\u2019s the bottom line for any actor. That\u2019s what you\u2019ve got to do. You\u2019ve got be believable and he has that as a natural, and has it with ease. He\u2019s very unexcitable. He\u2019s a very calm, cool customer. I just had the best time.\u201d<\/p>\n And with that \u201cbest time\u201d that both boys had making THE CONFIRMATION, just what did they each take away from the overall experience? Surprising is Owen who, with all his years and all the directors with whom he\u2019s worked, found \u201c[I]t really proved to me how great it is working with a writer\/director – to have the person there who invented the thing and understands completely why he\u2019s written it and what the intent is behind it – to have him close by. Yes, he\u2019s a first time director. But in a film like this which is not about tricks with the camera, it\u2019s a human story about the characters. And to have the person there that\u2019s created these characters, close to you on the set everyday, it\u2019s great working with a writer\/director.\u201d<\/p>\n Although not with as many projects under his belt -yet – Jaeden Lieberher has already had his share of cinematic experiences, having worked with Bill Murray in \u201c St. Vincent\u201d and now Michael Shannon in \u201cMidnight Special\u201d which is in theatres concurrently with THE CONFIRMATION, and has his own thoughts on what he took away from this film. \u201cThere were so many great actors and Bob was just – like Clive said – he\u2019s just very smart and sweet. He made the set very comfortable. And I think this was one of the most comfortable films I\u2019ve gotten to shoot. With other movies, I\u2019ve been a little bit uncomfortable, I guess, because you meet these people and you have to go into a scene with them. I\u2019ve had good relationships with people but then sometimes it can be weird. . . Just because I\u2019m younger, I may feel intimidated, but on this it was such a good experience. I feel so comfortable with everybody and with Clive. This was one of the first films where I just felt very comfortable and was just happy to be in this movie.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sitting down with Clive Owen and Jaeden Lieberher, the first thing one notices is the fun loving relationship between the two, especially as Owen decides it\u2019s \u201csnack time\u201d for the boys. \u201cI\u2019m just gonna raid the mini-bar. You can have chocolate raisins, chocolate chip cookies, jelly beans. Which do you want? Bar of chocolate? Let\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14719,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3626,5],"tags":[4252,2168,3494,1489,220,4250,1513,4253,3729,4254,2570,4251],"class_list":["post-14716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interview-exclusives","category-interviews","tag-bob-nelson","tag-clive-owen","tag-debbie-elias","tag-exclusive-interview","tag-interview","tag-jaeden-lieberher","tag-maria-bello","tag-michael-eklund","tag-moviesharkdeblore","tag-patton-oswalt","tag-robert-forster","tag-the-confirmation"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"the](\"http:\/\/behindthelensonline.net\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/the-confirmation-3-400x225.jpg\")
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