Summary
Danny Huston adds a different kind of villain to his filmography inThe Dead Don’t Hurt. The actor son of Hollywood icon John Huston is best known for his various antagonistic roles on both the big and small screen, ranging from General Erich Ludendorff inWonder Womanto William Stryker inX-Men Origins: Wolverineand the vampire leader Marlow in30 Days of Night. Huston is also well-known for his Golden Globe-nominated turn as Ben “The Butcher” Diamond inMagic City, as well as playingThe Axeman inAmerican Horror Storyand Dan Jenkins in the first two seasons ofYellowstone.
InThe Dead Don’t Hurt, Huston stars as Rudolph Schiller, both the banker and mayor of the small town on the outskirts of San Francisco where Viggo Mortensen’s Holger Olsen and Vicky Krieps' Vivienne Le Coudy call home. Despite a seemingly cheery demeanor, in which he welcomes new arrivals and offers Holger the job of sheriff, he hides a much more corrupt nature, looking to profit off of anyone and anything he can, particularly through his relationship with a wealthy local landowner up to his own shady dealings.
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Alongside Huston, Mortensen and Krieps, the ensembleDead Don’t Hurtcast includes Solly McLeod, Garret Dillahunt, W. Earl Brown and Nadia Litz. The Western drama marks Mortensen’s second outing in the director’s chair, having previously made his feature directorial debut with the well-received 2020 dramaFalling. In addition to directing, Mortensen has also written the script, produced the film and composed its score.
In honor of the movie’s wide release,Screen Rantinterviewed Danny Huston to discussThe Dead Don’t Hurt, how he tackled a different villain than some audiences are used to seeing him play, how Mortensen’s movie differs from Kevin Costner’sHorizon: An American Saga, and why Bill Skarsgård’sThe Crowshouldn’t be viewed as a remake.
This summer marks an interesting twist for both Huston and the Western genre as they bring the releases of both Mortensen’sThe Dead Don’t HurtandCostner’sHorizon: An American Saga. Despite being set in the same era and genre, however, Huston notes that’s really the extent of their similarities, praising the former for how it created suspense through its non-chronological structure, while also describing the latter as a “majestic” saga that “takes time” to tell its story:
Danny Huston: Well, a friend of mine, a wonderful producer by the name of Jeremy Thomas, slipped The Dead Don’t Hurt script to me, and I read it with a certain amount of relish because I knew that Viggo was involved, and I was really surprised by its nonlinear approach. It’s kind of told out of chronology, and that created a sort of suspense to the telling of this story. And at its center is Vicky Krieps' character, who’s really, in a way, the lead alongside Viggo.
It’s a very sort of romantic, sensitive and lyrical approach to the Western, it’s sort of like a Howard Hawks kind of movie. It’s cold and contained within this one place, with this set of characters. Horizon, Kevin Costner’s Horizon, is majestic, it’s a saga that’s told over a long period of time. There are many, many characters in it, and it takes time to tell that story. It’s a dream that is unfolding, so they’re two completely different things, but they come under the title of a Western.
Huston’s Villain Is Always Looking To “Bring Some Calm” (But Would “Probably” Pick Up A Gun If Needed)
ThoughThe Dead Don’t Hurt’s Mayor Schiller continues Huston’s streak of villainous characters on screen, he ultimately proves to be a different kind of antagonist, rarely looking to get his hands dirty directly and “bring some calm” to every situation in the hopes of getting to “exploit” that and profit off of it. That being said, Huston does feel Schiller would pick up a gun if needed:
Danny Huston: Well, what I like is, in the genre of a Western, you’ve got these archetypes usually. This guy, Mayor Schiller, he’s also the banker, and in a way, he represents capitalism, greed, finance, and he’s trying to bring some sort of normality to the situation. Yes, maybe he’s a little corrupt or whatever you want to call him. [Chuckles] But he’s trying to contain the situation. And Vicky Krieps, who I mentioned is the lead of the piece, she had this leather pouch, and within it, silver coins, and she gave each actor a coin, so you’d put your hand in the pouch, you pull it out, and mine said, “Wisdom.”
So I really took that on board, and it was a great note. “I’m gonna try to play him that way.” In a way, these other characters are — apart from Vicky and Viggo’s characters — very volatile, very dangerous, very violent. That’s not what I want, I want to bring wisdom to the situation, and I want to bring some calm, so that I can exploit, because otherwise, things will get out of hand and there’s no profit. Yes, I think he probably would in that environment. But he’d rather use a judge that he’s got in his pocket to do the hanging for him. [Chuckles]
Bill Skarsgård’sThe CrowWill Not Be A Remake Of Brandon Lee’s Cult Classic As That “Would Be Worse”
In addition toThe Dead Don’t HurtandHorizon: An American Saga, this summer will see the release ofthe Bill Skarsgård-ledThe Crow, in which Huston stars as one of the key antagonists of the movie. In reflecting on Brandon Lee’s cult classic original and its impact on the new adaptation, Huston acknowledges the team never sought out to remake or “imitate” the original, as “it would be worse”, but instead wanted to do something unique, including utilizing a “different visual language” for it:
Danny Huston: Yeah, in a way, you don’t want to really remake things that are good, you want to kind of leave them alone, because they’re good. Why remake them? But having said that, they’re also an inspiration, and as much as you want to respect what was made before, you also want to do something different. You don’t want to imitate it, you’d be doing the same thing, and it would be worse, it wouldn’t be as good, let’s put it that way. So, here, there was an opportunity to tell this kind of Murder of Crows, inky story about revenge and just create a different visual language for it, but yet still be inspired by it and its characters, but make something different.
The Dead Don’t Hurt is a story of star-crossed lovers on the western U.S. frontier in the 1860s. Vivienne Le Coudy (Vicky Krieps) is a fiercely independent woman who embarks on a relationship with Danish immigrant Holger Olsen (Viggo Mortensen). After meeting Olsen in San Francisco, she agrees to travel with him to his home near the quiet town of Elk Flats, Nevada, where they start a life together. The outbreak of the civil war separates them when Olsen makes a fateful decision to fight for the Union. This leaves Vivienne to fend for herself in a place controlled by corrupt Mayor Rudolph Schiller (Danny Huston) and his unscrupulous business partner, powerful rancher Alfred Jeffries (Garret Dillahunt).
Alfred’s violent, wayward son Weston (Solly McLeod) aggressively pursues Vivienne, who is determined to resist his unwanted advances. When Olsen returns from the war, he and Vivienne must confront and make peace with the person each has become. Both a tragic love story and a nuanced depiction of the conflict between revenge and forgiveness, The Dead Don’t Hurt is a portrait of a passionate woman determined to stand up for herself in an unforgiving world dominated by ruthless men.
The Dead Don’t Hurt
Cast
The Dead Don’t Hurt is a story of star-crossed lovers on the western U.S. frontier in the 1860s. Vivienne Le Coudy (Vicky Krieps) is a fiercely independent woman who embarks on a relationship with Danish immigrant Holger Olsen (Viggo Mortensen). After meeting Olsen in San Francisco, she agrees to travel with him to his home near the quiet town of Elk Flats, Nevada, where they start a life together. The outbreak of the civil war separates them when Olsen makes a fateful decision to fight for the Union. This leaves Vivienne to fend for herself in a place controlled by corrupt Mayor Rudolph Schiller (Danny Huston) and his unscrupulous business partner, powerful rancher Alfred Jeffries (Garret Dillahunt). Alfred’s violent, wayward son Weston (Solly McLeod) aggressively pursues Vivienne, who is determined to resist his unwanted advances. When Olsen returns from the war, he and Vivienne must confront and make peace with the person each has become. Both a tragic love story and a nuanced depiction of the conflict between revenge and forgiveness, The Dead Don’t Hurt is a portrait of a passionate woman determined to stand up for herself in an unforgiving world dominated by ruthless men.
