"He is a truly authentic human being. He has actually been a well-known actor and he has acted longer than me. He has lived his whole life in the business but in a completely different society than mine. I think he’s one of the truly most authentic, candid and honest people I’ve ever worked with."
Russell has been in the business far longer than one could ever conceive: Forty-five years! And yes, he has been acting since he was 10.
"I started working in 1961 and I think he (Dreyfuss) started working in 1966 or ’65 or something. We come from the same time period. He’s a great storyteller," confirms the actor.
"It was really fun for me to work with Richard and I’ve always admired greatly all the things he has done. It was also fun to work with someone who has been around for a long, long time."
Russell co-stars in Poseidon, a re-imagining of the 1972 disaster classic. In the film, he portrays the former New York mayor who goes on a cruise with his daughter and her fiancé to get away from a public scandal that brought his political career to an abrupt end.
The actor, handsome in gray shirt and dark gray jacket, met this writer and a host of others from other countries last week to talk about his participation in one of the year’s hotly-anticipated blockbusters.
"One thing that I think is interesting about Poseidon is the story. It asks you who you would be and who you should be, and if you have any choice. Are you the person who stays in that room or are you the person who leaves," he says.
"The five most critical hours in your life are probably gonna be spent with people whose names you don’t know and your life may be in their hands and their lives may be in your hands. This may happen in your lifetime. It probably will, something, somewhere, somehow and you’ll get through it, hopefully, and then you’ll learn, and then you’ll be connected to them forever."
But that is not what really attracted him to the movie. The actor has this macabre fascination with drowning and that influenced him into taking the movie.
"There are so many ways to drown and I’ve always been fascinated by that," he reveals.
"I must say drowning is a fascination to a lot of people. We’ve heard a lot of myths and tales about this and that. One of the ways to drown is you pass out from lack of oxygen and when you pass out, you suck in air and when you suck in air, you panic and then when you panic, for a certain period of time, you go into a euphoric state and during that euphoric state, your brain waves still function but you’re not processing. You’re gone but you’re not dead. You’re not quite finished, I guess."
With all this fascination about drowning, one would think Kurt is trying to convey some indirect message to fans. On the contrary, though, his other fascination, the movies, still takes center stage for him.
"I’ve had a long one (career). I probably played more different characters on film than any other living actor. That’s what I wanted to do and I think it is fun to do. I’ve been fortunate that I’ve been in movies people have really enjoyed. I’ve done movies people didn’t like. I’ve done movies where characters were great and some that were not. I’m an actor and I make my living as an actor. I love doing it and I love being part of the whole process," he shares.
"I never thought it was very important to take much credit for everything. I always thought the only credit that matters was the credit the audience takes at the end of the movie for having paid their money to watch it. We’re all just a part of putting it out there. I don’t care how that happens other than that everybody goes to work every day in every capacity and tries to do the best they can do and try to come up with the best stuff as actors, as directors, writers, set decorators, as props, as makeup, as hair, as sound, everything! I just think everybody has his/her part to play in making a movie. It is a fascinating process; I very much prefer it to anything else to do as a living. Forty-five years ago, I got paid $110 for a day’s work and I couldn’t believe it so that I said, ‘What! Count me in! Count me in!"
The fiercely-independent actor may have had 45 years in his storied career, but his conscious effort to avoid the Hollywood lifestyle has revealed to him the other, not-so-forgiving, side of the business.
"I am not a member of the Hollywood society. I’m not and I never have been. And it cost me a lot. I’m not looked upon as being a part of the community," he says.
"It cost me a lot of money, a lot of influence, a lot of awards."
"I don’t think living outside and not trying to be a part of the scene should cost you any of that, especially if you’ve done the job as well as I have and you’ve made as much money for people as I have. So, all I’ve ever concerned myself with was the work and making sure the paycheck was there. I was criticized roundly, because I am not a part of this community. They don’t like the way I think. I didn’t want to play the game. I never had a press agent. I didn’t want to do any of that. I wanted to see if I could survive without that. I did!"
"You talk about integrity. Everything that’s mine is mine," he adds.
Poseidon is currently showing in Metro Manila theaters.