MANILA, Philippines -- Real-life American hero Harvey Milk did things many in the establishment would consider “radical.” An openly gay man during a time when the gay rights movement had just reached full bloom, he became city supervisor in 1978, fighting off anti-gay legislation and proclaiming himself as mayor of San Francisco’s gay-populated Castro Street.
Now with director Gus Van Sant’s critically-acclaimed film Milk telling Harvey’s courageous and incredible story, who better to fill his shoes than Sean Penn?
Like Milk, Sean is equally perceived as a “radical” due to his views against the bungled Iraq War, the failed response to Hurricane Katrina, and overall administration of President George W. Bush. It’s that sense of impassioned fearlessness he’s exhibited both as an actor and activist that first compelled the now-48-year-old to embody the persona of Harvey Milk.
Were you afraid to make this film?
I don’t know if there was such a thing as being scared to make a movie, but there were challenges in this that were exciting for me. But primarily, it started with a hunger to work with Gus Van Sant. With Gus directing and Dustin Lance Black’s sensational script, it seemed like a no-brainer. And with that, I can lay on top of all of the particular values of this story that Harvey Milk’s life had.
How did you prepare for the role?
The documentary and the additional archival footage were very helpful. I say that a little vaguely because the best way you could use it was that you watch a lot the same way you’d play music all day in the background and not necessarily be thinking about it. But just I kept it on all the time and all the synapses start to connect and, if you listen carefully, you can hear the music of that and you kind of dance with it. But of course, what Lance wrote was amazing. The inspiration came from all directions.
But it was clear, in terms of, for a lack of a better term, character choice, that the most exciting version of Harvey Milk to me is Harvey Milk. If you see the documentary, he’s an electric warm guy.
Playing someone so larger-than-life, how did you manage to stay with Harvey Milk between takes and on and off set?
The answer is he did stay with me. How? I’m not entirely sure. I haven’t given it a lot of thought. If something comes in and you ever been aware that it’s there, you leave it alone, so it doesn’t go away.
How different do you think the gay community in America would have been had Milk not been killed?
I think less people would have died of AIDS. I think Ronald Reagan would have been forced to address it. And it was a tragic loss. Harvey wouldn’t have stood quietly and he would have known he is a leader and he happened to be focused on the gay movement. And because the impression was that AIDS was a gay disease and certainly huge in numbers of homosexuals died related to all of it, I think he would have advanced the argument a lot sooner. I think people are dead because he died too soon.
What’s your stand on the longtime fundamental disagreement between gays and the religious in America?
I think it’s important to remember that the tension is not between the gay and the faith community. The tension is between a gay community and a pseudo-faith community, which has nothing to do with God, love, or anything of real faith. So it’s really just hypocrisy and hatred.
(Milk opens tomorrow exclusively at Ayala Malls Cinemas — Glorietta 4 & Greenbelt 3.)