1 of 5 | Jake Abel stars in “Fog of War,” on video-on-demand Friday. Photo courtesy of Decal
While discussing his latest movie, Fog of War, on video-on-demand Friday, Jake Abel recalled lessons he learned as a young actor from Hollywood veterans. He plays a World War II spy in the film, co-starring with John Cusack and Mira Sorvino.
In a recent Zoom interview with UPI, Abel, 37, said he now finds himself giving advice to the next generation the way his acting mentors did earlier in his career. He worked on the 2013 film The Host with the late William Hurt, who taught him the importance of being interested in all aspects of filmmaking besides acting. Advertisement
“I saw him walk up to the crew while they were building sets and he was talking about the blueprints because he knew,” Abel said of Hurt. “He just cared. He just engaged with everything in life.” Advertisement
Abel’s prior experience with Cusack was more spontaneous. Abel played Beach Boy Mike Love in the Brian Wilson biopic Love & Mercy, while Cusack and Paul Dano portrayed older and younger versions of Wilson.
When they first worked together on Fog of War, Abel reminded Cusack of their duet after filming Love & Mercy.
“I met him at the wrap party on stage,” Abel said. “We shared a microphone, singing Beach Boys songs with Brian Wilson.”
Their work together in Fog of War was considerably more intense. After an injury grounds Gene (Abel) from further flight, the OSS recruits him to spy on a New England community.
Gene lives with his fiance’s (Brianna Hildebrand) aunt (Sorvino) and uncle (Cusack) who have secrets of their own. Abel said he did not discuss backstory or process with his co-stars so their cryptic scenes could feel genuine.
“I think actors should definitely not talk about their process or their secrets,” Abel said. “You know everybody’s lying, you rehearse, you have to hang on to some sense of the unknown. It’s great to not know what the other person’s thinking. It’s like tennis. You’re trying to hit the ball back and you’re seeing where they’re hitting it.” Advertisement
The 15-day shoot did not allow much preparation time anyway, as Abel said he was cast one week prior to filming.
While there was no time for specific World War II research, Abel has played military characters before in Medal of Honor, Good Kill, and Unspoken. He drew on past experience training with veterans for those roles.
One thing he learned was that gun stance has evolved since World War II. So for Fog of War, he reverted back to the old way of holding firearms.
“Now, even when you aim a gun, your thumb goes down the side of the barrel,” Abel said. “It’s slight but anyone who watches it who knows will go, ‘No, that’s not right.'”
With the time he had, Abel also took it upon himself to practice Gene’s limp. He tightened a knee brace around his leg and got used to walking in it.
“I’d become conscious of the fact that there was something on my knee,” Abel said. “Then it became second nature to the point where I was using the cane and limping around in between takes, which made no sense, but you start to form a habit.”
Growing up in Akron-Canton, Ohio, Abel would make short films with his parents’ video camera. His family later moved to Charleston, S.C., and Abel credits his freshman high school improv class with confirming his desire to become an actor. Advertisement
At 16, his family took Abel to Los Angeles to start auditioning. Abel also finished high school early via home schooling.
“Then we met an agent’s assistant who convinced them to give me even longer,” Abel said. “It was just a series of little signs that were like keep going, keep going, keep going. Now I’m over 20 years in. It’s the greatest job in the world.”
Working with Greg Kinnear in Flash of Genius and Pierce Brosnan in Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief were other positive examples Abel cited. Now, Abel hopes he can provide the same support to younger actors.
“I had great examples of older actors when I was young working who showed me what to do and what not to do,” Abel said. “Being able to pass on what some of the legends had taught me is great too because we need the next generation to be brought up right and not be a bunch of knuckleheads.”
