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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories Teacher's Tips: College not the end-all for every student Ashland firefighters cook for seniors at Thanksgiving feast Helicopter officials admits he falsified data Two-alarm fire damages Ashland home SOU Honors College team takes on Food Bank project Education Teacher's Tips: College not the end-all for every student SOU Honors College team takes on Food Bank project Kiwanis club invites fifth-graders to write flag essay AHS club helps fill Ashland Emergency Food Bank Ashland High School: Students get schooled in interviewing Environment Don't like weather where you are? Move a mile or two Salmon: A force of nature can be restored Students nurturing nature SOU eyes burning biomass instead of gas Navickas ordered to pay court filing fees Business Southern Oregon reports growth in lodging industry Ride & Drive: 2015 Honda CR-V Dear Monty: Violation of HOA rules creates conflict Standing Stone stands up for Emergency Food Bank Find your holiday spirit in Ashland’s Season of Celebration Politics and elections Miller write-in campaign lands Ashland Parks and Rec seat Granlund cartoon: GOP wrecking balls Oregon voters narrowly reject GMO labeling measure Kitzhaber wins fourth term Merkley wins re-election by wide margin State News GMO label measure, losing by 809 votes, headed for recount Resent ballots, late results likely to trigger GMO recount Nation - World Grand jury won't indict Ferguson cop in shooting Obituaries Stephen A. Read Death Notices Death Notices Death Notices Robert E. Johnson Sports Latest Stories Tow overcomes heart condition to spark Raiders Atanda makes most of fresh start Raiders rout Pioneers, to play Carroll in QFs Southern Oregon men place second at nationals; women 18th Atanda's 16 kills powers SOU to first-round rout High school Six Grizzlies voted MWL first-teamers Grizzlies roughed up at Silverton Upset-minded Grizzlies brace for undefeated Foxes Georgia Williams commits to Columbia Gabe Lehrburger, Grizzlies clean house in MWL all-star voting Southern Oregon University Tow overcomes heart condition to spark Raiders Atanda makes most of fresh start Raiders rout Pioneers, to play Carroll in QFs Southern Oregon men place second at nationals; women 18th Atanda's 16 kills powers SOU to first-round rout Opinion Latest Stories Granlund cartoon: Hagel steps down Granlund cartoon: Thanksgiving and shopping Letters to the Editor, Nov. 24 Herb Rothschild Jr.: Greed, love and the Shmoo Frank Mulligan: They say fame is fleeting Editorial Our view: Keep it simple in OSF courtyard Our view: Expanding the season Our View: Our view: Generating a good idea Our View: Looking beyond the snow Letters Letters to the Editor, Nov. 24 Letters to the Editor, Nov. 15 Letters to the Editor, Nov. 11 Letters to the Editor, Nov. 10 Letters to the Editor, Nov. 3 Guest opinions Herb Rothschild Jr.: Greed, love and the Shmoo Guest Opinion: Save the SOU swimming pool Chris Honoré: Was the midterm election a mandate? Herb Rothschild: TPP agreement draws opposition from all sides Guest Opinion: A meaningful step toward political bipartisanship Revels Latest Stories Community blog: Oregon Poetry Association's fall contest winners Movie listings for Varsity Theatre and Ashland Street Cinemas Best Bets: Nov. 20-28 Caleb Klauder Band and The Steel Wheels play the Unitarian Stewart crafts a fine film in 'Rosewater' Theater New design for Bricks takes shape Hard to keep a straight face with 'Red Noses' 'Red Noses' is a romp through slapstick and pathos 'The Drunken City': Bachelorettes meet bar-crawlers Music Peter Chianca: Top 40 songs even a dad could love The Farr Side: Different artists, common songs Longtime area musician Steve Read, 64, dies The Farr Side: CMA telecast was a disappointment Bass Clarinet Takeover Visual Art Ashland's First Friday Art Walk showcases new exhibits by regional artists Movies Movie review: ‘Dumb and Dumber To’ stays true to form Interview: Jennifer Aniston continues to shed good-girl image Movie listings for Varsity Theatre and Ashland Street Cinemas Stewart crafts a fine film in 'Rosewater' Interview: Steve Carell gets grim Food and Drink Blue bows out of Granite Street site, Agave moving in Chef count up at feast for the senses Cruelest Month: Poetry Blog Lifestyle Latest Stories ROGUES: Tales from the Valley: Sherry and Dawn prepare for a psychodrama weekend Teacher's Tips: College not the end-all for every student Dave Ramsey: Money comes in the wrong half of the month Dr. Elaine Heffner: Big changes in little kids Food for Thought: Add new twists on Thanksgiving favorites Aging Happens Inner Peace Column Inner Peace Blog Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » Obituaries Photos Videos Blogs NEWS NOW Ashland Calendar, Nov. 25 ... GMO label measure, losing by 809 votes, headed for recount ... Helicopter officials admits he falsified data ... Ashland Calendar, Nov. 25 ... GMO label measure, losing by 809 votes, headed for recount ... Helicopter officials admits he falsified data ... Tommy Lee Jones (finally) puts on a happy face By Ed Symkus, More Content Now DailyTidings.com By Ed Symkus, More Content Now Posted Nov. 13, 2014 @ 6:51 am By Ed Symkus, More Content Now Posted Nov. 13, 2014 @ 6:51 am » Social News Ardent readers of stories about actors have no doubt come across the difficulties of conducting interviews with Tommy Lee Jones, an excellent performer, likely best known by contemporary audiences for his role as the gruff government agent in the “Men in Black” films. But Jones has been a screen presence for four and a half decades, launching his career with “Love Story,” gaining accolades in “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” nabbing Oscar nominations for “JFK,” “In the Valley of Elah” and “Lincoln,” and winning the gold statuette for his part in “The Fugitive.” Yes, a great actor, but often a miserable, uncooperative wretch when it comes time to talking with the press. So it was an unexpected and pleasant surprise when he gave thoughtful answers, smiled a few times and even laughed during an interview session for “The Homesman,” which he directed, co-wrote, and stars in, alongside Hilary Swank. It’s a 19th century-set story of the West, in which he plays a troublemaking drifter who teams up with a strong but lonely woman who’s been tasked to escort a trio of mentally disturbed women cross country for psychiatric help. This is the fourth film directed by Jones, after two TV movies, and the 2005 feature “The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada.” Jones seemed eager to chat about “The Homesman” and his approach to directing it during an interview last week in Los Angeles. Q. Do you feel that your long acting career helped prepare you to be a director? A. My education as a filmmaker has been entirely practical. I started working professionally in the film business in 1970, I’ve been at it steadily since, and I’ve paid a lot of attention. I’ve worked with some very good directors and some very bad ones, and I learned a great deal from both. When you work with highly talented people, you want to emulate them. But from the untalented people you learn what not to do. It’s been on-the-job training for me. Every day is a bigger, broader, brighter day than the day before. Q. Did you learn anything specifically from directing “The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada” that helped you with “The Homesman”? A. It gets easier to budget my time, hour by hour. I suppose that’s a learning process. Q. You shot in New Mexico and had it double for Nebraska, and in Georgia, which stood in for Iowa, and you got some really good changes in the visual tone of the film. A. Well, the story is of a journey eastward, and the destination has to be different than the origin. Because of the contrast between Nebraska and Iowa, we wanted the end of the journey to look and feel a lot different than the beginning. We thought of using computer-generated imaging and phony trees. But nothing worked. We were very lucky to find Lumpkin, Georgia, where a man with some discretionary income tried to buy every 19th century house in the state. He made a little town, and it was perfectly suited to our purposes. Q. The film is based on the novel by Glendon Swarthout. What were the elements of the book that initially got you interested and motivated to become so involved? A. The book offered us a chance to make a screenplay that had some originality to it. Of course, part of our lives as filmmakers is a never-ending search for originality. We’re desperately clawing for originality, and it’s not always readily available. Q. Some of the characters in the film do a normal amount of talking. But hardly a word is said by the three women who are being escorted. Is it a whole different challenge to direct such different personalities? A. Talking is just one of the things actors do. Movement is another one. There are a lot of moving parts to the job of acting, but directing somebody who doesn’t talk, as opposed to somebody who does ... no, there’s not a lot of difference. What you want is to get the feelings right. Sometimes words help, but sometimes they don’t. Q. There’s a haunting image at the end of the film, of one major character crossing a river on a raft. Were you going for some sort of symbolism there? A. That image is based on a painting by George Caleb Bingham. If you learn about his painting, you’ll see that we did our best to defile it (laughs). Ed Symkus covers movies for More Content Now. By Ed Symkus, More Content Now DailyTidings.com By Ed Symkus, More Content Now Posted Nov. 13, 2014 @ 6:51 am » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with DailyTidings.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Alerts Email alerts RSS feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2014 Local Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 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