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MENTORED BY OSF ACTORS A fantastic accolade Former Ashlander Matt Ross recognized by Cannes Film Festival Comment By John Darling for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By John Darling for the Mail Tribune Posted Aug. 1, 2016 at 12:01 AM By John Darling for the Mail Tribune Posted Aug. 1, 2016 at 12:01 AM » Social News Native Ashlander Matt Ross, who has carved out a professional niche as an actor and director, has now earned praise from on high — the Cannes Film Festival — for his new drama-comedy film, “Captain Fantastic.” Ross, 49, who attended Ashland High School, received the Best Director award for the film in the Un Certain Regard category at the film festival. "Captain Fantastic," which opened Friday at the Varsity Theatre in Ashland, was written and directed by Ross, who was mentored through childhood by Oregon Shakespeare Festival directors. The movie stars noted actor Viggo Mortensen in the title role as the loving, involved father of six children who have been raised in the wild and find themselves out of place on a trip into civilization. “It’s about parenting, family harmony in nature,” Ross says. “All this technology gives us a lot, but most people are so separated from the rhythms of the natural world, the most egregious example being removal from our food sources, so we make choices with no idea of their consequences.” The movie trailer shows a family learning and playing vigorously in the wooded hills and streams, sharpening wits and fitness. But the death of their estranged mother requires a mind-blowing trip to the funeral through freeways, cities and into other people’s homes. You soon see they have a big problem: They don’t understand what’s going on around them and don’t have the social cues to talk to kids their age. At a big family dinner, the little girl asks, “How did you kill this chicken? With a knife or ax?” Their loving but conservative grandfather (the father of the late wife and mother) decides their living situation amounts to child abuse and files for custody. It’s a plot premise filled with the clash of values that are very alive in our culture. It’s also filled with humor and has been compared by some to “Little Miss Sunshine,” which also had the road-trip theme with an often-bonkers family. Ross, however, rejects the comparison. A main theme, he says, is that the highly creative and courageous dad, while trying to overcome the rigidity of modern life, starts becoming rigid himself. Under the tutelage of longtime OSF director-actors Jim Edmondson and Paul Barnes, Ross and a half-dozen childhood friends were introduced to acting and the alluring world of theater, which all of them carried into careers as adults. Starting when Ross was 12, they would perform Shakespeare on Mondays for the theater actors. After Ashland High, Ross went to The Juilliard School in New York. Ross made eight earlier short movies, and the feature-length 2012 romance “28 Hotel Rooms.” He is working on three more projects, he notes, and is about to pick “the most meaningful one” to focus on. His acting role took off in both television and movies in the mid- to late-'90s. According to his Wikipedia page, he has had a dozen and a half film roles, including in "American Psycho," "The Aviator" and "Good Night, and Good Luck." His TV roles include stints on shows ranging from the CSI series to "American Horror Story." He is perhaps best known for his roles as Gavin Belson in the HBO series "Silicon Valley" and Alby Grant in the HBO series "Big Love." He also starred as Johnny Cash in the 2013 TV movie "Ring of Fire." "Captain Fantastic" signals Ross's arrival as a main player in the movie industry, able to get crowd-drawing actors such as Mortensen and to find funding. Mortensen played the leading role of Aragorn in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy and starred in “A History of Violence” and many other films. “Viggo was a coup,” Ross says. "He’s one of our great film actors. I’m a big fan of his. We’re defined in part by who we hang out with. He’s a gifted artist in many fields and is well known.” Ross was a child of the 1980s in Ashland, adding it has changed drastically since then. “It was a healthy place to grow up," he says. "I got to do a lot of theater and was exposed to 12 or 14 plays a year. If you grow up in L.A. or New York and want to get into theater, you get an agent and lawyer. But in Ashland, you do it for love and the purity of doing it for the beauty of writing and love for the arts.” John Darling is an Ashland freelance writer. Reach him at [email protected]. By John Darling for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By John Darling for the Mail Tribune Posted Aug. 1, 2016 at 12:01 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. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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