The Source Magazine sat down with “I, Frankenstein” Star Aaron Eckhart in New York City. The Lionsgate film is now playing. 

Check out what Eckhart told reporters at our roundtable.

Q: What do you think makes this Frankenstein movie different then previous ones? 

Well, this is a much more energetic monster. Before in movie history he had the square head and the bolts and he’s very cumbersome and this guy is live and quick. He’s strong, fast, and deadly. We’ve never seen that before, but I think in the way that is similar to the book is that the core values of Mary Shelley’s book “Frankenstein” are still in it. I went back and read it and you have a creation that’s rejected by his father, he’s looking for his purpose in life, but he’s a sensitive creature. I think we got that in this movie that he’s sensitive and he’s looking for love and his soul obviously.

Q: What was the highlight of being apart of this film for you? 

The stick fighting because I’ve never heard of Kali stick fighting before. Having never heard about it and the next day somebody showing up at your door for six months, three hours a day, it’s just hardcore, I really got to know stick fighting. That was interesting. I think I’ll take that with me my entire life.

Q: Of all of the acting roles you’ve done in your career would you say this is the most intense training wise?

Oh yeah! After this movie I was tired. The thing about this movie is that it’s so dangerous. You pick up a stick or a baseball bat; you know what that can do to you right? So now you’re talking about going full speed ahead with two sticks and if you’re off by a millimeter or a centimeter you know that’s in the cheek. So it’s very very dangerous and so the trust had to be there, but we had a good crew. I remember in that big screen I got hit right in the back of the neck and I passed out and fell to the ground and I thought that’s it.

Q: Stuart Beattie talked about your amazing work ethic. What helped you develop that type of work ethic?

Well I’ll tell you everyone probably says it of their dad, but my dad is the hardest working guy that I’ve ever met…I could work 24 hours every single day and I wouldn’t work as hard as my father. And I’m not just talking he’s quite impressive, but I always thought that my dad was disappointed that his sons didn’t work hard enough. So it’s interesting to hear Stuart or anybody say that because I want to work hard. I like working hard. I want to be known as a hard worker. I think you can have less talent and work hard and get further. I like working hard I like being on set. I like thinking. I can do better every single time between takes. How can this be better? How can we be better? How can I be better? I’m constantly asking myself that. Sometimes you swing for the fences and sometimes it works and sometimes it does, but it’s not for lack of trying you know what I mean?

Q: Did you stay in character?

Yeah if you don’t get out of character it’s easier to get into it the next day. You don’t have to search for it if you just keep it right on the surface the whole time. People always say ‘I’m not in a rush to get out of my character.’ I’m sort of like ‘Once you get it in you, you want to stay there, so that you can trust it, it’s always there for you.’ I think it’s more fun to stay in character.

Q: Does that help you determine what roles you’ll take on? Because obviously you wouldn’t want a character that you wouldn’t want to stick with you.

I’ve done it. There’s movies I’ve done where I absolutely hated my character. I played a pedophile once and you sit there going ‘What am I doing?’ It’s just tough you know? You have to learn to love your character for other reasons because every mother loves her child at one point or another right? So you have to find out why you love that character. I prefer now to play characters that I like, at least that I can find some value in. I thought the value in doing this story was trust your instincts, find the courage inside of you to preserve. I’ve felt like Adam in my life. I was ugly unworthy, unwanted; definitely at times in my life I didn’t know what my purpose was. Well the kids that are mostly going to see this movie are going to feel like Adam feels right now in that movie. Whether we say that it’s true or not if I have acne all over my face and I’m teenager and I say to my mom ‘I’m a monster.’ Of course I’m not a monster, but I feel that way and that’s what resonated with me in this movie. They’re teenagers that feel this way and how are they going to find the courage to overcome that. So I thought that was a story worth doing.

Q: How’d you feel about the actually story itself?

Well, you read the script and it says, cathedral, gargoyles, and demons, it’s 2 dimensional right? What I gravitate toward is the emotion as an actor, what do I get to do, how do I get to feel, what’s my journey? I had no idea what it was going to look like. What I do like about it is the idea of good and evil, the idea of making a choice. Having to make a choice, choices have consequences, and I think that’s good stuff for kids to see. I’ve done a lot of movies that were not so good in terms of the message but I liked that. I liked the gargoyles, I liked the demons, and I liked the rules that he set up. He used the convention of using a literary character. Not only are you redoing Frankenstein, but also you’re taking this whole other step. I didn’t have any concept of what it was going to look like not until I saw the end result. Now I don’t know if I could see it any other way that’s just the way it is. I mean if you’re going to make Frankenstein’s monster an action you have to put him somewhere, you have to have him doing something, I think Stuart put it in a pretty great place.

Q: This is the first time we ever see Frankenstein’s monster as Adam. Did that make him more human for you?

It’s funny going back and reading Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” it’s like the guy’s as human as you get. He’s sensitive, he learns to be articulate, he’s looking for love, he desires a family, and he wants to be included. So by reading that it’s like he is. The gargoyles and the demons are more powerful than he is right? Usually he’s the biggest guy in the room and now he’s not, it makes him more vulnerable.

-Keith Lee