By Christina Radish
While the prevalence of sexual predators on the Internet is on the rise, there is no better time to release a film about that very subject. Hard Candy is an edge-of-your-seat psychological thriller, in which Hayley Stark (Ellen Page), a smart, charming teenage girl, goes to a local coffee shop to meet Jeff Kohlver (Patrick Wilson), a 32-year-old fashion photographer, whom she met online. Before she knows it, Hayley is mixing drinks at Jeff’s place and stripping for an impromptu photo shoot. But, Jeff soon discovers that 14-year-old Hayley is not as innocent as she looks, and the night takes a turn when she begins to impose a hard-hitting investigation on Jeff, in an attempt to reveal his possibly scandalous past.
Drawing inspiration from a spate of real-life attacks that took place in Japan, when schoolgirls turned the tables on older men trolling the Internet for underage dates, Hard Candy introduces audiences to two intelligent, strong-willed individuals who are engaged in a battle of wits, during which it is unclear who is telling the truth. Adding fuel to the film’s fire are the powerhouse performances of its two stars, 19-year-old Canadian actress Ellen Page and acclaimed stage and screen actor Patrick Wilson.
As the casting process began, the filmmakers decided to first direct their efforts towards finding an actress to portray Hayley. They expected the casting of such a role to be difficult, but they had no idea just how hard it would be. Former music video/commercial director David Slade saw between 250 and 300 actresses for the role before watching a video, submitted in MPEG format, of Page, who actually had a shaved head, at the time.
{quote_top}“The script totally blew me away,” declares Page, who will next be seen by audiences as Kitty Pryde/Shadowcat in X-Men 3: The Last Stand. “First of all, I found it just incredibly engrossing and obviously original. And then, on top of that, to read a role written for a teenage girl with so much passion and intelligence, was extremely refreshing because most scripts I get are the girlfriend of the lead, or the girl that gets a crush on a boy, or something like that.”
Patrick Wilson, the much-lauded theatre actor who shot to national attention with his Emmy Award-nominated performance in Angels in America, was cast as the attractive, likeable, and highly suspect, Jeff.
“They came to me and offered me the role,” says the 33-year-old star of the 2004 film version of The Phantom of the Opera. “I know that they had the hardest time, and rightfully so, looking for the girl. It’s a very difficult character, and I’m so glad they went the way they did. We have this idea of the young girl on the Internet, luring the man in with her sexuality and her overt behavior. We all try to justify it, both men and women. Finding someone who had that strength and passion, and who is a very well-read, astute young woman, but still had the innocence to betray the look, was a real find.”
{quote_middle}“My wife was actually the one who, ultimately, told me to do it,” continues Wilson, “because it was just a different type of movie and a different type of character. Even though she’s an actress (he’s married to Dagmara Dominczyk) and she knew what was happening and what was going on, I think it’s painful to watch anybody that you know, and even love, go through that sort of pain on film.”
In Hard Candy, Hayley possesses an unwavering belief in her mission and in herself. It is with that sense of conviction that she sets out to trap a man she is convinced is a killer. Because of the high intensity of the subject matter, both Page and Wilson felt it was best not to really get to know each other prior to filming.
“I really don’t know Patrick very well because we met, rehearsed and shot this movie in about 18 days,” says Page. “I wanted to be an actor because I like to go to those dark places. I like to become completely and utterly engrossed in something and just lose myself. This allowed me to do that, so I’m grateful for that.”
“Just schedule wise, we were pulling long days to shoot 10 or 12 pages of script a day,” adds Wilson, “so I didn’t really get to know anybody on the film, to be honest with you. I’m a pretty private person, anyway, so it was easier, when you’re doing a film like this, to say, ‘Alright, see you tomorrow.’ It wasn’t, ‘Hey, let’s go get a drink.’ Also, Ellen was 17, so we didn’t hang out a lot. I don’t mean to make light of it, but maybe it was just the nature of the film. When you’re working on a subject like this, and you’re pulling long, physically and emotionally exhausting days, I really wanted to go home and be with my girlfriend and talk to my friends, and just get away.”
{quote_bottom}Throughout the film, there is a real ambiguity that doesn’t lead to a clear definition of who is good and who is bad. “I think they’re both antagonists,” says Norfolk, Virginia native Wilson. “I don’t think there’s a protagonist in the film. They’re the two villains. There’s no real hero. Some people may think Hayley is doing something great and heroic for society, and some people may think she has gone way too far, and that she is completely masochistic and has real problems, as a teenager. Teenagers see things pretty black and white. Adults tend to find the gray more.”
Page feels a little more optimistic about her character. “I wouldn’t say she’s evil or sick, at all. I think she’s an extremely passionate, intelligent young woman, so I actually found it kind of inspiring, in a way. I think she sees something wrong with society. She’s irritated that people are ignoring it, and she’s going to do something about it.”
Although Hard Candy is not likely to change the behavior of sexual predators on the Internet, the film could have an affect on how much attention parents pay to what their children are doing online.
“We didn’t make the movie to preach about the evils of the Internet or anything,” says the actress whose dream role would be the life story of singer Patti Smith, “but if it makes people more aware, then that’s great. It can be a scary thing, but it can also be a great thing, like pretty much anything else in our world.”
“You don’t set out to do a movie like this thinking, ‘Boy, I hope this convinces parents,’” adds Wilson. “I’d like to think that parents watch what their kids do, anyway. If parents don’t, and some parents don’t, and they walk into this movie and it makes them, then great. But, it’s not an instructional video. For me, one of the best things about the movie is that it just raises questions and it just makes you think. And, if that’s what it makes you think and you want to watch your kids a little more, then more power to you.”
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