Jon Voight did some of his best work with director Hal Ashby, including the classic, “Coming Home,” in which he portrays a paralyzed Vietnam vet coaxed out of his acerbic shell by co-star Jane Fonda. He won an Oscar for his performance, reteaming with Ashby two years later for “Lookin’ to Get Out,” co-written by Voight and first-time scribe Al Schwartz. The picture opened in 1982 to morbid reviews and dismal box office, but now, 27 years later, a new edit has surfaced, available for the first time on Warner Home Video.
These days he may sound like Rush Limbaugh -- but don’t be fooled. With first-rate performances in classics like “The Deliverance” and “Midnight Cowboy," Voight is one cool cat. He sat down recently with TheWrap to talk about the new edit, daughter Angelina Jolie’s first screen appearance, the war in Iraq and the passing of some of Hollywood’s greatest performers.
All these years later, how does this discovered edit of “Lookin’ to Get Out” compare with the 1982 release?
The original was all over the place and it reflected the drama that was around the post-production. Hal was working on three films at the same time. He had teams of editors working on each of the films, and it was tough for him to see — just to see the whole thing clearly. Hal walked away from it in a battle of some kind and the picture — 15 minutes were taken out of the picture, which wasn’t a perfect picture as it was. Then Hal passed away.
At the age of five, Angelina has her big screen debut with you in the final moments of the film.
It’s a lovely little scene and it was written for a boy and my son was going to play it but Hal wanted a little girl. So Angie, when I asked her, she said “Yes, I’ll do it.” And her mother was there and she worked with Angie on the lines and probably gave her a little advice, gently. So when Angelina came to the set, she was very well prepared. She wasn’t worried too much about it. I said, “Do you want to go over the lines, Angelina?” And then she just said, “Okay.”
This sweet little girl, usually distracted by everything, by this and by that, you didn’t know where her focus was going to be or if she would get upset and say “I can’t do it,” or cry. She could have done any of those things. But she didn’t. She was very poised. When the camera went on and when Hal said “Action,” she just did it.
It’s great to have it preserved like that on film.
When you see the film, the way she looks at me when I’m bending down, you can see she feels my pain. You see it in her eyes, just little tiny things. It’s quite a lovely performance, really a lovely performance.
Did you know early on Angelina was going to grow up to be in movies?
I’d give the kids little acting things to do, playful.
