ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: One scene from In the Valley of Elah that sticks with me is a very emotionally powerful moment when you and Susan Sarandon are talking on the phone. How difficult was that to do, since the two of you weren't in the same room for the filming of it?
TOMMY LEE JONES: This is one of those ''How did you guys do that?'' questions.
Is that your least favorite kind?
No, this one's easy to answer. Susan's a good friend, and we've worked together before. She knows me and I know her. She was in Los Angeles and I was in Albuquerque when it was time to do that scene. So I got to the set, which was a motel room, and I called her on the phone and asked her if she was ready to do the scene. She said, ''Yeah.'' I said, ''You don't sound very happy.'' And she said, ''One of my kids got beaten in basketball this afternoon and things are very sad around my house.'' And I said, ''Well, we're almost ready to go. The assistant director can't really help us here,'' so I became the first AD. And I told her, ''Well, they're tweaking the lights a little bit, and, yep, there's speed, camera's rolling, and here comes the slate, and okay, Susan, action.'' And she broke down in tears. And I played my part and she played her part. She phoned it in. [Laughs]
So what happened with that movie? I feel like the title didn't do it any favors.
I don't analyze things like titles. It doesn't sound like an overly attractive title. I just can't imagine people saying, ''In the Valley of Elah, that's a film I gotta see.'' They don't know what it means. It doesn't tell them anything about what they'll experience if they go see it. Some people say movies with the word Dead in 'em don't do well.
You won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for The Fugitive. In plain terms, what did that do for you?
Well, it was awfully good for business! And of course you feel approved of, and that's wonderful for actors.
So would you say that was the best performance you've ever given?
I couldn't begin to answer that question.
Some Oscar-nominated actors say, ''No, I was much better in this movie or that movie.''
I haven't done enough thinking along those lines to be able to address that question, and if I did, I still couldn't answer it.
Maybe one day you should have your own personal mini-film festival of all of your best performances so you can make up your mind.
Well, I'd hope to have the right of censorship so that some of 'em don't make it to the festival.
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