Rocking the Boat

Image credit: Master and Commander: Stephen Vaughan

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Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

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The word ''franchise'' keeps popping up with this movie. After all, there are 20 of these books. Any interest in a return trip?
Well, we'll see how this one does. There are some characters I wouldn't mind playing again. I had a conversation with Curtis Hanson about playing Bud White again [in a sequel to ''L.A. Confidential'']. But the great thing about that idea is that we've got all the time in the world. Imagine if we did it 11 years from now. Bud is gray and wrinkled, with a bit of a limp. It would be fantastic.

There's a rumor going around that Ridley Scott is planning a ''Gladiator'' sequel. Any part in it for you?
Maybe they can keep me in an ashtray in one of the scenes.

Well, you'll be busy making that boxing movie with Ron Howard anyway. Doesn't that start shooting sometime soon?
Yeah, ''Cinderella Man.'' We pushed the starting time back a bit because of [wife] Dani's pregnancy [she's due in January]. We had one plan where she'd be set up in New York while I filmed in Toronto, but that was unsatisfactory. I want to be around. There's no higher priority for me.

There's another rumor going around -- that marriage has mellowed you.
I have regained a certain stillness in the last year. I'm not sure it's related to marriage. To me it's more that I took myself off the dart board. I did a lot of movies in a short period of time and got a lot of attention. That makes you sport for a while. You get tossed around like a football. You get labeled in a certain way. Not by everybody in the press, but by those f---ing rags at the supermarket. Apparently I spent some time in a Mexican prison.

What did you supposedly get arrested for?
It's always the same thing.

Ah, well, you do have a reputation for fisticuffs.
Blah, blah, blah.

It's not true?
I don't deny that there are certain things that have happened in my life that planted the seeds for those sorts of stories. As a bloke, if you give me any sort of s--- or attitude, I'm going to react like any other person. But just because I'm an actor doesn't give you the right to treat me like I'm a f---ing cardboard cutout.

So it isn't any easier for you in Sydney than in Hollywood?
There are things that I do that get completely misunderstood or misrepresented in America. You smoke a cigarette in America and it's taken as some sort of statement.

Being a movie star...
I don't want to be one of your f---ing movie stars. I'm just an actor. All I do is tell a story from a position of truth and depth. It's a f---ing simple job. Very simple. I don't buy into any of the other stuff -- and you can't resent me for not buying into it. Thank you very much for the pats on the back. If you want me to do the job, I'll turn up on time and give you my best work. I owe you that, but I don't owe you a good attitude. I don't owe you the f---ing time of day.

Hopefully you won't write that out as some maniacal rave. See, the tone of my voice just then was about specificity, not aggression. Sometimes that gets misunderstood. Obviously, just from a human point of view, I do owe people the time of day. I gave you a legitimate answer, but it just sounds like I'm complaining. I'm not. I have a great life. I'm pursuing the things I want, I'm going to have a family of my own. I'm very comfortable here -- even though I'm being photographed as we speak.