Beau Garrett hates publicity. I know, this is hard to believe coming from an ascending Hollywood starlet, but despite today’s online-dominated world, where actors are tripping over their yoga instructors in a rush to bolster Google resumes, there’s precious little Internet fodder on this magnetic model-turned-actor.
Fuelled by her scene-stealing (and award-winning) guest performance as the meditating, dope-smoking beauty on Entourage, Beau has made the jump to the big screen, recently running around the jungles of Brazil, trying to hold onto her liver, in the thriller Turistas. Charming, sarcastic, and – dare I say – a little flirtatious, the twenty-three-year-old actor is wise beyond her years. She’s eating lunch in her trailer, just outside Vancouver on the set of the new Fantastic Four flick, when I catch up with her by phone. I, on the other hand, am in Toronto, glad I don’t happen to be living in a trailer.
BG: Sorry I’m chewing – I only have a few minutes for lunch.
PS: What are you eating?
Bread pudding.
Disgusting.
Are you kidding? It’s the best.
Horrible.
We would never make it.
What do you think of Vancouver? I’ve been up here for a month and just moved into a loft in Gastown. It’s a bit edgy, but I love it.
Are you a heroin junkie?
Yes! So the neighbourhood is great for me – I can score whenever I want.
You know what I like most about this interview so far?
The bread pudding?
No, your sarcasm. We might make it after all. So, you’re an L.A. girl?
Yeah, born and raised in Topanga. It’s this kind of a modern-day hippie town in the Santa Monica Mountains. It’s beautiful. And you can escape all the Hollywood bullshit.
What do you think of Hollywood?
Well, there’s the passion of the film industry that’s real, and there’s the art of film, which I love. But the media behind young Hollywood is just – well, I don’t like to do publicity too much because I don’t want to do things just to get my face out there.
I was actually surprised how little I could find about you online, though I did discover that you won an “Anatomy Award” from MrSkin.com for your role on Entourage.
Yes – for my butt!
It actually said best “buns.” Did you have to make an acceptance speech?
[laughing] I didn’t, but if I did, it would have said something like: I’d like to thank my parents, my mom especially, and all the food I’ve eaten. Oh, and lunges!
What’s Turistas about?
It’s about these kids travelling on a bus in Brazil and the bus breaks down . . .
Of course.
. . . and they end up going to this tiny, little town and being drugged and getting their organs harvested.
Where did you shoot the movie?
Brazil.
Really?
Yes, we actually shot a movie that takes place in Brazil, in Brazil.
Why not Vancouver?
[laughing] They couldn’t find enough jungle.
Or Portuguese-speaking organ harvesters?
[laughing] Exactly! 
Beau Garrett
The up-and-coming actress takes us inside the complicated female mind.
Justin Monroe
I don’t think models are hard to approach…But don’t ever ask for a woman’s number. If you want, give me your number. I was at an airport when one of the Harry Potter books was sold out everywhere, and this guy saw me staring at his copy. He handed it to me and walked away. Inside he’d written a little note and his phone number. It was the most incredible gesture.
I am brutally honest with the people I date. I dated a guy and we broke up because I met someone and I told him. It’s like taking a Band-Aid off, it hurts at first…But it goes away quick, and it’s better than just
keeping it there.
If your girlfriend tells you she feels a little insecure about you talking to this one girl, and that girl isn’t important to you, then don’t bother talking to her…But if she’s asking you to do things that are out of line, then you need to get out.
Some women can just sleep with you and it’s fine. I can…But most women can’t. Try to be respectful of that. Whether it’s right or wrong, it’s the man’s role to call the next day and make sure that the woman is on the same page.
I’m an advocate for relationships… But they tend to be draining. In general, people find it difficult to look at themselves without the buffer of a relationship. A lot of people live easier when they are codependent. It’s much harder to be on your own.
BlackFilm has posted a brief interview with Beau Garrett on playing the character of Franke Raye in
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. The
actress will next be seen in Fox Atomic's horror/thriller
Turistas, arriving in theatres on December 1:
What's your role in the "Fastastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer"?Beau Garrett: I play Frankie Raye. She's a military brat, who grew up in the military. She works under General Hager, who's play by
Andre Braugher and we come in to cooperate with the
Fantastic Four to stop these events that are happening in the world and try to save the world . She then becomes a superhero so I've been told. It doesn't happen in the
film.
Do you know what superpowers you have?Beau Garrett: The character in the
comics says that somehow she and the Human Torch are actually related. There's something with her father if you are aware of the comics from what I've learned from few people who are huge fans of the comics. She has a fire power. She burst flames.
Will you be doing that in the film?Beau Garrett: No, but I hope they bring me back. I want to throw flames.
How's filming in Vancouver?Beau Garrett: Compared to
Turistas, it's night and day. This is a huge studio
movie. The trailer is massive. Shooting the film in general... there's so much time and everyone's great. Everyone's wonderful, but with green screen, I've never done that; so that was very interesting to do that.
If you're planning a trip to Brazil, you might think twice about watching Turistas. The horror/thriller, directed by John Stockwell and starring Josh Duhamel, Beau Garrett and Olivia Wilde, takes place in that country and let's just say the film doesn't show the locals at their best.
It’s Okay to Go on Vacation: Olivia Wilde said starring in Turistas didn’t make her afraid of taking vacations. “I think these people we play in the movie represent the tourists in the world – it doesn’t matter if they’re American – from all over, usually from first-world countries who take for granted the treatment they will receive, the safety, the language,” explained Wilde. “People often wonder, ‘Why doesn't everyone speak English?’ And that is a ridiculous kind of barrier that keeps the Third World away from the First World, and people absorbing cultures when they visit it.
I think these characters are representing that kind of person which many of us are, and many of us have been. A lot of people who see the movie might recognize that in themselves and think, ‘Hmm, I guess I’ve never read up on a country’s political climate before I’ve gone to visit it.’ People just think, ‘Let’s go to Thailand, it’ll be fun. We’ll go to Thailand and we’ll go camping.’ They don't think is there something going on with Thailand. ‘I am arriving as an American. Does that send a message?’ Especially in this day and age when being an American means something very, very serious. You go traveling, and you want to be open and be aware so that you can be ready for any sort of interaction, and understand who you represent and who you are.”
Wilde continued, “The world is getting smaller and smaller as we have the resources to go anywhere we want, and it’s just an important thing to think about. So I hope people realize that when they go and see the film, and they don’t just go traipsing off to Madagascar and want to drink beer and scream and wonder why no one’s speaking English. It’s just an important thing and I hope that people get that. So no, I’m not afraid to travel. If anything, it makes me more eager to travel because it’s a great time.”
Beau Garrett concurred with her Turistas co-star. “It’s an incredible time and this film isn’t about scaring people away from traveling, or seeing places like Brazil. Brazil is an incredible country and embraced us. I never felt alien at all in that country. It’s about being aware; it’s about researching. I think we should travel more. I think it should be mandatory that we should travel for a year in our youth. It should be something we do. It’s the best knowledge you can ever be given.”
Creating a Double and Shooting the Gruesome Scene: Garrett explained how the scene involving the removal of her internal organs was staged for the film. “It started before I left for Brazil. I had a body cast. That I had never done before. That whole process is fascinating. It’s a seven hour thing, and you’re on this thing. I fainted and woke up to them panicking and feeding me ice cream. I was like, ‘I’m okay, I’m okay. Where am I? Get it off me!’
They did my head, the whole thing. That’s an art in itself. They made her me. It was amazing, freckles, the whole thing. I'm like, ‘Oh my god, you’re hot!’ Kidding, kidding! But then to do the scenes where I’m on this cold metal, or steel - or whatever it was – the hospital bed, strapped in. I have this torso thing on me and he has this blunt scalpel. This doctor – an amazing Brazilian actor - he’s cutting me open and talking to me. I was like, ‘Oh my god, this is crazy.’ I didn’t leave for 12 hours. I was on this thing, I peed in a bed pan, and I ate food in a torso.
It was super strange. And then to see it was so eerie. I won’t let my parents… My parents won’t see it. They’re going to buy the ticket to support it because if they don’t, I’ll kill ‘em. But they won’t see it because it’s super real. It was a very gruesome surgery scene.”
Working Underwater in Turistas: Director John Stockwell's known for filming in the water and Turistas is no exception. Olivia Wilde said Stockwell accomplished the underwater scenes without the use of water tanks. “We were in the most beautiful underwater caves,” said Wilde. “It was all about pushing yourself farther than you ever imagined going. By the end, we all became pretty good free divers.
We had amazing doubles who were teaching us everything we knew. Mine was Mehgan Heaney-Grier who is the world champion free diver. She is a Sports Illustrated model; she has a show on Discovery. She’s an extraordinary woman who can dive 185 feet in one breath. And rather than wanting to do all the stuff instead of me, she was encouraging. She said, ‘You should try it. You can do this. I’ve seen you swim, I think you can do this.’ I would say, ‘There’s no way in hell. I am claustrophobic and I’m afraid of drowning. And she’d say, ‘You can do it.’ She’s the reason I did, and I’m really happy and grateful - even though we ran into some sticky situations.”
Keeping Things Safe: SCUBA experts were standing by in case something went wrong. Wilde recalls, “It was interesting because they felt so far away, and the nature of the film is that, how are they supposed to tell when you’re actually panicking. The situation I ran into was I literally started to have a panic attack, flailing my arms. They thought I was acting because that’s exactly what my character is supposed to be doing. You can see in the movie when I go for one air pocket, realize it’s not there, turn around – I can hardly watch at that point, it gives me shivers because that’s when I thought it was over. I didn’t think that the safety diver would be close enough, even though he actually was only 50 feet away and could swim really fast. He told me afterwards he had no idea. He said, ‘We were watching the monitor and thought you were just doing a great job.’ And that’s a testament to… Ugh, I don’t know. I’m just happy it happened at the end because it made for good movie watching.”
"Turistas" Beauties Beau Garrett and Olivia Wilde
Nov 28, 2006 - Lynn Barker
You grab your bff, pack your bikinis and head for sunny South America! Sounds great, right? Who knew that, away from the gorgeous beaches, waiting in the forests of Brazil, are some pretty ghoulish dudes ready to slice and dice you!
Olivia Wilde and Beau Garrett at our interview
Pretty blonde Beau Garrett ("Entourage", Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer) and brunette Olivia Wilde ("The O.C.", Running with Scissors, Alpha Dog) got to bond, suffer and party for days on end while shooting the new thriller Turistas in Brazil. The girls, both looking slim and gorgeous, met with us in Beverly Hills recently and we got the dish on injuries, mosquitoes, partying with the cast, crew and locals, the really dangerous shoot and what's up next for two gal pals in Hollywood.
Beau (checking out Olivia's dress tag) Hey, size 2, good girl.
TeenHollywood: How did you both get approached for this film?
Olivia: All I know is that it was quite the audition process. We both worked really hard to get these roles, and I'm glad that we did because the casting was such an important part of the way this movie panned out. The dynamic between the characters ended up being just perfect. We had a mix and match session where all different actors try out being on the team, and they see who does it best.
Beau: That was an experience as well.
Olivia: Beau and Josh [Duhamel] and I were together for the first time and the scene we did just clicked and they said that it was that moment that they knew who it was going to be. And I was so thrilled that they were going to let me do Bea. I closed the script, and said, 'I need to play her and I'm going to work so hard to do it.' And I was so thrilled and said 'yes' right away.
Beau: Yeah; I auditioned for it as well, but I had worked with [director] John Stockwell before. And he told me, 'I'm doing this script and I think you'd be great for this role. Would you be interested?' I was like, 'Of course.' And then, of course, the auditioning process.
TeenHollywood: What about the bug bites and injuries? There's a lot of action in the film.
Olivia: Well, I had a bruise the size of Texas on my butt, but that was it.
TeenHollywood: Landing on a rock?
Beau: Crawling out of a bus when it was going down [the hill]; and that was the only major injury I got was that. The women didn't get the mosquito bites as much as the men.
Olivia: Huge really bad mosquito bites. We were working in this waterfall that just happened to be the breeding ground for the giant, Brazilian mosquitoes. That was really, really terrible for some people, and we were thrown in there 100% right away. We started with the nice eco-friendly [bug repellent] and slowly went towards the chemical.
.
Olivia: There were the bugs, the sickness that came from trying the different food. We were really great about that; no one was too afraid. We wanted to experience it, and I really felt like they welcomed us and encouraged us to try their food and try their drinks and we did.
Beau: Some people got sick, but it was worth it.
Olivia: It was definitely an experience; we called it an episode of 'Survivor'. It was like 'who was going down next?'
TeenHollywood: Beau, your character Amy is more flirty than Olivia's. Was that fun to play?
Beau: I think Bea [Olivia's character] is the more conservative and insecure character, and Amy is like 'Common, let's go do this.' And I love that about her; she's free, she wants to travel and see Brazil and all its glory. And Josh is kind of like the big brother, and she just likes to flirt with him. It's about 'who cares?' She just is free, just a go-with-the-wind. I grew up in a very free-spirited community and very self confident. I think that resonates in the character as well.
TeenHollywood: Did making this film make you scared to take vacations?
Olivia: No, I think these people we play in the movie exemplify, or represent tourists, usually from first-world countries, who take for granted the treatment they will receive, the safety, the language. People often travel and wonder, 'Why don't these people speak English?' And that is a ridiculous kind of barrier that keeps the third-world away from the first-world, and keeps people from absorbing cultures when they go and visit. A lot of people who see the movie might recognize that in themselves, and realize, 'Hmm, I've never read up on a country's political climate before I've gone to visit it.' People just think, 'Let's go to Thailand, it'll be fun; we'll go to Thailand and we'll go camping.' But, is there something going on with Thailand, and I am arriving as an American. Does that send a message? I hope people realize that when they go and see the film, they don't just go traipsing off to Madagascar and want to drink beer and scream and wonder why no one's speaking English. So no, not afraid to travel; if anything, it makes me more eager to travel.
Beau: Yeah, it's an incredible time, and this film isn't about scaring people away from traveling, or seeing places like Brazil. Brazil is an incredible country and embraced us; I never felt alien at all in that country, and it's about being aware. It's about researching, and I think we should travel more. It should be mandatory that we should travel for a year in our youth. It's the best knowledge you can be given. You can't learn that from school.
TeenHollywood: Josh said there was some partying and that you girls started it.
Olivia: Well, there's this thing called 'The Duhamel' that's if you suddenly disappear from a party and you've gone home and haven't said goodbye to anyone. That's called 'A Duhamel.' I still use it, and no one knows what I'm talking about. But, you can't go to Brazil without embracing their nightlife; they're happy people, and they love to dance, and we love to dance, and we really took advantage of that. There were 10 of us who were American, as well as English and Australian in the cast. Half the cast is Brazilian, and the crew was Brazilian; so we were the minority. It's not like we traipsed in with 100 Americans and took over a city; we were visitors, and they encouraged us to enjoy their nightlife. We were a very small community. So going out and having a night out on the town literally meant sitting at the bar with these little bar stools and dancing samba, or attempting to.
Beau: And we went out with the crew; the crew would join us. We were all combined.
Olivia: Well, it's different there. Here, it's the actors, director on top, and the crew at the very bottom. There, it's the director at the top, and everyone else at the very bottom; he is the captain, and everyone else is working on his ship. And I really appreciated that because they really didn't give us any special treatment, and didn't understand it when the special treatment would be hinted at. 'Can someone get them their robes, they're freezing.' They'd be like, 'They get robes? We should get robes.'
TeenHollywood: Beau, we won't say too much but you have a gruesome scene that involves surgery. How was it to shoot that?
Beau: It was a process. It started before I went to Brazil; I had a body cast. That I had never done before. It's a seven hour process. I fainted, and woke up to them panicking and feeding me ice cream, and I was like, 'I'm ok, I'm ok. Where am I? Get it off me.' They did my head, the whole thing. They made her me. [I'm looking at it] 'oh my god, you're hot!' Kidding, I'm kidding. But to do the scene where I'm on this cold medal hospital bed for like 12 hours, strapped in, and I have this torso thing on me and this doctor, an amazing Brazilian actor, is cutting me. I peed in a bed pan, and I ate food in a torso, and it was super strange. And then to see it was so eerie. I won't let my parents see it. They're going to buy the ticket to support it, cause if they don't, I'll kill 'em; but they won't see it cause it's super real. It was a very gruesome surgery scene.
TeenHollywood: Olivia, you have a scene in which you are handcuffed behind your back but get out of it. Are you that flexible?
Olivia: Yeah, that's yoga for you; it really comes in handy when you're hogtied in a dog kennel in the rain. John was thinking, 'One of you has got to be able to pull the cuffs in front of you,' and we were thinking about it. And so he said, 'You can't do that thing, can you? You know that thing from movies when they...that's not real, is it?' 'I can try.' And I remember everyone was standing around hoping I could do it, because if we could do it, we could solve the plot point problem. I was like, 'Common yoga.' And I did it, and it was realistic enough to make that plot work. You can try it at home, and you can do it. Go yoga!
TeenHollywood: What about all the swimming; none of it was in tanks?
Olivia: No tanks. We were in the most beautiful underwater caves and it was all about pushing yourself farther than you ever imagined going. By the end, we all became pretty good free divers; we had amazing doubles who were teaching us everything. Mine was the world champion free diver. She can dive 185 feet in one breath. And rather than wanting to do all the stuff instead of me, she was encouraging me; she said, 'You should try it, you can do this, I've seen you swim, I think you can do this.' And I would say, 'There's no way in hell; I am claustrophobic, and I'm afraid of drowning'. And she'd say, 'You can do it.' And she's the reason I did, and I'm really happy and grateful, even though we ran into some sticky situations.
TeenHollywood: Did you have SCUBA guys standing by in case something went wrong?
Olivia: Yeah, it was interesting because they felt so far away. How are they supposed to tell when you're actually panicking. The situation I ran into, was I literally started to have a panic attack, flailing my arms, and they thought I was acting because that's exactly what my character is supposed to be doing. You can see in the movie when I go for one air pocket, realize it's not there, turn around. That's when I thought it was over. I didn't think that the safety diver would be close enough, even though he was only 50 feet away and could swim really fast; he told me afterwards he had no idea. He said, 'We were watching the monitor, and thought you were doing a great job.' I'm just happy it happened at the end because it made for good movie watching.
TeenHollywood: Let's talk other projects. Beau, you're in Fantastic Four 2; who is your character Frankie Raye?
Beau: Frankie Raye is a military brat, who works under General Hager, who is played by Andre Braugher; and they come in to collaborate with the Fantastic Four to help stop these occurrences that are putting the world at stake. So she's a very thick-skinned character who grew up in the military; he's kind of a father figure to her, and she has this love interest with Johnny Storm. She's a cool character, she's human underneath all the exterior; she's got a good side that really comes out in the film.
TeenHollywood: Do you secretly have super powers?
Beau: In the comic, she does end up having super powers; I don't know what they're going to do with that in the film.
TeenHollywood: Olivia, are you able to watch yourself on screen?
Olivia: Well, with this movie there was no make-up and hair, so it was a little difficult. But I find myself totally unrecognizable; I don't recognize the person on screen, and I guess that's a good thing. But it's a little odd for everybody, I guess.
TeenHollywood: Josh plays your brother. Do you have a brother?
Olivia: I have a little brother, but I've always wanted a big brother; and if I got one, I'd hope he's exactly like Josh. He is a little more worldly, and a little less anal than his character. But that sweetness, and that brotherly nurturing is there in both the character and the real person. But he is my brother now; he calls me 'little sister.' I think we've convinced a lot of people.
TeenHollywood: What's next for you?
Olivia: I am shooting 'The Black Donnellys' right now, which is an NBC show by Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco. And it's about the Irish mob in New York, about this family that's struggling with taking over the neighborhood; and it's very, very different than Turistas. But it's also fact-based, and loosely based on the life of Bobby Moresco, who grew up in Hell's Kitchen; so it's great and interesting, and hope people will like it when it premieres in January. And around that same time, Alpha Dog [co-starring Justin Timberlake] finally comes out.
Trapped in the Brazilian jungle with Josh Duhamel
Beau Garrett and Olivia Wilde get involved in a twisted game on a trip to Brazil in the new thriller, Turistas. The two play best friends in the film, and along with Josh Duhamel, they're taken on a journey through the jungle only to be part of a sick medical experiment to take American's organs and transplant them into Brazilians.
Both girls spoke about what it was like to be a part of this crazy and awesome experience; here's what we talked about:
How did you get approached for this film?
Olivia Wilde: Oh gosh, all I know is that it was quite the audition process; it's not like they just offered it to us and said, 'What do you think?' We both worked really hard to get these roles, and I'm glad that we did because the casting was such an important part of the way this movie panned out because the dynamic between the characters ended up being just perfect. We had a mix and match, where all different actors try out being the team, and they see who does it.
Beau Garrett: That was an experience as well
Olivia Wilde: And Beau and Josh and I were together for the first time and the scene we did just clicked and they said that it was that moment that they said they knew who it was going to be. And I was so thrilled that they were going to let me do Bea because I just really felt from the second I started the script - the original script had this 'warning to all visitors' at the beginning that said there was a warning because of some recent violence towards tourists because of kidnapping and suspicion of organ harvesting by Americans. Once I read that, I knew what kind of movie I was about to read, and I was already really hooked into it; I closed the script, and said, 'I need to play her and I need to do it, and I'm going to work so hard to do it.' And I was so thrilled and said 'yes' right away.
Were there any bikini tests involved?
Olivia Wilde: No, are you kidding? That would have turned me off.
Beau Garrett: No bikini tests.
Olivia Wilde: I'm sure they were trying to figure out.
Beau Garrett: I worked with John Stockwell before; this is my second time, so working with him again I was excited about and the casting process was as she (Olivia) said. When I found out it was Brazil, one; two, roughing it. I love to be submerged in that, knowing that was my first film, and it being with John was kind of like my buffer of 'help me' if I needed it because I didn't know what I was doing half the time. It's really nice to have him there to support you, and it was such a good film, and such a bond we all had.
So he brought you in?
Beau Garrett: Yeah; I auditioned for it as well, but I had worked with him before. And he told me, 'I'm doing this script and I think you'd be great for this role. Would you be interested?' I was like, 'Of course.' And then, of course, the auditioning process.
Olivia Wilde: I'm so glad the other Amy's didn't get it.
Beau Garrett: We just had a ball, and I think everyone just resonated because we kept coming back in together, they kept bringing us back in. It wasn't this awkward going back to the room full of people - 'We just wanted to be good together, but no worries, everyone's good.' It's such a weird thing, but I'm so glad, we had such a great time.
What about the bug bites and injuries?
Olivia Wilde: Well, I had a bruise the size of Texas on my butt, but that was it.
Landing on a rock?
Beau Garrett: Crawling out of a bus when it was going down; and that was the only major injury I got was that. And I actually was good, I didn't get the - the women didn't get the mosquito bites as much as the men. Desmond and Ken, one of the producers there, I swear to you, kankles, I swear.
Olivia Wilde: We called it 'elephant legs' because it swelled; huge, really bad mosquito bites. We were working in this waterfall that just happened to be the breeding ground for the giant, Brazilian mosquitoes. That was really, really terrible for some people, and we were thrown in there 100% right away; we started with the nice eco-friendly, and slowly went towards the chemical.
Beau Garrett: Just bring it on.
Olivia Wilde: But it was definitely heroine for all different reasons; the bugs, the sickness that came from being open and trying the different food. We were really great about that; no one was too afraid. We wanted to experience it, and I really felt like they welcomed us and encouraged us to try their food and try their drinks - and we did.
Beau Garrett: Yeah, we did.
Olivia Wilde: We were definitely the locals in that way.
Beau Garrett: Some people got sick, but it was worth it!
Olivia Wilde: It was definitely an experience; we called it an episode of Survivor. It was like 'who was going down next?'
Beau Garrett: And who was going to get the Turistas; that's what we called it.
Olivia Wilde: Which a lot of people call it that; I hope people don't make the connection when they see it in theaters.
Beau Garrett: What a really weird film.
Beau, did you have any reservations about your characters sexual nature?
Beau Garrett: No, she's sheltered; she comes from a small town, but I think the dynamic between her and Bea. I think Bea is this more conservative and insecure character, and Amy is like 'Common, let's go do this.' And I love that about her; she's free, she wants to travel and see Brazil and all its glory. And Josh is kind of like the big brother, and she just likes to flirt with him like, 'Common, let's do this.' And I love that about her, that freedom. And it's not about sexuality, it's about 'who cares;' stop, do you see what they're wearing - it's everywhere, just because I do this doesn't mean anything. She just is free, just a go-with-the-wind.
Are you that confident?
Beau Garrett: I'm slightly that; I don't take my top off at every given moment, but I do have a sense of - I grew up in a very free-spirited community and very self confident in the ways of the way I am as a person; I think that resonates in the character as well.
Did this make you scared to take vacations?
Olivia Wilde: No, I think these people we play in the movie exemplify, or represent rather, the tourists in the world - it doesn't matter if they're American - from all over, usually from first-world countries who take for granted the treatment they will receive, the safety, the language. People often wonder, 'Why don't these people speak English?' And that is a ridiculous kind of barrier that keeps the third-world away from the first-world, and people absorbing cultures when they go and visit. And I think these characters are representing that kind of person which many of us are, and many of us have been - a lot of people who see the movie might recognize that in themselves, and realize, 'Hmm, I've never read up on a country's political climate before I've gone to visit it.' People just think, 'Let's go to Thailand, it'll be fun; we'll go to Thailand and we'll go camping.' And is there something going on with Thailand, and I am arriving as an American - does that send a message? Especially in this day and age when being an American means something very, very serious. And you go traveling, and you want to be open and be aware so that you can be ready for any kind of interaction and understand who you represent and who you are. The world is getting smaller and smaller as we have the resources to go anywhere we want, and it's just an important thing to think about. So I hope people realize that when they go and see the film, and they don't just go traipsing off to Madagascar and want to drink beer and scream and wonder why no one's speaking English, and they have no idea of our - it's just an important thing, and I hope that people get that. So no, not afraid to travel; if anything, it makes me more eager to travel because it's a great time.
Beau Garrett: Yeah, it's an incredible time, and this film isn't about scaring people away from traveling, or seeing places like Brazil. Brazil is an incredible country and embraced us; I never felt alien at all in that country, and it's about being aware. It's about researching, and I think we should travel more; I think we should - it should be mandatory that we should travel for a year in our youth, and it should be something we do. It's the best knowledge you can be given, and so if anything - I do want to go to Thailand, actually; that's my next trip. Funny, you took that from earlier. But yeah, travel - you can't learn that from school.
Did you ever have a bad vacation?
Beau Garrett: The worst vacation is in LA.
Olivia Wilde: Exactly, exactly; you run into more trouble at home than you do abroad.
You talked a little bit about the nightlife -
Olivia Wilde: I wouldn't know anything about that.
Josh said you were the ones who were pushing it.
Olivia Wilde: Josh is very reserved.
Beau Garrett: He put it on us.
Olivia Wilde: We used to call it - there's this thing called 'The Duhamel' that if you suddenly disappear from a party, which is when you've gone home and hadn't said goodbye to anyone. And that's called 'A Duhamel.' I still use it, and no one knows what I'm talking about.
Beau Garrett: You just did a Duhamel.
Olivia Wilde: You can't go to Brazil without embracing their nightlife; they're happy people, and they love to dance, and we love to dance, and we really took advantage of that. And it was great because the crew - we were the only Americans there; there were 10 of us who were American, as well as English and Australian in the cast. Half the cast is Brazilian, and the crew was Brazilian; so we were the minority. It's not like we traipsed in with 100 Americans and took over a city; we were visitors, and they encouraged us to enjoy their nightlife. It's not like we were in Rio the whole time with these giant uber clubs; we were a very small community. So going out and having a night out on the town literally meant sitting at the bar with these little bar stools and dancing samba, or attempting to.
Beau Garrett: And we went out with the crew; the crew would join us. It wasn't like the cast went here, and the crew goes there; we were all combined.
Olivia Wilde: Which was great; it's very different - the American film industry is very different than the Brazilian, the hierarchy is very different.
Beau Garrett: Yeah, exactly; there is no hierarchy in Brazil.
Olivia Wilde: Well, it's different; here, it's the actors, director on top, and the crew at the very bottom. There, it's the director at the top, and everyone else at the very bottom; he is the captain, and everyone else is working on his ship. And I really appreciated that because they really didn't give us any special treatment, and didn't understand it when the special treatment would be hinted at - 'Can someone get them their robes, they're freezing.' They'd be like, 'They get robes? We should get robes.'
Beau Garrett: Yeah, exactly.
Olivia Wilde: And I kind of love that kind of spirit of the crew because it's totally new. And what was great was going out with them was kind of embracing because 'we're not going to try and stay isolated from you' and be that 'holier than thou' cast of actors, we're not g-ds. It's so silly to put actors in that position, and we really just wanted to learn from them and let them know that we weren't there to exploit their country and resources; we were really there to enjoy it from the ground up with them.
You went to a big club when you first got there.
Olivia Wilde: The first; we were in Rio for a week for pre-production.
What was your favorite club?
Olivia Wilde: Oh gosh, I wish I could remember the names; there were some really great clubs, great music.
Beau Garrett: Ulysses - it wasn't a club; it was a bar.
Olivia Wilde: And it was in a little town. But in Rio, I remember there was this club we went to, and because we were American actors that were shooting a movie, they ushered us in, big security guards, into a VIP room. We were looking down in the glass window - 'They're having so much more fun down there; why are we up here? We're here to party with the Brazilians; why are we in the little American VIP room?' We instantly went down, and started attempting to samba and that was way more fun, and that kind of exemplified our whole night life experience there. It was 'screw this VIP.'
How was it to shoot the gruesome scenes?
Beau Garrett: It wasn't funny; it was a process, it was a process. It started before I went to Brazil; I had a body cast - that I had never done before. That whole process is fascinating; it's a seven hour thing, and you're on this thing. I fainted, and woke up to them panicking and feeding me ice cream, and I was like, 'I'm ok, I'm ok. Where am I? Get it off me.' They did my head, the whole thing - and that's an art in itself; they made her me, the whole thing - 'oh my g-d, you're hot!' Kidding, kidding. But then to do the scenes where I'm on this cold medal, or steel, or whatever it was - the hospital bed, strapped in, and I have this torso thing on me, and he has this blunt scalpel. And this doctor - an amazing Brazilian actor, and he's cutting me open; I was like, 'Oh my g-d; this is crazy.' And I didn't leave for 12 hours; I peed in a bed pan, and I ate food in a torso, and it was super strange. And then to see it was so eerie; I won't let my - my parents won't see it. They're going to buy the ticket to support it, cause if they don't, I'll kill 'em; but they won't see it cause it's super real, and watching it I was like - it was a very gruesome surgery scene.
Olivia, are you that flexible to get out of the knots?
Olivia Wilde: Yeah, that's yoga for you; it really comes in handy when you're hogtied in a dog kennel in the rain. It's really funny because we were tied up, and we were struggling with a plot point, which was 'how do they get to the point where they can cut each other open with the knife, how can they cut each other's binds up with the knife.' And John was thinking, 'One of you has got to be able to pull the cuffs in front of you,' and we were thinking about it. And so he said, 'You can't do that thing, can you? You know that thing from movies when they - that's not real, is it?' 'I can try.' And I remember everyone was standing around hoping I could do it, because if we could do it, we could solve the plot point problem. So they're all standing around staring at me, and I was like, 'Common yoga.' And I did it, and it was realistic enough to make that plot work, or else you're like, 'Common, how did they get out of a kennel; that's stupid.' But it really worked, and you can all try it at home, and you can do it - go yoga.
What about all the swimming; none of it was in tanks?
Olivia Wilde: No tanks. We were in the most beautiful underwater caves in Bella; it was all about pushing yourself farther than you ever imagined going. By the end, we all became pretty good free divers; we had amazing doubles who were teaching us everything we knew. Mine was Megan Greer, who is the world champion free diver; she is a Sports Illustrated model, she has a show on Discovery - she's an extraordinary woman, who can dive 185 feet in one breath. And rather than wanting to do all the stuff instead of me, she was encouraging me; she said, 'You should try it, you can do this, I've seen you swim, I think you can do this.' And I would say, 'There's no way in hell; I am claustrophobic, and I'm afraid of drowning. And she'd say, 'You can do it.' And she's the reason I did, and I'm really happy and grateful, even though we ran into some sticky situations.
Did you have SCUBA guys standing by in case something wrong happened?
Olivia Wilde: Yeah, it was interesting because they felt so far away, and the nature of the film is that, how are they supposed to tell when you're actually panicking. The situation I ran into, was I literally started to have a panic attack, flailing my arms, and they thought I was acting because that's exactly what my character is supposed to be doing. You can see in the movie when I go for one air pocket, realize it's not there, turn around - I can hardly watch at that point, it gives me shivers because that's when I thought it was over. I didn't think that the safety diver would be close enough, even though he was only 50 feet away and could swim really fast; he told me afterwards he had no idea. He said, 'We were watching the monitor, and thought you were doing a great job.' And that's a testament to - ugh, I don't know; I'm just happy it happened at the end because it made for good movie watching.
Beau, you're in Fantastic Four 2; who is Frankie Raye?
Beau Garrett: Frankie Raye is a military brat, who works under General Hager, who is played by Andre Braugher; and they come in to collaborate with the Fantastic Four to help stop these occurrences that are keeping, or putting the world at stake. So she's a very thick skinned character who grew up in the military; he's kind of a father figure to her, and she has this love interest with Johnny Storm. She's a cool character, she's human underneath all the exterior; she's got a good side that really comes out in the film.
Do you get to kick some ass?
Beau Garrett: I do a little bit; I get to hold a gun, which I thought was really exciting, which I haven't done yet.
Do you secretly have super powers?
Beau Garrett: The character does, in the comic, she does end up having super powers; I don't know what they're going to do with that in the film. In this, she doesn't; but who knows what they're going to do with it.
You're also in Live.
Beau Garrett: It's loosely based, or based - Eva Mendes plays this network head, and she wants to create this reality show to bring in more audiences. And it's pretty much having six or seven contestants on this reality show putting a gun to their head. One of the contestants has a bullet in their gun, and so it's pretty eerie; I play this Vanna White kind of character, which is so cool It's like having this ethereal 'ahhhhh' - it was so neat. And to be a part of that, it was an indie film, and to be a part of that, to be on set, it was cool; it was only about a week of work, but it was great.
It looks like a large ensemble cast.
Beau Garrett: It is, it was great; it was cool to see them. To have a gun to your head and not know if you're going to live or die, it was silent; there was a lot of silent acting which was kind of cool to watch their thought process as the gun - what are they thinking. And they have a clip of who these people are, but good actors; it was really cool to watch how it pans out.
Are you able to watch yourself on screen?
Olivia Wilde: Well, with this movie there was no make-up and hair, so it was a little difficult. But I find myself totally unrecognizable; I don't recognize the person on screen, and I guess that's a good thing. But it's a little odd for everybody, I guess.
Do you have a brother?
Olivia Wilde: I have a little brother, but I've always wanted a big brother; and if I got one, I'd hope he's exactly like Josh because he -
Josh's character or Josh, for real?
Olivia Wilde: Both, they're really similar; Josh is a little more worldly, and a little less anal than his character. But that sweetness, and that brotherly nurturing is there in both the character and the real person, so I'd love to have him. But he is my brother now; he calls me 'little sister.' I think we've convinced a lot of people.
Olivia, what's up for you?
Olivia Wilde: I am shooting the Black Donnellys right now, which is an NBC show by Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco. And it's about the Irish mob in New York, and the community where the Irish mob existed, about this family that's struggling with taking over the neighborhood; and it's very, very different than Turistas. But it's also fact-based, and loosely based on the life of Bobby Moresco, who grew up in Hell's Kitchen; so it's great and interesting, and hope people will like it when it premieres in January.
It is finally coming out?
Olivia Wilde: No, they always wanted it to be a mid-season Grey's Anatomy; for those character-driven shows, it's kind of easier to premiere because you have a little more space around you. But, we were originally going to take ER's slot, and then ER started doing freakishly well; so we're not doing that anymore. But they have another good slot, and I hope people like it. And around that same time, Alpha Dog comes out; that finally comes out.
Turistas hits theaters December 1st; it's rated R.
