Actress Veronica Ferres Discusses Making ‘Salt and Fire’ With Werner Herzog and Michael Shannon

Sandra Miska

In his latest film “Salt and Fire,” prolific German filmmaker Werner Herzog, considered by many to be one of the greatest living directors, heads to South America to tell the story of the ramifications of an ecological disaster. German actress Veronica Ferres stars as Laura Somerfeld, a professor of ecology who is sent as part of a U.N, delegate – along with fellow ecologist Fabio Cavani (Gael Garcia Bernal) and Prof. Maier (Volker Zack Michalowsky) – to investigate “El Diablo Blanco,” the catastrophe that has resulted in a lake drying up and turning into salt flats. However, things go awry when the group is kidnapped by a group of men on the order of Matt Riley (Michael Shannon), the C.E.O. of the company held responsible for the disaster. Ferres recently spoke with Entertainment Voice about the making of “Salt and Fire,” and her experience working with Herzog and Shannon.

For Ferres, who is one of the biggest stars in her native Germany, working with Herzog was a dream come true: she, like so many others, developed an appreciation for the auteur while in college. “When I was a young student at university I saw “Fitzcarraldo” and it had a great impact on me and my life. It changed my life, and since then I had a dream to work with Werner Herzog at least once in my life, and this dream came true, so I’m so grateful,” she revealed. “Werner was so intense. He knows exactly what he wants… For me, he was easy to work with because he’s such a strong director. As an actor, just do exactly what he tells you to. Just do it in the best way you can do it. He very often said, ‘No make-up! Nothing! The way you wake up in the morning I want you to be in front of the camera.’ And I said, ‘Okay, okay.’ I just trusted him one hundred percent.”

Just as her character Laura goes through the ringer, Ferres also faced challenges during the strenuous shoot. “We were shooting in Bolivia at 15,000 feet above altitude,” she recalled. “It was such an incredible physical challenge. Werner always is unpredictable. He set the characters in a very, very unique relationship to nature…. I did very intense altitude training with a doctor for two months before I started shooting. 15,000 feet above the earth can be very dangerous for you and your health, so I did every day at least two hours of physical training.” This dedication put in by Ferres and the rest of the cast and crew certainly paid off, as the end result is a film in which the beauty of nature is front and center.

The situation turns dire for Laura after Riley dumps her in the middle of nowhere with two young disabled children. Ferres discussed Laura’s ordeal and how he affected her. “All of a sudden she is in the salt flat of Bolivia with two blind boys – and they were really blind; they only had five percent visibility – and she does not know if they are going to die because they are running out of water and food. She has no chance of going back if [Riley} is not picking her up. So this fear – this feeling of not knowing what’s going on and protecting the two kids, not showing them her real emotion, taking the moment, being transparent for the moment, being transparent for the beauty of the nature –  is not knowing if you are going to die tomorrow. It had such an incredible impact on me… I loved so much doing this film.”

Ferres and her co-star Shannon have some intense scenes together, as he plays the character with a sort of reserve that keeps her on edge. “She does not know if he’s going to kill her in the next moment, or if he’s going to rape her, or to love her, or what’s going on,” she explained. “Five days before we started shooting my father passed away, so when I arrived there I was still vulnerable, and Michael Shannon immediately felt my situation that I was in. He was so supportive, so sensitive, and he’s such a gentleman. I think he’s one of the best actors in the world and such a professional, classy actor. His emotions, from one second to the next one he can be so [cruel], so mean, and then the next second he is so seductive and full of tenderness. It’s amazing, his emotional variety.”

The isolated setting of the production allowed Ferres and Shannon to bond quickly, not unlike their characters, who have numerous intense conversations with dialogue that at times sounds like something out of Shakespeare. “We had a lot of private conversations during [the shoot] because we had no phone, no internet, no TV. Nothing,” recalled Ferres. “So we kind of bothered to talk to each other very, very intensely. And he is a very shy man and very respectful.”

A major difference between Laura and Riley is that she, being a scientist, relies on facts and dates, while Riley’s method of figuring things out is something else entirely. How does Ferres approach situations in her own life? “I always try to have no expectations and learn from everyone, from every human being in my life. The biggest challenge in my life is to be better tomorrow than I am today.”

“Salt and Fire” will be released April 4 on VOD and iTunes, April 7 in select theaters.