Director Dito Montiel and Actor Roberto Aguire on Letting Go and Confronting Truth in ‘Boulevard’
Brendan Reynolds
Standing on thematic ground paved by poignant character films like “A Single Man” and dramatic serial television programs such as Showtime’s “Masters of Sex.” “Boulevard” starring Robin Williams, in one of his last roles, centers on a man (Nolan) coming to terms with his latent homosexuality in the twilight of his life. Unlike both of the aforementioned cinematic works, which operate as 1960’s set pieces, this moody character drama takes place in modern day, demonstrating that such complex identity crises have no easy resolution even in a more progressive and open-minded world. Entertainment Voice gets into the inner workings of the film in a conversation with director Dito Montiel and newcomer Roberto Aguire, as Nolan’s object of affection in the film, a young and destitute male prostitute named Leo.
Entertainment Voice: The exploration of sexual identity and the struggles involved with people coming to terms with their sexual orientation has become a popular theme in modern television and film culture. Can you speak to how this film sort of fits into that emerging cultural lexicon?
Dito Montiel: Of course that’s an aspect of it, when I was first thinking about the film it was a part of it no question. But I was very attracted to this long-term marriage (between Robin Williams’ character Nolan and his wife Joy played by Kathy Baker), which for me was working in a lot of ways, not in all the ways you know, but I did believe it was a loving marriage. And I read it very strongly about a couple coming to terms with their age and making such a drastic change in life and letting go of each other. That’s what really appealed to me. As far as coming to terms with your sexuality, of course that’s an aspect of it. That’s probably been a hot topic forever, so there’s just a little bit more of spotlight on it now.
The character of Nolan is a fairly dark and complex role. Especially given what we know happened to him, can you speak to the experience of working with Robin Williams on this role?
Dito Montiel: You know making movies is weird in the way that you say hello to somebody on a Monday or Tuesday, and you’re just trying to tap into whatever you can because in three months we all go our separate ways. With all great artists, they bring a bit of themselves to whatever they do, so it’s hard to ever know the blurred lines that are happening. But from what I knew of Robin, which was just a working relationship, he was just a really sweet man. With a character like Nolan, he’s a decent man in a tough situation, so a lot of us can relate to that. So that was sort of one of the things that was interesting to watch him play with in the role, besides him being just a really great actor.
So you would say there was nothing outside the ordinary with his professional approach toward the part?
Dito Montiel: Yeah, you know it’s very odd, you do a movie and you talk to these people you are working with 50 times a day. You don’t talk to anyone that much, not anyone in your real life. So it’s a very strange life, it’s almost like a circus life, you’re so close and then the circus moves on into six different directions and then everyone goes their own way. So it’s always peculiar. I think there are probably family members and much closer friends that would have better answers to this than I do. What I knew was that he was a decent man and a damn good actor and he was very good to me.
The story comments on the idea of emotional cheating as Nolan and Leo never actually engage in any sexual activity. This phenomenon also seems to have become a topic of discussion on modern relationship dynamics. Can you talk about the nature of the moral transgression committed by Nolan in his pursuit of Leo?
Dito Montiel: Nolan’s character is a really good barometer of his own ethics. Robin and I were very diligent about that and we changed the script quite a bit about things like that. Even the question that was never in script initially when Leo asks Nolan, “Is this cheating,” and Nolan says, “Yeah it probably is.” I think you know, everyone has their own opinion now, to each their own, but in my opinion he is a very moral man, sometimes not to his own benefit. He stays in things longer than he probably should, that includes maybe his job and his marriage, and sometimes circumstances can put you into really strange rooms. You know, you can only hide something for so long, and who knows maybe sometimes you can until the end, but this character couldn’t. So I think he was really debating his own morality in the film and I thought his character does that well. I never thought that Nolan was there to have a good time; I think he could never believe that he was in those rooms with the character Leo. Which could be the barometer of that, Leo asking him “Is this cheating?”
The relationship between Nolan and Leo almost takes on a father-son like dynamic. And we know that Nolan and Joy do not have children in the story. Can you discuss whether or not that was an idea you were working into their characters?
Dito Montiel: Once again, it was a lot of evolutions from the script to the screen. Initially there was a kiss and a few things like that, and we worked on them and it didn’t feel right. One thing again, it’s our own opinions, and now it’s for the public to discuss. But when we were making it, it was less of a father/son thing. We saw it as Robin Williams being there looking at himself at 23 years old and he’s in those rooms and he almost can’t believe it. He there saying why couldn’t I have done this 40 years ago you know, life could have been so much better. I don’t know about being a male prostitute maybe, but I think it was just that sometimes, and it happens to all of us as we get older, you’re looking at someone who was your age and wondering why couldn’t I just have gone through that door you know? So a lot the reason why Robin is so still in a lot of those rooms is because when he is looking at Leo, he’s looking at himself, and all that he’s lost, and the years he can’t get back. So in that way it felt even stranger for him to have sex with himself. But I understand the father-son question because he’s very tender with him when he takes care of him. When a violent act happens to anyone, suddenly you’re thrust into total reality. So in my opinion once they’re both hit and there’s cuts and blood, you’re looking at someone and it just can’t help but to become physical. So for Nolan to become physical there it was in a loving way, because he now he sees that he has to take care of this version of me at 23, which can be really fatherly.
What was your experience like working with Roberto Aguire as Leo?
Dito Montiel: I really enjoyed working with him. It’s strange, when you make a tiny little movie you don’t plan to work with Robin Williams and Kathy Baker and Bob Odenkirk, and it was a really nice surprise to have them all be interested to do it, but it felt like it would be interesting to also have a face nobody knows there. Also, I thought that if the character Leo were anymore dangerous or street, like people that used to know as a kid, I think someone like Nolan would have ran right out of that room. So with Roberto, once again I like people to bring a piece of themselves to the film, he’s a really sweet soft-spoken person, and I thought how interesting for this guy to be lost. You know, I wasn’t even sure if he was gay, the character of Leo. Over the years, you run into people that are just lost, runaways or wherever you run into people and they get into a situation they’re just in, because in a lot of ways we’re all just trying to survive. Roberto in a lot of ways embraced a kid that was just there, and it wasn’t like he was a really crafty street kid that was going to rip Nolan off. But I also didn’t want it to feel false like Nolan met this angel on the street, you know he’s still a hustler, but Roberto is a sweet person and I thought that would soften the role in a nice way where I could believe someone like Nolan would end up in that hotel room, because the hardest thing I could have imagined making this film was how is this character Nolan going to go into a hotel room with some prostitute, but Leo’s softness made that more believable.
Roberto, what inspired you to take on a project like this and was your performance based on any real life people or events?
Roberto Aguire: It started with the script. It was this incredible story written basically as verse but in prose. Doug (Soesbe) has this incredible ability to write magnificently and when you read the story, it is contagious and you have to be part of this world. But for me the character of Leo at the end of the day sold it. I remember reading the character and saying to myself here’s this kid of stuck in this world and he’s capable of so much more, so why is he stuck in this world and why can’t he break free. So for me that became an obsession, I needed to know why. And I did get the chance to interview a lot of kids and adults that are stuck in that world, and there were a lot of experiences they shared with me very openly that I tried to flesh out in the character.
Dito, Nolan has a cathartic moment of coming out to his sick father. Do you feel this is a statement on the importance of a person being completely open and honest with their loved ones about the most intimate and personal aspects of themselves?
Dito Montiel: It’s an interesting scene. I really love it and the acting is incredible, but for a long time I took it out of the film, because this was never that much a film about coming out as it was about letting go. I wasn’t even sure for a long time that the character Nolan could even say the words “I’m gay” to his father. I was thinking that has got to be the hardest words on earth for him to say. And it’s funny now because the world has in a good way changed ever so slightly, there’s still a lot of evolution to do, but it may seem today not such a big deal to come out and be gay. So although not entirely, the world has gotten a little better in that aspect and is heading in a better direction. But Doug, who wrote the script, he’s a man who came out later in life, and lived a very similar life where he was married, so in a very generational way this was a heck of a lot different. When I was a kid, I met Allen Ginsberg and he took pictures of me when I was a teenager. I didn’t even really know who he was, then I found out he got arrested for saying “cocksucker” or something, and now we’re just worried about an R rating and this guy went to jail! So each generation is dealing with a new set of standards, and what seems very easy to do these days is probably a little more difficult. Even if you are alive in today’s day, but you grew up in that, it’s not the easiest thing to let go of. So yeah, coming out to his father was very difficult for the character. It’s not in the movie for any particular importance, it was just in there because we went back and forth, does the movie need it or not, and I think we could have lived with or without it, but it’s a nice scene.
What inspired you to take on a project like this?
Dito Montiel: Friendship and the passage of time has always been a thing in my head. And this film was certainly addressing both of those cravings I have. So when I got to make my first movie (“A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints), there was a couple scenes between Chaz Palminteri and Shia LaBeouf that were very quiet and about the things that they couldn’t say to each other, and so “Boulevard” was a whole movie about that. I really love shooting those types of scenes, so I thought wouldn’t it be really interesting to make a movie where the characters don’t even know what to say to each other. Even with Nolan’s friend played by Bob Odenkirk, people say that their friendship wasn’t very good, but I say you know that’s probably as good a friendship as either of them were capable of having. I like the complexity of people who don’t know how to talk, because I’m one of them.
Did you develop the idea and/or script with screenwriter Douglas Soesbe?
Dito Montiel: Oh yeah, every time I make a film I try and get involved with that as much as I can, and same with the actors. The way I work is very collaborative. I love David Mamet but I don’t have that talent, I like to bring a lot of people into the creation of the film. You know if you’re going to be part of this movie, then a little piece of you is going to be up on the screen somewhere.
Roberto, what sort of training did you do to prepare for such an emotionally and psychological complex role?
Roberto Aguire: From a physical standpoint, I lost 35 pounds. Dito and I were very adamant from the get go that was something I had to do, because you see me normally and I don’t look like Leo. He smokes like a chimney, he takes drugs, he’s a kid that’s in a very difficult physical and emotional state. So losing that weight really helped me transition into who Leo really was, because when you’re that food deprived, sleep deprived, and you’re that weak, innately you just become that kind of person.
How was your experience working with Director Dito Montiel?
Roberto Aguire: It was awesome. Dito is so passionate about the movies that he gets involved with. He obsesses over them, and as an actor who gets equally obsessed with the roles I get into, it’s so cool because you find this rapport and this dynamic, and he had a lot of opinions, and I had a lot of opinions, and sometimes they didn’t match, but in the process of that you start creating these really beautiful characters
Dito, how, if in any way, do you feel the ideas explored in this film fit into any sort of overarching themes that might tie into your body or work?
Dito Montiel: Friendship and the passage of time is something I’ve written about ever since I was a kid. I have much closer relationships with friends than I do with family, and I was a kid of the streets, so what moves me is all that could have been. And this is a movie that embraces all that could have been, certainly with Nolan and Joy.
“Boulevard” opens in select theaters July 17.