Jack Reacher villain Werner Herzog explained how he knew his performance was effective. The 2012 movie, which starred Tom Cruise, was adapted from the Lee Child novel One Shot, and became the first of three onscreen adaptations of Child’s Jack Reacher series, which now includes the sequel Jack Reacher: Never Go Back and the ongoing Prime Video show Reacher starring Alan Ritchson. In the first movie, retired Army MP Jack Reacher is dragged into a murder case that puts him into the orbit of the incredibly dangerous Zek Chelovek (Herzog), a construction mogul who spent time in a Soviet gulag.
Werner Herzog appeared on a recent episode of Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, where he discussed many aspects of his career including the movie Jack Reacher.
Herzog explained the background and conduct of his villain character with such intensity that it made O’Brien laugh. Then he followed that with a story about how he knew he did a good job because his wife’s friends called her after the movie came out and said, “Are you married to THAT man? You know we are only one night flight away from you, we can give you shelter.” Read his full quote below:
In Jack Reacher, they are bad guys, they open fire, they have huge assault rifles. They swear, they shout, they yell at you, they have fistfights. I’m the epicenter of evil. I have very few fingers left. I ate them in a gulag to avoid being sent to a lead mine and lose my life there. And I have one blind eye and I only have my voice to spread terror. And a calm voice. And one of the villains, the sub-villain, who made a mistake, I tell him you can get away with it. If you’re really determined not to do that again, you have to eat your fingers as I did. And he tries and tries and I very calmly encourage him. I say, “that was already good, I know you can do it, just try harder.” And it’s so frightening that when the film was out, friends of my wife in Paris, they called her. They said, “Lena, are you married to THAT man? You know we are only one night flight away from you, we can give you shelter.” So I knew I was good. And that’s my best reward.
Werner Herzog is Known for His Intensity
As a performer, Werner Herzog is known for his intensity. His dour and focused energy is so well-known that he has even parodied it during appearances in various comedies including a Parks and Recreation cameo, a role as himself on The Simpsons, and an animated appearance hosting a documentary in Penguins of Madagascar. However, he is better known for playing villains or monsters in projects including Jack Reacher, Freaks of Nature, and The Mandalorian.
This intensity extends far beyond his onscreen performances, as well. He is primarily a filmmaker rather than an actor, and he is known for grim and frequently nihilistic works like the documentary Grizzly Man. He has also ushered in some of the most intense performances of the notoriously intense German actor Klaus Kinski in movies including Fitzcarraldo, Nosferatu the Vampyre, and Aguirre, the Wrath of God.
Herzog’s role in the Jack Reacher adaptation is most likely his most outwardly disquieting, however. It makes sense that it would be the role in particular that gave his wife’s friends pause. However, without their fears being backed up by his decades of work on projects that are just as intense as the villainous performance he gave, they likely wouldn’t have been quite as concerned.
