Metal Anarchy

During a recent appearance on “The Metallica Report,” Metallica frontman James Hetfield further discussed his role in Tubi’s upcoming film adaptation of Joe R. Lansdale’s “The Thicket.” The frontman will be playing a lawman in the movie, which also features Peter Dinklage (“Game Of Thrones”), Juliette Lewis (“Yellowjackets”), and more .

Hetfield said the following:

“Peter Dinklage contacted me through management, just saying, ‘Hey, I got a part for you in something we’re putting together. And I just thought of you, and that’s it.’ It’s, like, ‘Okay, cool.’

I’m not into acting at all. I mean, I act enough on the stage, like projecting. For us on stage, projecting big, it’s almost more like Broadway. When you’re in a movie, you do just a little thing and that’s, ‘Whoa,’ that’s enough. I like big projecting. So for me to be invited to be part of a film where I don’t have to go and audition or something, ’cause that doesn’t interest me, really. I’ve done that before, and it’s not my bag, really. But he invited me along. There was a couple of other things that I had done before. [Director] Joe Berlinger asked me to do something similar in the Ted Bundy doc that he put together. It was, like, ‘I got this part. You’d be perfect for it. Come on, let’s do it.’ And that’s kind of similar to what, I guess, Peter Dinklage or the director had in mind. Like, ‘Hey, this is a part. You don’t have to do anything, you don’t have to train, you don’t have to do nothing. Just be you.’ It’s, like, ‘All right, I can do that.’”

He also talked about how tedious it is to make a movie:

“While I’m sitting in a trailer, and it’s probably minus 10 degrees out up in Canadia [sic], we’re outside of Calgary and I’m sitting there in period clothing, 1800s turn of the century. I mean, the wool’s great, but the shoes [are] not so great. I’m sitting there with [my assistant] Ray. It’s, like, ‘Hey, you’re shooting today.’ And then the end of the day, it’s, like, ‘Ah, we didn’t get to you today.’ And I told Ray, I said, ‘Hey, next time I’m asked to do something like this, remind me to say no.’ [Laughs] But that’s how it was in the moment. When it’s all done, the work you put into it, it’s, like, ‘Ah, yeah, that was nothing.’ But just when you’re sitting in it and waiting. Music is not about waiting. ‘I got an idea. Hey take this down. Let’s do this.’ Practicing your line and waiting to say it five days later is, like, oh, driving me nuts.

When I’m doing interviews or, like, ‘Hey, say hi to this,’ ‘Congratulations on blah, blah, blah.’ I just want it to be natural, one take, go. Let’s do it. I don’t know. Call it the Lou Reed method. ‘Well, why should we do it again? We already did it.’ That’s what I like. And the movies is not that — not so much. But it was fun being out there, being, obviously, in a Western, getting to wear a hat, carry a gun, have a badge on. And I don’t wanna give it all away, but period-correct clothing and riding horses and all that shit. It’s in my DNA. I love it. It’s just the other part, making a movie. But I’m grateful to be in it. I’m grateful I got asked to do it. I hope it comes out cool. That’s another one of those things. I’m just another dude there playing a part for the greater good. When we’re out here [on tour playing music], it’s, like, ‘Hey, this is all under our control,’ and out there it’s not. So, just trusting the process and having as much fun as I can with it.”

Hetfield also added:

“It’s certainly not a career choice for me. I love what I do and I wanna continue to do that till my last breath. But just something fun. I love that someone just asks you. They see you, they picture you in a part and then you go and you do it. I think that was very cool of Peter.”

[via Blabbermouth]