Sam Elliott has been part of the American film landscape for decades now. The moment you see him or, perhaps more importantly, hear him in a film, you feel this is a man who was grown in a lab somewhere specifically to elevate cinema. His weathered handsomeness and deep, deliberate drawl have been around forever, which only makes it all the more surprising that his first ever Oscar nomination came earlier this year, for his supporting turn in Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born.
Today, though, we have more pressing matters to tend to. After a long, long time playing the independent-film-festival circuit, The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot is out this Friday. Elliott plays Calvin Barr, a World War II vet who, unbeknownst to most of the world, assassinated Hitler and participated in a global cover-up. Now retired, and plagued by memories of violence and the lost love of his life, Calvin is suddenly approached by the FBI to hunt down and kill the American legend, Bigfoot, who carries a virus that threatens to wipe out humanity.
It’s beautiful B-movie fodder, but it’s also not the film you’re expecting. Save for a foray or two into action-fantasy, The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot is a quiet, meditative film about the consequences of violence, the tolls of war, and the inescapable ache of nostalgia. GQ spoke to Elliott about this decidedly unique film, and just why Bigfoot endures to this day as a classic folk tale.
GQ: Congratulations on the Oscar nomination! How are you feeling?
Sam Elliott: Thank you so much. I’m feeling… fortunate. I’m very grateful for it.
This movie’s title does a good job getting your attention right away.
The title is the thing that grabbed me right off the top. At first you think it’s going to be a terrible schlocky thing or some ridiculous comedy, but I thought, There’s got to be something more to it. And, well, there was definitely a lot more to it.
I’m glad you said that. There’s genre in here, but this is a much quieter film than I think most people are expecting.
I totally agree. This film’s been out there at a lot of film festivals already, and the initial reaction was, “This film is a lot more like the title.” Which is kind of a neat thing. It’s not what people are expecting. Hopefully, the title doesn’t put people off.
If it were a bit more schlocky, a bit more B-movie, do you think you’d not have been as interested?
Yeah, I’m not interested in making that. Nobody sets out to make a bad film – I shouldn’t say “nobody.” Some people certainly don’t care.
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But by talking to this director (Robert D. Krzykowski), this 30-year-old kid who’d been working on this movie for 12 years, I could see it. We talked about John Sayles, who to me is one of the great independent filmmakers. Talking to him, I thought… this is a road I wanna go down.
A lot of the film takes place in flashbacks, with Aidan Turner playing your younger self. Is that weird to see? Did you and Aidan talk about your character at all?
I’ll tell you, the first time I saw Aidan was when I left Massachusetts. I was all finished with the film. I had finished the day that he started. I had dinner with him when he came in, and I watched him film one scene, the scene where he gets his beard shaved by the Russian in that ritual. And that was my only encounter, but seeing the movie, I thought he pulled it off. I believed we were the same character.
I hope you won’t mind me saying that Calvin is very much a Sam Elliott character type.
Not at all.
Was there anything that set him apart for you?
I don’t know. He’s certainly very similar to my character in The Hero. More than the character itself, which is a kind that speaks to me, it’s a study of him amidst all these cult adventure elements.
And all the stuff with the military was important to me. Calvin comes back from the war with what we would have called at the time “shell shock,” but was certainly some kind of PTSD. They teach these kids how to kill, but they don’t teach them how to reckon with it. That weighs heavily on Barr and makes him the reluctant hero to go hunt down Bigfoot.
And with Bigfoot being a key part of American lore – America itself, really – there’s a level of tragedy there in Calvin being asked to destroy it.
That moment on the rock where I end up touching Bigfoot’s hand, then break down crying, that wasn’t in the script. It was just something that ended up happening in the moment. It ended up being a powerful beat there.
And then right after that we get a scene where Bigfoot throws up in your mouth.
[Laughs] Right.
You’re 74 now. There are some physical scenes in this film. Are things like throwing a punch or aiming a rifle second nature at this point?
I think so. I’m not a hunter, but I’ve been around guns all my life. I’m a great shot.
Are there any myths or theories you buy into? Roswell, maybe? Bigfoot himself?
Oh, I think this Bigfoot thing always intrigued me as well. I spent a lot of time growing up in Oregon after I left California. Spent a lot of time in the woods. Talked to a lot of people who believed in it, went to towns where there are Bigfoot statues… It’s a great tale. It’s never been disproven, and as far as I’m concerned, why not?