1 of 3 | Thomas Jane’s new western “Frontier Crucible” was released on DVD and Bluray Tuesday. Photo courtesy of Well Go USA Entertainment
NEW YORK, Feb. 17 (UPI) — The Expanse, The Punisher, The Mist and Hung alum Thomas Jane says he was drawn to his character in the new western, Frontier Crucible, because there was more to him than meets the eye.
“He’s a good guy who’s done some bad things. I think he sees himself as a relatively good guy. Turns out that he’s not so good, but, from his point of view, and from, I think, the audience’s point of view, we think he’s just a hard-scrabble dude trying to survive out in the Old West,” Jane, 56, told UPI in a recent Zoom interview.
“I like the idea that you never really know somebody until you do and that depends on the actions that they take, the choices that they make. But when you meet somebody, they’re not twirling their mustache or wearing a black hat,” he said. “This was an opportunity to flip that. I’m always into that.”
Directed by Travis Mills, the adaptation of Harry Hittington’s novel, Desert Stake-Out co-stars Armie Hammer, Myles Clohessy, Ryan Masson and William H. Macy.
The western, on DVD and Blu-ray Tuesday, follows Merrick Beckford (Clohessy), who crosses paths with the survivors of an Apache wagon train attack while he is transporting desperately needed medical supplies in 1874 Arizona.
Among the group is a trio of dangerous outlaws, including Jane’s Mule, Mule’s son Billy (Masson) and a drifter named Edmund (Hammer).
“A lot of who you are depends on the company that you keep and a lot is revealed through the company that you keep and that comes out through Armie Hammer’s character,” Jane said.
“You start to put the pieces together. If that guy is as good-hearted person, as he says he is, why the hell is he hanging out with this psychopath?”
Despite the on-screen friction between Mule and his cohorts, Jane said all of the actors bonded over making this movie in a beautiful part of the country where some of cinema’s greatest westerns were previously filmed.
“it was like doing theater because we didn’t have trailers. There was no room to put trailers anywhere near where we were shooting and we had one location. So, we couldn’t be spending 30 minutes going back and forth to your trailer in between shots,” he added.
“We were on set all the time, all day and in the morning we had a dressing room in the hotel, so everybody — boys and girls — would all show up and get out of their street clothes,” he said. “There’s a certain sort of sense of actorly camaraderie when you’re all putting on your character at 5 a.m. in the same room. It was cool.”
Jane said he also enjoyed all the action and fight scenes that came with this job,
“I’ve always done my own stunts. I’ve always done everything that I could do unless the insurance company tells me that I can’t do it and then the stuntman steps In,” he said.
“But, on this one, I really messed up my shoulder. I really messed it up. It took months for the damn thing to heal,” he added. “Maybe I’m getting too old to do my own stunts, but I’ll keep doing them. I’ll keep doing them.”