American Outlaw Scott Caan

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Dateline: 8/18/01

Partnered with Jesse James in his outlaw gang was Cole Younger, portrayed in the film American Outlaws by Scott Caan. Caan's resemblance to his father, James Caan, is more than uncanny but he has established a name for himself independently with roles in films as varied as Varsity Blues, Gone in 60 Seconds, Boiler Room and A Boy Called Hate. After Outlaws, Caan will appear in Ocean's 11 and the comedy Novocaine.

Did you study the real Cole Younger?

I did, but it's all the same stuff. All the books you get, they've got like three pictures. They have three standard pictures because they didn't have a lot of good photography back then. They have a picture of Cole with a bullet wound in his eye that's in all the books. The thing about playing Jesse James and Cole Younger, you kind of get to make it your own because you don't really know a lot. You kind of know what they did, not really who they were, like their inner emotional subjective experience. So, you get to make it your own and hopefully in 15 years, people will think about Cole Younger and Jesse James and they'll think of me and Colin, and that's what Cole Younger and Jesse James will be. Unless they don't like it.

Was there a version of the film where Cole set Jesse up?

Well, we talked about that over and over because I had a problem with it. I ended up saying, "Look, what's the deal? You've got to tell me. Did I do it or did I not? So, we decided that I didn't do it, that I didn't set him up and then we changed the ending a little bit to make it more clear but I guess people aren't still clear after seeing the movie.
There's that ambiguous scene in the middle. Well, I think what I was doing was more like getting into the whole thing that my brother would accuse me of this. That's what I was doing in the scene, but people are saying that it's unclear.

So, you never shot an ending where you did set him up?

Mm-mm.

How much of your stunts did you do?

The fight we did [between Jesse and Cole], all the rolling around in the mud and the fighting, but we didn't crash through the window or the mounts and dismounts on the horses, jumping onto the wagon, jumping off the plank onto the horse. The stunt guys did a lot of that. We, of course, always asked to do it. We were like, "Can we do it? Please say no, please say no, please say no." We just want everybody in the crew to hear, "Can we do this stunt?" "No." "Come on!" "Alright, fine, you can do it." "Are you sure?"
You don't really want to do stunts? No, you do. I heard this cool story about Steve McQueen and they were doing this big motorcycle jump and he was freaking out because they wouldn't let him do it. The stunt man did it, they broke for lunch and as everybody was walking to lunch you just heard ROAAR. McQueen jumps it right at lunch without the cameras.

What was your most difficult stunt?

There was this one thing that we did over and over again when Colin flips me over and I don't know if you can tell but I get pretty high up and do this flat back layout. I did it six times and each time I'd get higher and higher. You learn how to take a fall and I knew how to do it. So, I guess that one was, but it was fun though so I wouldn't say it was tough.

What westerns did you like?

Magnificent Seven. The DVD just came out for it and it's unbelievable. It's got commentary, it's got the making of the movie, it's got old pictures, it's great. Magnificent Seven, Outlaw Josey Whales, Wild Bunch.
Did you take anything from those for your performance? No, no. Just like more of the cool riding stunts and stuff you just admire and hope that your movie has some of that stuff in it. I'd love to make a [serious] western like that. Like All the Pretty Horses, I would have loved to be in that movie. But I'm glad that I was in this movie too. It's like a different thing. I think it will reach more people. I think westerns today, people and young kids have a hard time getting into it. I don't know why.

Who do you play in Ocean's 11?

My character's name is Turk. It's like 11 guys who get together and rob a casino and everybody specifically has a thing that they're good at.

What are you good at?

Driving. I'm the driver.

Who played this character in the original?

No one. I guess I'd be one of those guys that you'd kind of be like "Who's he?"

What's your role in Novocaine?

I loved working on that movie. I play a lunatic drug addict obsessed with my sister, Helena Bonham Carter. It's so dark, it's great. Steve Martin plays this dentist who lives in this really kind of dream world life, it's just simple and boring. He's married to Laura Dern and everything's normal and he's starting to lose his mind with the normality. My sister and myself come into town, Steve Martin's brother [played by] Elias Koteas comes into town at the same time, he falls in love with my sister and then I'm trying to kill him because he's trying to sleep with my sister who I want to sleep with and his brother's a lunatic and we're drug addicts trying to rob him for his drugs and his whole world explodes.

This is a comedy?

Dark, dark, dark comedy.

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