Watching Beetlejuice Prepared Sam Rockwell For The Green Mile In An Unexpected Way
Frank Darabont's 1999 Oscar darling "The Green Mile," based on an inexplicably serialized novel by Stephen King, is set in 1935 Louisiana in the fictional Cold Mountain Penitentiary, specifically the prison's death row. The correctional officers are overseen by Paul Edgecomb (Tom Hanks) who struggles to retain his soul working such a dire job. The floor that leads to the prison's electric chair is painted green, earning it the titular nickname. Paul attempts to wrangle his officers' cruelty and retain what little hope he can, even after witnessing the state execute prisoner after prisoner. To make matters worse, he's suffering from a bladder infection.
The wildest prisoner on death row is William "Wild Bill" Wharton, played by the always amazing Sam Rockwell. Wharton was clearly mentally ill, and would frequently assault the officers, forcing him into a padded cell. He spat insults and racial epithets, flashing his yellowed teeth and horribly casual hate. Rockwell is a standout in an ensemble that also contains Barry Pepper, Grahm Greene, Bonnie Hunt, Michael Jeter, Patricia Clarkson, James Cromwell, Harry Dead Stanton, and Doug Hutchison. Michael Clark Duncan plays the central figure at the prison, a gentle man with the uncanny ability to heal illnesses with his hands.
In a recent video interview with GQ, conducted as part of their "Iconic Characters" series, Rockwell recalled his days on the set of "The Green Mile" and discussed Wild Bill in detail. The actor noted that his acting coach gave him some unique instructions as to how to get into character, and that he drew some character inspiration from, of all things, Beetlejuice, the horny, cussing, bug-eating title character from Tim Burton's 1988 haunting comedy.
Beetlejuice?
"Beetlejuice," to remind readers, was a stylized horror/comedy about a country-dwelling couple who die in a car wreck and become ghosts in their own home. When a group of insufferable yuppies move into their house, the couple — bad at haunting — have to hire a "bio-exorcist" named Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton) to scare the newcomers away. Beetlejuice, however, is a wild, growling weirdo who doesn't care for propriety. Keaton plays the role with a head-spinning punk energy that has left the character ripe for revisitation.
For "The Green Mile," Rockwell seems to have received narrow instructions from his acting coach. In addition to getting into the Wild Bill's mindset, Rockwell also hoped to explore the character's cultural history. His coach encouraged him to look into the arts and backgrounds of people from Appalachia. When it came to character cues, Rockwell said he looked into two movies for inspiration. One was "Beetlejuice." To quote:
"[Wild Bill], aside from being a despicable person, was also very funny. He had a lot of funny dialogue. So, that was easy to do. And there was an Appalachian accent. My acting coach told me to watch clogging, which is kind of a hillbilly tap dancing. I watched 'Beetlejuice' for that [role], I remember. I watched things like 'Deliverance.' Actually, one of the guys in 'Deliverance' is in 'The Green Mile.' I think he's the executioner."
Rockwell is referring to actor Bill McKinney who played a mountain man in John Boorman's "Deliverance" and a character named Jack Vay Hay in "The Green Mile." Rockwell doesn't elucidate further on how Beetlejuice influenced Wild Bill, but one can see the physical similarities. They both have bad teeth, growl comedic obscenities, and left good manners behind long ago. Like Beetlejuice, Wild Bill is, in Rockwell's words, "a human pus ball."