Leave it to an Australian and a Canadian to make the fall movie that has the most to say about American politics in 2018. The Front Runner, Jason Reitmans Altmanesque treatment of the sex scandal that torpedoed Gary Harts bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988, premiered at the Telluride Film Festival on Friday. The political drama stars Hugh Jackman as the charismatic senator, whose campaign was ended by the revelation of his affair with Donna Rice—a turning point in the relationship between the press and political figures. Based on journalist Matt Bais 2015 book, All the Truth is Out, from a screenplay by Reitman, Bai, and former Hillary Clinton 2008 presidential campaign press secretary Jay Carson, the movie centers on three weeks in the spring of 1987, when an anonymous tip that Hart was having an affair landed in the lap of a reporter at the The Miami Herald.
The morning after their premiere, Jackman and Reitman spoke about the film's contemporary relevance, getting to the heart of an enigmatic figure like Hart, and how Jackman grapples with life as a public figure.
Vanity Fair: Where were each of you in 1987 when the events of this movie were taking place?
Hugh Jackman: I was on a gap year traveling around Europe on £10 a day. I vaguely remember stuff about it, but not much. Im an Aussie, so it was a passing interest.
Jason Reitman: I was in fifth grade. My favorite movies were Predator and Commando. I had no sense of what was happening. When I heard the Radiolab piece based on Matt Bais book on Gary Hart, it was a revelation. How did this ever happen? How did the next president of the United States wind up in a dark alley with three journalists in the middle of the night where no one knew what to do? Its relevant to everything thats happening in 2018. It immediately struck me. But it was all new information.
Jackman: When I read the script I knew nothing about it. Its so easy to look at Watergate or these big moments in American political history. This in history could be a blip, could go unnoticed. But its actually a massive turning point in terms of the media and politics and how things shifted.
Reitman: Every character doesnt exactly know how to operate with that little amount of time and that much pressure. What we tried to do is show empathy for each side as they were trying to figure that out.
Hugh, since you knew so little about this moment, what drew you into the script?
Jackman: As an actor, it was a gift, a nerve-wracking gift where a filmmaker is deliberately asking you as an audience to work to actually think to answer questions yourself. Things arent all tied up. The story is very much about what questions should we be asking. Why are we interested in that? Gary Harts question at the end, which I love is, “Some things in life are interesting. That doesnt necessarily mean theyre important.” As a filmmaker, Jason never ever presumed to decide what is important. It must be tempting to go, “This is important. Cue the music.”
Reitman: Honestly, I just dont know.
Jackman: You never fall into that. As an actor there were times when I fell into that and I remember you pulling me up and saying, “Dont load it, let the audience load it.” That was something Id never had the challenge of playing before, someone so enigmatic.
Since nobody around him at the time seemed to be able to, Hugh, how did you get in Gary Harts head?
Jackman: I did a lot of research. I met Gary. I have great respect for him and weve become friends… Hes mysterious. Hes enigmatic even to people whove spent years with him, his family, campaign members. Capturing that is the most terrifying thing. As an actor youre trained to make choices, know their objective, know their motivation, know their super objective. What am I going for in this scene? Of course you still do all that work, but it was very hard to define for someone like Gary. And that is what was so brilliant and frustrating about him for people who worked with him, people who covered him, people who followed him. There is not one consensus on who that man is. I was very nervous the moment I met him. He picked me up at the airport and he shook my hand and he put his hand on my cheek and it really surprised me. Just when you think its gonna be this, its something else, and thats fascinating to play.
As much as you resist giving any easy answers in this film, Jason, its irresistible to draw parallels to whats unfolding in American life today. What kind of conversations do you want audiences to have when they walk out of the theater?
Reitman: All of them. Its hard right now in 2018 to talk about whats happening… we tend to tear each other apart. Our conversations become fights very quickly. Matt Bai in his book uses 1987 as a prism for now. Whats unique about the story is it allows conversation about 10 different things through a dozen different points of view. Our relationship with journalism, our desire to know things and where does that line stop, the gray area of morality, what we need to know about our leaders, gender politics, the complexities of being a journalist and knowing what youre supposed to cover and when youre supposed to fill a readers demands. The thrill is hearing people really get into it.
Hugh, as a public figure yourself, how do you feel about how the press are navigating this issue of privacy versus an audiences desire to know? Were all still playing out this dance that this movie illustrates the beginning of.
Jackman: I have an innate empathy for journalists, being a journalism major and sort of backing away from that career when I was doing my final class, which was ethics in journalism… I was like, I dont know if I have the heart for this, the strength for it. From the journalists side, making a living is getting harder and harder, what youre being asked to ask of interviews is difficult. From the side of someones whos a public figure, I never forget that thats a choice, a choice I make willingly. I battle with it in terms of how it impacts my family. My wife, as an actor, thats something we went into with our eyes open. But my children had no choice, and that is something I grapple with every single day. I have one kid who hates it and one who kind of likes it, and both worry me. Gary found it difficult to talk about himself. He didnt like it. It could be a generational thing. My father was a little the same. I dont have that problem. For me the reason I act is about understanding why were here, human behavior. Me as a public figure I wear quite easily, but Gary didnt. And he also found it difficult as a principle. If I do the photo for People magazine, what next, a swimsuit competition? Where does it stop?
Get Vanity Fairs HWD NewsletterSign up for essential industry and award news from Hollywood.Rebecca KeeganRebecca Keegan is a Hollywood Correspondent for Vanity Fair.
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