Emile Hirsch doesn’t understand when actors say they’re retiring. For him, he’s always in “striving mode” when looking for his next role on-screen.
“I grew up from very humble means. And so living in that space is sort of what I know. And I don’t know if it’s ideal, but that’s just kind of what I’m comfortable living in . . . I don’t want to say it’s like a Depression-era mode, but I always have that striving mode. And I think that’s just from a psychological level,” Hirsch told The Post while promoting his new thriller, “Walden.”
“That’s got to be one of the reasons why I’ve consistently kind of worked for so many years, because I’ve never been like, ‘Oh, here I am now I’m going to stop.’ That’s just not really how I look at it.”
The actor, 38, looks to Kate Winslet as an example for his career outlook.
“I read a Kate Winslet quote that was so great,” he said.
The quote is most likely what the Oscar winner told Harper’s Baazar in November 2017.
“I don’t want to be a person who won an Oscar and then disappeared off the face of the Earth,” Winslet told the outlet. “I want to be the person still here acting their socks off aged 90. And you don’t get there by being complacent.”
“I don’t mind being 42 and not 22. I’m honestly OK not being sent scripts anymore where the main requirement is to be easy on the eye. I am loving playing women who are more worn-in because of life experience. And it takes away the pressure of needing to conform, which I’ve never been very good at anyway.”
“Kate Winslet, who was in ‘Titanic,’ is saying that,” Hirsch said. “There is a part of me that feels like if I ever feel like I made it, I might not try as hard. I might not want it as bad.”
“And I’m kind of grateful for it, because there’s a lot of actors that are like, ‘Oh, I’m retired.’ You know what I mean? They’re like, ‘Oh, I’m done.’ . . . I guess we’re all artists and everything like that, but like, how are you going to keep the electricity on in your house?” he went on.
“I’ve always felt more comfortable, in a way, with my back against the wall, and I’m just trying to make ends meet and trying to figure out what I’m doing . . . That’s kind of how I grew up.”
The California native has worked steadily since he was 11, making a breakthrough in 2004’s “The Girl Next Door,” and starring in the likes of “Lords of Dogtown,” “Alpha Dog,” leading 2007’s “Into the Wild,” “Milk” opposite Sean Penn, “Lone Survivor,” and his latest, “Walden,” playing a court stenographer that seeks revenge on criminals that escape prosecution.
“The things that I love to do are still the same. I love working with great directors. It’s so exciting when you work with great directors and characters that are challenging and fun to play. It’s always been those two things,” Hirsch said of what he looks for in new projects. “I love working with other talented actors.”
Hirsch joked that his pals don’t think he travels enough for leisure — but that’s because he gets those opportunities while working.
“It’s always amazing to kind of get to adventure around the world due to your job. The amount of traveling I’ve done is just for work,” he explained to The Post.
“People always ask me, they go, ‘You never go on vacation.’ Everyone that knows me, they’re like, ‘You never go anywhere. You’re not a vacation person. You don’t really travel.’ I don’t want to make myself too lame, but I don’t travel all that much. But I’m like, ‘Yeah, because I just spent three months in rural China, dude! Like, what are you talking about?’ “
“I’ve gone to so many different countries. And there’s something unique about some of the experiences that I’ve gotten from my traveling,” he continued. “When you’re working in a place, you kind of get to experience that place a little bit closer to what the people that live there do that also are working.”
“Walden,” written and directed by Mick Davis, is now available on demand and on digital.
