With the implication that he didn’t make much cash on this project, Zahn did talk about the personal side of shooting such a taxing film both on himself and his family. Living on a farm with kids, sometimes he’s gone and sometimes they come to work with him.
“I’m sure not going to take them to some banana spider [set],” Zahn said. “You know what I’ve done for the past eight months? Honestly? I’ve been to every field trip with my kids. I drive them to school every day and make them breakfast. I pick her up from school and take her to ballet, drive her home and take her to gymnastics.
“I pick him up at 2:30 p.m., bring him home, give him a snack, watch a little SpongeBob and then we play outside. Right now, we swim every day for at least two hours. I have lots of time off. My kids really miss me when I’m gone. Though I’m going to Bulgaria for four weeks soon, then I come home and I get to play with them. Not a lot of dads get to do that.”
When he goes to work, though, he goes to work. He says something in him switches on when it’s time to mean business – funny or otherwise – and he’s always on his toes. He says Rescue Dawn, which for the most part didn’t utilize much “magic or fake stuff” (CGI was only used in plane scenes), is like no other Vietnam film.
“You can have all the ingredients for the cake but you still have to bake the thing right,” Zahn said. “The hardest thing in film is to have a consistent tone for two hours.
“Whatever realm of realism you put it in, it’s got to make sense. This film has a clear message. Yes, there are monster holes in it – some things don’t make sense – but the tone is right. When you have the right tone, you don’t notice the mistakes. You don’t care because you feel something.”
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