Hedeclinedrequestsforaninterview
whileGriekwastadwasbeingshoton
locationinHopefieldontheWestCoast
becausehewantedtostayfocusedonhis
character.
“InpreparationforthemovieI readup
onthecasebutI didn’twatchanyTV
footageofthecrime,”hesays.
Hisaimwastocreatea pictureofwhat
wentdownonthefarmofdeathforhim
selfinordertoreallygetintotherole
ratherthanhaveactualimagesdothe
jobforhim,heexplains.
T
HEsmalltownofHopefield
andthesurroundingland
scapehelpedsetthescene.
“It’swideopenspacethere...
Theflatfields,ploughedin
places,andthighhighfyn
bos,”Arnoldsays.“There’sa lotofsenso
rystimulation.
“Italsohelpedthatthemurderhouse
wasn’tina studiobutwasshotina real
housewithnaturallight.”
Thehouseusedinthemovieisabout
800kmfromthefarmNaauwhoeknear
Griekwastad,whereDonSteenkamp
murderedhisparents,DeonandChris
telle,and 14 yearoldsister,Marthella,
duringtheEasterweekendof2012.
BestsellingcrimefictionwriterDeon
Meyerboughtthefilmrightstothebook
onthemurdersbyjournalistJacques
Steenkamp.
Someoftheoutdoorsceneswere
filmedinGriekwastadbutonlythedirec
tor,JozuaMalherbe,a fewproducersand
membersofthecameracrewwentthere
- bothbecauseit’ssofarflung and also
out of respect for the residents of the
town.
Arnold considered meeting the real
Dick de Waal but decided against it.
“I wanted to create the character of
Dick in my mind. If I’d had to lose or gain
a lot of weight or dye my hair, I would
havebec.
“I don’tbullshit.ThethingsI wasinter
estedinwerehowhedidhisresearch,
whathiscasenoteslookedlike.I man
agedtogetpicturesofhisnotesonthe
case– he’dwriteona whitesheetofpa
per,‘Naauwhoek.Gatetohouse.73m.
Takes 48 secondsif youdoit slowly.If I
openthisdoor,howlongwillit taketo
walkthere?Leftis a sheepkraal.’
“Everysinglethingwassomethodical.
I thinkI changedmythinkingabouthow
I seethingsingeneral.
“Jozua’swife,[actress]RolandaMarais,
playsmywife,HenriettedeWaal,a police
psychologist.Shehasa higherrankthan
him.Asa policecouplethey’rewell
adjusted,don’ttaketheirworkhomeand
don’tmakea bigdealaboutit.
“It’snota typicalmovie– it coversfour
monthsbeforeandafterthemurders
andismoreofa meditationona small
t o w n .”
H
E’Sbeenofferedotheroppor
tunitiestoworkinSouth
Africaover theyearsbut
eachtimehe’sbeenbusyon
otherprojects,Arnoldsays.
TheninJanuaryhisagent
wascontactedabouttheGriekwastad
movieandArnold,whowasn’tworking
onanythingelse,wasinstantlyinterest
ed.Hespenta weekwithhismom,Joyce,
andsister,Nadia,inhishometownof
Alberton,ontheEastRand,beforefilm
ingstartedinHopefield.Hevisitedthem
againaftershootingwrapped.
“That’smyhappyplace,”hesaysofhis
hometown.“It’sthecoffeeandrusks,
chickencasserole,chutneychickenand
theJohnnyGuitarRoadhousewithits
toastedsandwiches.It’sthehamburgers
andchips,guavaicecream special and
lekker lime milkshakes.
“Maybe that’s the romantic aspect of
being where you grew up – every blade
.
But, like Charlize Theron who was
raised in nearby Benoni, Arnold chose to
explore the wide world.
He’s just finished filming a web series
of spy novelist Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan,
with John Krasinski in the title role.
Arnold plays the part of an evil South
African mercenary. “Your South African
accent is beautiful,” the producers told
him. “Give it a little something for it to be
meaner and uglier.”
The South African accent is notorious
ly difficult for American actors, but Ar
nold says Matt Damon “got the accent
about 98% right” in Invictus, in which he
played Bok captain Francois Pienaar.
In two or three years’ time when Sylvia
Ahí, his wife of more than 20 years, re
tires from her accounting job at Ernst &
Young in LA, they plan to return to South
Africa semipermanently.
At first, they’ll rent a home. “Say, six
months in Cape Town. Then in the win
ter we’ll go back to the States for a while.
Next, we’ll rent somewhere in Durban
and then in places all over the country,
untilSylviadecideswhatsuitsher.”
SylviaandArnoldaregrandparentsto
nineyearold Jauqun Escacega, the son
of Sylvia’s son from a previous relation
ship.
“He calls me oupa,” Arnold says. “And
I’m teaching him words such as ‘bliksem’.
When he’s a little older I’ll bring him to
South Africa, just him and me.”
Arnold may not have lived here for a
while but it still feels like home.
“The sun on my skin and the sound of
the doves make me completely forget
about ‘action, action!’ Like a true African,
I can smell the rain before it arrives –
even in America.”
Working in South Africa was special,
he adds, especially on a project such as
this one. “Griekwastad is a beautiful
movie. I’m so proudofit.”S
LEFT: Arnold
on location in
Hopefield on
theWestCoast
withAlexvan
Dyk(MIDDLE),
whoplaysDon,
andGérard
Rudolf,who
playsstate
prosecutor
Hannes Cloete.
RIGHT:The
film’sproduc-
ers,Cobus van
denBerg(left)
andDeon
Meyer, on set
with Arnold.
you.co.za 22 AUGUST 2019 | (^91)