You South Africa – 22 August 2019

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)