Rorschach is a standout in the Watchmen comics and he’s sure to be a standout in the Watchmen movie. As Jackie Earle Haley plays him, screening audiences went wild when he terrorized prison inmates with the graphic novel’s dialogue. He didn’t need the ever-changing ink blots of his mask to convey his performance either. Haley’s movements and voiceover provided everything audiences needed to know about Rorschach.
Crave Online: How were you able to convey so much with a mask on?
Jackie Earle Haley: Well, what I did was, I would just think of the first thing that would come to my mind, and then a blot would appear.
Crave Online: Did you have any idea how it was going to look while you were wearing the thing on your face?
Jackie Earle Haley: Yeah, well we had some fixed Rorschach masks for stunt work and stuff that was further away from the camera, so obviously we could see an exact still representation, and then one day DJ showed up on the set, he opened his computer he said, check it out. It was the first of Rorschach, like in the window kind of looking up, it was the very first test that was done, and that was incredibly motivating because it was early on, we thought, “Oh, that’s what it’s doing.” What they did with the blots I thought was incredible. I mean, it just looks really cool. But it was kind of a challenge or concern, like wow, how am I going to go about this, kind of acting with the sock on my head, that first you’re kind of nervous, because you’re taking away your main tool, which is your face as an actor. But at the same time, you’re playing this character Rorschach, so there was something incredibly motivating by putting this thing on, so I think I struggled with it for a little while, just internally, and then I think as time went on all of that was just kind of reconciled in here and becoming Rorschach was a much easier process as time went on.
Crave Online: How did you come up with the voice of Rorschach?
Jackie Earle Haley: Well, it’s the first thing I heard when I read the book and I think it was pretty similar on my audition tape. I think it’s probably shifted a little bit, but it was just the first thing that I heard, and I remember kind of talking to Zack, “What do you think, should we work on it, should we try some different stuff?” And we were always kind of, well, geez maybe, and we just think it just seemed to work so we never re-examined it. It’s this weird process too, because everyday and still to this day, I’ll do some ADR or something and we’re always like, “Oh, let’s check a reference, does that sound the same?” And then we’d play the reference, yeah, seems to be. Every time I check a reference, it was like, “Oh yeah, that sounds like what I was doing.”
Crave Online: What have the past few years been like for you?
Jackie Earle Haley: Well, it’s just been incredible. To have been a child actor and to kind of watch that stuff slowly drift away and to struggle for a few years and kind of find my way in this world and then to have this kind of comeback. When Steven Zaillian called to put me in All The Kings Men, it just opened up this door again and I was invited back into this world and it really seemed like an impossibility, like that just would never happen again. So I can’t describe how incredible it’s been to get to practice this craft, which is something that means a great deal to me, and to get to do it at this level again. It’s really just been a pinch yourself experience over the last few years, with the Academy thing, and just getting to do the work with Todd Field in Little Children and with Patrick Wilson and Kate [Winslet]. It was just phenomenal and then for that to lead to getting to play this iconic character, I was absolutely flabbergasted when Zack called and offered me the part to play Rorschach. It’s just been a trip.
Crave Online: Were you at all worried about disappearing after Little Children because it took so long to make this and the film took awhile to get out?
Jackie Earle Haley: I think there’s always that fear but I can never tell whether that fear is like a deep seeded child actor fear, from my experiences, so I always have to temper that with trying to find that balance of being overly freaked out, because I’ve got a long past of scary career stuff.
Crave Online: You used the word flabbergasted when you got this part. Was that just because it was a big studio movie, or because Watchmen had some significance in your life?
Jackie Earle Haley: I wasn’t fully aware of Watchmen prior to getting the role but after hearing that the movie was going to be made and prior to getting the role, I became aware of what Watchmen was, and who Rorschach was, and what the material meant to the fan base, and immediately kind of started getting sucked into it. I mean, it’s an amazing piece of work and Rorschach is an incredible character, and an iconic character. I mean he’s a beloved psychopath of Comi-Con. So I recognized that it was something I really wanted to do and the more I learned about Rorschach and the material, it was just like wow. I mean, wow.
Crave Online: You actually have a black belt. Does that kind of help to playing this character? Were you using some ninja movements?
Jackie Earle Haley: No actually, he’s kind of more boxer-y. But he does have some legs and stuff. I think what helped me with already having some experience with Martial Arts is that I didn’t need to show up two months before and start with the basics. I know everybody kind of went into fight training, and then into choreography. So I got to skip all of the fight training and just go into choreography. And then I also had the additional help that my character was covered so I had a kick ass stunt guy who was able to do most of it. But I did do some of it, and it was neat that the guys didn’t have to spend so much time teaching me how to throw a punch. It was just going right into the choreography of it.
Crave Online: What black belt do you have?
Jackie Earle Haley: Kempo and Tae Kwon Do. I’m a little rusty now though. I haven’t been stretching. But I think I can break this table. All right, step back everybody.
Crave Online: What were the variations in your performance in playing Rorschach with a mask as the vigilante, and unmasked as Kovacs?
Jackie Earle Haley: Not much. Not much. I donned freckles. Yeah, I mean I looked at that and was thinking, “What should I do there?” And to me, it’s just, the guy is Rorschach. Walter is long gone, and I think he’s Rorschach, with or without the mask. So I’ve pretty much kept it in the same world. I don’t think that he throws on his mask and he completely changes his identity but I think when he’s in the middle of an interrogation or something, it might pump up his adrenaline and his syntax just like I think anybody would.
Crave Online: At what point in the movie, or the process did you know that you were delivering the line of the movie?
Jackie Earle Haley: Just about two seconds ago. I mean I know that that’s a beloved line, but the movie’s full of beloved lines. I will tell you I was totally looking forward to doing that scene but you know, I’ve kind of felt that way about every scene. People keep asking, “So what was your favorite scene?” It’s like, God, I don’t know, I mean one scene didn’t stick out. It was just such a great encompassing experience, the whole thing.
