You had to die in that movie. It’s hard to imagine
your death when you’re
only a teenager.
I
didn’t know how I was going to die. I didn’t get much sleep
the night before that scene, and finally, at 5 a.m., I decided to
rehearse a little bit. I got down on the floor and started gagging and
dry heaving. [Laughs.] I said, “That’s it—that’s
how I’ll die.”
After Troy, you went to Texas to play the star wide
receiver in Friday Night Lights. Had you played football in
high school?
Yes, but I was always on defense—not
in the glory positions. I wasn’t the quarterback or the one making
the touchdowns. I loved playing, but I hated to practice. Which is
strange, because I like doing research for a character. For
Troy, I studied The Iliad. I’m not sure I would
have read it as carefully if it had been assigned for school.
Did you read On the Road in class? You’re
currently playing Dean Moriarty, perhaps the coolest guy ever, in the
film version.
I remember reading the book in high school,
and then, three years ago, I went online, and it said, “Francis
Ford Coppola is producing this.” Now we’re halfway through
filming, and I still can’t believe I’m a part of it. In
’07 I auditioned for the part twice. On my birthday that
September, I was flying back from New York and I had to land in Chicago
for a layover. When I got to the gate, my father called and sang me
“Happy Birthday,” and at the same time I received an e-mail
saying I got the part in On the Road. I boarded the plane so
happy. When I landed in L.A., I got another call from Minnesota: After
he hung up the phone with me, my father had a heart attack. He’s
doing fine now, but that’s life—a great amount of good is
always evened out by a great amount of bad. I find it’s best to
acknowledge that weird balance.
[Hedlund’s phone rings. He picks it up and skips it against the floor like a rock across a lake. The phone bashes into the wall.] If I was in a car, that phone would be out the window. [Laughs.] I’m not good with phones and gadgets and stuff. I don’t appreciate them the way others do. You know how when somebody gets a new car, they are so worried about that first scratch, but after that everything’s fine? Well, I just say, “Everything to me in life is like the second scratch.”
