In 1973, horse Secretariat won the Triple Crown in what was considered one of the greatest horseraces of all time. Lead actors John Malkovich and Diane Lane explain how this true story plays out in the Disney version directed by Randall Wallace.
Q: Acting seems to be so effortless for you-is it as easy as it seems?
John Malkovich: I think anything you do isn’t really effortless. It’s always a struggle to do anything well. And you have to have a certain degree of training for it, enough to take certain steps to ensure you make it look effortless. I wouldn’t include acting among the most difficult jobs I’ve ever had, but that’s also a matter of personality, too. Some people would be terrified to do that, and then some people wouldn’t last five minutes working in an office.
Q: Did you have the opportunity to talk with Lucien?
JM: No, he passed away earlier. But I spoke at length with Helen [Penny] Chenery, who Diane plays in the film, and also even more a great deal with Bill, a terrific writer who wrote the great articles about Secretariat, who was there at all the races and covered Secretariat at the time for Sports Illustrated.
Q: If you had the chance to meet Lucien, is there anything in particular you would ask him?
JM: I would have loved to have heard his opinion about why he thought the horse was so special, what he thought made it such a monumentally successful athlete because there isn’t all that much about Lucien out there. It just would have been interesting to see what he thought.
Q: How does acting in a movie based on truth differ from the roles you’re used to playing, especially when you did follow the Secretariat?
JM: I’d say there’s no real difference unless the person you’re playing [is] very well-known. If they’re not very known it’s not that different. You can see Lucien Laurin a little bit on Youtube, but not for very long. If you’re playing somebody who’s very known, like when Josh Brolin played President Bush, there’s certain things you sort of have to do. So you go over on some level into imitation or a kind of impression, which I think Josh avoided for the most part. But it’s pretty hard to avoid if you’re talking about some[one] very well-known.
Q: Can you tell me what you did to prepare for the role of Lucien?
JM: I rewatched all the races, the history of the Secretariat and reread Bill Nack’s book and a lot of the articles. There wasn’t tons of preparation time because sometimes the studio takes a long time to make a deal.
Q: Tell me about your experience with the different horses on the set. Did you feel a relationship to them?
JM: We had six different horses. That’s kind of like having someone say it’s easier than having six wives, I hope. So they’re all different. One of the Secretariat horses was kind of skittish, but most of them were probably a lot easier [to handle] than a lot of thoroughbreds are. But I always have had a pretty good relationship with horses for the most part, and all of these I got along well with, no problems. They can act out. And there’s not a thing you can do about it.
Q: Do you see Penny’s character as kind of being a role model for not only women, but men out there as well?
Diane Lane: I think going after your dreams and being willing to be misunderstood is good. It’s worth it. Penny was sort of villified a bit in terms of the media certainly baiting her with this attitude of “Who do you think you are, what are you doing here?” But she convinced everybody she was born [into] this industry of horse-breeding. It was her father’s business, and she knew how to read the books and understood pretty much everybody’s job. I think it’s very refreshing to hear, see and certainly portray a woman who was willing to not be motivated out of that way that women can be sometimes: “Oh I have to be perceived as a shrinking violet, or a manipulator, or a cajoler of the outcome.” She was very direct and trusted people’s intelligence to understand or get out of the way because she had no time to fool around with this. She had a lot at stake.
Q: You were just a little girl around this time period, so what was it like to play an adult in that era?
DL: It was very fun for me because I remember this era and those women and how they dressed and how they carried themselves. I’m very humbled to be in the generation I am because I’m riding on the back of all the women that came before me who endured less than equal status. So I have to remember that and say if I were there then at that age with the options that there were then, how would I conduct myself? I would definitely be playing my hand differently, even though I had the same cards.
Q: What was it like to meet with Penny? And what about the pressure to play her?
DL: It was very surreal to be imagining Penny’s point-of-view, and at the same time, she’s meeting me, who is playing her in a movie. So, I’m trying to imagine what that must be like for her. I felt like I was interviewing her, but I was trying to forget that I was playing her because I just wanted to absorb whatever I could of her. I just sort of vibed her out, enjoyed basking in how comfortable she is with herself and how unapologetic [she is]. She’s the victor in history here. She’s lasted through the glass ceiling in an international sport.
Q: While filming this movie, what sort of things did you do in your free time?
DL: When you’re number one on the call sheet, there’s no down time. You really have to fight for your turn around and your sleep time. I very much enjoyed the beauty of the countryside in Kentucky when we were filming there, that was really spectacular. And getting to tour Claiborne farms where Secretariat was buried-It was the king sport originally, and spectators were allowed to spectate. It became a family experience, a day at the races. Remember that phrase? This sport needs re-appreciation and revival. Like Penny always said, “It’s about the horses, people get distracted.” It’s true, it really is about the horses. That was my love for it always. I was a little kid and I’d watch it on TV. I’d bet on the number of the age I was. “I’m four. Four, win.” It’s corny but it’s true. When Secretariat really won, I was eight. I remember that it was appropriate that the horse should be on the cover of Time and Newsweek because who doesn’t love horses? I didn’t make the connection that the Earth had stopped spinning on its axis that day because what this horse felt like doing was displaying his joy at running.
Q: What was your initial reaction when you read the script and fully learned about the struggles she had to go through? I mean, did you think to yourself “I can relate to this” or did it take a little while to get into character after you met her and got to know her?
DL: I learned a lot about Penny from the Bill Nack book. It was sort of the Bible for us in terms of what happened sequentially. Bill was great, and he’s actually in the movie. [It was] very cute, and he was very happy to be there. But he would sleep outside on the barn where Secretariat was sleeping because he was that much of a fan. There was only the omission of certain things, [which] was always a challenge because you sort of go, “Oh I know too much.” Also, you just dilute everything [because] you only have 100 minutes. Sometimes knowing too much is a curse, and sometimes you don’t want to meet the person you’re playing. There is a kind of surrendering process, and I was really kind of hoping I could please her more than she would hope.
