James Badge Dale can never be accused of being an actor just for the money. The New York native travels with a one-eyed pit bull, so he has to find a house with a backyard when he films on location. Dale figures between the small salary he was paid to star in "The Standoff at Sparrow Creek" and the rent he had to pay for a house in Texas during the filming, he ended up losing almost $3 a day.
Dale's not complaining.
"When you show up on a set where no one is making any money and you have a small crew, everyone is there for the love of the game. Everyone is there because they love that script," Dale says. "No one is there for a paycheck and that changes how you work. I can't tell you how exhilarating and thrilling that is as an actor. As an artist."
What lured Dale to "The Standoff at Sparrow Creek" was a story from first-time director/writer Henry Dunham. Dale plays Gannon, an ex-police officer who has become a recluse. The only connection he has with the outside world is the members of a local militia he has joined. The group is facing a deadly situation after a shooting at a police funeral, and the only way to keep the entire militia from being arrested is to find out if someone in the group pulled the trigger.
Gannon is the logical person to search for answers, which he does through a series of interrogations. The unexpected consequences are Gannon finds out a lot more about the group than he had anticipated.
Because "The Standoff at Sparrow Creek" was shot on a limited budget, almost the entire film was shot at a large lumber mill. The solo location and small crew of actors makes the film come across like it could have been done as a stage production.
"When you are visually locked into an isolated location you are presented with the problem of how to tell the story. This is a dialogue-heavy film and a character-driven film. Henry found seven actors who could really throw down. When we all got in the room to read the script for the first time, there was a spark of energy," Dale says. "And, not only is this film set in an isolated location, it is an isolated period of time."
Because the film has such a sparse look, the focus is heavily on the actors and how they bring life to their roles. In Dale's case, he found Gannon to be a complicated person.
Dale was willing to take a loss to be part of "The Standoff at Sparrow Creek," but he has had plenty of other roles. His resume includes "Rubicon," "Lord of the Flies," "24," "The Departed," "The Pacific," "Iron Man 3," "The Lone Ranger" and "World War Z."
Over the years, Dale has played a number of cops, detectives and government agents. He recently had three films at the Toronto Film Festival _ "The Standoff," "The Standoff at Sparrow Creek" and "Donnybrook" _ where he played a former cop, a crooked cop and a good cop. He stresses landing those similar types of roles is nothing he ever planned to happen.
"I am not searching for those kinds of parts but just take roles that interest me," Dale says. "You have to remember playing a police officer is an occupation and not necessarily who you are as a person. I try to look at it that way. I am playing a human being that just happens to have that occupation.
"In the case of 'The Standoff at Sparrow Creek,' he is a former police officer. I just knew after 20 pages that it was a role I wanted to play."
Next up for Dale is "Hightown," a Starz crime drama set amid the drug trade on Cape Cod. Dale will play another member of law enforcement in the series, but he says that aspect of the character is far down the list. He's looking at this examination of the drug world to be more about all the baggage people carry and how to escape it.
"The Standoff at Sparrow Creek" opens in theaters and will be available through video on demand and Digital HD Friday.
