Linklater fine tuned the script during two weeks of rehearsals with the cast in Austin, Texas before principal photography began. “Richard really informed the final script with what we did during rehearsals,” says Reeves. “The characters were allowed to develop, and eventually became a fusion of the character in the novel, Richard’s adaptation, and what we as actors brought to it. It was great to work like that because you’re participating in it.”
The Austin location—Linklater’s hometown—seemed to put everyone in a relaxed and creative mood. “It wasn’t like a normal set,” says Ryder. “Everyone was so mellow and yet they worked really hard. They have a different approach—more loose and free, with a real flow to the way everybody worked together.”
Production began on the warm, sunny morning of May 17, 2004. Temperatures would hover around 90 degrees for the majority of the day and the production. Each actor prepared—or didn’t prepare— for the unique project in his own special way. Says Cochrane: “I came up with my character, like, five minutes before I got on the elevator to go to work. I don't know how you prepare for something like this.”
Downey Jr’s preparation was more intense. “The last three or four films I've done combined didn't have as much dialogue as I had in the first three days on this movie,” he reports. He devised a mindboggling memorization method that consisted of writing out his copious dialogue in run-on sentences, studying them, then converting the sentences into more easily retained acronyms to get through the dense material. “If I don't have a process, I have no way of knowing anything,” he says.
Reeves relied heavily on the original Philip K. Dick book during preparation and filming. “I took the book along with me. I would mark down each scene to the corresponding page in the book, then I would write down certain comments that Philip K. Dick had written about the character or what the character was saying or how he felt. I would read it and feel it and try to match it until I felt like the character was in the right place. I really followed the book.”
All of the actors were comfortable in the capable hands of their director. “Rick's a good guy. He lets you be creative and offer ideas,” says Cochrane. “He knows exactly what he wants, but he gets a bunch of good people around him, so it’s a collaboration.” “Richard wants you to figure it out for yourself,” echoes Ryder. “He lets you explore another direction instead of telling you what the interpretation of the scene is, and I appreciated that. You feel so much more a part of it when a person is making you participate in it and forcing you to search out what you feel is the truth.” “Richard is fearless,” Ryder continues. “And he’s one of the finest directors I’ve ever worked with.”
The first location for the unit was Arctor’s house, which came in the form of a three-bedroom, twobath single family home on Eric Circle in southeast Austin. The tenants vacated a month before production began, leaving the house in a shambles. Production designer Bruce Curtis actually had to make improvements to get the home to look like Arctor’s shabby digs.
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