EMILE HIRSCH HAUNTED BY THE WILD

Emile Hirsch was motivated by Chris McCandless’ courage and his zest for adventure.

Twenty-two year old Emile Hirsch was just about on the brink of manhood when he filmed Into The Wild, the story of Chris McCandless who gave up his creature comforts to live in Alaska.

Emile was only nine years old when Chris came to his attention while watching an episode of news show 20/20.

“I just remember getting captivated and kind of mesmerized at the story of this guy who went to Alaska and how he stuck it out on the bus when he was kind of on his last legs. It just had this huge impact on me even just as a child. And then later on when Sean approached me about it I didn’t put the pieces together that that was what he was talking about until I read the book and the memories kind of came flooding back to me. Oh this is that story I remember so vividly.”

To prepare for his journey into the wilderness Emile got in shape scaling the snowy mountains of Alaska and learning how to kayak as his character explores the terrain by riding the rapids. He says Chris inspired his quest for adventure.

“Everyone has that need for adventure. He’s someone who went for it. We all have those feelings. If I went on an adventure, what would happen? He did it and everyone wants to do that with so many things that prevent us from doing that for not necessarily the wrong reasons. When he finally died he had done what so many people always wonder, ‘what if I did that?’ And just by crossing that threshold, he had succeeded.”

Chris McCandless unfortunately died of starvation and lived the remainder of his life in the abandoned bus. Into The Wild was shot from the end to the beginning so Emile could drop 41 pounds to attain his skeletal frame, and have enough time to gain the weight for the remainder of the shoot.