LOS ANGELES: Jason Clarke plunged into frigid waters, repeatedly, for his role as the late Sen. Ted Kennedy in “Chappaquiddick.”
The Australian actor said his research about the accident that thwarted Kennedy’s presidential chances included jumping into Poucha Pond, the same waters the Massachusetts Democrat’s car crashed into in July 1969, killing Mary Jo Kopechne.
Clarke said the indie film, which is in limited release on Friday, doesn’t try to sensationalize the accident, which Kennedy failed to report for nine hours.
He said the film sticks “to the facts as much as we could and to play it out without scandalizing, without going to the tabloid of it.”
“This man committed this act and he worked his way out of it with help and with his own moral journey to the other side, where he then became one of the longest-serving senators in history. I don’t think — partisanship aside — you can’t take away from what he did.”
Kennedy went to Martha’s Vineyard to race in the Edgartown Regatta and on the evening of July 18, 1969, attended a party at a rented house on Chappaquiddick Island. Guests included Kennedy friends and several women, including Kopechne, who had worked on the presidential campaign of his brother Robert F. Kennedy, assassinated a year earlier.
Kennedy and Kopechne, 28, left the party together and a short time later their car plunged into Poucha Pond. Kennedy escaped from the submerged vehicle and said he made several futile attempts to rescue Kopechne, who was trapped inside.
Kennedy, who died in 2009, later described his failure to report the incident to police for nine hours as “indefensible.”
Clarke visited the bridge and pond as part of his research for the film, even jumping in.
“It’s pretty much unchanged apart from the bridge itself has got guard rails and wider. There’s no other buildings. The Dike House is still there, the same place. It’s dark. There’s no lights on the road,” he said. “The water is dark and the current is strong.”
“I think I held my breath for five seconds to see where I came up. And I came up a big distance away,” Clarke said.
Kennedy’s underwater escape was recreated in the waters of the Pacific Ocean off Mexico. Clarke said the scene was hard to shoot not only because of the ocean’s cold water, but also because he had to get out of the car while upside down.
The film, an Entertainment Studios release, spends more time on the aftermath of the accident. Clarke said viewers should leave theaters with a greater understanding of Kennedy.
“You can be with Ted a bit. You cannot just externalize it and say bad, horrible, disgusting man. You might want to at the end, but you can be there for it: on the phone afterwards, the walk back, the swim, the lies, the made-up story — or perhaps it’s actually really what did happen. But you can actually stay there with Ted. Not enough to be a Kennedy, but enough to almost touch him,” he said.
Jim Gaffigan, who plays attorney Paul Markham, one of the co-hosts of the party that Kennedy and Kopechne left together, agreed.
“We all have earlier versions of ourselves that we’re not crazy about. At least I do,” he said. “So there is something very interesting about the journey that Ted goes through, and being exposed to his relationship with his father,” he said. “Look, it’s not a documentary, but there is an attempt to be objective and ask objective questions.”
‘Chappaquiddick’ puts focus on aftermath of Kennedy accident
‘Chappaquiddick’ puts focus on aftermath of Kennedy accident
- Actor rehearsed jumping into Poucha Pond — where Ted Kennedy’s car crashed in July 1969 — resulting in the death of Mary Jo Kopechne.
- Ted Kennedy, who died in 2009, later described his failure to report the incident to police for nine hours as “indefensible.”
Berlinale responds to backlash over Gaza-related comments
The Berlin International Film Festival has issued a statement after what organisers described as a growing “media storm” linked to comments about the war in Gaza and the broader role of politics in cinema.
Festival director Tricia Tuttle released a lengthy note late Saturday following criticism directed at several high-profile guests. The controversy began during the opening day press conference when jury president Wim Wenders was asked about the conflict in Gaza. He responded: “We have to stay out of politics because if we make movies that are dedicatedly political, we enter the field of politics,” a remark that sparked swift backlash online.
Indian author Arundhati Roy later withdrew from the festival, reportedly angered by the remarks.
Other prominent figures, including Michelle Yeoh and Neil Patrick Harris, also faced online criticism after responding cautiously to questions about politics. Harris stated that he was interested in “doing things that were ‘apolitical,’” a comment that further fuelled debate.
In her statement, Tuttle defended the festival and its participants, stressing the importance of artistic freedom. “People have called for free speech at the Berlinale. Free speech is happening at the Berlinale. But increasingly, filmmakers are expected to answer any question put to them. They are criticised if they do not answer. They are criticised if they answer and we do not like what they say. They are criticised if they cannot compress complex thoughts into a brief sound bite when a microphone is placed in front of them when they thought they were speaking about something else,” she said.
She added: “It is hard to see the Berlinale and so many hundreds of filmmakers and people who work on this festival distilled into something we do not always recognise in the online and media discourse… It is a large, complex festival.”
“Artists are free to exercise their right of free speech in whatever way they choose… nor should they be expected to speak on every political issue raised to them unless they want to,” Tuttle said.
