The Oscar-winning star who made his name in gritty dramas describes his Boston childhood as like ‘Lord of the Flies’. Now the place he’s happiest is on the road.
4 May 2021
Did you get to go anywhere recently?
‘When I was 17, I left Massachusetts and drove across the country in a car that ultimately wouldn’t make it across. Ever since then, I’ve always done at least one road trip a year; it’s the best way to see America. It’s fun, inexpensive, and I love being behind the wheel. I didn’t want to break that tradition in 2020 so I did a small loop from LA through Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon, and then back down the coast. Of the 15 years I’ve been doing it, this was definitely the hardest. Generally, people were miserable and missing their friends; I got in a car accident, there were forest fires, protests, pandemic quarantines, and all the national parks were closed. However, it was really nice to be out of the house and in wide open spaces. I spent a couple of nights on a blueberry farm in Oregon and stayed on a cannabis farm too—not partaking, just visiting.’
Is sustainable travel important to you?
‘It’s hugely important. For 90 percent of the trips I take, I drive, although that means using gas and an old-fashioned internal combustion engine. It’s hard to rent electric vehicles and even harder to find charging points; I like to wander a bit and not plan every route, and sometimes I run out of gas. I do eat and sleep in the van, using very little water and electricity, so maybe that’s something. Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about consumption and waste. I made a short film in the favelas outside Rio de Janeiro. Brazil is notorious for having these trash dumps the size of small cities where entire families live. It’s horrifying; just a sea of plastic and waste. It can be overwhelming, but we try to do what we can.’
Describe your favourite view
‘Looking at our street from my childhood home in Cambridge is nothing special, but it’s so rich in memories; I can see all the houses that I’ve been in and backyards that I’ve run through. I can see it when it’s covered in snow, in summertime, and when the leaves are turning. Those experiences make it a beautiful view, more than standing on top of a mountain or something.’
Tell us about a great little place you know
‘Kitchen Mouse in Highland Park, LA, is really special to me. When the kids were very young we treasured that time as parents and took turns working instead of having nannies. But we had one close friend who would sometimes watch the kids. She’d always cook with them and one day announced that she wanted to start her own little restaurant. Over the past 10 years, it’s really taken off—there are lines out the door. I like to order Joe’s breakfast sandwich; Joe is her husband. I can’t remember what’s in it because her dishes are all so unusual but always delicious; homemade sauces over black-bean patties, the best coleslaw ever. I think she makes it up along the way. I don’t imagine she’d be offended I said that.’
Where in the world have you felt happiest?
‘It sounds corny, but it’s when I’m with my kids. We love rolling around, pulling into a new town and exploring. I think the spontaneity of it all appeals to a part of us that is neglected amid our lives of routines and schedules. We did seven countries in three weeks in Europe two summers ago. We went back to the house where my son was born in Amsterdam and then on to France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, and the Czech Republic. We were really roughing it a lot of the time but there were zero complaints.’
A destination that lived up to the hype?
‘Tokyo does not disappoint. I’ve been a couple of times. Once I was there with the mother of my kids to promote a movie while I got to wander around. I was in my early 20s and didn’t know anything about the East, so everything felt unfamiliar and that was really exciting. Not being able to recognize anything; it’s a peaceful feeling. And of course, the food is great. We found this unassuming little place that we were told was John Lennon’s favourite restaurant.’
And one that didn’t?
‘If you grow up in the northeast of America, you hear a lot about Niagara Falls. When I went, I think I asked someone, “Are these the only falls?” People love it so much and it’s such a big destination that it would be hard not to be at least a little disappointed.’
A favourite island?
‘I was on the Isle of Man for a couple of months and I liked that a lot. My girlfriend was filming—I think there’s a huge tax incentive to shoot there. I loved the environment, the weather, the size of it; you could take so much in over just one day. It was always really pretty.’
Describe a childhood holiday memory
‘When I was 10 years old, my mum was teaching a bunch of kids on an educational programme, so I got to go along. It was an incredible year—we travelled all around Mexico and spent a big chunk of time in Mexico City. We went all over the Yucatán before it was remotely like it is now. We were on the island of Cozumel, and it was just empty! I remember seeing a billion iguanas. We stayed in Palenque, which has these Mayan ruins in the middle of the jungle; waking up listening to the monkeys and every now and then you’d spot a cougar. A real wonderland for a kid.’
The most interesting person you’ve met on your travels?
‘I was shooting a movie called Ain’t Them Bodies Saints in Shreveport, Louisiana, and one day I was at a farmers’ market where I met this local artist—Bertha Harris—who was selling great little paintings on cardboard or driftwood. I got talking to her, and she invited me to her house. She was pretty old and spent most of her time in this tiny backroom where she had hundreds of her paintings stacked to the ceiling. I realized each one was a scene from her life. It was fascinating; her memory was like her workspace; immaculate and so detailed. I have one on my wall; it’s of her baptism, which she still remembers like it was yesterday.’
Casey stars in ‘The World to Come’, out now. He spoke to Shannon Mahanty.
