Interview with Kevin Page
AS: What process did you go through to land the role of Micajah Autry in The Alamo?
KP: I had been retired from acting for several years when the Alamo auditions came up. At the time my agent called I was writing and producing documentary films for my own independent production company. I got the script and was assigned several roles to look at. The script was good. Maybe even great….
As an actor, I have always been known for my research and preparation. By the time I went down to Austin to meet John Lee and read for M. Autry, I had lost 15 pounds, grown a full-length beard (the casting director had asked that all male actors audition with facial hair), read the script through 5 times, read 4 complete histories of the Alamo, memorized 30 pages of dialogue (I think I read for 4 roles that day), and watched a dozen or so films including 3 documentaries on the Mo, The Wayneamo (twice) and John Lee’s the Rookie.
I read for John Lee. John Lee hired me.
My interview with Kevin Page, actor who portrayed Micajah Autry in The Alamo (2004), was conducted on July 16th, 2007.
AS: What process did you go through to land the role of Micajah Autry in The Alamo?
KP: I had been retired from acting for several years when the Alamo auditions came up. At the time my agent called I was writing and producing documentary films for my own independent production company. I got the script and was assigned several roles to look at. The script was good. Maybe even great….
As an actor, I have always been known for my research and preparation. By the time I went down to Austin to meet John Lee and read for M. Autry, I had lost 15 pounds, grown a full-length beard (the casting director had asked that all male actors audition with facial hair), read the script through 5 times, read 4 complete histories of the Alamo, memorized 30 pages of dialogue (I think I read for 4 roles that day), and watched a dozen or so films including 3 documentaries on the Mo, The Wayneamo (twice) and John Lee’s the Rookie.
I read for John Lee. John Lee hired me.
AS: Did you conduct any research on the actual Micajah Autry? If so, how did you apply his history to your role?
KP : By the time we were filming I think I had consumed about as much information as was available on Mr. Autry (which wasn’t much!) (All totaled, I ended up watching something like 50 films and reading almost a dozen books, cover-to-cover, as research for this film.) Autry was a rifle marksman and we surmised that that might have been an important emotional connection between him and Crocket. I focused intensely on weapons training for probably 2 months of the shoot including a couple of weeks of pure “boot camp” where we worked weapons, artillery, hand-to-hand combat and horseback riding everyday. The first time I met Billy Bob was on the weapons range for riffle training.
AS: How was your first day on set and what was your reaction? Describe a typical day of shooting for you.
KP: Ahh…I think you could safely say it was a pretty cool job all the way through, Wade.
AS: What scenes did you enjoy working on the most? And how was it to work with your co-stars?
KP: See answer #3 above.
AS: How was it to handle the weaponry? And how much did you have to train before filming? It seems you had a pretty good hold and focus with them in the film.
KP: See answer #2
AS : During the last stand in front of the Alamo church, the soldados blast the breastworks you and Crockett’s boys have set up. How was that scene prepared? And was the demise of your character filmed any differently than from what we saw on the final cut?
KP: The final battle, of which my death scene was one small component, was filmed over a period of a couple of weeks (at least) if I remember correctly? I thought John Lee was very generous to me in that scene and I would say that the final cut was pretty much exactly what we shot.
AS: Many Alamo buffs and enthusiasts alike would love to see a Director’s Cut of the film. Do you know of any scenes that you were in that didn’t make it into the movie?
KP: Nope.
AS: Are there any great stories from the set that you’d like to share with us?
KP: One of the first days of shooting with Billy Bob Thornton, we had to go out of the stockade carrying torches and run up a hill to burn down some shacks. After several takes I noticed Billy sitting quietly in a chair while a medic bandaged his hand. I walked over and asked what had happened. Billy casually told me that the kerosene on the end of his torch had run down the wood onto his hand (he wasn’t wearing any gloves) during the last take. I was sort of shocked. I asked him if that didn’t hurt because I hadn’t noticed him reacting or anything and the cameras had kept rolling through till the end of the scene. He said: “Hell yeah it hurt! But we had to finish the shot, didn’t we?” I had a lot of respect for Billy Bob Thornton after that day. That’s just one example of how Billy truly tried to embody the role of Crocket while we were filming.
AS: What did you walk away from filming with? And what did you hope the audience would get from it.
KP: Golly…I just sort of wish more people would actually SEE the damned movie, Wade!
AS : Finally, what about the story of the Alamo do you enjoy or find the most interesting?
KP: Perhaps the thing I find most fascinating is that the story itself has survived as a story for so long…. By the time my experience with the Alamo film was over in 2004, I had talked to a lot of different people about those events that had happened way back in 1836. And I kinda came to believe that what is attractive about the Alamo story, perhaps the reason it has survived for so long, is that each individual seems to project their own feelings, their own values, their own “heroness” if you will onto the Alamo story. People seem to interpret the story from where ever they are coming from at that moment in their life. And it can be fascinating to hear how different people will interpret the Alamo story…because it can tell you a lot about the interpreter.
Thanks for interviewing me, Wade. Best of luck with the site re-launch.
Kevin Page
I highly appreciate the time that Kevin took to do this interview with me! It certainly was a pleasure!~Wade