Woody Harrelson simply couldn't turn down a role in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri even though he promised himself a break.
The Hunger Games actor stars alongside Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell in Martin McDonagh's drama about a woman who rents billboards to condemn the local police for failing to solve her daughter's murder.
Woody plays Bill Willoughby, the local police chief and main target of the billboards, and when he was given the script, he simply couldn't say no.
“I kept thinking: ‘I’ll do this one and then I’ll take a break.’ And then another one would come along and I’m greedy for a good role," he told The Observer. "It’s like Billboards. I’d be a fool to turn that down.”
The film picked up four Golden Globes on Sunday (07Jan18) including Best Motion Picture - Drama, Best Screenplay and acting prizes for Frances and Sam.
Woody has been nominated for Oscars twice, for The People vs Larry Flynt and The Messenger, but he hasn't given it “a moment’s thought” about whether he will score a third when the Oscars shortlist is announced later in January (18).
“Frances is brilliant and so is Sam, and I know this is a great movie," he gushed. "But most of all, I just hope it does well and that people go and see it because, in the end, that’s why we make movies and what we always hope for.”
Besides Three Billboards, Woody will also star in Solo: A Star Wars Story later this year. He accepted a role in the spin-off because it felt like "a very cool opportunity.”
However, Woody, who plays Garris Shrike, a mentor to Alden Ehrenreich's version of Han Solo, hadn't realised the level of secrecy that would be involved.
“You don’t even get a script,” he admitted. “It’s all done on an e-reader with an encrypted password and if you so much as walk off set, you have to wear a cloak in case a drone flies over and takes a picture. It’s crazy.”
