Frost/Nixon is a drama based on Peter Morgan’s play adapted into a feature film directed by Oscar-winner Ron Howard.  The play’s actors, Frank Langella (Richard Nixon) and Michael Sheen (David Frost) star in the movie that follows British TV broadcaster, Frost, who interviewed President Nixon. By the end of the interviews, Nixon implicates himself in the Watergate Scandal.  Langella and Sheen shared what it was like to play two high-profile personalities and what each man hoped to gain from the infamous interviews.

Q: What was it like to translate your character from the play to the big screen?

Langella: The most curious thing is that I didn’t expect the journey to be longer than eight weeks.  I remember when the script was sent to me, it was several months before the first rehearsal.  And I said to the director, 'I can’t let you know about this because there are two or three other things that I am thinking of doing; a television series with CBS, and one for a cable channel.'  Ultimately I couldn’t resist it, and decided not to do the other things. I love London, and I loved the idea of going there for eight weeks, and I thought it would be over very quickly.  I thought I would go do the play about Richard Nixon and then go on to do the next thing. And two years later here I am.

Sheen: It was amazing, I didn’t actually believe I would be doing the movie until I was on set, and even then I thought that Leonardo might come in and say ‘off you go.’  It has been amazing to go on the journey with Frank; to start at a tiny theater in London and then the West End, and then Broadway and then the movie.  I did my last performance on Broadway on Sunday afternoon and by Thursday morning I was in LA filming.

Q: What was it like working with director Ron Howard?

Langella: Ron did probably the greatest thing a director could do for an actor: he listened harder than any other director I have ever worked with. He kept telling me over and over again to tell him what I was thinking.  And he kept telling me I am not about concept, I'm not about showing off, I am about finding out the heart of each character and putting that on the lens.  We had a very easy relationship that way.

Sheen: Ron Howard is an amazing man, and I loved making the film with him because he is a great artist and director. It is interesting to see how he has made a life in the film industry without becoming a monster.  I remember when Ron came to see the play in London, and he stayed around afterwards to say hello to the cast and crew. It was obvious how much he had been affected by the performance. His understanding of the piece is so good, and he was able to turn what was on stage into a film because he understood the story so much.  He understood the story more than any of us.

Q: The interviews are portrayed like a boxing match in the film. Can you tell us about that?

Langella: It is. It’s a great boxing match. I spent a lot of time in his (Nixon’s) library, reading all of his notes in preparation for the film.  Many things I say in the film are actual notes that he made for himself or his staff made for him to say. He went into it like any good lawyer would anticipating what this guy (Frost) may do. He didn’t want Frost to see his weaknesses, and didn’t want Frost to win. It was an intellectual boxing match.

Sheen: The writer of the script used a lot of metaphors, like a boxing match and a bull fight.  I think the early interviews are like a boxing match. It can also be compared to chess because it’s very tactical. The going back and forth between Frost’s team and Nixon’s team provides the tension in the film. As the piece goes on it becomes more ritualistic like a bull fight where the toreador challenges the bull, and goes in for the sacrificial kill.

Q: What was Nixon seeking to accomplish by giving these interviews?

Langella: He wanted to resurrect himself; he wanted to be back where he had been.  It must have been an extraordinary thing.  Imagine being elected by the greatest mandate in history and being as popular as that and then when Watergate began to unravel, it was all gone in a period of months.  When David Frost came along, I am sure Nixon saw this as an opportunity to begin his climb up. He seemed very comfortable doing this. He seemed to be a man who liked to fight the big boys, he like to show em’.

Q: What was David Frost hoping to gain from interviewing Nixon?

Sheen: In Britain David Frost is iconic. He was the first huge television star, and it’s difficult to remember, even for British people just how influential and how culturally significance Frost was in Britain.  His TV show was so influential that they had to take it off the air during election year because it had so much sway over the people. This is a man who wants world domination, and his ambition is huge. He is looking to get back to where he once was, and he is obsessed with doing what he did in Britain in America. And he sees this interview as a away to get where he wants to be, as does Nixon, so both men have huge amounts at stake.

Q: Do you feel that Nixon really confesses at the end of the Frost interviews?

Langella: No, I don’t think it’s a confession, I think that’s the wrong word. He gives the public something that he has never given them before. He admits he made a mistake and that he let the country down, but doesn’t want young people to be discouraged to get involved in government because it’s a noble profession.