I met up with the handsome Stephen Dorff on a chilly September morning in Toronto, when in 2012, he was doing publicity for Eran Riklis’ ‘Zaytoun’. Dressed in all black, with a hint of his cool tattoo peaking out of the sleeve of his t-shirt, he was relaxed and kind. So relaxed in fact that his publicist and the film’s PR team were all next door, taking a nap during our interview. I often joke that we chatted while lying down, but you can’t joke like that anymore, not in this #MeToo world.

So I’ll admit that Dorff was a perfect subject and behaved like the professional gentleman that he is.

These days, Dorff lends his undeniable, yet strangely underrated talent to the HBO series ‘True Detective’ now in its third season. He plays Roland West, alongside another acting powerhouse Mahershala Ali. So it’s no wonder that Dorff calls this his “favorite role” in his “34-year career”, because it truly is mine. He is a man, plays a man and, in the words of Business Insider, rocks a “tough-guy cowboy persona” and a wicked sense of humor as West.

While I await anxiously to catch up with Dorff once again, I wanted to share this interview from the Toronto International Film Festival, when we talked about him playing an Israeli soldier, being taken too seriously and Sofia Coppola’s ‘Somewhere’ — the role that took him to another plateau.

Stephen Dorff on the Huffington Post, interviewed by E. Nina Rothe

Stephen Dorff has come a long way, from his early stint as a teenage heartthrob on TV sitcoms and playing through the darker side of characters, in sometimes forgettable films. 

These days Dorff is navigating us comfortably through his own intoxicating brand of understated sensuality, in roles that span from his turn as discontented superstar Johnny Marco in Sofia Coppola’s touching 'Somewhere', to captured Israeli fighter pilot Yoni who becomes unlikely ally to a reluctant Palestinian teenager in Eran Riklis‘ latest masterpiece 'Zaytoun'. He is, easily, the modern thinking woman’s sex symbol.

I met up with Dorff in Toronto this past September, where 'Zaytoun' enjoyed its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. Dorff is a hot interview, sought out by everyone, yet starting with his publicist he seems to surround himself with kindness. In person, Dorff is just as charming and intense as he appears in his roles, yet with a healthy dose of down to earth and genuinely funny guy thrown in. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that he’s tanned, in shape and undeniably sexy.

Dorff’s choice to forgo the handsome leading man roles in favor of characters chock full of emotional conflict, conscience and humanity has helped carve out a special place for him in the Hollywood firmament. While Riklis’ initial feeling about Dorff was “beach boy from California” before he first decided to meet Dorff for the part of Yoni, once he “dug into him a little bit” at their meeting in NYC, the filmmaker was sure he had found his leading man. And in 'Zaytoun' Dorff pulls off another unforgettable performance complete with impeccable Israeli accent and military demeanor worthy of the Israeli Air Force. He also, in typical Dorff style, shows us Yoni’s human voyage, from defensive to vulnerable, marching him straight into his audience’s hearts. It’s no wonder Riklis gushed to me about Dorff in Toronto “he did a great job, it was really beautiful and I really liked his focus.” 

I could not talk to Dorff without mentioning 'Somewhere' and his own statements about the film confirm its importance, in his life as well. He admits “'Somewhere' was not only just a film” and continues, “it was such a great role Sofia gave me, embraced me at a time when my life was changing anyway, I was growing up.” It transported Dorff, and his career to “another plateau” as he aptly says.

But from 'Somewhere' to 'Zaytoun', Dorff has gone through other unexpected projects like 'The Iceman', a film about contract killer Richard Kuklinski, in which he has a cameo role as Kuklinski’s brother in “a seven-pager big scene with Michael Shannon,” and 'The Motel Life' with Emile Hirsch and Dakota Fanning, a world premiere this week at the Rome International Film Festival. 

Dorff doubted himself for 'Zaytoun', even though when he read the script sent over by his manager he thought “this is really good!” He questioned playing an Israeli, confessing “I knew going into something like this I had to really nail it or it would be ridiculous” and thinking, “why wouldn’t they hire an Israeli actor?” But he still admittedly “loved the relationship on paper” and had a bond to the character because, he says, “my dad is Jewish so I was kinda brought up half-Jewish.”

Having flown in from Israel to meet Dorff, Riklis pulled out a photo of a real-life Israeli fighter pilot during their meeting, as his own weapon of persuasion. It was someone who, Dorff says, “kind of looked like me” at which point the actor exclaimed, “Jesus, but do you think I’ll get the Hebrew?” The rest, as they say, is movie history.

His 'Zaytoun' co-star Abdallah El Akal sits in the room with us during our interview and provides the perfect sidekick for Dorff, who thankfully never takes himself too seriously. When I ask them both what they learned from one another during filming, Dorff is quick to answer, “I was touched by Abe and his real family and our connection beyond the movie” and continues, “so the work in the film was strong but it was kind of effortless because we had this thing... “ El Akal, whom Dorff affectionately calls “Abe” also quips in “I learned how to be a movie star from Stephen” and clearly if you are going to learn how to be one, it may as well be from fabulously humble Dorff.

I ask Dorff what profession he would have chosen had he not been an actor and he answers “something creative, like maybe music, photography, I’m definitely creative.” 

While his tattoos could say it all — on his upper right arm in black ink is the famous Alice Morse Earle quote that goes “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift, that’s why they call it the present” — I ask him for three words that describe him. I come up with the first “Thankful,” inspired by another tattoo on his forearm, then Dorff adds “curious,” allowing a long time to pass before finally adding “funny, I’m always serious in movies, so people don’t know I’m funny.” Yet as thoughtful as he was in deciding the words that best describe him, he’s quick about naming his co-star El Akal “funny, happy and kind.” 

I’ve certainly experienced my share of interesting subjects, grand personalities and wonderful encounters, but there is an added layer to Stephen Dorff — a wonderful truthfulness and inherent kindness that, coupled with his undeniable talent, made this one of my favorite interviews. And while Dorff joked about getting older and being cast as a grandfather soon, let’s hope his own touching trademark of unforgettable characters keep on entertaining and comforting us for a long time to come.