James Badge Dale is one of those actors that while you know his work, you don’t yet know his name. However, I think that’s about to change. Because after starring in HBO’s The Pacific, AMC’s short lived but really well done Rubicon, and as Michael Fassbender’s friend and boss in Steve McQueen‘s Shame, Dale has shown his versatility and range and he’s become one of those actors that I can’t wait to see what he’ll do next. And with his roles in Joe Carnahan‘s The Grey, Robert Zemeckis‘ Flight, Marc Forster‘s World War Z alongside Brad Pitt, and Gore Verbinski‘s The Lone Ranger, it looks like I’m not the only one who is a fan of his work.

Last week I got to sit down with Dale for an extended interview at The Grey junket. Since I spoke to him on camera for The Grey before this interview, I decided to use this time to ask other questions. We talked about how he got into acting, does he still have to audition, what making Shame was like (he tells some great behind the scenes stories), Rubicon (for fans of the show he talks about a different final episode that was never shot), how he had to fight to be in Robert Zemeckis’ Flight and what he did to land the role, comments on McQueen’s Twelve Years a Slave, and discusses The Lone Ranger. He calls it a “big, fun Western” with “a different take on it.” Hit the jump for more.

Since I know many of you might not have the time to watch an almost twenty minute interview, here’s a few of the highlights. Also, the entire interview is time indexed below so you can watch the parts that interest you.

Finally, a huge thank you to James Badge Dale for giving me so much time.

Director Steve McQueen uses long shots of six or seven minutes with no cuts.

Even after planning, McQueen likes to give opposing directions like, “If I told you to go right, go left.”

The restaurant scene in Shame is one long take.

The shot of James Badge Dale and Michael Fassbender watching Carey Mulligan sing was the first time they’d actually seen her sing.

Mulligan, who isn’t a singer, sang the song for the first time at 3AM

Actors and directors were encouraged to take risks when filming Rubicon.

There is a different final episode of Rubicon that was never shot. Calls it a shame because it was “scorched earth that you’ve never seen.”

Robert Zemeckis called him “too healthy” to play the cancer patient in Flight.

Lost 20lbs in 6 weeks for his role in Flight.

Looks forward to working with McQueen again because of “his very specific voice.”

James Badge Dale Time Index