For most people, Rutger Hauer is most known for his wonderfully villainous turn as Roy Batty in Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner.” As a replicant looking to extend his lifespan, Hauer delivered one of the most indelible monologues in all of cinema, including the famous line: “All those moments will be lost in time. Like tears in rain.”
But Hauer’s life and career spanned far beyond “Blade Runner.” He was one of the most famous actors to ever come out of the Netherlands, and appeared in films like “Soldiers of Orange,” “The Hitcher,” and “Batman Begins.” Outside of acting, Hauer led a relatively quiet life, one that, until now, has never been viewed on screen.
“Like Tears in Rain” is a new documentary directed by Hauer’s goddaughter Sanna Fabery de Jonge. The documentary includes home videos from Hauer’s archive, diving into his personal life, his work with young aspiring actors through the Rutger Hauer Filmfactory, and his relationships with everyone from Whoopi Goldberg to director Paul Verhoeven.
Ahead of the release of the film, which will be available to stream on the Swedish-based streaming service Viaplay on March 13, Rough Draft Atlanta spoke with Fabery de Jonge about the making of the film. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Before we sort of get into the movie itself, I wondered if you could discuss what your relationship with Rutger was growing up? When you were a kid, how aware were you of the level of fame he had?
Sanna Fabery de Jonge: In the beginning, not much. I was two when my parents met [him], so I don’t know any better than that. He was always there, and we saw each other every weekend and every holiday vacation. They lived very close. But he was also not that famous in the beginning. He was in the Netherlands, but he was starting his career in the U.S. In the Netherlands, I remember, I think until I was about 10 or something, I really didn’t know he was a famous actor. I knew that he went away to the U.S. sometimes, and he brought back presents for us – all these fun things that were not available in the Netherlands yet, like Mickey Mouse stuff. I was like, oh my god! I have the best presents.
I remember one holiday when we took the crazy boat of us into the sea in the Netherlands, then I remember people were yelling at him, like – Hey, Rutger! Then I realized, oh! I knew he was an actor, but I just didn’t realize that people knew him. Then I realized that he was somebody famous.
Jumping into the movie, I know you’ve worked as a producer for a while, but what was the catalyst for you making this film? At the beginning of the documentary, you mention finding a bunch of archival footage that he had taken.
Fabery de Jonge: It was actually six months after his passing. His funeral was very small and intimate, only with us and a few other people. I think there were only 20 people. Then his wife said, we have to do something bigger, like a memorial for him. We did it six months after his passing on his birthday in January. All these people came together, and we asked a few people to talk about him. They came with these amazing stories – how they saw him, how he influenced their life. It was all kinds of people – friends, but also other actors, young actors. Even Sharon Stone came, Miranda Richardson was there. My father said something and also showed some old footage.
Then I realized, okay – I knew he was special, this was a special person. But when I heard all these other stories, I was like, okay, he’s really something else. I should do something with this, because he was one of the most famous actors in the Netherlands and also had this huge career in the U.S. I knew there was material. There was footage. I knew he always filmed behind the scenes. I knew my dad still had a few 8 mm tapes.
When I asked his wife – I want to make this movie – she loved the idea. I said okay, where is that footage? Where is the story? She told me that everything was destroyed. I didn’t know that. So then I was like, okay, I know my dad has a few tapes. Where do I find the rest? She said, just go up in the attic and see if you can find anything. That’s where I found the box with a few more video tapes, some sound tapes, and an 8 mm roll. That’s when I got everything together.
Lucky that those survived.
Fabery de Jonge: At least a few things, yeah. But there was also stuff that didn’t survive. I wanted to put a part in the film about his own charities that he used to have. He did a lot for other people, but I just couldn’t find enough footage of it.
You’ve worked as a producer, but this is your first time directing something. What sort of particular challenges did that bring that maybe you didn’t expect?
Fabery de Jonge: It was also difficult because it was so personal. I had to find this balance between, is it too personal? What do I put in the movie? What’s my role in the movie? Sometimes you’re insecure about things, because I know a lot about film, I produce. But then you’re suddenly in the other seat. Can I say this? When do I push things, or when do I listen more to other people’s opinions? When is my opinion more important? That balance was challenging, but I really liked it. It was also difficult because I wanted to have some distance from the film, but sometimes it just overwhelms you. I remember, I interviewed my mom and she was bringing up all these memories. Suddenly I was crying, because it was also my godfather that I loved very, very much. So all these feelings came back, that I miss him so much. I was not making a movie at that moment. She brought back all these memories and I was so overwhelmed.
I also had a few times in the edit. I was editing, and he has these films … he was recording stuff for the [Rutger Hauer] Filmfactory, or whatever, trying to inspire young people. He said something in the camera, and I was suddenly like, oh – he’s saying it to me now. Now I have to listen to myself. This is what he wants me to do. That was also interesting to find out.
Yeah, in those moments where he’s talking directly to camera, it does feel very personal. He had a real talent for that.
Fabery de Jonge: Yes! And you know, the material, you’re seeing it a bunch of times. Then suddenly, at a certain moment it hits you. I’m like, okay, he’s saying it to me now. This is my path … I have to listen to myself. He would say, listen to your gut.
Moving to the interviews, there are a lot of people he was very personally close to included, and then you have the professional and creative side of things. Interviewing everyone and going through all the footage, did you get a sense of who you think was his most important professional or creative relationship throughout his career?
Fabery de Jonge: I think he was very connected with Robert Rodriguez, even though they made one movie and it was a very small part. But he really, really liked him. He also was very fond of Christopher Nolan, who said yes to be part of the documentary, but when we were going to film, he was doing a press tour for “Oppenheimer,” and we just couldn’t match the schedule, which was unfortunate. But they had a very special connection too – some sort of special way of making film, or how they approach film.
I think they’re all people who are just – I wouldn’t say outcasts, but they’re all a little different than the regular, mainstream filmmakers. Robert Rodriguez has his own studios in Austin, that’s where we went to interview him. He’s like, I want to make the movies I want to make. I don’t want to be dependent on any big studio. I’m just going to make it, and then I’ll sell it, or whatever. That was exactly how Rutger also liked to think. Just do it. Don’t make a big thing about it. Just start to do it, and then you’ll see.
That’s interesting about Nolan. Was there anyone else that you wanted to be represented, but it didn’t work out?
Fabery de Jonge: I wanted a few younger people in it as well. Because Rutger’s older, these people [interviewed] are also a little bit older. But that was very difficult, because he did just small parts in films, or I knew the connection was not that big.
For Jason Eisener, the younger director, [Rutger] chose “Hobo with a Shotgun” for the connection with Jason … For him, it was really always about personal connection, even more than the project itself. If he liked the director, if he liked the writer, if he felt this could be something great, or we have this thing we can do together.
“Blade Runner” is such a formative movie, and he’s obviously the villain. But I thought the conversation around the Paul Verhoeven movie “Flesh and Blood” was so interesting as sort of a hinge point of the conflict between being seen as the villain and wanting to play more heroic characters. I wondered if you had any sense of why playing hero characters would have been so important to him? I think this happens a lot with movie stars from other countries when they come to Hollywood – they often get cast as the heavy.
Fabery de Jonge: I think in the beginning, it’s about the accent. So they always play the bad European first [laughs]. Rutger worked really hard on his accent, so in the end, he didn’t have it.
I don’t know why it is, actually. He also liked that kind of [villainous] character, I think, because it’s way more interesting than playing a good guy. For him, it was more complex to play the bad guy, because he was a very, very soft and nice man. He was not like the bad guys at all, like the villains. But I think what Paul [Verhoeven] also said, it didn’t help [Rutger] that he did “Flesh and Blood.” It was just on this breaking point of his career. Also, I think the management, or agent, or manager, whatever he had at the time, didn’t really support him in a way where he could have done other things. I think he might have been able to have a different kind of career, if they gave him some other parts, or if his manager would have helped him with that a little bit more. But he was also very stubborn, so I don’t know if it would have made any difference, actually.
He has an interesting quote, I think he’s caught on camera saying it to someone else – it’s something along the lines of, nowhere has ever made me feel more celebrated and also more humiliated than Hollywood. What do you think was the hardest part for him about living with that paradox? Was he open about that feeling with his family?
Fabery de Jonge: Actually, it’s [actor] Derek de Lint who says that.
Ah, my mistake.
Fabery de Jonge: But Rutger says yes. He does say something like, it’s all air. Hollywood, it’s nothing. I think he really did feel that way. That’s why he always went back to the Netherlands, to the north part, where he felt really connected and where his roots were. He really saw that, you know, Hollywood is amazing, and it’s also nothing. It’s putting yourself out there, it’s very difficult to get films made. My husband made a movie in the U.S., and in the beginning he always said, “I will only believe it on the first shooting day.” In the end he said, “I’ll only believe it on the last shooting day.” Because you never know! Anything can happen. It’s so weird. It’s very different from European filmmaking, where you get money upfront from a film fund, or they put money together and you know, I’m going to make this movie here. Here, there are so many different elements. I think Rutger really knew that.
But he appreciated, I think, that you can make more and bigger stories here than in Europe. Maybe now, it’s getting better. But in the 80s or something, Europe was still not doing a lot. They were making movies, but the stories were not huge … He also had this adventurous and creative mind. I think that’s why he really wanted to make films here. But everything around the whole Hollywood vibe, that was not his thing. He never went to parties, he was never walking up to people or trying to get roles. He never did that. He just didn’t care.
In making this film and talking to people about him and going through this, was there anything you learned about him that you didn’t know before, or that surprised you?
Fabery de Jonge: He had his own charity fund in the 80s that was called Starfish [Association], where he went to Africa a lot to help women with AIDS and babies with HIV. I knew he had that charity and did a lot for it, but I didn’t know that he also did a lot for people in his own surroundings. He was a guy who really wanted to help if he could. He did it right away. He was also very involved in Sea Shephard, with Paul Watson.
I wanted to put a part in the film about this, but I just couldn’t make it right, because I didn’t have the footage. You get these stories that people are praising someone for – it’s always a difficult line, I think with famous people. It’s good that they put themselves out there and put their attention on a charity, but there’s always a little side that is about them, or something. It’s difficult. Rutger was not about that, so he never talked about it, and also not about what he did for people.
We heard later, when I was making this movie, [about] small things, like he brought a pie to the gas station every Christmas. Even his wife didn’t know that. He helped people on the golf course – in the morning, he went to get a coffee with the boys who were maintaining the golf course, and he sat with them. He heard in the winter that they didn’t have a microwave to heat their lunch. He immediately went into the village to buy them a microwave. He did all these kind things all the time, and I didn’t know that.
Viaplay is available as an add-on to Amazon Prime subscriptions for U.S. viewers.
