One of the best actors of our generation, Sean Penn has now proved himself to be just as talented behind-the-camera as he is in front of it. His latest film, “Into the Wild” hits DVD this week and Moviehole had the chance to talk to him about it.

Q..How did you get involved in this project?
A. It started in a bookstore, 12 or 13 years ago, when I saw the cover of Jon Krakauer’s book with the picture of the bus on it. There is something about that picture that you can stare at for a long time. Then, reading the book, something just landed really hard on me. And the project ended up not by choice, but because they weren’t ready to make the movie earlier on. I wasn’t surprised when I got the call ten years later. I was thrilled, but not surprised. I just couldn’t believe this film couldn’t be made. I didn’t know for sure that it would be made by me, but I always felt it had to be done.

Q. What did it feel like to be on this journey?
A. The journey was a flow and it felt pre-destined. It was the first time that my dream lifestyle was cooperating with my practical lifestyle and my work. Aside from looking at my kid’s smiles, there is nothing I love more than being on the road in a movie. And that is what we were doing the whole time -in search of this guy and this story.

Q. How did the journey begin?
A. It started as a very small group, with my production designer Derek Hill and my first assistant director David Webb. We drove thousands of miles scouting, dreaming and learning things about it.

Q. Was it tough?
A. I had the best crew I have worked with and I made it hard for them. But, no matter how tough it was, they always loved the story. That story was what led us. And we were constantly feeling and being fed by the landscape.

Q. So, it was a constant challenge…
A. Every day of this movie was going to be hard, so we geared up to it. It was a continually fulfilling exhilaration. The harder something was, we would always look to make it a little harder until we started giggling about how ridiculously difficult it was. If we came around a bend and suddenly saw this incredibly dramatic and dangerous steep hill, everybody behind me knew automatically that that was where the camera was going. We just had to do it! The landscape made the choices and we went there.

Q. Getting the family’s authorization must have been key.
A. Yes, and once they took that leap of faith they lost control of it; but it was up to them to take it or not. I spent a lot of time with them and they have been great.

Q. Have they seen the film?
A. Yes, and they were very supportive.

Q. What was it about Emile Hirsch that made you chose him for the leading role of Christopher McCandless?
A. His performance in “Lords of Dogtown” drew me to him; but the decisive factor was that the weight he has is a weight of the heart. There is a love that he carries in a very deep tender way that was irreplaceable.

Q. He must have been quite a trooper.
A. That is an understatement. I don’t know of a situation of an actor going through what he went through. We put him through great discomfort and he was there. And he had just turned 21! He really is a phenomenal guy, and very focused.

Q. Would you have accepted this role a few years ago?
A. I would have killed to do it; but it’s more than a few years now…

Q. How did you put together the rest of the cast?
A. It was very step-by-step. You sort of close your eyes and try to see and hear who it could be. They came in different ways. And there are people I have worked with before, like Hal Holbrook, who represents what an actor should be. Catherine Keener is someone I talk to all the time anyway, and then we met Brian Dierker on the Colorado River –he was our river guide, and as I hadn’t cast that part yet… I was reluctant about Kristen Stewart because she is so beautiful, but there was something underneath her that convinced me, because despite her looks it’s her inner beauty that truly is the star. Vince Vaughn and I had talked about working together before, and I had already worked with Marcia Gay Harden on “Mystic River”, where we both really connected in a scene or two that we had together. I wanted Bill Hurt because he is someone I have known for a long time and worked with once, and fortunately he agreed to do it. Jena Malone put herself on video -which is something most people with the level of career that she has wouldn’t do- and she was just who I had in mind. And that’s how that happened.

Q. Of all the places you visited for this film, which one stayed with you the most?
A. I think that not just for me, but also for my whole crew, Alaska was the most significant. We went there on four different occasions -more than anywhere else- and, every time we left, within a day we wanted to go back. The blooming season is so accelerated by the sudden change of temperature, and you have this dramatically vertical landscape, with billions of colors. And it’s never the same. It’s my favorite place in the world!

Q. What did you know about Alaska before “Into the Wild”?
A. Not much. I knew what I saw on TV and read in books, but I had never been there. I didn’t even know how close it was.

Q. Did you take your family there?
A. Yes I did. And my son and I just went back up there with Krakauer.

Q. How did you feel walking in Christopher’s’ steps?
A. Having walked some of the steps of his journey, particularly Alaska (which is the most unforgiving natural wilderness I have ever been in) made me think of the 113 days he spent there alone. It takes an incredible will to do that.

Q. But being alone for so long made him finally realize the importance of human contact?
A. That personal journey is one of the most important aspects of this film. Spending some time alone is necessary if you are going to contribute anything to your community and your family. It is a necessary step along the way, but not the final answer.

Q. Apart from the problems or reasons he had to go on this journey, McCandless must have always had an adventurous spirit.
A. He did. And, as we see in the movie, when he was four years old he wandered off in the middle of the night to his neighbor’s house. He was endlessly curious and in love with it.

Q. What do you have in common with him?
A. I am curious and in love with the wilderness too.

Q. Have you ever felt that need to break away from everything, like he did?
A. Yes I have, and in many small ways I have done it. I have driven around the country -sometimes in my car and other times hitchhiking. To put yourself in the wind and see where it takes you feels great.

Q. You seem to stay authentic to what you truly believe in?
A. I try to. It goes back to the idea of being able to feel your own life. I’d rather not be in pain, but I will take pain over numbness anytime. Pain is a part of life I can deal with, and joy touches you on the back once in a while, but to be numb is unacceptable to me.

INTO THE WILD is now on DVD