F  L  A  U  N  T

 Photographer: Michael Tighe at MichaelTighePhotography.com.  Photographer: Michael Tighe at MichaelTighePhotography.com.  Photographer: Michael Tighe at MichaelTighePhotography.com. [](https://flaunt-mag.squarespace.com/config/pages/587fe9d4d2b857e5d49ca782#)[](https://flaunt-mag.squarespace.com/config/pages/587fe9d4d2b857e5d49ca782#) Harry Dean Stanton SILENCE. Harry Dean Stanton is a man of few words. As such, he often exists as the ultimate blank slate: Security Guard, Man in Hat, “Bret.” His newest role in _Partly Fiction_ explores typically uncharted territory: Stanton himself. _Fiction_, by director Sophie Huber, is a moody and often complex voyage into the inner workings of a shrewd but uncalculated man. And yet, how I think of Harry Dean Stanton—beneath the cool Taoist veneer—is as the “ignorant son-of-a-bitch” father in _Pretty in Pink_, openly vulnerable in the face of a shrieking Molly Ringwald, trying to forget a wife who abandoned them both. Behind his utterances of nothing and no one is Aristotle’s Philia—a dispassionate virtuous love, maybe, often rooted in mere acceptance, but there nonetheless. _Who are you?_ My name is Harry Dean Stanton. _Who are you as a person?_ I’m not a person. I have no identity, ultimately. It’s an eastern concept, Taoism and Buddhism. _So, if you say you have no identity—I’m wondering—why make music? Why do acting?_ It just is what it is. It’s an expression of consciousness on the planet. _What do you miss?_ Nothing. _Is there anyone you miss?_ No. _How do you think the world is going to end?_ No answer, nobody knows. _Okay…If it did end, where would you want to be?_ Doesn’t matter. _What’s the biggest risk you’ve ever taken?_ Risk? _Yes._ I don’t know. I can’t remember really a specific one. _How do you start your day?_ \[Laughs\] I get up. _When do you know your day is over?_ It’s always different. _How did you know your day was over yesterday?_ It got dark. _Do you have any recurring dreams?_ Dreams? No. _What was the last dream you had?_ The last dream I had? I can’t recall at the moment. _What do you think about war?_ It is how it is. There’s no answer to that, it’s just part of the whole big untamable goal of consciousness on the planet. _How do you feel about Woody Guthrie._ He’s a great writer, great singer too. He’s a poet. _What’s your least favorite sound?_ Sound? Vacuum cleaner is one of them. _How do you like to waste time?_ Do nothing….Waste time. \[Laughs\] It just is what it is. _Do you watch TV?_ Yeah, I watch TV a lot. I watch the Game Show Network, and the History Channel. All the informative channels. _What game shows do you watch?_ Hold on—don’t hang up alright? _Okay._ \[Long pause\] Hello? _Hello?_ How much longer do we need dear? _Just a minute or two._ Okay. _Is that okay?_ Yeah. _Okay…What do you think you have left to prove?_ Nothing. _What do you get out of living in LA?_ The moment, there’s only the moment. The moment that’s going on. _If you had to start your career over right now, what would you do?_ Probably sing more. _I think that’s good. I think that’s what….\[Laughs\]_ I didn’t give a lot of answers, huh? _No…Do you have anything you want to say?_ No, it’s only what is at the moment as we speak. And that’s the end of it all, the moment. _Okay…Do you want to end this by sitting in silence for 30 seconds?_ Do you? _I think so._ I might try 30 seconds, yeah. _Okay._ \[Both laugh\] What was your full name again? _It’s Sway Benns._ Sway? Sway is your first name? _Yes_. That’s a beautiful name. Sway what? _Benns_. What is that? German? _It might be…Actually I’m not sure._ Well, that’s your new assignment, find out what your name means. _Okay, I will. What does your name mean?_ Stone Town. Stanton means Stone Town in Scottish. _Ah_. Dean is a schoolmaster and Harry is the same as Henry. I think it means housemaster, that’s the farthest I’ve gotten with it. _Do you feel it’s true?_ What? _Are you protector of the home?_ Not necessarily. Home is everywhere. Home is ethereal. _Sometimes I feel that when you know the meaning of your name you have to live up to it a little bit._ My name? _Well, I feel that way about my name._ No you don’t. It has nothing to do with it anyway. It’s all predestined. It’s all written, my darling. _I guess I do agree that some things are predestined but—_ No, everything. It’s all going to happen, no one is in charge. _It’s hard to let go of that control, though._ I know, it’s hard for everyone but you have to surrender. Give up, don’t try, see what happens. _Okay_. \[Laughs\] Okay, Sway, it was beautiful talking with you! _Yeah, it was great talking to you._ Okay, darling. Remember 30 seconds? _Yes, 30 seconds._ Alright.