A moment with Woody Harrelson of ‘The Messenger’

Woody Harrelson was about to shoot the most pivotal scene in his new film, “The Messenger,” and he wasn’t sure he’d be able to make himself cry as required.

It was May 2008 in New Jersey, and Harrelson, playing hardened Army Capt. Tony Stone, was sitting on a couch next to Ben Foster, who plays Staff Sgt. Will Montgomery, Stone’s trainee in delivering the news of a soldier’s death to family members.

After listening to Montgomery’s horrific war tales, Stone sits numbly on the couch, gnawing on a hamburger before breaking into deep sobs.

Harrelson, it seems, had never cried on screen before. He doesn’t like crying, has an “aversion to it,” he said.

“I really don’t know how to cry, so I chopped up a bunch of onions and had them sitting there next to the hamburger in case I needed them,” he admitted. “As it turned out, I was just so moved that I probably cried about 30 times during filming.”

It’s Harrelson’s emotional transformation in the film that’s generating buzz among film critics and awards observers, many of whom believe his recent Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominations for supporting actor have cemented him a place in the same category at the upcoming Academy Awards.

It’s been awhile since Harrelson, 48, has seen such attention. In 1996, his performance as Hustler magazine owner Larry Flynt in “The People vs. Larry Flynt” generated a lead actor Oscar nod among others. And his role as the lovable bartender Woody Boyd on “Cheers” earned him five Emmy nominations and one win, in 1989.

Harrelson has been especially visible as of late, starring last year in the hits “2012” and “Zombieland” as well as the independent films “Defendor” and “Bunraku,” which have yet to be released. Foster, who now refers to Harrelson as his “brother,” said he is constantly witnessing the public’s peculiar affinity for the actor: Fans “scream out his name” from storefronts when Harrelson walks by. “He’s the single most loved -- I don’t want to call him a celebrity, because that somehow belittles his gifts as a performer,” Foster said. “But he has this quality that makes people feel like he’s their buddy. He’s on a first-name basis with everyone.”

In person, Harrelson still seems more affable bartender than hard-edged military man. On a recent day by the pool at a Beverly Hills hotel, the actor sampled a variety of herbal teas on a tray in front of him. “Forté? What the heck kind of flavor is that?” he said, placing the bag into his cup. Dissatisfied, he plopped two other bags into the mix, squeezing a lemon in and then pouring in a small jar of honey. “Man, this the most flavorless tea I’ve ever had.”

A self-described “beatnik,” Harrelson speaks at a leisurely pace in an accent still tinged by his early childhood in Midland, Texas. For the last decade, Harrelson has been relatively removed from the Hollywood fishbowl, living in Hawaii with his wife and three daughters.

He’s vocal in his opposition to the war, making him unsure he’d be able to pull off playing a soldier. With only limited time to prepare for the role (he was filming “Bunraku” right before “The Messenger” started shooting), he had director Oren Moverman mail him notes on his character’s back story along with an Army uniform and fatigues.

“I’d put on the clothes and go running, and I’d be slogging along at my usual slow pace and then I’d get into the head of Tony Stone and just start charging,” he said, pumping his arms up and down in demonstration.

But it was a trip to Walter Reed Army Medical Center that really helped Harrelson feel a connection with soldiers. “We met soldiers who had come back and lost arms, legs, eyes,” he said, clearing his throat. “I would generally ask them what happened until finally, one guy was telling me his story and got extremely emotional. Then the nurses said, ‘Don’t ask them what happened, this guy has not processed this yet.’ I was blown away by these guys who had a kind of patriotism I can’t even fathom.”

Often, audiences don’t recognize how seriously Harrelson takes his job, said Moverman. “Because of ‘Cheers’ and ‘White Men Can’t Jump’ and the antics he’s done in his real life, people don’t always take Woody seriously, but he’s actually a very intense actor.”

Foster agreed: “People don’t give him enough credit for being an incredible dramatic actor.”

As for Harrelson, he’s mostly trying to ignore the hype over his performance. “I’m kinda psyched but at the same time I know it’s a superficial thing,” he said. “On the other hand, it was an ironic thing when -- who was it? -- Sally Field said, ‘You like me, you really like me’ and then got ridiculed. Because in essence, that’s what every actor really wants -- just to be loved.”

amy.kaufman @latimes.com