The thriller, starringTheodore PellerinofBeau is Afraidfame andSaltburn’sArchie Madekwe, examines the darker side of celebrity obsession.
you’re able to check out the full interview in the video above or read the transcript below.
I’m sure you’re feeling some nerves being at Sundance with your feature debut.
Image via Sundance Institute
You do not have to worry.
The premiere is going to go amazing.
That seems to be compelling enough for people to buy tickets.
Image by Photagonist
What else have I said?
I wanted to makeMean Boys.
It’s also hard to do.
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Do you feel like you understand what the genre is of this movie?
No, I don’t think I know a specific genre, but can I do you a favor?
RUSSELL: That’s when two guys hanging out goes wrong.
RUSSELL: They become best friends.
They become intimate and close collaborators.
Matthew, played by Theodore, really locks in.
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He also starts to see other people as threats to his positioning in the crew.
We watch him on the journey.
I won’t say anymore about the specifics of the film.
Image by Photagonist
I don’t want to spoil anything.
I’m sure all of you have read multiple scripts.
What was it about this one that said, Oh, fuck, I need to be in this?
RUSSELL: Great question.
For some reason, I knew, without knowing too much about Alex’s background.
More and more I learned, the more we worked together, that he was an amazing music journalist.
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All of his friends are in music.
It felt so grounded and real.
I hadnt read something like that before.
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I pursued this for a long time.
It was such a special script.
ZACK FOX: Me and Alex have known each other for about a decade now.
Image Via Case Study Films
We’ve seen a lot of the same experiences, people in music through Atlanta and LA.
That’s some bullshit.
There are high school private jets.
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People act like high school if they work at Best Buy.
You know what I’m saying?
People form hierarchies; sometimes, they’re just perfectly fine and justified, and sometimes they’re toxic.
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This film really reflects that.
That’s why we don’t hang out.
You’ve never invited me.
THEODORE PELLERIN: A script is hard to read because it’s obviously meant to be something else afterwards.
I’m really enjoying reading this.
That was the case forLurker.
It’s just great writing.
You feel the humiliations that Matthew goes through and the aspiration of success and connection that he wants.
It was just very clear and exciting.
I feel like I understand everything."
That’s always very exciting.
I was just really excited about the idea, even just based off of what [Archie] explained.
Then I met Alex…
RUSSELL: We went to IHOP.
SULJIC: Then Alex showed me a rough draft.
RUSSELL: I remember very vividly, actually.
You were like, Oh, yeah, this sounds cool.
SULJIC: My eyes lit up, I remember, after watching the proof of concept.
RUSSELL: You were like, Oh, I actually might read this."
[Laughs]
SULJIC: Which was a rare thing for me at the time.
I fell in love with the script immediately.
Usually, I procrastinate super heavily, maybe because it’s my ADHD or whatever.
But it was such a smooth read, and it had such a good comedic sense.
It was fucking amazing.
I am happy that, in some ways, watching the film feels like that, too.
[Archie], I have an individual question for you.
What did you want to infuse from your real life, as you were just saying, into this?
MADEKWE: It’s interesting.
I relate to a lot of what Havana just spoke about.
That felt very real and present at the time.
That’s not someone that I ever want to be, and it doesn’t come easy to me.
It felt like a real challenge to play that part.
I’ve seen so many of them this weekend at the festival.
Its a character and an archetype that we know.
In our first meeting, we discussed a bunch of those things.
That’s just something that I didn’t have as much contact with pre-all of those things.
Keoghan also discusses the many layers of Oliver and that unforgettable (and relatable?)
Talk about coming up with the music.
What was the genre going to be?
What were the songs?
What were going to be the videos?
How are you going to shoot them?
Then we landed on him being British, as well.
It wasn’t written that way, but it became sort of flexible.
MADEKWE: That’s what he told me.
“No singing,” he said.
From time to time, hed be like, What’s the deal with the music?
When are we going to do the music?
I’m like, It’s not about the music.
It’s about everythingoutsideof the music.
It’s about what happens right after the concert.
MADEKWE: Because I knew this would happen.
[Laughs]
RUSSELL: Then, he was like, I think we should do something.
MADEKWE: I mean, itsKenny Beats.
He’s one of the best producers in the world.
You’re really downplaying that.
RUSSELL: [Laughs] He’s our friend.
I think I was distracted.
I was thinking about other stuff, but I was like, “I know Kenny can handle it.
He’s going to make this great.”
I had already had him in mind to do the score, so I just sent Archie in there.
We had some other songwriters who Kenny oversaw.
MADEKWE: It was really amazing.
Then I was in the studio with Kenny and we were writing songs.
I was like, Maybe there are horns in this?
He was like, Yeah, give me 20 minutes.
There was a whole group of trumpet players and saxophone players.
It was so much fun and so creative.
Id say, I love this artist, Dijon, and he was like, “Great.
I made 20 songs for him last year.
There are about 15 that we’ve got in the back pocket that we can use.”
It was a really fun bonus.
RUSSELL: It’s critical to the story.
When did you realize this song needs to kick ass?
RUSSELL: I was just hoping for the best, to be honest.
There’s so much to keep your eye on.
In the case of Kenny, he’s so seasoned as just a studio recording producer.
Giving him this chance was such a no-brainer.
The score we did together, as well, was so smooth.
Get your groove on!
Talk a little bit about getting ready to play this role and your mental state.
RUSSELL: Can I say one thing right before you answer?
He is so not like the character in real life at all.
Hes the complete opposite.
He’s not acting weird around anyone!
But the problem is, heis, but he’s very good at hiding it.
No, Im joking.
RUSSELL: He’s the best in the world.
Have you seenNever Rarely Sometimes Always?His character in that is similarly displaying ambiguous intentions.
Ill let you answer the fucking question.
PELLERIN: No, thank you.
That’s very kind.
It was the first time that I set foot in that world.
It was interesting to have an opportunity to do that.
So I saw this, and I was like, “Oh my god!
PELLERIN: Maybe that’s the only reason why I got it!
[Laughs]
He nailed the casting.
You were the right one for this role.
There’s a great bit at LAX, where you’re filming in the international terminal.
Did you have permits?
You just pull up to LAX with the van and throw all your actors in there with a camcorder.
People go to LAX with cameras all the time that are bigger than the one we were using.
I was thinking, We’ll send them in there.
That’s a take.
We review the footage.
I’m like, Did they get arrested?
They came back with the footage, and it was perfect.
They were rolling around in a wheelchair.
They really looked like they were going to London.
They filmed in places you’re not allowed to film.
MADEKWE: It would have been a good idea now that we’re thinking about that.
The camcorder thing really came in handy for us.I think those restrictions make you more clever and creative.
That feels more real than if we went in there and said, Action!
I was watching the footage, and I was like, This feels real.
They totally didn’t have permits, and they were having the greatest time.
It’s like they’ve been injected with drugs, and they just change.
I think the film does such a great job at that.
Why do you think so many people just get so crazy when they see actors or musicians?
They just become a different person.
FOX: I feel like we used to have religion.
In the ’90s when I grew up, my mom was super Christian, right?
We grew up Southern Baptists.
Jakes and Creflo Dollar would have.
These places are empty now.
My mom watches church on [streaming] now.
She doesn’t even have a physical church home.
RUSSELL: You should see how they go crazy for Zack.
Walking up Main Street, he’s getting full pitches, like full monologues.
It’s almost ingrained in us as humans.
I don’t know what we’re constantly trying to findsomething more exciting in our lives.
LIU: I kind of admire it.
That is so pure and wonderful.
That’s just unbelievably special.
I think it’s really cool.
I feel like I could connect to that person so much just based off of their lyrics.
I don’t know them, but I feel like I know them so well.
I feel like that’s my idea of when you get starstruck or something.
It’s like seeing a friend you haven’t seen in five years or something.
It’s like, “Oh, I fucking know you!
We go way back.”
That’s kind of my idea.
LIU: You’re right.
It is about intimacy, too, right?
There’s a piece of it where you feel connected through these people, the parasocial relationship.
You feel like you had some deep relationship with this person, even if you don’t.
I think you’re right.
SULJIC: Even when Michael Jackson passed away, it was a whole thing.
RUSSELL: Were you around for that?
SULJIC: [Laughs] I was, like, four at the time.
I saw a lot of people affected.
I wasn’tfullyaround at that time.
RUSSELL: That’s why I don’t like to go to concerts.
I don’t like that everyone else has the same intimate connection with the artist.
I like headphones, or in the car, maybe with one friend.
At a concert, I’m like, Why doyouknow all the lyrics?
This is between us.”
Havana Rose Liu Teases John Carney’s ‘Power Ballad’
“Hes brilliant.
He’s so fun.
It felt free.”
I have to ask [Havana] an individual question.
I’m a big fan of John Carney, and you’re inPower Ballad.
What can you say about the project?
He makes really cool films.
LIU: No one’s asked me about it!
I don’t even know what I’m allowed to say.
He’s so fun.
It felt free, the way that this project feels free.
I’m very attracted to that kind of process because you feel so untethered and terrified the whole time.
There are some parallels here.
I have no idea how it’s doing.
I hope it’s going great.
Im sure there are really good songs in that as well.
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