Less than decade ago, at the height of Hollywood’s infatuation with Young Adult fantasy franchises Alex Pettyfer found himself in the spotlight as the “next big thing.” He was cast in the Michael Bay produced “I Am Number Four” and in CBS Films’ “Beastly” opposite everyone’s favorite Disney star Vanessa Hudgens. Needless to say, neither movie launched a franchise. Steven Soderbergh ended up giving him a gift, however, with “Magic Mike,” a commercially friendly indie made for just $7 million that became a massive critical and box office hit earning $113 million in the U.S.
Exclusive: “The Strange Ones” Trailer Unfolds With Escalating Tension
Since “Magic” the British actor found himself with supporting roles in “Lee Daniel’s The Butler” and disappointing returns for the studio romance “Endless Love” and the historical dramedy “Elvis & Nixon.” Now, 11 years after he made his big screen debut in “Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker” Pettyfer has truly dived into the independent film world.
His latest film is Christopher Radcliff and Lauren Wolkstein’s “The Strange Ones” which debuted at the 2017 SXSW Film Festival and found Pettyfer’s co-star, young James Freedson-Jackson, taking home a jury award for Breakthrough Performance. It’s an atmospheric thriller about a young teen (Freedson-Jackson) who is accompanying a mysterious older man (Pettyfer) on a rushed journey on back roads and sparsely hiked forests. It’s a film that asks more questions than it answers, but, most importantly for Pettyfer, casts the former model in a gritty context even Soderbergh couldn’t create for him.
Pettyfer jumped on the phone last week to talk about “Strange Ones,” his directorial debut “Back Roads” (yes, directorial debut) and what’s next.
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The Playlist: Hey Alex. How are you doing today?
Alex Pettyfer: I’m good, how you doing?
Not too bad. Thanks so much for taking the time this morning. Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but I was looking over your resume you’ve done some films that were technically considered independent before, but this is, in theory, the most “indie film” you’ve done in your career. Was this aspect of the business something you wanted to branch into specifically?
I think for me on a personal level I wanted to challenge myself with respect to taking different journeys. I think from that sense I guess bigger movies are kind of telling a more commercial story. I mean “Magic Mike” happened to have this sensibility of an independent film, but had these commercial aspects [as well]. But when I joined on to that film I didn’t ever expect it to be as successful as it was. I was truly just entering into a world that I guess I’d never been in before. “The Strange Ones” had such an amazing quality in the sense that the script was so beautifully written. And then I also wanted to really work with Lauren and Chris, the directors. I’d never worked with a duo before.
What was it like working with a directing team for the first time? Were they always on the same page?
It was an amazing experience. Truly, because Lauren and Chris are so in sync, but they have very different ideas on approaching a scene or the film. But in a sense like when you make a movie, doesn’t matter if there is 100 people a set or 300, everybody is a part of the creative process. And I think when you have two people at the head of that obviously the same journey to take, but coming from different angles. You know, after I worked with them I went on and directed a movie myself so it was a huge help to work with them. They are so talented and so supportive towards artists. I honestly had one of the best experiences.
I want to ask you about your own film, but sticking to “The Strange Ones” for just a second. There are so many things in the movie that are sort of left for the audience to interpret or sort of figure out on their own. For instance, I still don’t understand what the farm is where James’s character goes. I don’t know if it’s like a state run like program or a religious sort of camp, sort of thing. Again, a lot is left to interpretation. Was that one of the things that sort of appealed to you in the script and were there times where you were asking for answers yourself?
No, no, no. What’s amazing is that the film turned out completely different than the script. The script was very structured from A to Z. And Lauren and Chris always had this idea they wanted to do [to the story aspect in editing]. And I think that things you miss in the film are kind of explained in the script. So, what I love about film and why I think it turned out so beautifully is I love films that make you question, think back. If you and I both went and saw a piece of art. I might be emotionally attracted to the art and feel a certain way, view something beautiful and have questions and have my own interpretation of what the art is. And you may see the same piece of art and not care about it and it doesn’t affect you and you don’t have any questions and it doesn’t inspire you. But we’re both looking at the same thing. And I think what’s great about “Strange Ones” is everyone has their interpretation of what certain things are. I, for instance, have my own theories away from the script and just as a viewer on the movie. That are completely different than when I was actually making the film and I think that’s quite magical. So, I think for me to answer what you interpret as kind of wanting answers is losing the magic from what the film is because I think to walk away from it and kind of have your own theory behind something like that is what’s kind of a big part of what it is.
Absolutely, I actually don’t need the answers to the questions the film leaves people with. I just didn’t know if it was something that was part of the process. Can you just talk really quickly about James because he gives a remarkable performance and has to carry much of the movie on his shoulders. What was your takeaway from working with him?
I mean, I’m so excited for James. He is so talented and he has this sort of ability to adapt to the environment that he’s in. And he’s such a purist in the way that he feels. And that naivety of, and this is not a negative, this naivety of being on set and it being new, and not having this affected way of, and it just being raw was so inspiring as an actor. You know, I’m still a young guy but I think sometimes we can get stuck in our tracks and to be in a scene with him, and bounce off of him and where he’s headed it was so refreshing. It was inspiring as an actor to kind of to do scenes with James. I’m excited to see the things he’s going to do in the future. He’s just a purely lovely guy. You know, a lovely kid. I’m really proud of him.