In today’s episode of Bingeworthy, our TV and streaming podcast host Mike DeAngelo attempts to find out whodunit in FX/Hulu’s new series, “A Murder at the End of the World.” The series follows a young amateur sleuth (Emma Corrin) who is unexpectedly brought to Iceland and finds herself at the center of a dark, tense, winding murder mystery. The show also stars Clive Owen, Brit Marling, Harris Dickinson, Alice Braga, Raúl Esparza, and more.
Joining Bingeworthy to discuss the seven-episode series is one of its stars, Harris Dickinson (“Triangle of Sadness,” “The King’s Man,” “Where the Crawdads Sing”). During the chat, Dickinson discusses what led him to choose the murder mystery as his next project.
“This script, in particular, really spoke to me,” Dickinson said. “It felt like a character I wanted to understand, like someone I’d never played before. And I love the people involved. That’s always a big thing for me, like who’s involved. Who am I going to be spending time with in that sense, artistically and creatively? Is it going to be challenging and fulfilling? I knew this would be, and Brit [Marling] and Zal [Batmanglij]— I really love ‘The OA.’ And Emma Corrin is obviously incredible. I think I just wanted to work with all those guys, you know?”
“A Murder at the End of the World” is the latest unique collaboration between Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij, known for their previous collaborations like “The East,” “Sound of My Voice,” and the much-beloved and gone-too-soon series “The OA.” During the chat, Dickinson described what makes the duo such a truly great creative pairing.
“They’ve both got different sensibilities. They collide in this sort of harmonious way, somehow,” Dickinson shared. “They take turns directing the episodes. They don’t direct both at the same time. Creatively, they’re writing and working on them together. Obviously, Brit is in this big [acting] part of it. So, I think there were times when it was really tough on Brit because it’s a massive commitment. But yeah, they somehow just make it really easy, and they’ve got great ideas, and they’re both very sensitive and very spiritual, and it seems like their writing is way more meaningful than just doing a job to them. It’s like they’re everything, you know? And I think that translates.”
Dickinson also has a significant role in the upcoming, much-buzzed about wrestling drama, “The Iron Claw.” In it, Harris Dickinson plays one of the Von Erichs, a legendary wrestling family that experienced tragedy after tragedy during wrestling’s golden age. Dickinson was eager to share how special and personal the film feels to him.
“It’s a wrestling movie, but it’s not. It’s about family. It’s about brotherhood and a truly wild story. And our director, Sean Durkin, has done such an incredible job at creating this Greek sort of tragedy-level story in something that is wildly complex. And also, you get to understand wrestling. You get to understand the world. And I love wrestling, too. I grew up on it, and so I was so happy to be a part of that film. I still am.”
“The Iron Claw” also stars Zac Efron (“Neighbors,” “Baywatch”) and Jeremy Allen White (“Shameless,” “The Bear”). Both actors have been quick to point out the painful and rigorous training they had to undergo to become believable professional wrestlers. Dickinson, it seems, had an even more painful experience due to an injury he suffered prior to filming.
“Oh, let me tell you, it was painful,” Dickinson said. “I had a broken toe when I started the film. I sort of was hobbling around in rehearsals trying to push down the pain, and I just shoved it into a wrestling boot. And so my days were just me trying not to be a complaining little wuss. And then I’d get home, and I’d just have to ice it and elevate it for the whole evening. It was pretty rough. I loved getting to do that and getting to train. We trained with Chavo Guerrero. Just brilliant. I loved it.”
Ultimately, all of the pain seems to have paid off, as the film is already receiving a lot of buzz during awards season; however, for Dickinson, the real honor was receiving an amazing compliment from Kevin Von Erich, the one surviving Von Erich brother on which the story is based.
“I had the most lovely compliment from Kevin Von Erich—the real-life Kevin Von Erich. He was at the premiere in Dallas a couple of weeks ago. He saw me and said, ‘I was so moved by your performance. It felt like I was with my brother again,” Dickinson said. “And that that really moved me like more than I thought it would, and I think, really, the only opinion I care about is his, and it’s always been that way—it’s like, did I do it justice? Did we do it justice? Did we tell your story in a way that you feel comfortable with? And hearing that from him – that meant the world.”
Dickinson’s co-star, Jeremy Allen White, recently made news for lamenting the fact that up-and-coming actors haven’t made it unless they’ve played a role in a Marvel film. Dickinson understands White’s remarks but feels a bit differently.
“It interests me, but I think it interests me from my, like, inner child perspective because I love the idea of like dressing up as like a villain in that universe and flying about,” Dickinson shared. “But also, I don’t know if it would particularly fulfill me creatively because I hear that it’s a different thing, and it’s a different beast. And the more I’m working on projects that mean a lot to me in the more sort of auteur-driven space, it feels like that’s where I want to be. But saying that, you know, we’ve got amazing directors doing superhero films nowadays. We’ve got people like Chloe Zhao doing ‘Eternals.’ Whether that did well or not, she’s still a great director. So, yeah, man, we’ll see.”
“A Murder at the End of the World” is airing new episodes on Hulu weekly through December 19th. Listen to the full interview with Harris Dickinson below:
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