Even with the knowledge that Rocky is gay and Roman is not, for identical twins, their personalities are so different. Did James feel like he’d encountered that in real life? Were you ever worried about making them that different? Did you feel like you had to tie them together at all?
Yeah. That’s interesting. I’d be curious to know from James’s perspective, I think he was probably just coloring these guys in a way that felt servicing of the story and what happens, which I can’t wait to finally talk about this movie in a way where we can talk about what happens. It’s so hard doing these interviews before it comes out. But I think he wanted to differentiate. I think what he created too was a very authentically laid out template for these guys to hold such similarities where you could see them being almost indiscernible at some point in their lives, and then a very human and believable kind of split off at a certain point once they really start evolving, and they both go down these different paths. They’re both different humans. They ultimately become surrounded by different people. One kind of stays at home. The other sort of expands beyond and experiences new and different environments. And it’s like the thing that I can most compare it to in my own experience growing up with friends in a small town. And then I was a kid who moved in seventh grade. So, even just on that, it’s not a big city or anything, but all of a sudden, you’re in a new environment. You’re enduring being surrounded by a whole new reset. You’re all of a sudden going from being comfortable to surviving, so you’re automatically implementing these sorts of adaptive instincts and things like that, and in a way that friends of yours who’ve grown up in the same town didn’t have to. It was that for me in the way that the brothers differentiate eventually in their lives.
One of the most powerful scenes in the movie, which is not a spoiler, is when Roman speaks to Dennis as if he’s Rocky. And it’s not cut this way, but it’s clearly a long monologue on the page, and you’ve known about it for several years. Was that a harrowing part of the shoot for you? Or were you just excited about it?
I mean, that scene was obviously the most terrifying thing that was always going to be on the schedule from the day that I attached to it. And it was also the scene that I was certain that I was going to do the movie after I read that scene, or that I was dying to do the movie if they would have me, because nothing hit me harder than when I got to that page. And I instantly knew this was something that I needed to do and would also be the most challenging and naked, scary thing that I’d ever have to do. And that was even before I knew how James was going to shoot it, which was very technically scary as well. I remember coming in for blocking, and he had the cameras. The plan was for it to just be a straight push in directly at me, and that I wouldn’t even be able to really see [James]. So there’s always this bumbly awkward thing. I remember them having this idea at some point of putting him on the dolly, moving in with me, and I was like, “No, no, no. It can’t be that. That’s crazy.” So, there are these technical things that go into it too, and then you have to lay out this extremely bare, raw thing. I feel really grateful for not only the opportunity to do that, but just the hands that I was in. You do things sometimes as an actor that are exceptionally vulnerable, and I think sometimes it’s really nice to appreciate and just give a shout to my filmmaker for sort of shepherding and kind of nurturing that scene and giving me the space for what he understood it would be for me. I told him that I would rehearse just the lines, but I was never obviously going to do the full performance until we were rolling and things like that.
He just fully respected and asked what I needed. And again, going back to what I was saying earlier, too, you’re sort of learning what you need to in these moments, and I was pretty thankful and felt good on the day. I guess that I’ve been through this enough to know that I wouldn’t necessarily know what was going to come out or how it was going to happen, but I knew how to approach it and get myself ready for that moment, and then to just let it go. It was kind of a really special moment for me in my career, to still, I don’t know, at age 33, to still have these moments of evolution as an actor. It’s nice. It feels good.
Wait, newsflash, there will be more.
Right. Well, that’s what I’ve always loved about acting. Yeah, that’s sort of what I meant to articulate. It’s like the thing that for, it’s a life’s practice really. And so yeah, really appreciative of that.
This movie did not have a substantial budget. You guys weren’t shooting for two months or anything.
No.
Did you just have a morning to do that scene? How many takes did you have?
I think we did three total, but I think the first one is in the movie. You’d have to ask James, but I’m pretty sure that’s one. Yeah, I was just dry on the other two. Yeah, you only get a few of those. And it’s such a weird thing, too, as the actor, you’re always dealing with your perception, right? So, oftentimes the first one, since it’s new to you, will feel the best. You’re just like, I’m never going to be able to connect to it like that again. But sometimes from this perspective, that’s not always the case. Actually, I believe it was the first take, but yeah, I think we only did two to three. That was it. And then the tough part was doing the turnaround for him, going full bore to get that f**king reaction out of him.
The movie was actually a highly buzzed-about premiere at Sundance. I’d been teased about it by the programmers at least two months prior.
Oh wow.
You’ve had super-big projects. You’ve been on the stage of freaking Comic-Con in front of 10,000 screaming fans. It’s a whole different world, but can you talk about what that Sundance experience meant to you in the context of your career so far?
Oh, I mean, it was the best moment I’ve ever experienced in my career, and I’ve had a lot of ones that have meant a ton to me. But this was so special because, I mean, so many reasons. Not only was it a project that we cared so much about and took so long to make, but we also endured so many nos at some point. It was something that seemed like nobody in town wanted to make this, and nobody believed in it like we did. So the unique experience of really seeing something in a project and sticking to that and sticking together and eventually getting it off the ground in any capacity and going and making it and having that reception, I mean, it just doesn’t get any better. It was tremendously special, and we did not expect that at all. To premiere at that festival was just so special for us, and to get the audience award and to get that reception, it was unbelievable. Yeah, it’s a moment I’ll remember the rest of my life.
You just shot “Send Help,” Sam Raimi’s new movie, and he hasn’t made an original movie in forever. I’m sure they’d like you to keep everything as quiet as possible, but can you just tease it all, what the experience was like?
It was crazy. I just talked to Sam the other day, actually, and it was the first time we had really spoken on the phone since we wrapped and listen, it was a tough thing because we were in Thailand on the beach for the latter six weeks of the movie, and that’s a bizarre experience, sort of being microwaved from the inside out every day. You’re so fried in a way that’s such a slow burn you don’t even realize. And there was a crazy flu that went through the crew, and we were going down, but I don’t know, it was all this craziness that you kind of just have no choice but to embrace in the moment and hope that that’s just the craziness that contributes to your whatever. You’re just trying to catch lightning in a bottle. It’s like all the f**k it is ever. And no matter how it’s going, you’re trying to just utilize those things and be like, maybe this is what’s going to be our lightning in a bottle. I’m so excited to see that movie, and I really adore Rachel [McAdams] and Sam and that whole crew. That whole experience was really fantastic, and I’m really excited to see a Sam original too for the first time in a long time. I think as far as the studio space goes, that one’s a really cool…we don’t see that movie get made anymore. So, I was really thrilled to be a part of that. And yeah, I really hope that it kicks ass and it’s crazy and weird and a f**king blast.
Listen, you now have a conversation starter with anyone who worked on “The White Lotus” or “Alien: Earth,” because they also cannot stop talking about how tough it was to work in Thailand. It seems like it’s paradise, but not necessarily for film production.
Oh, I know. “White Lotus” is hilarious. Everyone’s like, “Oh, it must be a nice resort.” But they’re literally in 95-degree heat for seven months. Also, we worked with most of their crew. They were like, “That was the toughest show that we’ve ever had here.”
I spoke to Carrie Coon last week, and I dunno if you watched the series, but there’s the key scene at the end where she gives the speech to Michelle Monaghan and Leslie Bibb.
Yeah, it’s awesome.
It was so hot in that room that they couldn’t stop the sweat from rolling off Michelle. You can see in the scene. Off camera, but there is a sponge for her to wipe her face every time they finished a take. I’m assuming you had a similar experience in some way.
Yeah, it’s wild. Even just the sand holds so much heat, so there’s instant heat. I’m on the sand a lot, and those days I was, at the end of the day, I was like, brain dead. And the locusts were like, yeah, it’s the sands. I was like, what? But listen, it was an amazing job. I was thrilled. It was Sydney and then Thailand. Yeah, it was really great.
“Twinless” opens in limited release on Sept 5
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