This week, Tom Ford‘s “Nocturnal Animals” comes slithering into cinemas, and while it boasts Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal in the lead roles, it’s Michael Shannon who arguably steals the entire movie. His weathered cop with a loose grip on ethics is utterly fantastic, a big scenery chewing part that Shannon masticates with the juices running down his chin. Any movie seems to be immediately improved by his presence, and had the tides of fate gone differently, we might’ve seen his talents in a film from Paul Thomas Anderson (and we should say, the project did just fine without Shannon).
“It came very close to happening once, but because I was doing ‘Boardwalk Empire‘ at the time, I couldn’t do it. I was going to potentially do something in ‘Inherent Vice,’ but I don’t want to say any more than that cause I don’t want to stir any s**t. It was on the table, and then it was off the table,” he told Fandango. Free free to speculate on who he could’ve played…
Meanwhile, Shannon has spent the year dancing around his opinion on Zack Snyder‘s “Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice” in which he briefly played the corpse of General Zod. Well, he can’t really give his verdict because he simply didn’t finish watching it.
“People ask me about this all the time. Okay, I’ll tell you the god’s honest truth. Zack [Snyder] is gonna kill me for this — he’s gonna kill me. I watched it once and I fell asleep,” he admitted. “I know, I know… I was on an international flight and I was tired… I shouldn’t have been watching it on a plane. But I never go to the movies anymore! I don’t have time to see anything. I used to go to the movies all the time when I was 20 years old and wasn’t working 10 days a week.”
Don’t sweat it Shannon, I almost fell asleep in the theater watching it. As for his future with blockbuster movies, the actor would rather not do them unless they’ve got something to say.
“When I did ‘Man of Steel‘ I thought the story was interesting; I thought it was relevant. It was about a civilization that destroys the planet they live on and goes looking for another one. Ring any bells? That’s why I did it. I didn’t do it because I felt I needed a big comic book franchise — I honestly thought it was a beautiful story,” Shannon said. “…They called me recently about some iteration — I won’t say — but some version of a movie that’s been made already countless times. They were gonna give me a lot of movie, but I was like nah. Big movie, too. But I have to think it’s an interesting story. If I don’t, I can’t do it. I won’t do it.”
“Nocturnal Animals” opens on Friday.