With the dude from Neon Indian popping up in a recent set photo, and Malick having lensed indie-friendly folks like Arcade Fire, Iron & Wine and Fleet Foxes last year during pre-production at Austin City Limits, it seemed like his upcoming “Lawless” was shaping up to be some kind of “The Tree of Life: Pitchfork Edition.” But a fascinating, oddball development makes this movie continue to be a total headscratcher.
Aging ’80s rockers The Cult revealed that last week at SXSW that not only did Malick film them performing their sold out show at Auditorium Shores, but he also shot backstage footage of the band that included improvised scenes with Rooney Mara. WTF. And oh, it gets better. Not only did Mara also shoot The Cult onstage while they performed, Matthew McConaughey came out and played congas on two songs. We’re not fucking kidding. Photo evidence of his appearance is below.
Now it should be noted, this is a process Malick has been doing with many of the bands. We heard that backstage footage with Christian Bale and Arcade Fire was lensed last year, but it was essentially character rehearsal work, not expected to make the film. We suspect the same is true here. As for McConaughey, we’re also wondering if he’s suddenly been cast in the film. After all, he sits with Malick, Ben Affleck and more on the board for Tugg.com and the director does have a knack for asking people to stop by and do scenes (even in small roles), so who knows.
But, here’s an interesting twist: last year at ACL, Bale reportedly played bongos with Fleet Foxes. So is Malick trying to say something deep and pensive about the state of love, sexual obsession and betrayal via percussion instruments? Holy shit, we really hope so.
“Lawless” will start shooting official this fall, but holy shit, we really hope that McConaughey/congo footage leaks really soon.