And, yet, you have scenes where if you don’t nail it – especially the final shot – I’m not going to say the movie falls apart, but it’s not the same.
Right.
I don’t know if in the script it said that final shot would hold on Elio, but even if I was the most confident actor I would want him to know that I can do this.
Right.
Amazing. Let’s talk about that scene in particular. It’s a long shot. It goes on for quite awhile because it’s timed for the actors behind you. Can you explain what that process was like?
We just did a press conference where Luca said it differently, where he said that scene was always a part of it. I might be wrong, but that’s not how I remembered it. I mean, the way I remember it is that that scene was added quite close to production. I always say that had it been there three weeks in advance, I would have never made it into the movie because I would have not been ready to do it. Instead, I don’t feel like I had the time to be nervous about it or think about it too much. We shot it three days from the end of filming, very close to how it played out sequentially. There was no camera man behind the camera when we were doing it. It was just in the fireplace. Then we did three versions of it, one that was very restrained, one that was less restrained, and a third one that was really not restrained at all. Or the second one was more restrained, not less restrained. I’m sorry, yes less restrained. Sorry. When it came time to do it, it came time to do it. Luca doesn’t even treat the peach scene or any of the more physically intimate scenes with any sort of ceremony or pretension. Everything is treated equally. So again, as a young actor, you take your cue from the director almost emotionally or where your anxiety bar should be that day. Instead, he always really put me at ease.
So when you’re doing that scene or you have to bring it emotionally is there a moment in your life or something that you go back to? Because I think you have to cry three or four times in the film.
Yeah, I mean, I had a great drama teacher tell me when I was 13 you’ve got to be careful about drawing from personal experiences in life when you act, because then you blur those lines and it becomes dangerous in the mental health department, or at the very least, not quite healthy. And yet, to sustain a three-minute close-up and have any moments of artifice would ruin it. Luckily I have, in this short experience on this planet, there was enough to draw from. I’m just happy that that scene and the film as a whole has resonated with audiences the way it has.
Lets get back to the reaction this film has with audiences. I was at the world premiere at Sundance and I remember what a euphoric experience it was for everyone in that theater. I’ve seen it twice since then. I actually saw it two weeks ago – you’d really appreciate this – it was at the Savannah Film Festival. So the audience was basically all college students at the Savannah School of Art and Design.
Love that.
They were all 18, 19.
Young people!
They laughed more than any audience I’ve ever seen when I’ve seen it with and the girls were bawling at the end. They loved it. They thought it was great. I’ve noticed that especially young girls, gay men and all sorts of women love it overall. But there’s this very emotional reaction to the film. Did you anticipate it based on the material? Has it been surprising to you?
No, it’s been so surprising. I mean, the gift of this experience was simply to shoot it. Anything above and beyond that would have surpassed our wildest dreams at the time. I mean, the hope was that a larger than normal indie audience would see it. So what it’s been since has exceeded all our wildest expectations. It’s really just like icing on top.
You really thought I just made this small little indie movie? It might not turn out?
No, I mean, there was the understanding that there are Luca Guadagnino fans and people just love his films, and to get to act in the pedigree of Tilda Swinton in “I Am Love” and “A Bigger Splash” would be a no-brainer to do that. But I think it would be naïve to have expected anything.
How did you know when you were on set that the chemistry was working. How did you know? Would Luca give feedback” Was he showing you guys on monitors, like “Hey, guys, it’s working?”
I remember, because we almost shot sequentially. I remember doing the scene with Marcia that opens the film and a number of other scenes the first two, three days and doing them and expecting getting notes after from Luca where he would maybe say something like, “Do more” or “Add this” or “Do more.” He wasn’t saying anything, and we just kept going. So weirdly, I felt like, okay, he wants the similarly non-demonstrative version of this that I’m going for. We’re totally on the same page. That was the feeling at the end of day one, in such a way that you never really know until you start shooting.
I have one last quick question for you. “Lady Bird.” Can you just quickly just say what that experience was like and what working with Greta was like?
It was amazing. I mean, it was opportunity to work with Saoirse, who, for actors my age, she’s really at the top of my generation I think. And to work with Greta after seeing “Frances Ha” and to be in a Scott Rudin production which is how I got into it because he had put me in a play called “Prodigal Son” in New York that John Patrick Shanley wrote and directed. And then to be directed by Greta, it was just such a joy. She was so at ease on set, similarly to Luca. That puts you at ease as an actor, because you don’t feel like the director is losing control of their ship or something. It was awesome.
That’s such a fun part. Congratulations on that too.
Thank you.
“Call Me By Your Name” opens in New York and Los Angeles on Nov. 24. “Lady Bird” is currently playing in limited release.