Photo credit: Macon Blair
PUBLISHED 3 MAY 2016
Macon Blair first caught our attention at a late night screening at Rotterdam Film Festival in 2014 as the hirsute and amateurish avenger in Jeremy Saulnier's BLUE RUIN. It was one of our favourite films of the year, in large part due to Blair's understated, darkly comic central performance. Our reviewer called the film "a perfectly pitched exploration into the effect violence has on the psyche of a sane man" and Blair's performance "so enthralling and multi-layered we are with him at every emotional turn".
Blair has reunited with Saulnier for horror/thriller GREEN ROOM, previewing at Derby Film Festival this weekend, about a punk rock band who are inadvertently caught up with a group of murderous white supremacists (led by Patrick Stewart in a genius bit of casting). The film also stars Anton Yelchin, Imogen Poots and PEAKY BLINDERS' Joe Cole.
Macon Blair is currently shooting his directorial debut – as yet untitled – which stars Melanie Lynskey and Elijah Wood. He took some time out from filming to answer some questions about his approach to acting, which actors we should be watching out for and his dream ensemble:
Blair has reunited with Saulnier for horror/thriller GREEN ROOM, previewing at Derby Film Festival this weekend, about a punk rock band who are inadvertently caught up with a group of murderous white supremacists (led by Patrick Stewart in a genius bit of casting). The film also stars Anton Yelchin, Imogen Poots and PEAKY BLINDERS' Joe Cole.
Macon Blair is currently shooting his directorial debut – as yet untitled – which stars Melanie Lynskey and Elijah Wood. He took some time out from filming to answer some questions about his approach to acting, which actors we should be watching out for and his dream ensemble:
THE BIG FIVE |
1. How do you prepare for a role? Do you have any rituals or practices that you do for all your characters or does it change for each?
I just learn my lines and show up on time. Beyond that it’s always different. If there’s anything I can read about the story, books or articles, I’ll do that, or if there’s anything physical I can do to prepare. I gained a lot of weight for a movie called MURDER PARTY (Jeremy Saulnier's first feature film), started doing that about fifteen years before we started shooting, in fact. That’s dedication. 2. At what point do feel like you inhabit or connect with a character? Usually when I read something I have a pretty good idea if I’d be able to do a good job for the director or not. Inhabiting or connecting probably comes later but the more important thing is feeling certain that I’ll be able to give them what they want. 3. Do you watch your performances back? Yes, and usually I cringe at myself and resolve to do better the next time. 4. What do you find most difficult about the process of acting? The only hard part is having to be away from my family for extended periods of time. Otherwise it is simply a dream job. I would have to be insane to describe it as difficult. 5. Including yourself, which four other actors would you choose to act alongside in your dream ensemble film and who would direct? Adrienne Shelley, Richard Pryor, Warren Oates, and Barbara Stanwyck, directed by Don Siegel. |
THE LITTLE THREE |
1. Which three things do you think have had the biggest impact on your own approach to acting?
My childhood friends, with whom I grew up making movies. It’s all about recreating that same feeling and trying to make a living out of it. As a director, Jeremy Saulnier has profoundly shaped the way I like to work. I also really relate to Bruce Campbell’s “show up and use your imagination” approach. I’m not able to articulate a process much beyond that. And Mark Rylance had a beautiful piece of advice that I tend to cling to: “You are enough”. 2. Name three actors that we should be watching/watching out for: Yolonda Ross, Devon Graye, Amy Hargreaves. 3. Which three films would you show someone who has never watched a film before? SHERMAN'S MARCH (1985), BEGOTTEN (1990) and JAWS (1975). |
DIEGESIS is at Derby Film Festival 5-8 May and will be reviewing GREEN ROOM as well as a number of other horror, sci-fi and fantasy films as part of the "Fantastiq" weekend. Follow us on Twitter while we're at the festival and check back on the website for reviews. GREEN ROOM is in UK cinemas from Friday 13 May.