Speaker 1: Welcome to Playback, a Variety podcast. I'm your host, Variety
Speaker 1: Awards Editor Chris Tapley. On today's show, we take a
Speaker 1: few reader questions and discussed the three major contenders of
Speaker 1: the season Moonlight, La La Land, and Manchester by the Sea.
Speaker 1: A little bit later, I'll be talking to Lion star
Speaker 1: Dev Patel, So stick around, all right, folks, I'm back
Speaker 1: with Janelle. Did you miss she took a week off?
Speaker 1: I did. I can't speak for everybody else. If you didn't,
Speaker 1: please don't let me know. Uh. People have their their
Speaker 1: ways of getting at us on Twitter is a great phrase. Yes, yeah,
Speaker 1: absolutely getting under our skin. I did send up a
Speaker 1: flare this week though, to get some questions and help
Speaker 1: us through some of our chatter this week. Let's dive
Speaker 1: into those because actually, before that, can we just talk
Speaker 1: because it's so I want to do this. It so
Speaker 1: rarely happens that I'm right about something, and I predicted
Speaker 1: Latka would go with Moonlight. Yeah, I mean, I look,
Speaker 1: let me have this. I know it's not like a
Speaker 1: huge surprise out of left field, but I never get
Speaker 1: the critics awards right. They can be tricky. I thought
Speaker 1: that New York was going to do Manchester too. I
Speaker 1: was gonna do Moonlight. Did not see La La land
Speaker 1: coming for New York. I thought of anything La La
Speaker 1: land would come from l A. And you know, I mean,
Speaker 1: let's be honest, I think Moonlight was always going to
Speaker 1: win the l A Film Critics. But New York picking
Speaker 1: La La Landa's best picture, I'm sure made some people
Speaker 1: not want to pick it. Oh yeah, like Peter said
Speaker 1: on our on our show last week, sometimes l A
Speaker 1: will look at New York and say, Okay, I've taken
Speaker 1: that off the table. We can't not let it affect you.
Speaker 1: Although um, I do have to point out that Mihrshela
Speaker 1: ali one best supporting actor in both he is uh,
Speaker 1: I think he's who won the No, they don't do
Speaker 1: supporting right, and he was wrong Ensemble Award for that,
Speaker 1: so I don't think they were eligible. Oh by the way,
Speaker 1: I'm just seeing you now. I didn't get to tell you.
Speaker 1: I ran into Peterburg yesterday and asked if he knew
Speaker 1: what a fan um we were specifically you and uh,
Speaker 1: He's like, yes, I'm me up, So make that happen.
Speaker 1: An email in my inbox right now? Really about see
Speaker 1: how it works fast, but he is delightful by the way.
Speaker 1: I mean, have you ever interviewed him, No, I've just
Speaker 1: seen him at like functions and stuff. I mean, no
Speaker 1: nonsense and funny. And some of the stories he has
Speaker 1: about Patriots Day, I kind of don't want to spoil
Speaker 1: it because I know, like, um, but there is something
Speaker 1: to do with an on star tracking device that I
Speaker 1: was asking if it was true or not, and he
Speaker 1: has He has an amazing story about that. He's an
Speaker 1: amazing story about the actor who plays the main bomber,
Speaker 1: how he basically walked in off the street and got
Speaker 1: this part. The guys, he's fantastic, like a spinning image.
Speaker 1: It's freaky. Yeah, uh yeah. I remember I met Peter
Speaker 1: at some bar party and the girl he was with
Speaker 1: was named Happiness. That's what I remember. Oh what did
Speaker 1: he tell me yesterday? Oh? Do you know how he
Speaker 1: got a sag card? Oh? Boy, let's hear it. This
Speaker 1: is Janelle's favorite question every Q and A. Has anybody
Speaker 1: ever like had to answer that question? Obviously? I guess
Speaker 1: they have, like multiple times because they're always on panels. No,
Speaker 1: I try not to if I know I've asked them. Um, yeah,
Speaker 1: sometimes I start with like, Damna, Janelle, I told you
Speaker 1: this last time. Yeah he was Anthony Edwards is stand
Speaker 1: in on Miracle Mile and yes, and then um they
Speaker 1: needed somebody to basically like jump in a helicopter or
Speaker 1: something and say a line. So he did it and
Speaker 1: he got a SAG card and Mark Wahlberg was with him,
Speaker 1: and then was very intrigued to know if um, Peter
Speaker 1: Berg was on Chicago Hope at the same time Anthony
Speaker 1: Edwards was on e R. And Peter was like, yeah,
Speaker 1: I was. And Mark was like, so You've just been
Speaker 1: following his shadow all these years and Anthony's directing now
Speaker 1: Anthony uh Edwards? Oh yeah. I think for a while,
Speaker 1: I think maybe TV, but maybe I'm wrong. Hang on,
Speaker 1: I must know you've got a computer here and everything.
Speaker 1: This is great because I thought that he was just
Speaker 1: now doing a feature for some reason. I thought he'd
Speaker 1: been directing TV for a while. But that's possible. I mean,
Speaker 1: people like direct TV like nobody's business and you never
Speaker 1: even realize it. Yeah, yeah, or make commercials. I was
Speaker 1: born in Santa Barbara, who knew the Internet? My dead Boyfriend,
Speaker 1: that's the movie he has this year. He did he
Speaker 1: directed a bunch of R episodes, he did, I see,
Speaker 1: That's what I thought, but I wasn't sure. But there's
Speaker 1: this movie called My Dead Boyfriend anyway, so let's throw
Speaker 1: it up to the crowd. Uh, we've got a question
Speaker 1: from Thomas laugh. You know Tom Ras. I love Tom Ris.
Speaker 1: She's curious to know. Uh. She says she's embarrassed to
Speaker 1: behind a couple episodes. How dare you? How dare you? Uh?
Speaker 1: How likely is it for who Pair to win Best
Speaker 1: Actress instead of Portman or Stone? You don't think so?
Speaker 1: I mean I have to say the thing I always
Speaker 1: say is critics aren't voters. But I mean, for a
Speaker 1: long time I wasn't even sure who Pair could get nominated,
Speaker 1: And now she's looking like more and more of a
Speaker 1: surer thing just knowing what that movie is. It's kind
Speaker 1: of hard to imagine the entire Academy saying, yes, my
Speaker 1: favorite performance of the year. It is a great performance,
Speaker 1: and she is a legend and all of that, but
Speaker 1: you know, a tough movie subject matter wise, and uh,
Speaker 1: I just hope she gets in because I know we've
Speaker 1: talked about this ad nauseum, but some great people are
Speaker 1: going to be left out regardless of who the five,
Speaker 1: I think she's in. Do you think Amy Adams is in?
Speaker 1: Feel better now? I haven't all year, you know. I
Speaker 1: guess she's closer now than ever. Really, in my mind,
Speaker 1: I think she's in. The person I'm worried about is
Speaker 1: Annette Benning. Okay, that would be striking, It would be
Speaker 1: very strange. I don't think. I don't. I still have
Speaker 1: her in there. I mean she looks, she's fantastic, and
Speaker 1: she's Meryl, but it's it's I mean, you look, you've
Speaker 1: got Ruth Nigga, You've got Natalie Portman, You've got Emma Stone,
Speaker 1: and you've got t Rogi p Henson. You don't think
Speaker 1: Taragi is it? No? I do, but um, it depends
Speaker 1: on I think that movie is going to be huge,
Speaker 1: so we'll see. Well, I think Emma's winning this, yes,
Speaker 1: and cake Walk at this point. That's the one movie
Speaker 1: that I've watched twice this year. Watched it again over
Speaker 1: the weekend on screener because my wife wanted to see it.
Speaker 1: I'm so mad because I had the screener of La
Speaker 1: La Land and I put it in and this Marvel
Speaker 1: menu came up and I was like what is happening?
Speaker 1: It was Captain America Civil War. I don't understand how
Speaker 1: that happens with the two studios, Like, no, it wasn't them,
Speaker 1: it was the Oh I shouldn't be saying this, but
Speaker 1: someone lent me the screener and I called them and
Speaker 1: I said, I said, gave you the wrong one. Well,
Speaker 1: but then they said, I don't own Captain America Civil War.
Speaker 1: So I don't know what This is a mystery worthy
Speaker 1: of Paul all right, Mary Kringlefick, what a name? I
Speaker 1: think it's real name is Murphy. Uh. He's concerned about
Speaker 1: different films winning picture, director and screenplay. He seems to
Speaker 1: think that La La Land will win picture, Moonlight would
Speaker 1: win best Director, and Manchester Slash he thinks Silence would
Speaker 1: win screenplay. But that's not gonna happen, Sir is adapted anyway,
Speaker 1: right it is? Yeah. His question seems to be like,
Speaker 1: is it best to spread the love like that? Or
Speaker 1: is having a Best Picture winner that doesn't take director
Speaker 1: and screenplay bad? I don't think it's bad. I mean
Speaker 1: they're all you know, there's a holistic way to look
Speaker 1: at things, but then everything is its own discipline. So
Speaker 1: is the best film of the year, the best directed
Speaker 1: film of the year probably, But I think there's examples
Speaker 1: where you can spread the love and feel safe and
Speaker 1: it's not weird. I have a weird alien and I
Speaker 1: reserved the right to change her mind that director and
Speaker 1: picture will not split this year. Yeah, I think. Uh.
Speaker 1: I mean, look after I saw Silence, which is embargoed,
Speaker 1: I finally was able to say, Okay, I think La
Speaker 1: La Land is winning like eight oscars. Like I just
Speaker 1: at this point, I feel like I could be dead wrong.
Speaker 1: I mean, this hasn't happened since Slumdog. It's sweepers are
Speaker 1: very rare nowadays. But you know it's going to be
Speaker 1: so easy to give it like production design in costumes
Speaker 1: and stuff, when you could see that happening. Crazy competitive category, yeah, crazy.
Speaker 1: But I think it's tough to deny La La Land
Speaker 1: because the songs really are integral to the movie, although
Speaker 1: I have to say in Hidden Figures, Farrell has two
Speaker 1: songs that are so right for the period and also
Speaker 1: really sort of deal with the plot. Well, the first
Speaker 1: one does running. That's the one I think they should
Speaker 1: focus on. Actually I do too. What is the other one?
Speaker 1: I see a Victor Victory, which actually is a song
Speaker 1: that I love. But but Running is the one that
Speaker 1: I feel is that's the one that when they have
Speaker 1: that screening of all of the songs and context, that's
Speaker 1: the one that will probably pop. And obviously mo wanna
Speaker 1: and I don't know that, you know, he says Moonlight
Speaker 1: winning director obviously Barry Is. We just said before we
Speaker 1: started that when he's won the trifectas so far, Um,
Speaker 1: I don't you know, I don't know that means he's
Speaker 1: gonna win the Oscar. I think he absolutely deserves it.
Speaker 1: But you know, this is a tough one for me
Speaker 1: because both movies are so beautifully directed. They're so different
Speaker 1: and amazing, and like you know, they have a chance
Speaker 1: to make history and award the first African American director
Speaker 1: an Academy Award. Um at the same time. Oh and
Speaker 1: he also did a great job I should add it
Speaker 1: to not just about that. Um, I think he's won
Speaker 1: the screenplay really yeah, see that's that's interesting. I think
Speaker 1: that he'll he'll take that from Manchester. You don't think
Speaker 1: feel like weird right now because I never get into
Speaker 1: predicting winners until like I know, I know, but now
Speaker 1: it's fair to start talking about it because we've basically
Speaker 1: seen everything and we kind of know it's down to
Speaker 1: these three. Yeah, or maybe four. I'm still saying hidden figures?
Speaker 1: Could you hidden figures today? Uh? Today? I've been been
Speaker 1: pretty big on Hidden Figures since I saw it, mainly
Speaker 1: because it's going to be such a crowd pleaser. We've
Speaker 1: got Kevin Costner coming up on the podcast in a
Speaker 1: couple of weeks. I think he gets nominated, and it
Speaker 1: is possibly the only threat to Martial Ali. Really, I do.
Speaker 1: He's so good in that movie. This is from Josh Tarpley.
Speaker 1: Interesting last name. I thought I saw that yesterday and
Speaker 1: I thought it said Tapley, and I was like, that's
Speaker 1: my brother. Do Academy voters put any weight behind the
Speaker 1: critics groups? Are they influential at all in the collective?
Speaker 1: Maybe because you just everything, all the noise is influential.
Speaker 1: But you know, no one says, well, the New York
Speaker 1: critics picked, I don't. I don't really see. I mean
Speaker 1: maybe regionally, Like I'm sure I spent a year covering
Speaker 1: the season in New York and that was a very
Speaker 1: different group of Academy people. You would see it every
Speaker 1: event and there was a smaller group. Maybe they take
Speaker 1: a lot of stock in in New York critics, but yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't think. I think it's only in the aggregate
Speaker 1: that things start to influence personally. I mean, look, it
Speaker 1: can't hurt, you know, keep seeing as about who Pair's
Speaker 1: name out there, and then maybe that's where it helps.
Speaker 1: Whenever someone's like on the bubble and it's like, well
Speaker 1: this apparently I guess about who Pair is great in
Speaker 1: this film, and they put it in there like yes,
Speaker 1: and and that helps absolutely. I think that's the critics
Speaker 1: job really this time of year, is to help elevate
Speaker 1: certain things that aren't getting the love, you know, speaking
Speaker 1: of can we talk about the Critics Choice Award nominations
Speaker 1: real quick? And I'm very disappointed and all of you
Speaker 1: who did not put Vigo Morton's in in for a
Speaker 1: Lead actor nomination. He got the comedy nomination. That's how
Speaker 1: That's how the b f C A like gets away
Speaker 1: with basically nominating everybody for everything, like yeah, they have
Speaker 1: comed categories and fantastic and so if he Goes got
Speaker 1: a comedy nomination there and Gnome Chomsky is hilarious. I mean,
Speaker 1: the movie has comedy in it in the same way
Speaker 1: that Manchester by the See has some really funny stuff
Speaker 1: in it. But you're looking at me weird, but it's
Speaker 1: so funny. I was we had a Q and A
Speaker 1: last week for Manchester by the Sea, and I was
Speaker 1: waiting in the lobby and I heard like these peals
Speaker 1: of laughter, and I was like, am I at the
Speaker 1: right theater? And then I remembered, like, oh no, there's
Speaker 1: there's some really funny parts. They have all these categories,
Speaker 1: these genre categories. It's like it's like the year they
Speaker 1: nominated Jennifer Lawrence, like for Hunger Games and Action movie
Speaker 1: and for Silver Linings and comedy or whatever it was.
Speaker 1: It was just like all these opportunities to get her
Speaker 1: on the stage to give a speech, and the questioner
Speaker 1: is accepting his award during the commercial break. That's really smart.
Speaker 1: But I've rated them enough about that. Andrew Garfield silence
Speaker 1: or haxel Ridge cancel himself out. I agree. I think
Speaker 1: Haxall is going to be the more well liked film
Speaker 1: across the board. God, I'm turning into one of these
Speaker 1: people who speaks as the Academy as a whole. But
Speaker 1: the Academy voters that I've talked to really love that movie.
Speaker 1: I think it's in for Best Picture. I think Gibson
Speaker 1: is probably getting in. See it possible, Yeah, it seems
Speaker 1: very possible. I told you, I think that. Over the weekend,
Speaker 1: I was at a hotel and they must have been
Speaker 1: doing some press for hacks our Ridge, because well, first
Speaker 1: I saw Vince Vaughn walked by and I was like hey,
Speaker 1: He's like hey, and then I'm like, oh, I don't
Speaker 1: know you. Sorry. You know when you see someone like
Speaker 1: that you're really familiar with, and then realize, oh, we
Speaker 1: don't know each other. Um. And then I briefly ran
Speaker 1: into Andrew Garfield and I saw Mel Gibson leave, and
Speaker 1: thirty seconds later Denzel Washington walked in and I was
Speaker 1: like a conversation. Yeah, can I tell you a quick
Speaker 1: sidebar and a funny Denzel Washington story. Um, we were
Speaker 1: doing a Q and A for Fences, and I mentioned, um,
Speaker 1: how thrilling it must be to bring August Wilson's work
Speaker 1: to a wider audience. And he interrupts me and says,
Speaker 1: you did say wider, right, And he's like, sorry, couldn't resist.
Speaker 1: I'm sure that clicked immediately. Yeah. What uh, this is
Speaker 1: a good question from Marshall Schaefer. That last one came
Speaker 1: from stone Field source. By the way, oh the Silencer,
Speaker 1: And now I haven't seen Silence, I should admit, But
Speaker 1: I just think hacks out Ridge is that he's good
Speaker 1: in Silence, and it's it's it's a more internal performance,
Speaker 1: I guess, although it's he does emotional stuff. I just
Speaker 1: think that this boils down to the movie, and I
Speaker 1: think hacks All is going to be more well liked
Speaker 1: for Marshall wants to know which of the big three
Speaker 1: that we're talking about, Moonlight, La La, Land and Manchester
Speaker 1: is likeliest to peak early, like Social Networker Boyhood. That's
Speaker 1: always a good question. Um, I don't know. I mean
Speaker 1: the time and I mean La La Lan finally opens?
Speaker 1: Is it this week unlimited release? Yeah? I think that,
Speaker 1: you know, people think that a movie peaks early, like
Speaker 1: like the answer to this question for many is probably
Speaker 1: gonna end up being Moonlight after the fact, But that's
Speaker 1: simply because they think that it's the Best picture threat
Speaker 1: right now. And I do not think that it's a
Speaker 1: threat to win Best Picture. Yeah, I just I think
Speaker 1: it's a It's an amazing film, the best of the year,
Speaker 1: but I don't think it's one that will translate to
Speaker 1: a vast body of people like this and that La
Speaker 1: La Land is so much such an easier vote. Interesting though,
Speaker 1: you talk to people who see Moonlight and everyone connects
Speaker 1: with it. Yeah, I haven't seen to a single person
Speaker 1: who said it was okay. If it wins, it would
Speaker 1: just it would be staggering to me, like I would
Speaker 1: be so impressed. And I've never been so impressed by
Speaker 1: the Academy, so why should I expect to now? And again,
Speaker 1: it's not like I'm beating up on them. It's just
Speaker 1: that it's such a fast group of people. I mean,
Speaker 1: you're talking about like seven thousand people. And you know,
Speaker 1: how how how does the musical that takes place in
Speaker 1: Los Angeles that is critically acclaimed and just win New
Speaker 1: York Film Critics Prize not win that award and leave
Speaker 1: you smiling all day? But I think at all three
Speaker 1: have done a really good job of not peeking too early.
Speaker 1: You know, we're not December, and we're not sick of
Speaker 1: any of them. You know, give it time, right, And
Speaker 1: then last one here from Daniel, do you think the
Speaker 1: Oscar is so white movement will take hold this year,
Speaker 1: especially with a film like La La Land destined to
Speaker 1: win big. That's a good question. I mean, if obviously
Speaker 1: it's not going to take hold in the nomination, I
Speaker 1: think that there's going to be an outsize number of
Speaker 1: nominations for people of color, which is pretty really exciting
Speaker 1: and all deserving. But then if La la En ends
Speaker 1: up being the sweeper that I'm talking about, does that
Speaker 1: then open the door for that conversation to poke through.
Speaker 1: I don't know. I mean, I think that Denzel's winning
Speaker 1: Best Actor. I think that Violet Davis is winning Best
Speaker 1: Supporting Actress, and Marshall Ali seems really strong for Best
Speaker 1: Supporting Actor. That should be a pretty big moment, and
Speaker 1: especially Denzel because he'll be one of like seven people
Speaker 1: to have won three Oscars for acting. I'm really you know,
Speaker 1: for the longest time, I was after I saw Fences,
Speaker 1: I was like, well, it's over. It's Denzel. I I
Speaker 1: don't know, you know, it's it's obviously down to him
Speaker 1: and Casey Affleck and both deserving, both fantastic, both in
Speaker 1: you know, just powerhouses, and uh, for a long time
Speaker 1: I thought Casey couldn't take it because it's such an
Speaker 1: internal performance. But the more I talked to people, the
Speaker 1: more people really really love that movie. Those are the two.
Speaker 1: Those are the two that are contending. I mean I
Speaker 1: was when I was watching La La La again, I
Speaker 1: was like, is there a possibility for Gosling to swoop
Speaker 1: in there? Because he has I wondered about that too.
Speaker 1: To be honest, the powder dry on him in a
Speaker 1: way because he's been doing Blade Runner the whole time
Speaker 1: he's in town. He's doing He's back this week and
Speaker 1: it's like, it's interesting, you know, he's probably gonna win
Speaker 1: the Globe, right, Like, yeah, I think his only competition
Speaker 1: would be Hugh Grant. Really yeah, so he's gonna win that.
Speaker 1: Um yeah, No, I I am definitely not ruling out
Speaker 1: Ryan Gosling. There's a lot of road left on this season.
Speaker 1: If I sound nasally, I'm still fighting over I'm also sick.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you can tell. I'm sorry everyone.
Speaker 1: The two interviews I recorded last week, Kevin Costner and
Speaker 1: Deaf Patel, which is this week's interview, I had like
Speaker 1: congestion for both of them. I was fighting it so much.
Speaker 1: So if you hear that on the interview. I'm so sorry,
Speaker 1: but he had he was sick too. Oh yeah, he
Speaker 1: was like burning the candle at both ends. I saw him. Um,
Speaker 1: he did some Q and as at the Arc Light
Speaker 1: over Thanksgiving weekend end and he was with Sonny the
Speaker 1: little Boy who plays him as a kid in the
Speaker 1: real Seru Brierley and my god, that sunny. I think
Speaker 1: he's seven or nine somewhere around there. He is a
Speaker 1: superstar in the making, definitely. Yeah, he is charming, adorable
Speaker 1: and a really good actor. Well, uh, it's a great
Speaker 1: conversation we have with so. I'm sure he's amazing. So
Speaker 1: enjoy that. After this, it's so stop where you're from? Calcutta,
Speaker 1: hitch pod, I'm adopted. I'm not really. I mean we're
Speaker 1: starting to remember. So got a beautiful boy, very proud
Speaker 1: of yourself live. I'd forgotten. Okay, I had another family,
Speaker 1: her mother, her brother. I can still see their faces,
Speaker 1: and it happened. How long are you on the train?
Speaker 1: A couple of days? A couple of days. They would
Speaker 1: take a lifetime to search all the stations in India.
Speaker 1: What if you do find home keeping, I don't have
Speaker 1: a choice. What was she like? Yeah. Every night, I
Speaker 1: imagine that I'm walking those streets home and I know
Speaker 1: every single step of the way. I wish gerdery. Welcome
Speaker 1: back everyone. I'm here with dev btel star of two
Speaker 1: films this year and as I'm missing one actually Ryan
Speaker 1: and the Man who Knew Infinity. Thanks for coming on
Speaker 1: the show man, Apretyanks, thanks for having me. Uh, I
Speaker 1: want to go back, you know obviously too too when
Speaker 1: most people became aware of you, obviously some some dog
Speaker 1: millionaire eight years ago. Now, Uh does it feel like
Speaker 1: eight years? It feels like Uh, it does feel like. Hey, yes, absolutely,
Speaker 1: I've been doing a lot. I've been doing a fat
Speaker 1: bit um. It's yeah, it's been an interesting journy when
Speaker 1: you kind of first shot out of the cannon, so
Speaker 1: to speak, with that movie, Uh, what was your like
Speaker 1: personal mandate, Like what goals did you have for yourself
Speaker 1: in this business? And however they may be shifted in
Speaker 1: the last couple of years, they are. You know when
Speaker 1: I that was my first film, and I came off
Speaker 1: a television show that had been literally plucked off the
Speaker 1: streets from so I was still still trying to grasp
Speaker 1: the art of acting in front of a camera. You know,
Speaker 1: when I was did the TV show before that, I
Speaker 1: didn't know what a boom might look like, or what
Speaker 1: speed meant or anything but the word action. And then
Speaker 1: the next audition I got was for this film, and
Speaker 1: I got it, and it was a real blessing because
Speaker 1: it opened up so many opportunities for me. But at
Speaker 1: the same time, you know, I felt, you know, for
Speaker 1: your first film to come out, and when eight oscars
Speaker 1: and you're you're suddenly like you say, cannon balled into
Speaker 1: this limelight and you're walking these carpets with these cinematic grates,
Speaker 1: it kind of gives you a level of anxiety because
Speaker 1: you you know, I was seventeen eighteen at the time,
Speaker 1: and I was like, God, I really haven't been able
Speaker 1: to really test the waters, make mistakes and understand build
Speaker 1: a taste really or a style. So you know, that's
Speaker 1: been interesting coming out of that. And you know, if
Speaker 1: I never quite felt worthy, I would say, you know
Speaker 1: when I was walking those carpets with all those great
Speaker 1: people with those really long um resumes. So it's been
Speaker 1: a it's been a driving force in a way too
Speaker 1: earned that place, you know, if that makes sense, Yeah, definitely,
Speaker 1: I was looking at some you know, just online yesterday
Speaker 1: preparing and I was looking at some photos from that time.
Speaker 1: You were such a baby man. You know you've got
Speaker 1: the main You've got the I'm jealous of the hair,
Speaker 1: I know. I tell you it's it's it does its
Speaker 1: own thing. It's an absolute nightmare, but yeah, it was.
Speaker 1: I was really young and it was a lot to
Speaker 1: take in. I grew my hair out recently, a year ago.
Speaker 1: I had my little midlife crisis. You've got that's the
Speaker 1: ways off. But my hair is very straight, so I'm
Speaker 1: very jealous of kind of bend in your hair. Uh
Speaker 1: do you you think there's any chance you and Danny
Speaker 1: might do something again? Hey, look, I would love to.
Speaker 1: We keep in touch, touch once in a while and
Speaker 1: always pop him an email to congratulate him for jobs,
Speaker 1: all the stuff he's up to. I'm really excited to
Speaker 1: see trains something too, but he Yeah, I would love to.
Speaker 1: I would absolutely love to. He created a career for
Speaker 1: me and really, you know, hatched a lot of bets
Speaker 1: on a complete unknown with very little experience and and
Speaker 1: and change my life. And he's a unique filmmaker and
Speaker 1: how he works as well, So I'm sure that was
Speaker 1: a unique experience. I mean, not that you even knew
Speaker 1: because it was your first movie, but to kind of
Speaker 1: come out and work with a guy like him the
Speaker 1: way he works on set completely. I say it as
Speaker 1: a silly anecdote, but I say, you know, Danny Ball
Speaker 1: put me on the map and Garth Davis put me
Speaker 1: on Google Maps. But it's they are of the same milk.
Speaker 1: They are totally immersive filmmakers, and you really feel like
Speaker 1: they're in the trenches with you, and they come at
Speaker 1: it from a real space of raw emotion and the
Speaker 1: soulfulness and and there's a carnality to both of them
Speaker 1: in the way they describe things to you. You know, Danny,
Speaker 1: you know, he's his hair standing up on his head,
Speaker 1: and he's sweating and he's almost on the verge of
Speaker 1: tears trying to get, you know, explain an emotion to you.
Speaker 1: And the same with Garth. You know, he'll just come
Speaker 1: over and hug you for like ten minutes to ground
Speaker 1: your energy. And both of them give a part of
Speaker 1: their personal life to you. You know. So you know,
Speaker 1: because when you're on camera, it can it can be
Speaker 1: very selfish in a way because you're you're constantly exposing yourself,
Speaker 1: and they're filmmakers that come in and you feel objectified.
Speaker 1: But these those these two filmmakers in particular, they'll be like, no,
Speaker 1: let me tell you about a moment in my life
Speaker 1: where I went through an emotion like this, or I
Speaker 1: felt a heartbreak or this, and you you will go
Speaker 1: an extra mile for a person like that. Well, that's
Speaker 1: on the on the subject of Garth, let's let's dive
Speaker 1: into Lion this movie. You know, I cried. I also
Speaker 1: had my wife and I had a son this year.
Speaker 1: So this kind of subject matter, it's a little tough
Speaker 1: to wright go within a theater. You know, thank you,
Speaker 1: But you know, what did meeting the real sorrow do
Speaker 1: for you? I'm I'm often curious, you know when people
Speaker 1: play real life characters, like if there was anything about
Speaker 1: the person that they wanted to carry across in their performance. Well,
Speaker 1: I didn't meet him for so I prepped for eight
Speaker 1: months and then that the first thing I shot was
Speaker 1: the climax of the film, so you didn't meet anymore.
Speaker 1: So I hadn't met him before we started shooting, and
Speaker 1: I for the audition process, I'd spent weeks just absorbing
Speaker 1: all the material I could about his life watching. The
Speaker 1: great thing about playing someone that's still alive is that
Speaker 1: you know, and Google is very active. Suru is very
Speaker 1: active on the Internet, so he goes and dust talks
Speaker 1: around the world, you know, explaining his story. Google talks
Speaker 1: things like that. But I I felt like I had
Speaker 1: captured his essence. I really related to a lot of
Speaker 1: his journey. And then I got to meet him when
Speaker 1: we finished the Indian portion and flew to Australia just
Speaker 1: to begin the main part of my character, my part
Speaker 1: of the journey UM and he we we shot minutes
Speaker 1: from his home in Hobart and we had breakfast together
Speaker 1: and it was a really really nice experience, you know,
Speaker 1: to meet him. I was very nervous because we've got
Speaker 1: the biggest scenes in the cans, so I was like,
Speaker 1: I hope he accepts me. But he It was really
Speaker 1: warm and funny and just validated the thoughts I had
Speaker 1: about him. But he's the epitome of a fiercely driven
Speaker 1: young man. You know, he has an incredible memory. I
Speaker 1: met him after a long time for the second time
Speaker 1: on this press tour and he told me the eggs
Speaker 1: I ordered that day, the clothes I was wearing, the
Speaker 1: music we listened to on the car on the way
Speaker 1: to this barbecue together, everything, and I said, God, you've
Speaker 1: You've got an astonishing memory. But we spoke a lot about,
Speaker 1: you know, the idea of this guy finding a needle
Speaker 1: in a haystack from space, like he found his mother
Speaker 1: from space, and that blew my mind. And I was like,
Speaker 1: how how did you remember those images so vividly? Because
Speaker 1: I hardly remember anything from when I was a child.
Speaker 1: And he spoke about astral travel and I've never heard
Speaker 1: of that concept before, but he goes as soon as
Speaker 1: I went to Australia I got adopted as a child,
Speaker 1: I would go to sleep in my heart would begin
Speaker 1: to race really fast, and I felt like I had
Speaker 1: come out of my body and drifted into space and
Speaker 1: I was looking above India and then I would all
Speaker 1: of a sudden materialize on those streets and I would
Speaker 1: be with my mother and my brother and I would
Speaker 1: do that every single night. And it just so happened
Speaker 1: that at this time this app had come out that
Speaker 1: could mirror that he could go into space, horror over
Speaker 1: Indian and zooming, and I was like, Wow, that's really
Speaker 1: really amazing, and then we had conversation is about being
Speaker 1: a product of two really loving environments and feeding a
Speaker 1: sort of survives guilt and trying to suppress a part
Speaker 1: of his identity to fit in, which I could relate
Speaker 1: to bring a British Indian kid going to school and
Speaker 1: trying to hide part of my Indian heritage just to
Speaker 1: fit in and not get bullied and whatever. There's a
Speaker 1: lot of things we could relate to without hopping on
Speaker 1: Sorry we'll speak no police. Speaking of the guilt element
Speaker 1: is what's interesting to me, just zeroing and on this
Speaker 1: idea of the guilt that he felt. You know, when
Speaker 1: you watched the film, I kind of feel like, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, you're sitting there you almost want him to
Speaker 1: snap out of it. But then when he relays that
Speaker 1: idea that he felt so guilty knowing that his mother
Speaker 1: and his brother were looking for him, that is such
Speaker 1: a powerful thought and and that's when for me it
Speaker 1: really just kind of clicked in. Uh, talk to me
Speaker 1: about that kind of stuff, because there's a lot of
Speaker 1: internal work that you're doing here and working with Garth
Speaker 1: the director and kind of bringing that stuff to the surface. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it was it's really you know, it's not a performance
Speaker 1: space I've been in before. You know, I've played slightly
Speaker 1: louder characters. People will know me from the Marigold Hotel
Speaker 1: films and things like that, and it requires a bigger command.
Speaker 1: It's far more exhausting actually. And he's looking at this
Speaker 1: blurry laptop screen and he's trawling the ghosts of his past.
Speaker 1: He's in the land of nostalgia. And that was what
Speaker 1: we spoke about, was there was a young man you
Speaker 1: see glimpses of being really cool and funny, and you know,
Speaker 1: falls in love with a girl and then all of
Speaker 1: a sudden when this Pandora's box is opened, where he
Speaker 1: sees these jelly bees, which are like Indian fried street
Speaker 1: food that he always yearned to have as a child
Speaker 1: and he couldn't, and he sees him at this home
Speaker 1: in Melbourne. He he which starts to retreat into a
Speaker 1: land of nostalgia and becomes less present, and that, you know,
Speaker 1: it affects the relationships in his life, the one with
Speaker 1: his mother, the one with his brother, his father, and
Speaker 1: of course his girlfriend and he you know, it was
Speaker 1: it's difficult to really portray that and not overcook it. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, there were there were some scenes in the
Speaker 1: film that I sometimes wish were there where you see
Speaker 1: him at work and you see, ah, you know, all
Speaker 1: of a sudden that that anxiety starting thrall him, and
Speaker 1: it gives you more of an idea of our way.
Speaker 1: This guy was trying to function in life, but this
Speaker 1: thing kind of was crippling, and that's what happened. Yes,
Speaker 1: he became a sort of reclusive, but we didn't want
Speaker 1: to go full you know Howard used with it, and
Speaker 1: you know, it's it's it's you watched the film and
Speaker 1: then you'll all of a sudden realized, God, this guy
Speaker 1: has gone so far into this nostalgic world. How is
Speaker 1: he going to put himself out? You know? Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think he struck the right balance with it. Uh. And
Speaker 1: let's also talk about Nicole Kidman. The role has written
Speaker 1: is interesting because I was kind of worried, like, oh,
Speaker 1: she's just going to be in it, you know a
Speaker 1: little bit, and then that'll be that. And she's got
Speaker 1: a good amount of screen time, but she does so
Speaker 1: much with it as well. It's it's you know, she's
Speaker 1: obviously one of our great actresses. But how did you
Speaker 1: like sharing the screen with her and what was working
Speaker 1: with her? Like? Yeah, completely. I mean I'm a dude
Speaker 1: from Rayner's Lane, so in London, which is like the
Speaker 1: last stop on the Piccadilly Line. So to get the
Speaker 1: opportunity to share the space of the Nicole Kidman is
Speaker 1: pretty mind boggling. But she she's amazing. At the moment
Speaker 1: she walked in the room for the first rehearsal, it's like,
Speaker 1: well that's Nicole Kidman, you know, six ft two, glides
Speaker 1: in and she yeah, she she The first scene we
Speaker 1: did was quite a very heavy scene in the film
Speaker 1: where she reveals to her son a really big part
Speaker 1: about why she adopted him and is she is just
Speaker 1: so amazing in the movie. She really opened up part
Speaker 1: of her own personal life and you know, she's she's
Speaker 1: as a mother with adopted children and this is kind
Speaker 1: of a node to them for her. And it was
Speaker 1: a real joy just being in the space with her.
Speaker 1: She's you know, got a real presence. Yeah, like I said,
Speaker 1: a great film. I remember when I first heard about it. Uh,
Speaker 1: Greg Phrasers a friend and h I think he was
Speaker 1: more excited to shoot this movie than Rugue one he's
Speaker 1: just so pumped to go up there and do this movie.
Speaker 1: And he really is a big star of the film.
Speaker 1: Like everyone talks about the you know that the actors
Speaker 1: and stuff, but the two other big characters in this
Speaker 1: movie are India and Australia. And the way Greig captured them.
Speaker 1: He didn't exploit the poverty in India, but you felt
Speaker 1: like you were there with this child, and it's so
Speaker 1: to to capture scaling cinema is amazing, but then to
Speaker 1: also make it so intimate. That's what he did. These
Speaker 1: landscapes they plant in the audience's mind. At the bright
Speaker 1: at the beginning of this start credits, you start to
Speaker 1: see the big sea and Australia and all these things,
Speaker 1: and then you go to the red oakah land and
Speaker 1: that's purposefully there to plant that in the the viewers
Speaker 1: mind so that when I stumbled upon it on the laptop,
Speaker 1: they can all of a sudden it's there's a light
Speaker 1: bulb moment. Wait a minute, I've seen that somewhere. And
Speaker 1: he just you know, for any actor, you would die
Speaker 1: to be captured like that, you know, with that intimacy
Speaker 1: and that that taste. And he just won a very
Speaker 1: deserving award a fromage you got the Golden Frog. Let's
Speaker 1: talk a little bit about the man who Knew Infinity.
Speaker 1: I just saw that this this week. Actually, did you
Speaker 1: know help me with the pronunciation raman ramanagen? Did you
Speaker 1: know that story before you took on this I And
Speaker 1: then when I was reading the script, I was like, oh,
Speaker 1: wait a minute, this is that guy that Robin Williams
Speaker 1: was talking about in in good Will Hunt, that Indian
Speaker 1: guy Plaque from Execurity who but even he got the
Speaker 1: great He changed the world of mathematics, but all his
Speaker 1: equations are a gift from God in his mind. He
Speaker 1: was uneducated and he's just one of these great minds.
Speaker 1: And I was like wow. And the script had been
Speaker 1: floating around for ten years, I think, before I landed
Speaker 1: on my lap, and you know, I spoke to Matt
Speaker 1: and I said, this film is really interesting for me
Speaker 1: to be able to take part in this journey, but
Speaker 1: it's too mathematically dense and it's alienating me. So what
Speaker 1: we worked on together for a year before we sent
Speaker 1: it to Jeremy was the idea of pushing forward this
Speaker 1: relationship between this older, stiff colored British you know, academia type.
Speaker 1: You know, Jeremy irons character G. H. Hardy, who is
Speaker 1: the mentor slash father figure to this young man who's
Speaker 1: come from India off a boat, broken all cast, it's
Speaker 1: never worn a suit or a pair of shoes before,
Speaker 1: and now he's there, you know, looking up to the
Speaker 1: man and it's that. It was that that was really
Speaker 1: interesting to me. How do you like working with Jeremy.
Speaker 1: Jeremy's an absolutely superstar. He's so special and you know,
Speaker 1: he is an absolute technician of the craft. You know,
Speaker 1: he even in a read through with him, the way
Speaker 1: he can modulate his voice, it's like it's just listening
Speaker 1: to an orchestra coming out of one man's vocal box,
Speaker 1: you know. And he was really generous and funny, and
Speaker 1: you know he can be intimidating when you first meet him,
Speaker 1: but he's the coolest, coolest guy. And I've really got
Speaker 1: to know him on that process and most of it
Speaker 1: has me and him sitting in a room together, and
Speaker 1: he taught me a lot. You know. We talked about
Speaker 1: lying and that reserve you're talking about. That was what
Speaker 1: Jeremy told me. He's like, you know, reserve is the
Speaker 1: hardest thing to capture on camera an emotional reserve and
Speaker 1: then you know you want an emotionally orgasm when the
Speaker 1: audience does. And that line is a key. I came
Speaker 1: straight off Infinity and that was fresh in my mind
Speaker 1: Jeremy's words. It was okay because as an actually want
Speaker 1: to overcook every moment, you want to get every emotion in.
Speaker 1: There is a young guy like myself. I can prove
Speaker 1: I can do this, I can do that. You know
Speaker 1: I can, but it's still waiting, which is more important anticipation.
Speaker 1: It reminds me of something Michael Shannon said one time. Uh.
Speaker 1: He's Michael's funny because he has weird sayings he'll drop
Speaker 1: from time to time. But one of them was I
Speaker 1: like to keep some of the juice in the lemon. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I had no idea what that meant. The more I
Speaker 1: talk to actors and more it makes sense. Uh and Uh.
Speaker 1: I wanted to talk about You know, this concept of
Speaker 1: diversity in the business is really under scrutiny the last
Speaker 1: couple of years, and deservingly so I wanted to ask
Speaker 1: you if you've ever felt like opportunities are at all
Speaker 1: limited for you? Because I look at you know your
Speaker 1: range of work and it's all great. But a lot
Speaker 1: of the times you look at Last Air Mender or
Speaker 1: Best Exotic or even these two films, they're ethnic, ethnically specific.
Speaker 1: So do you ever feel like certain doors aren't open
Speaker 1: to you? I mean, it's a really tricky question that
Speaker 1: because would you. I mean, there's Robert de Niro play
Speaker 1: ethnically specific characters, right, Yeah, you're right, And we don't.
Speaker 1: We don't. We don't torture him for the fact that
Speaker 1: he's playing a white guy or an Italian. We don't.
Speaker 1: We just embrace it as Hey, this is who this
Speaker 1: man is, and now he's trying to play a plethora
Speaker 1: of roles that are honest and true to his identity.
Speaker 1: So it confuses me sometimes because I feel people are
Speaker 1: mad at me for playing a coup as a British
Speaker 1: Indian guy. You know, I went to the church and
Speaker 1: the temple, I did it all, you know what, you know,
Speaker 1: that's part of it. So I when I look at
Speaker 1: line and look at a guy, I want people to
Speaker 1: look at the transformation I went through. I don't want
Speaker 1: him to look at me as an Indian guy. I
Speaker 1: want them to look at he put on twenty five
Speaker 1: pounds worth of waight. He changed his voice to sound
Speaker 1: like an Australian. He spent eight months prepping. That's what
Speaker 1: I want them to see, because that's difficult. I don't
Speaker 1: want them to be like he's playing an Indian guy,
Speaker 1: because I'm not. The whole beauty of the story is there,
Speaker 1: Seru as a man was torn away from India. And
Speaker 1: then there's a moment in the seat scenes the film
Speaker 1: where I come out of the water and it's a baptism.
Speaker 1: He's an Aussie, he has he's an alien to India. Actually,
Speaker 1: that is as close to me as I can get
Speaker 1: when I was going there on slum Dog, trying to
Speaker 1: discover this country. And now that being said, you know,
Speaker 1: are their scripts flooding in? Good scripts flooding in? There
Speaker 1: are scripts coming in, you know that are Indian Centric.
Speaker 1: But are the good ones coming in? No? Um, And
Speaker 1: I would like to pride myself and the fact that
Speaker 1: out of the hundred Indian centric scripts I guess and
Speaker 1: the five I've chosen have landed in a way infinity
Speaker 1: as in a way the Marigolds have some dog whatever
Speaker 1: it was. Um, you know, it's just me being selective
Speaker 1: and those somehow breakthrough and get a lot of air time.
Speaker 1: I'm not saying it's because of me. I just we've
Speaker 1: recognized a good story and we fought hard for them.
Speaker 1: That's audition, hard for Um Marigold, for instance, to fight
Speaker 1: for that. There was a forty five year old middle
Speaker 1: aged man when this, when the script was in the
Speaker 1: one wanted to test me for it. You know, I
Speaker 1: was too obvious for lying coming off. Some dog got
Speaker 1: to fight for it. So I just hope people don't
Speaker 1: look past the struggle it takes for us, because then
Speaker 1: they're doing us a bigger injustice that way. Um, But yeah,
Speaker 1: I would I'd like, you know, I'd love to play
Speaker 1: a role that it doesn't matter what his name is
Speaker 1: or where he's from, you know, just maybe a man
Speaker 1: in love or whatever it is. But you know, it's
Speaker 1: happening slowly, you know, And it's not to do with awards.
Speaker 1: It's to do with the birth of the stories. You know.
Speaker 1: There needs to be more ideas coming in and more
Speaker 1: people writing diverse stories. And you know, I'm also proud
Speaker 1: of my heritage because I've started to understand it growing up.
Speaker 1: So I'm enthralled by it and I don't want to
Speaker 1: be ashamed of that. I want to go there and
Speaker 1: tell her it's a population of like over a billion people,
Speaker 1: so that I'm sure there's a lot of stories to
Speaker 1: come out of that country. And I would love to
Speaker 1: be a man representing out of the Bollywood field. I
Speaker 1: don't you know, I want to be that guy that's
Speaker 1: doing I can be someone that people like me can
Speaker 1: relate to, guys growing up in America, London, wherever they are.
Speaker 1: Oh man, look he looks like me, Like I did
Speaker 1: when I snapped downstairs and watch Enter the Dragon for
Speaker 1: the first time and saw Bruce Lee, I was like, God,
Speaker 1: there's an Asian guy leading commanding the screen. You know,
Speaker 1: it's cool. Do you get asked about that a lot
Speaker 1: all the time, all the time, And I think I've
Speaker 1: been thinking about it more and more because I don't
Speaker 1: want to feel guilty about it. Why should I? That's unfair?
Speaker 1: You know. Would you go to Michael Jackson and say,
Speaker 1: why do you keep playing? You know? You know we try.
Speaker 1: Now the roles are getting diverse, Like if you can't
Speaker 1: compare Infinity to Marigold Hotel, but people will be like
Speaker 1: they're the same. He's playing an Indian guy, and I'm like,
Speaker 1: what that kind of speaks to something, doesn't it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it speaks to it. Actually as even worse, you're doing
Speaker 1: me a great injustice. It's a period film. I've got
Speaker 1: a starch suit on, and it's fine, just completely different.
Speaker 1: And I recognize all of that. The reason I ask
Speaker 1: is just from an industry perspective, if because it's a
Speaker 1: business that likes to pigeonhole. Yeah, you know, constantly for
Speaker 1: various reasons. So it's just something that was Yeah, I mean, yeah,
Speaker 1: he's the Indian guy. I would like to just be
Speaker 1: the guy. Yeah, that would be nice. Well, I think
Speaker 1: The Newsroom is a good example of and I wanted
Speaker 1: to talk about that a little bit because it's kind
Speaker 1: of a shame to me that that's not an ongoing
Speaker 1: series because I imagine he would have had reams of
Speaker 1: material for this past election and just what's what's going
Speaker 1: on in the last two years or whatever. But how
Speaker 1: did you like h the Aaron Stork and experience kind
Speaker 1: of it was interesting? How to Q and A the
Speaker 1: other day and I was talking about news Room and
Speaker 1: the the first time I decided to sign on was
Speaker 1: when I went to the read through and heard Jeff
Speaker 1: Daniels do that amazing speech about why America isn't the
Speaker 1: greatest country in the world but it could be, and
Speaker 1: he completely blew it out of the park and everyone
Speaker 1: started clapping, and it was really interesting. With this whole
Speaker 1: Trump thing going on now, it really struck a chord
Speaker 1: like Aaron had seen into the future in a way.
Speaker 1: But it kind of was amazing to be able to
Speaker 1: be a part of that. I felt completely overwhelmed and
Speaker 1: not intelligent enough. I don't think everyone feels intelligent enough.
Speaker 1: Everyding th stuff. You know, it's a big ask the
Speaker 1: amount of information and research that goes into each of
Speaker 1: those scripts. He has to churn them out every two weeks. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's it's basically impossible to do that and keep the
Speaker 1: same the same pace, this the same quality. So it's like,
Speaker 1: do we keep going because it's HBO and you have
Speaker 1: the bill viewers so you're gonna get paid or and
Speaker 1: risk losing the quality. Or do you step away when
Speaker 1: you've realized that this is as much as you can
Speaker 1: do and try and hold that same you know product.
Speaker 1: And I just wanted to clothes here. Uh. We were
Speaker 1: talking a little bit beforehand but Anthony Morris is a friend.
Speaker 1: I know, I know my share of Assie is that guy.
Speaker 1: But you're working on the hotel one by with him,
Speaker 1: and I'd love to hear what how's that going. It's
Speaker 1: such an incredible story obviously, and yeah that was one again.
Speaker 1: People are gonna be like, keeps playing an Indian guy now,
Speaker 1: just I'm just thinking that. But no, I I I
Speaker 1: had just left Bombay and landed in London and I
Speaker 1: opened the door to my home and my parents are
Speaker 1: looking at the TV crying, and that's when I was like, wow,
Speaker 1: you know they were watching these siege go on at
Speaker 1: this Tarch hotel and it just completely tore me up.
Speaker 1: You know that those terrorists went to chatter up at
Speaker 1: the chival Gi Terminus ret station Victoria Terminus, which is
Speaker 1: the biggest train station in India where we danced at
Speaker 1: the end of SunDog and they opened fire with a
Speaker 1: K forty sevens and killed so many people. And when
Speaker 1: whispers came out about a film being made, I called
Speaker 1: out my team straight away and I was like, I
Speaker 1: want to be a part of this. I want to
Speaker 1: help breathe life into this. My face should be a
Speaker 1: part of this movie and then we didn't hear anything.
Speaker 1: And then all of a sudden, Anthony popped out of
Speaker 1: the blue and said, I wrote this character for you,
Speaker 1: and it was this amazing synergy. We sat down and
Speaker 1: he's such a warm, genuine, very passionate director who just
Speaker 1: loved cinema. And the character was based on a real person,
Speaker 1: but I wanted to move away from that to change
Speaker 1: it up, so we turned him into a siekh man,
Speaker 1: which is a person that wears a turban. There's a
Speaker 1: whole belief system to it. But in the nut show
Speaker 1: is a man with a big beard in the turban.
Speaker 1: And you know, hotels are fascinating because you know, the
Speaker 1: whole plethora of society can come and collide there. So
Speaker 1: you've got a poor boy from Islam who can barely
Speaker 1: afford to feed his children going into this hotel. He
Speaker 1: puts on his magical uniform that allows him to pour
Speaker 1: a blue label vodka for a Russian oligarch and in
Speaker 1: the streets of India would never be allowed within hundred
Speaker 1: feet of you know, as such a person. And when
Speaker 1: terror happens to to a place like this, this microcosm
Speaker 1: of the world, this hotel, you start to see who
Speaker 1: the real heroes are, you know, and you and people's
Speaker 1: true colors come out. And he this man with a turban.
Speaker 1: You know, people can turn on him because to the
Speaker 1: uncultured I he can seem intimidating. He can look like
Speaker 1: your stereotype of what you think a terrorist is. So
Speaker 1: it was my are and Anthony embraced it and we
Speaker 1: went and we've created this character and we haven't finished
Speaker 1: filming it yet, so I can't really say too much.
Speaker 1: I probably have said too much. No, no, no, I look,
Speaker 1: I look forward to people discovering Anthony. I'm at Anthony
Speaker 1: Tell Your Ride like a film festival, like I don't know,
Speaker 1: eight years ago, seven years he had a short film
Speaker 1: and he's yeah, and he's such a talented guy and
Speaker 1: I think he's gonna he's gonna be a real discovery,
Speaker 1: amazing sense of humor and yeah, he's he's going to
Speaker 1: be one to watch. Yeah. Well again, the movies are
Speaker 1: the Man who do Infinity, which you can check out
Speaker 1: on DVD I think right now, and Lion, which is
Speaker 1: in theaters. Go see that. And dev is at the
Speaker 1: tail end of a press tour. Here is a trooper.
Speaker 1: So thanks Man, I really appreciate you coming on the show,
Speaker 1: thanks to having me. Thanks for listening everyone. Remember to
Speaker 1: subscribe and check back next week when I'll be talking
Speaker 1: to The Jungle Book director Jon Favreau. You've been listening
Speaker 1: to playback ever right four