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  • (upbeat music)

  • - Okay, so "Get Out" was one of my,

  • that was like one of my favorite movies this year.

  • - Thank you, bro.

  • - And it's so exciting to do this with you because,

  • obviously everyone at this,

  • doing this is really top of their craft,

  • but, you know, everybody else, they're legends,

  • and we're like, you know, just starting out here,

  • we're just trying to figure it out.

  • So, what, I guess, questions you've been asked

  • a thousand times,

  • but what, how'd you hear about the project?

  • Was there an audition process?

  • How'd you get into it?

  • - It's a weird situation, cuz I

  • I did this show called "Black Mirror" back in England, 2011.

  • - Bing.

  • - Bing. Oh, you know?

  • - (laughs)

  • - Jesus.

  • See, this is surreal to me.

  • It's surreal to me that it still lives.

  • So, I did it in 2011.

  • Nothing really happened in England,

  • and then Netflix happened.

  • So Netflix happened like 2014, 2015

  • and then Americans started watching this show

  • that I did like three years before,

  • and then Jordan Peele watched it, and then he was,

  • he had this script and I read the script,

  • and I was like, "Yo, this script is insane," like...

  • - (laughs) Yeah, yeah.

  • - Are you allowed to do,

  • It just felt like it cost him something.

  • - Mm-hmm.

  • You know, I always think that's really exciting

  • to work with a filmmaker that's, like,

  • putting it all on the line, do you know what I mean?

  • And sayin' stuff that's not...

  • And then we Skyped and then later,

  • it took a couple months,

  • and then I had a film called "Sicario" coming out

  • - Right.

  • - And then in the press run I went to audition

  • for the role, and then I got it.

  • - And that was in London or L.A.?

  • - That was in L.A., that was in L.A.

  • So the premiere of "Sicario" was in New York,

  • then I went to L.A., I was like, I should just go.

  • - That's always a good feeling,

  • that always makes you feel like, you know,

  • you're in L.A., you're making moves, and...

  • - It's always good to,

  • I always feel like it's always good to be there.

  • You have to be there.

  • - In front of the person?

  • - Yeah, yeah.

  • - So you don't like self-tape's as much?

  • - I do. I got "Sicario" for self-tape.

  • - Okay.

  • - But, like, sometimes it's,

  • people have to see you and know you.

  • - No, it's true, and sometimes you do the self-tape

  • and there's a simple note a casting director's giving

  • everybody because everybody keeps making the same mistake.

  • - Yeah, yeah.

  • - If you do it at home.

  • Also, at home, you can control

  • too much sometimes, too, I find.

  • - Yeah. How did you get to "Call Me By Your Name"?

  • - So.

  • - Which is amazing.

  • - Hey, man.

  • - And you're amazing in it, bro. Honestly.

  • - And thank you so much, cuz you were at

  • the screening the other night.

  • - Yeah, yeah.

  • - It was cool seeing a bunch of older people,

  • none of whom I know, coming out of the screening room

  • and being like, "There's Daniel!"

  • - (laughs)

  • - We're gonna have this nice conversation soon.

  • Um. I was 17, and my agent Brian Swardstrom,

  • he represents Tilda Swinton, and she's the actress that's

  • the lead of a lot of his other movies,

  • like "I Am Love" and "A Bigger Splash"

  • and they had this project, they didn't have the script yet,

  • called "Call Me By Your Name",

  • and Luca was a producer on it at the time,

  • so Brian said, "Meet with this kid in New York,"

  • and we had a great meeting,

  • and very, very thankfully, Luca doesn't audition his actors,

  • he never has, so.

  • Then it was like a loose attachment thing,

  • but even at a young age, it became clear in show business,

  • you know, you become attached to these things

  • and most of them never come to any sort of fruition.

  • So, uh. And then it was just a waiting game, you know.

  • We thought maybe that summer it would happen,

  • and it didn't happen.

  • Maybe the summer after that it would happen,

  • and it didn't happen.

  • you start losing hope a little bit.

  • Then finally, like, three years into it,

  • then it, then it happened, so.

  • - Wow. So it was a three year process?

  • - Say it again?

  • - It was a three year process?

  • - It was like a three year, yeah.

  • I mean the, yeah, and in many ways,

  • it feels like the project of my youth

  • or something because it's been on the periphery for so long,

  • so, it really was.

  • And then we shot it, and now it's been like

  • a year-and-a-half process to get it out, so.

  • I'll be, you know, I'm gonna be 22 soon

  • and I heard about it when I was 17.

  • - So, like, in terms of like, him not auditioning people,

  • so how was that meeting, then?

  • what do you feel like he was trying to see out of you?

  • - Well, I like that.

  • And I have this impression with other people

  • I meet with sometimes, I'm curious if you have it too.

  • They're just, like, sussing you out,

  • and they're feeling out your vibe,

  • which is weird, because you don't want to be fake,

  • or... certainly there's a level of artificiality

  • to all of this, but, like, you wanna be real,

  • but then you see, like, when else do you eat with someone

  • and they're just like, like judging you, you know.

  • Making assumptions about you.

  • (laughs)

  • - (laughs) Dates.

  • - [Man] Elio, Oliver. Oliver, Elio.

  • - [Oliver] How you doing?

  • - [Elio] Nice to meet you. Elio.

  • - [Man] You must be exhausted.

  • - [Oliver] Little bit.

  • - [Man] (laughing)

  • Come, come, come.

  • - [Elio] May I bring your things up to your room?

  • - [Oliver] Uh, sure. Yeah.

  • - [Elio] My room?

  • - [Man] (laughs)

  • - Follow him.

  • - Okay, now, this is, again,

  • I'm sure you've gotten this a thousand times

  • but had you watched "Key and Peele" before,

  • were you a fan of it?

  • - Bro, I had watched, like,

  • we would be, I'd go out with my friends, yeah?

  • And we'd watch a film together

  • and they would go, "What should we do?"

  • Let's go on YouTube. - Watch "Key and Peele," yeah.

  • Just watch "Key and Peele." Just constantly "Key and Peele."

  • But that's what was amazing.

  • - Totally sober, too.

  • - That's what's so surreal.

  • It was more surreal that Jordan Peele knew who I was.

  • That was, like, blew my mind.

  • Cuz in my What'sApp groups, that's like all you talk about.

  • - And did he say, had he watched,

  • had he come across that episode of "Black Mirror"

  • on his own, was it a Casting Director that sent it to him?

  • - No, he just came across it.

  • But I think it was a time when a lot of people

  • in the industry were on a certain frequency,

  • was just watching "Black Mirror."

  • Then it became a thing.

  • - Huh.

  • - So it's before the latest season.

  • - Yeah, I was part of it becoming a thing.

  • I was not on the first wave of "Black Mirror."

  • - Nah, you probably were, bro, but it's like...

  • Before the new series came out,

  • it was like the older episodes.

  • - Right. Cause they re-, they uh.

  • - They did one with Joe Wright and Joe Wright directed it.

  • - Right, right.

  • Because they stopped it and brought it back, is that it?

  • - They brought it back, yeah, so it was like.

  • It's just, it's so surreal that, like,

  • I mean, a lot of jobs I've got recently

  • have been from stuff I did in '09 or 2010, 2011.

  • - That's crazy to me.

  • - So like, Ryan Coogler saw me in a short film

  • that I did in London.

  • Like a really low-key short film, but he saw it in Sundance.

  • - I thought short films got locked in a safe somewhere

  • for no one to see, ever.

  • - Listen, it's random.

  • So he just saw it and then he wanted me to do "Panther"

  • so then, like, it was just, loads of stuff

  • and then "Widows," Steve McQueen saw me in a play in 2010.

  • - That's so sick.

  • Now I don't know how much we're supposed to talk about

  • "Black Panther," or if we're supposed to be talking about

  • the other stuff, but how was that, man,

  • cause I can't wait to see that.

  • - It was great.

  • - That's one of the Marvel ones that's coming out

  • that's so exciting, man.

  • - It's crazy. It's just, it's just so crazy, bro.

  • I keep saying this, there was a time when Chad came out.

  • - He's so good, he's such a good actor.

  • - And he was in the waterfall scene and he came out,

  • I can't say what happens, but he was walking out into

  • the waterfall and I got chills.

  • - Were you in the scene or no?

  • - Huh? I was in the scene, yeah.

  • - Is there footage of you somewhere getting chills?

  • - Hmm. Look at these goosebumps.

  • - Hey, Daniel, let's go again.

  • - (laughs)

  • - Um, do the lines.

  • - Less chills. Less chills, Dan.

  • No, but it was like a massive set piece

  • and it was just so special to be a part of.

  • - Man, okay, and you have to cut me off

  • but I'm curious about all of this.

  • Now, with Jordan, like my experience,

  • cause I'm a huge "Key and Peele" fan,

  • now I know he's like the brilliant auteur

  • that made "Get Out."

  • Before, if I had read it,

  • I'm sure on the page it was already, like,

  • whoa, this is gonna be an amazing thing,

  • but it's just a different world.

  • I'm sure you've heard this a thousand times,

  • so what was like the moment, maybe it was in a Skype,

  • maybe you were hanging out with him,

  • maybe it was on set when you thought, wow, you know,

  • this guy is actually, like, a real,

  • really amazing filmmaker?

  • - I saw it on the page, man.

  • I saw it on, like, the first line.

  • Cuz I read scripts for fun.

  • - Oh really?

  • - Like, I just like, find my favorite films and read them.

  • - What, really?

  • - Cause it's fun.

  • - Dude, you're so...

  • - It's like, I wanna read "Ferris Bueller's Day Off"

  • cuz it's fun, you know.

  • - I'm stealing that.

  • That's such, like, a good actor thing.

  • - Yeah, it just helps you -

  • - Doesn't it give you anxiety?

  • - What?

  • - Doesn't it make you feel, like,

  • oh man, these movies are so good.

  • - No, it just makes you, like,

  • I wanna know why I like something.

  • - Yeah, okay.

  • - So then, I'm more informed in

  • why I wanna say no to something,

  • I wanna say yes to something.

  • So a lot of the time it's just,

  • know thyself, like, you're knowing yourself.

  • And so you kind of go, "Okay cool, I like this."

  • So when it came in, and there was a thing that wasn't even,

  • it didn't even make it into the film,

  • it was like an extract from the Bible

  • and I was like, he knows the world.

  • It was just such a considered, it was such a...

  • - Was it like one of those things

  • where the script had a quote in the beginning.

  • - Yeah, a quote from the Bible and I just felt like,

  • it's just a feeling you get on the page.

  • It's just, like, you can tell when a writer

  • knows where they're going.

  • It's like a trust, like you know where you're going.

  • And you always know when a writer doesn't know.

  • - Yeah. I guess.

  • I don't know why, something that I struggle with is the,

  • and I struggled with this even when I was

  • in drama high school but you have your instincts and,

  • but then you think to yourself, too,

  • what I'm 21 or younger and what do I know?

  • What's nice now is I'm trusting my instinct

  • reading things more.

  • - You was in "Lady Bird."

  • - Yes.

  • - Which is amazing, I saw it the other week as well.

  • - You saw it, too. Thank you.

  • - And so, like, such a special, so well-observed.

  • Such a well-observed film.

  • So, what was it about that script that you was like,

  • oh wow, this is something.

  • - You know, weirdly it was, it was the role,

  • but it was really like Greta and Saoirse

  • and getting to work with them,

  • because Greta I had seen in "Frances Ha"

  • and just reading the script,

  • it was so specific and everything was so detailed,

  • which is what I like about the movie, because

  • the relatable, "normal" characters,

  • but everything is so specific.

  • Like, one of my favorite lines I have in the movie is

  • "I haven't lied in two years,"

  • which is like one of the, like, it's so,

  • who speaks like that?

  • - Like on a chart, like yeah.

  • - He was like keeping track, so pretentious.

  • So, uh.

  • And also to work with Saoirse who was in "Brooklyn,"

  • and, uh, yeah.

  • I don't know.

  • And it was just an amazing experience to be in L.A. and...

  • - So you shot that in L.A.?

  • - Yeah, that was in L.A. for two, three weeks

  • and it was great to be with Lucas too,

  • he has the other role in the movie

  • cuz we're both from New York,

  • so we've been seeing each other in casting offices

  • for like four or five years and, you know,

  • he's in "Manchester by the Sea",

  • which is a movie that I was diligently waiting

  • in a casting office for, and uh,

  • and never got the call, rightfully,

  • cuz he's fucking amazing in that movie.

  • - [Officer] Sir, can I see your license, please?

  • - [Woman] Wait, why?

  • No, no, no, he wasn't driving.

  • - I didn't ask who was driving, I asked to see his ID.

  • - You don't have to give him your ID

  • because you haven't done anything wrong.

  • - Baby, baby, it's okay, come on.

  • - Anytime there is an incident,

  • we have every right to ask...

  • - [Woman] Asshole.

  • - Alright, so "Get Out," that was in a,

  • this is Wikipedia's fact,

  • which are usually not the most accurate,

  • but it says on Wikipedia it was a 4.5 million dollar budget.

  • - Yeah, it was.

  • - And that it made like...

  • - 250, innit.

  • - Like that little hand raise, that little hand raise.

  • - 250, G, yeah summin' like 'at.

  • - So, you know, I like asking this, because I feel like

  • a lot of people have been asking me this recently,

  • but how does that, how does it change one's life,

  • maybe it doesn't change it at all,

  • maybe it's healthier for it not to change,

  • or maybe you're like, "I'm gonna go down like a comet," no?

  • - Well, like, I can't...

  • like, at certain times when I can't get the bus.

  • - Sure, okay.

  • - So, it's like, just like at school times

  • I can't get a bus like that.

  • - Now when you say school times, I'm curious about that.

  • As in when?

  • - When the kids are coming out of school.

  • - See, but this is why I'm so happy to do this with you,

  • because I struggle with, like,

  • I do a lot of theater in New York too,

  • and I'm passionate about it,

  • but it's tough when you look out,

  • not tough, these are first world problems,

  • but, you know, they're older audiences, you know?

  • And I'm a young person who loves acting and filmmaking

  • and theater, and that's why it's so exciting

  • to do this with you, because "Get Out" was

  • a movie that wasn't a gatekeeper phenomenon,

  • but rather, like, everybody my age,

  • whether it was because of you, or Jordan,

  • or just the movie was amazing, Jordan Peele.

  • I'm sorry, I cut you off.

  • - No, no, it's, that's what was quite...

  • I mean, I realize, I'm back home in London,

  • cuz I've done loads of this stuff back home,

  • and even "Black Mirror", loads of stuff I've done is, like,

  • I did this show called "Skins," and that kinda changed.

  • - Oh my god, I didn't know you were in "Skins."

  • - Yeah, that was back in the day, bro, like.

  • - They made an American version that was not what

  • the British version was...

  • - Nah, I can't have an opinion on that.

  • I haven't seen the American version.

  • - Oh, you were in the American version.

  • - No, I'm in the English version.

  • - Oh yeah, okay.

  • - I'm in the first two series.

  • And then that kind of was like, oh, everyone my age.

  • It was kinda like this, like, oh,

  • it's a show made by teenagers,

  • written by teenagers, cause I wrote as well,

  • written by teenagers, and targeted to teenagers

  • so you're literally surrounded, constantly.

  • And I do other stuff, and it's like,

  • it's more high-brow, so no one knows.

  • So I could go to parties and no one really cares.

  • - Right, right.

  • - I'm doing an episode here or I'm doing "Black Mirror,"

  • "Black Mirror" was like, kinda, in the artsy scene.

  • People saw it, but...

  • - Yeah, I wonder what kind of people

  • were stopping people for "Black Mirror" because.

  • Hey, you were in "Black Mirror," right?

  • Probably the craziest people.

  • - "Get Out" was so, kinda like, everyone.

  • Everyone, that I was around,

  • everyone, all my friends would watch it.

  • So people that don't care about,

  • that watch "Fast and Furious,"

  • they were watching "Get Out."

  • So it was like, people I grew up with, everyone.

  • I always know, cause I'm from an estate,

  • which is like a project.

  • When I would go back, like, I'm coming back from work,

  • if, like, people would come up to me about it.

  • Cuz they usually don't care,

  • But if people come up to me and go,

  • "Oh, that trailer man, that trailer."

  • If they get excited about it, that's not the industry,

  • that's just normal life, and that's when it changes.

  • Because it's just like, oh, I'm living -

  • I have to navigate life differently

  • because someone's asking you for advice on the tube.

  • Do you know what I mean?

  • - Wow, that's crazy.

  • - Because I'm a young black man, you know,

  • I'm just doing my thing,

  • and I'm not from a privileged background.

  • A lot of time, they just going...

  • - And do you find, yeah, I'm sure they're questions

  • are specific to that and the inspiration there.

  • - I'm sure you get that in New York,

  • like, people must know who you are.

  • - Well, look, the tremendous benefit

  • is this film hasn't come out yet

  • and nobody has any idea who I am anyway, so.

  • No, I mean, it hasn't really happened yet.

  • A little bit, somebody dropped a bag of peach candies

  • in front of me at Chipotle the other day,

  • they ran off, and made sure the seal wasn't broken,

  • so I wasn't getting cyanide or something.

  • Not that anybody's trying to poison anybody, but, uh.

  • - That's one for the memoirs, man.

  • - One for the memoirs.

  • (Laughter)

  • A memoir that four people will buy.

  • (grand piano music)

  • - [Oliver] I can't believe you changed it again.

  • - [Elio] Oh, I changed it a little bit.

  • - Yeah. Why?

  • - I just played it the way Busoni would have played it

  • if he'd altered Liszt's version.

  • - So, and why it would be funny that it's peach candies,

  • for those that haven't seen the film,

  • it's gonna be very weird to explain this, but...

  • - I don't want to spoil it, cuz it's like...

  • - Yeah, I don't want to spoil it.

  • There's a great fruit, fruit, fruit love scene.

  • (laughs)

  • - So when was that in the shoot?

  • When was that in the schedule?

  • - That's a good question.

  • - When was that in the schedule?

  • Were you dreading it?

  • - Yes.

  • - Or was it, like, kind of like, on set

  • you know the grips and them are like,

  • "Oh, it's coming, it's coming."

  • - No, it's true.

  • So, I have sex with a peach in this film.

  • But it's a great film, not that it wouldn't be

  • a great film without it.

  • (laughs)

  • - Sex with a peach?

  • Yeah.

  • - I try to have sex with fruit in every movie

  • that I do now.

  • - Peach, high-end cinema.

  • That's the correlation.

  • - Hey, yeah.

  • In fact, I saw a very, like,

  • I saw a fan-made poster online the other day

  • with a big peach on it, that was, like,

  • super well-done.

  • Uh, so, that was maybe three, four weeks into the shoot.

  • And obviously you're aware of why that would help,

  • because first-day jitters, you're all over the place.

  • And it just, there was the, there was an anxiety

  • that was taken away, in that Luca Guadagnino,

  • our director, said, he thought maybe it worked better

  • as a literary metaphor in the book, and that

  • it could never really work well as a visual metaphor.

  • And he came up to me, you know, maybe a week, two weeks

  • before shooting, and he goes, "Timmy, you know,

  • I tried it, and it works!"

  • And I was like, "of course it works, Luca,

  • like were you never a teenager...

  • - (laughs)

  • - No, we won't get into that, no.

  • (laughs)

  • - That's amazing.

  • Did you try it before?

  • - Next question.

  • - (laughs)

  • You did it!

  • - And, so, as I progress and keep moving

  • the conversation along, no, it just felt like

  • if it wasn't going to be any good,

  • then it wouldn't be in the movie.

  • So I just made a prescription for myself,

  • often if I'm doing a scene, or even like

  • press stuff like this,

  • it's not so much to achieve something,

  • there's like a certain area maybe I don't want to hit.

  • And I just knew in that scene, I didn't want to be,

  • try and be funny, or, "Oh, God, here it is."

  • - Mmm.

  • - It's like, the prescription

  • is what would truthfully be going down...

  • - Yeah, and it read like that, it was really true.

  • - In the scene.

  • - And so, in terms of, like,

  • how much did you lean on the source material?

  • - It's tough, because, and this really is the honest answer.

  • In the moments where I'd be really struggling

  • and couldn't figure out what was going on

  • with the character, it really was like a Bible,

  • it was like an infinite amount of stuff to pull from.

  • But then especially in a coming-of-age movie,

  • in a sexual coming-of-age movie,

  • like, spontanaeity, those are my favorite moments

  • in movies like "Blue is the Warmest Color,"

  • and films like that.

  • So I didn't want to lose that.

  • So, yeah, I don't know, it's a fine line,

  • cuz you want to be faithful to the book, too.

  • - So did you get to the point where you were like,

  • "I'm not engaging with the book anymore."

  • - Certainly in the pre-production process.

  • Now once we were shooting, like I said,

  • if I got lost in a scene, or sometimes

  • I could even say something to Luca,

  • "Don't you think it would happen like this?"

  • And he would be like, "Can't,

  • because this is how it goes down here.

  • (laughs)

  • - Mmm.

  • So there was that experience.

  • But certainly in the pre-production process,

  • and I'm curious what it's like for you,

  • in your pre-production process,

  • you know, you do the research,

  • and then at a certain point, you gotta be like,

  • "Alright."

  • - I just can't let it go.

  • I remember, it was actually on "Black Mirror,"

  • I learned a lot doing British TV, you know,

  • with "Black Mirror," he did a hot-seat situation,

  • me and Jess Brown Findlay, who was in it as well.

  • And then, like, he would ask us questions

  • about the character, I mean we literally

  • spent a whole day doing this.

  • It was quite intense, I mean like some of the things,

  • he was like, "No, I don't think that's right."

  • And then at the end, he was like, "Okay, forget about it."

  • We were like, "What?"

  • - (laughs)

  • - And he's like, no, if it makes sense, it'll stick.

  • - Hmm.

  • - So I kind of adopt that, and kind of like

  • before I film something, I try not to watch movies.

  • - I can't watch movies when I'm shooting something.

  • - It makes me too self-aware.

  • I watch documentaries sometimes.

  • - Documentaries or cartoons.

  • - Like, and then I'll read the script every day.

  • Just read the script every day,

  • cuz I want it to be in my bones.

  • I don't want to be thinking, "Where am I?"

  • You want to be in a scene going,

  • "I know what this is."

  • - And are you shooting in sequence or out of sequence?

  • - (sighs)

  • Out of sequence.

  • Well, it was also, it was a 23-day shoot.

  • - (hushed) It was 23 days? That's crazy.

  • - So it was like war.

  • - So what was the pre-production process

  • with Jordan Peele like, was there a series

  • of discussions and preparations?

  • - Yeah, we...

  • - Or rehearsals?

  • - We sat down, he sat down with, like, little groups.

  • We went to a house in Alabama,

  • - Hmm.

  • - Cuz we shot it in Alabama.

  • We went to a house, all the cast, the main cast,

  • we just hung out for a weekend

  • - Awesome.

  • - It was when Kanye dropped "Life of Pablo,"

  • - Oh, great album.

  • - And we watched that, we watched the SNL performance

  • when it was released, so it was that weekend,

  • but anyways, so that's random.

  • - (laughs)

  • - But we went to separate rooms,

  • and Jordan would go off, and then

  • we'd talk about the scene.

  • And then we'd just improvise.

  • So we'd go, "Alright, cool, this is the scene,

  • alright, cool put it to the side,

  • and let's feel it."

  • So me and Allison would go back and forth.

  • - And for the improv, it's so, you're so f'king excellent

  • in this movie, and everyone is so natural.

  • And now that's the other thing

  • I was going to ask you about today,

  • because certainly, like, I think of my favorite

  • "Key and Peele" sketches, and they're all very,

  • they're all subtle, but I guess there's humor in "Get Out"

  • that I found to be even more subtle than what

  • the sketch comedy was.

  • And was there ever a clear direction

  • in the rehearsal process?

  • Did he ever say to you, "This is all

  • supposed to be like real life.

  • This is just supposed to be grounded in reality," or...

  • - No, I kinda wanted that, I've always wanted that,

  • like I kind of, but that's just my personal taste,

  • where I don't want the character to feel like

  • they're in the genre that they're in.

  • - Huh.

  • - You know what I mean?

  • So I just...

  • - And "Get Out," we don't even know what genre...

  • - And that's something I learned, I did this film

  • called "Psychoville," and this director, Matt Lipsey,

  • he said to me, at 19, he was like, I did this scene,

  • it's like a horror comedy series, and I did this scene,

  • and I was doing it, and it's like, I think I was

  • trying to chat up a Siamese twin.

  • - (laughs)

  • Good writing, good writing.

  • - You know, I've been around, I've been around.

  • And I did it, and he was just like, he was pulling me

  • to the side, and he went, "Daniel, never play the funny,

  • always play the truth."

  • - That's tough.

  • - And I just always carried that with me.

  • So I always felt like stuff like that,

  • so I went to Jordan and was like,

  • "I just want to feel grounded, I just wanted to..."

  • But that's what I did in the audition,

  • I just kind of was like, just wanted to play a real guy,

  • and he's, like, this is happening,

  • and he just doesn't understand it's happening,

  • but he's trying to figure out, as well,

  • and he's trying to, like,

  • so it's all about, you wanna see his, like, cognitive...

  • - No, but that's what's nuts, and then it's funny,

  • like you say 'genre' but I wouldn't even,

  • I don't know if "Get Out" is a horror movie.

  • And it's interesting, I didn't know that you did

  • a horror comedy series prior, so...

  • - Yeah, yeah, yeah, I've done some stuff.

  • - [Man] Come on, I get it, white family, black servants,

  • it's a total cliche.

  • - (Sighs)

  • I wasn't going to take it there.

  • - [Man] I hate the way it looks.

  • By the way, I would have voted for Obama

  • for a third term if I could.

  • - So you and Armie Hammer have a very intense chemistry.

  • - Mmm.

  • - How was that, like, did you meet him before?

  • - No, it was...

  • - Did you, is it just on set, or how did you map that out?

  • And even that sex scene, how did you map all that out?

  • - Well, it was like the random luck of the universe,

  • where we had just a genuine bond,

  • and we never read together beforehand.

  • Luca didn't read him either.

  • Luca says, "If I desire my actors, and I love my actors,

  • they'll love each other, too," so...

  • (laughs)

  • - Wow, that's deep.

  • - That's deep, man.

  • So half the things that guy says, I'm like,

  • "I have no idea, I'm not smart enough

  • to know what you're saying."

  • Um, and then once we got out there,

  • (sighs)

  • it's been so strange to have talked about this

  • for a year-and-a-half, and to say, like,

  • "This is how we did it."

  • Because there was no game plan,

  • there was no awareness if what we were doing was any good.

  • - Mmm.

  • - And it was just about spending time with one another,

  • and, weirdly, the relationship in the pre-production process

  • kinda took on the form of the movie,

  • save for all the crazy stuff.

  • (laughs)

  • But, you know, we were riding around on bikes

  • in this small town in Italy,

  • and I'd been there a little bit in advance,

  • so I got to show him, you know,

  • where I was having espressos every morning,

  • and also, we weren't in L.A.,

  • like he wasn't going home to his family every day,

  • we just hung out with each other a lot,

  • and all the time,

  • and I pray you get a working experience with Armie,

  • because this is, I've been so lucky, and,

  • even right now, getting to talk to you,

  • I feel like I got lucky doing this right now with you,

  • - Feeling's mutual, bruv.

  • - Because, God forbid, man, it was like

  • some really scary, you know, intense older...

  • - Let me ask you about, so you speak a lot of languages.

  • - I speak French, I speak French.

  • (laughs)

  • - So how was that in working, have you worked in...

  • - No, it was surreal, because growing up,

  • you know, I spent my summers in France growing up,

  • but it's really the American parts of my personality

  • and my upbringing that have always encouraged

  • the outgoing, broken narcissist in me.

  • (laughs)

  • No, you know what I mean, I'm just joking.

  • - (laughs)

  • - But, like, the desire to be an actor,

  • and be a good ensemble member,

  • but to speak words, to speak lines.

  • And my French side of me is way more repressed,

  • almost by nature, and certainly growing up, you know,

  • I wasn't in the New York equivalent of France,

  • I was in a tiny town called Le Chambon-sur-Lignon,

  • so what's been really kinda trippy about

  • "Call Me By Your Name" is that acting that's very much

  • an outgoing and performative thing for me,

  • not performative,

  • (laughs)

  • Shouldn't be performative!

  • Should be, like, real and honest,

  • is that this French through-line found its way in somehow,

  • so, I don't know, it's weird.

  • My father's French, so he's certainly very excited about it,

  • but yeah, yeah.

  • - So like, even, so that's a good segue,

  • because one of the scenes that really got me

  • was the conversation with your father.

  • - Yeah, yeah.

  • - And that speech that he gave.

  • So what was that like, filming it?

  • And I think that's one of

  • the most refreshing themes in this film,

  • is the parents' attitudes...

  • - Yeah.

  • - Towards the relationship, so it's like,

  • how did that feel to you and everyone working on it?

  • - Well, Michael Stuhlbarg, he plays Mr. Perlman, my father,

  • - He's incredible.

  • - He's so incredible.

  • He's, you know, he takes notes with a ruler in his script,

  • which I think is like a nice indicator of how

  • he knows, he knows exactly what's going down.

  • And when it came time to shoot that scene, like I said,

  • I went to a bunch of theater stuff growing up in New York,

  • I really consider myself a theater kid,

  • and he was in Martin McDonagh's "Pillow Man,"

  • I must have been 11 or 12,

  • so this is someone I really looked up to.

  • - Mm-hmm.

  • - And when it came time to do that scene,

  • that's very much his scene, you know, I have to be

  • present and listening and there for him,

  • you know, it was just like,

  • "Stay a fly on the wall, Timmy,

  • and just let the master go to work."

  • And there was the experience of really hearing it, too,

  • in that monologue, and getting to hear, you know,

  • don't push away pain in your life, and embrace it,

  • and live and let live, and to feel crummy

  • doesn't mean that you should not just feel crummy,

  • and sit in that state.

  • - I can't move.

  • - You're paralyzed.

  • - Now, sink into the floor.

  • - [Daniel] Wait, wait, wait, wait.

  • - Sink.

  • (wet sinking sound)

  • (ominous strings)

  • - This is a scene that, I was even talking

  • with a buddy on the phone, telling him that I was gonna get,

  • that we were gonna have this discussion,

  • and actor friend of mine, and we both,

  • I was saying, like, "What are some things I can ask?"

  • And we both landed on the same thing,

  • and he brought it up first, actually.

  • And we don't have to get into the specifics, whatever,

  • we can maintain the mystery of the performance,

  • but the, that sunken chair scene.

  • - (laughs)

  • - That scene is so crazy, and I just, in the most,

  • obviously, fantastic of ways, and I just, I mean,

  • how'd you guys shoot it?

  • What was the rehearsal process like?

  • Did you know it was going to be so...

  • Cuz it's a two-person scene, but it's very much like,

  • then it's her, and you have to carry so much of that,

  • there's so much going on.

  • - Mmm.

  • - And so I guess the way I would formulate the question is

  • was it formulated to be like a climax for you, of sorts?

  • - No, it wasn't, it's weird that that scene, I mean

  • (laughs)

  • Jordan did say on set, "Yo, this is iconic."

  • - Did he say that?

  • - He said that on set, I know he said that on set.

  • - I love it.

  • - But he said that a lot on set, and I was like,

  • "He's ampin' us up."

  • But it didn't feel like that.

  • It felt like an intense day, cuz it was

  • just that scene that day.

  • - Hmm.

  • - So it was like a five-page scene, that scene that day,

  • and we'd blocked it out, and it was just,

  • you had to be on.

  • So I knew that I couldn't really, like, joke around,

  • cuz I joke around on set, like,

  • with the crew and everything,

  • so I couldn't really joke around,

  • - Right. Yeah.

  • - I had to go into a space.

  • - Did you have the headphones?

  • - No, no, no, I just walk away.

  • Like I just walk away, and just won't talk to anyone.

  • - Oh, nice.

  • - I think it's more intense, if you just kind of...

  • - It's true, it's weirder, it's scarier.

  • - I don't want to talk to anyone.

  • That's even darker.

  • I can listen to music, but I don't even want to talk to you.

  • - Yeah, I'm on a good level but I'm like...

  • - And so it's like, so I just kept it in that space,

  • kept it in that space, and just like tapped into,

  • it's empathy, man, and I tapped into that kind of,

  • like, it just, the writing was so good.

  • And I just tapped into that darkness in me,

  • and pain that I've kind of felt in my life.

  • And I kind of was just like, "Cool, let's let loose."

  • And also, just empathizing with someone that's, like,

  • going through so much, and has, like, suppressed it,

  • Kinda suppressed his guilt of, like, a really bad situation.

  • It's shame, do you know what I mean?

  • - Mmm.

  • - And also, this reluctance to face it, but he's paralyzed,

  • he's paralyzed emotionally, and I identify that

  • in all walks of life.

  • I mean, it's the same with, I don't know, sexism,

  • - Hmm.

  • If something's happening, and a woman can't say anything,

  • because she'll lose her job, do you know what I mean?

  • - Hmm.

  • She's, like, paralyzed, innit, situationally.

  • So I kind of thought that that's such a dynamic

  • that everyone kind of can identify with,

  • and I've identified in so many different ways,

  • in this kind of release of emotion that's uncontrollable,

  • which is, I just kind of really identified with.

  • - Have you seen "The Master"?

  • - Yes, I have.

  • - You know what scene reminds me a lot of that,

  • that interrogation scene.

  • - Yeah, yeah, yeah.

  • - And those are, like, my favorite scenes in movies,

  • when are actors are just, like,

  • having to be totally present in that.

  • - It's pure, it's pure, and it's just, like,

  • cuz all it is is emotion and character,

  • and it's someone that's opening up

  • that doesn't want to open up, do you know what I mean?

  • It's like, when someone said to me, like,

  • crying makes, it's heartbreaking, but seeing someone

  • trying not to cry is even worse.

  • - Oooh.

  • - Do you know what I mean?

  • So it's that kind of, I'm not even happy that I'm crying.

  • I hate this emotion, and it's just like

  • but I have to give it.

  • So that's the struggle, there has to be some conflict there.

  • So what's next for you, apart from running the world?

  • - (laughs)

  • So yeah, no, what's next is it's all downhill.

  • - What do you wanna do, though?

  • Where do you, like, the world is your oyster, bro,

  • like real talk, like, you are just...

  • - Oh, man.

  • - Like you have got the juice.

  • - (laughs)

  • Wow, man, that was filmed, right?

  • I have Daniel Kaluuya saying that to me now, right?

  • - So it's just like, what are you doing at the moment?

  • What do you wanna do? What do you aspire, like...

  • - I don't know, you know,

  • it's, I don't know if you have this experience, too,

  • where it's, you know, things have been going very well,

  • and I feel like I have to suffocate the moment

  • with appreciation or something,

  • really sit in it, and it's tough because

  • um, I don't know, not tough, these are great things,

  • - No, it is tough bro.

  • - It's weird.

  • - If you find it tough, it's tough.

  • - Yeah, it is what it is,

  • everyone's entitled to their...

  • - Yeah, cuz it's just, like,

  • you're just navigating a new space.

  • - That's what it feels like.

  • And also, I don't want to, it's tough,

  • because I don't want it to be the kind of thing where,

  • cuz I even watch things I did when I was 19, and at 21,

  • I go, "Man, I'm so thankful

  • that I have two years now on that."

  • - Yeah.

  • - I just know I'm going to watch things

  • four, five years from now and go,

  • "Oh, man, I was clueless."

  • - Yeah.

  • Or, God forbid, I'm like "Those are the glory years!"

  • - (Laughs)

  • - And now I'm all washed up,

  • so I just wanna work, it's just

  • good directors, good projects, important storytelling,

  • the way, beyond any sort of academic evaluation of

  • "Call Me By Your Name," what's so sick

  • is the way people react to it,

  • like visceral reactions to it,

  • like the monologue you reference,

  • and so like people will come up to me and say,

  • "I never had that father, and as a gay man,

  • if I'd had that father, my life would have been easier,"

  • and things like that.

  • So that's the goal, is to keep doing things like that.

  • And you know, it's fun being in L.A.,

  • we were talking about this earlier,

  • but it's a weird place out here,

  • it's not London, it's not New York.

  • [Psychedelic Furs' "Love My Way"]

  • Love my way, it's a new road

  • ♪ I follow where my mind goes

  • - So, okay, so there's "Get Out,"

  • and you have the bigger movies that are coming too,

  • and is there a goal for something else to do?

  • Are you taking it a day at a time?

  • Are you riding the wave?

  • Like, what's the philosophy?

  • And, actually, give me some advice, here,

  • because you lead the way a little bit.

  • - Oh, thanks, bro.

  • I kinda just feel like I did "Get Out"

  • not cuz it was big, but because I believed in it.

  • So, and it happened to do that it did.

  • I think I've got populist sensibilities,

  • - Hmm.

  • - Just growing up, I didn't grow up in the industry,

  • and I love high-brow cinema, and like, art-house cinema,

  • so I always would look for both,

  • and ideally look for both in the same project,

  • someone that knows what they're doing,

  • so I kinda just, like, listen if I feel it,

  • if I feel it, then I feel it.

  • Then my friends will feel it, too,

  • cuz I'm around my friends.

  • - Mm-hmm.

  • - Do you know what I mean?

  • I just want to make stuff for my friends.

  • - Dude, this is, I want to be friends with your friends.

  • - I want my friends to go,

  • "Oh, like, I really enjoyed that."

  • Or, like, stuff that your mum would go,

  • "Oh, yeah, I really liked that."

  • Do you know what I mean?

  • Cuz she watched... and she loved it.

  • - As opposed to...

  • - It's gotta be doing something for, like, to serve.

  • You're there to serve, do you know what I mean?

  • And so, for me, it's just like that,

  • on the page, do I feel it?

  • And then, if the director, I'm very lucky

  • that I've been working with people

  • that I'm a fan of them already.

  • - Mm-hmm.

  • - Like I was watching the film,

  • I was watching "Black Panther" anyway,

  • - Right.

  • like I don't how I managed to be in it.

  • So it's just like, just keep...

  • - And that's a good feeling, it's not intimidating?

  • - Yeah, no, just keep doing that, and like,

  • and being present.

  • Cuz sometimes I may feel like I wanna do this,

  • and it may be right to do a musical or whatever,

  • cuz I grew up...

  • - Oh my gosh, are you doing a musical now?

  • - No, I'm not doing a musical.

  • (upbeat rock music with piano)

(upbeat music)

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