Interviews

Interview: George Clooney, Julia Roberts and the cast of Ticket To Paradise

Putting together two of the biggest movie stars is always going to come with a certain electric dynamic.  When it’s George Clooney and Julia Roberts? Chaos! And that’s meant in the best possible way. Ahead of the release of their anticipated romantic comedy reunion Ticket To Paradise, where they play a duo of exes who…

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Interview: Director Brett Morgen on his David Bowie documentary Moonage Daydream; “Chaos and fragmentation were his through line”

Moonage Daydream is not a documentary.  It is a genre-defying cinematic experience based on one of the most iconic and global rock stars of all time: David Bowie. Directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Brett Morgen, director of Cobain: Montage of Heck, and featuring never-before-seen concert footage, Moonage Daydream is an immersive cinematic experience; an audio-visual space…

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Interview: Director Daniel Roher on controversial political documentary Navalny; “It’s really important that the world remembers that not all Russians are evil”

In August 2020, Alexei Navalny, the leader of the Russian opposition was poisoned with a lethal nerve agent in an assassination attempt.  In the months following, the shocking revelations about the attempt on his life came to light during his road to recovery, a process that was captured by award-winning director Daniel Roher in his…

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Interview: Jena Malone on the real-life awareness behind adult adoption in new film Adopting Audrey

Fired from her seventh job in two years and estranged from her family, Audrey (Jena Malone) is restless and dwells in a distinctly modern solitude, relying on YouTube for companionship. After falling down a video rabbit hole, she discovers the world of adult adoption and decides to try it herself in hopes of finding a…

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Interview: Australian director Samuel Gay on his decade-long passion project A Guide to Dating at the End of the World

Brisbane, 3.15am, Sunday March 28th, 2010; A single woman survives the apocalypse only to be reacquainted with her blind date from hell.   Based on true events. Kind of. A Guide To Dating At The End Of The World tells the story of a single woman who survives the apocalypse only to be reacquainted with her…

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Interview: Orphan: First Kill director William Brent Bell on “brutal” horror fans, specific casting and executing the perfect plot twist

When you talk of iconic horror characters, we usually think of Halloween‘s Michael Myers, Friday the 13th‘s Jason Vorhees or Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street.  But what about a demented little orphan who goes by the name of Esther? In 2009’s Orphan, Isabelle Fuhrman and director Jaume Collet-Sera created a new age…

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Interview: Idris Elba and the cast and crew of Beast on calibrating fear and shooting in South Africa

As their nail-biting thriller Beast gears up to roar into Australian cinemas this week (you can read our review here), Idris Elba, co-stars Sharlto Copley, Leah Jeffries and Iyana Halley, director Baltasur Kormákur, and producer Will Packer spoke with our own Peter Gray about creating a familial bond on set, working on location in South…

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Interview: Director Rebekah McKendry on her philosophical scarer Glorious

The pandemic gave many a creative time to think as so much of the entertainment industry faced an uncertain future. For director Rebekah McKendry through, it played into her favour. Presented with a unique, near-singular-set horror film that mused on philosophy and existentialism, Glorious seemed like an idea born from a world that was unsure…

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Interview: Tyler Atkins on writing and directing Bosch & Rockit; “I wanted it to be a raw piece of Australian cinema.”

When you meet Tyler Atkins you’re immediately aware you’re in the presence of someone calm, intelligent, and confident in their own surroundings.  But, as Peter Gray learned, it took some time to get to that place for the Australian filmmaker, especially within the crafting of his feature debut, Bosch & Rockit. After first meeting earlier…

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Director Sophie Hyde on Good Luck To You, Leo Grande; “I think we’ve seen really limited stuff on sex work.”

An award-winning director, producer, writer, and founding member of the film collective Closer Productions, Australian filmmaker Sophie Hyde is a force to be reckoned with.  She’s also incredibly delightful, as our own Peter Gray discovered when chatting with her for the forthcoming release of her latest feature, Good Luck To You, Leo Grande. An intimate…

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Interview: Kat Graham on her intense role in ensemble thriller Collide; “It is therapeutic to see a character fight back”

Chronicling three couples over the course of one fateful night in an LA restaurant, Collide is a gripping new thriller from writer/director Mukunda Michael Dewil. Ahead of the film’s On Demand release in the United States, Peter Gray spoke with one of the film’s stars, actress and singer Kat Graham, about her intense turn as…

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Interview: Brandon Perea on Jordan Peele altering the script of Nope for him; “I’m glad I was able to inspire enough”

Not every actor can claim that a script was re-written to tailor to their talents.  Especially not one from an Academy Award winning scribe like Jordan Peele.  And not for an actor that is yet to be a household name. But this was the case for rising talent Brandon Perea (Netflix’s The OA), whose breakthrough…

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Interview: Director Jordan Peele and the cast of Nope – Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer and Steven Yeun

Following the commercial and critical success of both Get Out and Us, audiences have now come to expect genre greatness from comedian-turned-horror-auteur Jordan Peele. Adopting his own fresh spin on the classic UFO subgenre of science-fiction-leaning horror, Peele’s latest opus Nope is looking to soar into Australian cinemas this week, but, to be expected, all…

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Interview: Director David Leitch on fusing the action and broad comedy of Bullet Train; “Bigger doesn’t always mean bad”

Having cut his teeth as a stunt performer for stars such as Jean Claude Van Damme and Brad Pitt over the years, David Leitch knew what it took to perfect the action stakes when he took on the role as genre director. Following a co-directing stint on the first John Wick film, before graduating to…

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Interview: Robert Patrick on respecting the acting process when making What Josiah Saw

One of the most recognisable presences within film, Robert Patrick has been dominating the screen with his oft-villainous and authoritative roles for nearly four decades now. Best known for his turn as T-2 in the groundbreaking Terminator 2: Judgement Day, as well as such films as Cop Land, Charlies Angels: Full Throttle, Walk the Line,…

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Interview: Brianne Tju on making Gone in the Night, the comfort of the horror genre, and the “beautiful experience” of working with Winona Ryder

Quickly earning the title of “new generation scream queen” is something that Brianne Tju seems to be wholeheartedly embracing, and her continued foray into the darker subsects of the genre are only further cementing her status. Having slashed and screamed her way through the streaming series’ of both Scream and I Know What You Did…

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Interview: Australian filmmaker Kriv Stenders on directing Lee Kernaghan’s concert film Boy From The Bush; “His story is still being told”

Part concert film and part road movie celebrating the life and music of multi-award winning and much loved Australian country music artist Lee Kernaghan, Boy From The Bush is a unique and personal insight into one of the country’s most celebrated artists. Ahead of the film’s local release, Peter Gray spoke with its director, Kriv…

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Interview: Director Andrew Traucki on changing the expected narrative of his shark thriller The Reef: Stalked

Having directed the landmark 2010 shark thriller The Reef and the similarly themed Blackwater and Blackwater: Abyss, Andrew Traucki is no stranger when it comes to navigating the murky waters of the creature feature. However, for the upcoming sequel The Reef: Stalked, the acclaimed director wanted to do more than just retread similar water, instead…

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Interview: Ethan Hawke on embracing his horrific character in The Black Phone; “The unknown is where a lot of the fear lives”

It would seem in Hollywood, the nicer you are, the more evil you’re able to play.  So, it would make sense that Ethan Hawke, continually referred to as one of the industry’s nicest guys, would excel so at portraying the embodiment of terror. Reuniting with his Sinister director Scott Derrickson, Hawke’s portrayal of child abductor…

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Interview: The Black Phone stars Mason Thames and Madeleine McGraw on navigating emotion and levity on a horror set

Are you ready to answer the call? Arriving in Australian cinemas this week (you can read our review here), The Black Phone is the latest horror outing from acclaimed genre director Scott Derrickson, a supernaturally inclined chiller about a sadistic child killer (dubbed “The Grabber”) whose latest victim turns the tables on him when the…

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Interview: Craig Roberts on directing The Phantom of the Open: “I didn’t want to make a little British kitchen-sink drama”

For the past decade-or-so, Welsh actor/writer/director Craig Roberts has made sure that his career could never be pigeonholed.  The darker aspects of comedy have often been his exploration as a filmmaker, having penned and directed the acclaimed duo of 2015’s Just Jim and 2019’s Eternal Beauty, whilst as an actor he’s just as likely to…

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Interview: The Phantom of the Open writer Simon Farnaby on celebrating “The world’s worst golfer” and what inspires his comedic musings

A writer and performer whose resume boasts such acclaimed works as The Mighty Boosh, Horrible Histories, and both Paddington films, Simon Farnaby and the comedy genre practically go hand-in-hand. For his latest big screen outing, the English creative is adapting his own work, bringing his musings on infamous golfer Maurice Flitcroft to life with The…

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Interview: Catherine Martin on her love of design and the inclusive story behind Elvis

When you walk into a room to interview Catherine Martin, a production and costume designer with no less than four Academy Awards to her name (fun fact, she’s the most awarded Australian in Oscar history), you know you’ve chosen the correct shirt when it kicks off an enthusiastic conversation about its origins; to set the…

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Interview: Actress Olivia DeJonge on playing Priscilla Presley in Elvis; “The crux of this (film) is love”

To say the excitement in the air was palpable when walking the hotel halls during the Australian press junket of Elvis would be describing it mildly.  As director Baz Luhrmann enthusiastically boasted about the late nights had in the lead-up to the film’s premiere, and Tom Hanks so endearingly noting the hotel as “groovy” as…

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Interview: Schuyler Weiss on producing Elvis and his collaborative relationship with Baz Luhrmann

Arriving in Australian cinemas this week (you can read our review here) hot off its history-making reception at the Cannes Film Festival, Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis brings the life of the king of rock ‘n’ roll to the big screen in predictably lavish fashion. Talking with our own Peter Gray at the Australian premiere, the film’s…

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Film Review: Jurassic World Dominion further removes itself from the organic DNA of the original series

To paraphrase the Queen Bee of 2004, Mean Girls‘ Regina George, “Stop trying to make dinosaurs happen!” Though the love for legacy sequels is at an all-time high thanks to the recent 1-2 hit of Top Gun: Maverick and Scream, the Jurassic Park/Jurassic World continuation fails to continue the trend, further removing itself from the…

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Interview: Alex Liu on his documentary A Sexplanation; “Rather than living in that angst, I decided to talk about it”

As his topical documentary A Sexplanation arrives for digital download in Australia (you can read our review here), creator Alex Liu spoke with our own Peter Gray about exploring the hardships of addressing such a controversial subject as sex education, how his own coming out was the catalyst for the film, and the surprising reaction…

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Interview: Director Colin Trevorrow, Chris Pratt and the cast of Jurassic World: Dominion on ending the franchise

The end of two eras comes to a close this week as Jurassic World: Dominion roars into theatres, finalising both the original Jurassic Park and World trilogies that have seen dinosaurs roam the Earth for close to three decades. Ahead of the film’s release, Peter Gray was invited to the global press conference to speak…

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Interview: Sean Patrick Flanery and producer Allen Gilmer on directorial debuts and the unconventional writing of road thriller Frank & Penelope

As an actor, Sean Patrick Flanery has amassed more than 100 credits over a three decade-long career.  Best known for his work in such acclaimed titles as Powder, The Boondock Saints, and the upcoming season of Amazon’s The Boys, Flanery is now turning his attention behind the camera for Frank & Penelope, a road movie-cum-cult…

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Interview: Director Baltasar Kormákur on placing Idris Elba in danger for new action film, Beast

From the endangerment of Mark Wahlberg’s family in Contraband to the singular distress of Shailene Woodley’s nautical nightmare in Adrift, Baltasar Kormákur is a director no stranger to the utilisation of squeezing the most out of his genre films and placing his players in grave danger. For his latest effort, the Icelandic filmmaker is heading…

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