Interviews

Interview: Clayton Watson on playing Kid in The Matrix franchise and keeping himself grounded throughout his career; “Be centred and be still, especially in front of the lens”

Clayton Watson may be most familiar to audiences as he appears above, but the actor, best known as Kid from the Matrix sequels Reloaded and Revolutions, is so much more. Returning to Sydney to attend the preview screening of The Matrix Resurrections (you can read our review here), Watson engaged with our own Peter Gray…

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Interview: Director Joachim Trier on the messy process of creating The Worst Person in the World

A shortlisted title for Best International Feature at next year’s Academy Awards and currently sitting 100% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, The Worst Person in the World is undoubtedly one of this year’s most celebrated films.  After a successful run at film festivals across the globe, it arrives in Australian cinemas on Boxing Day. To coincide…

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Interview: The Matrix Resurrections production designer Hugh Bateup on working with The Wachowskis and executing their unique vision

Are you ready for another trip down the rabbit hole? The Matrix Resurrections (you can read our review here) is returning such iconic characters as Neo and Trinity to the technological fray, with visionary director Lana Wachowski further suspending her audience’s perception of reality. With such intricate and expansive design sprawled across the screen, Wachowski…

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Interview: Rodarte designers Kate and Laura Mulleavy on creating costumes for Sing 2

As world-famous designers and founders of acclaimed brand Rodarte, sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy have been at the forefront of fashion since the label’s inception.  Not just content dominating their own avenue, the sisters have branched out into the world of film, both as designers creating pieces for the Oscar-winning Black Swan and as directors…

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Interview: Neil Patrick Harris, Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Jessica Henwick on The Matrix Resurrections

Nearly 20 years after it was released, The Matrix still remains a culturally relevant blueprint for which other genre films are based on.  Breaking boundaries and expectations in the decades since, with such bold efforts as Cloud Atlas and Jupiter Ascending, director Lana Wachowski has returned to the very IP that launched a phenomenon with…

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Interview: Sing 2 director Garth Jennings on classic comedy, dream casting and working with a “melting pot of creativity”

Having a background in live-action comedy films has evidently paid off for director Garth Jennings with his animated aspirations.  The acclaimed helmer of such features as The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and Son of Rambow, Jennings moved into animated fare with 2016’s jukebox-musical success Sing. Now back to reunite his scrappy crew of musical…

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Interview: Isabelle Fuhrman on training for The Novice and revisiting her role in Orphan; “You don’t realise what you’re biting off until it’s really hard to chew”

Winner of Best Narrative Feature and Best Actress at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, as well as recently earning nominations for Best Feature, Best Director, and Best Actress at the Independent Spirit Awards, The Novice, director Lauren Hadaway, and actress Isabelle Fuhrman are more than receiving their fair share of accolades for one of this…

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Interview: Australian author Aaron Blabey on pitching The Bad Guys as “Tarantino for kids”; “The challenge was finding filmmakers that understood that”

To coincide with the release of the trailer for the anticipated animated action film The Bad Guys from Dreamworks Pictures, based on Australian author Aaron Blabey‘s #1 New York Times best selling series, our Peter Gray chatted with the writer himself about where the books originated from, pitching a “Tarantino film for kids”, and how…

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Interview: Australian filmmakers the Spierig Brothers on the 20th anniversary of their cult horror hit Undead; “There’s something to be said about leaving directors alone to go and make their movie”

Before making waves in the horror genre with such box office successes and critical winners as Daybreakers, Predestination, and Jigsaw, German-born, Australian-raised brothers Michael and Peter Spierig pooled their talent, connections and coins together for Undead.  Originally released in 2003, the low-budget Australian zombie thriller was an homage to the B-grade horror entries of the…

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Interview: Dear Evan Hansen director Stephen Chbosky on adapting the stage musical and the isolating feeling of making a film during the pandemic

A coming-of-age stage musical that won immediate critical acclaim from its opening in 2015, Dear Evan Hansen‘s inevitable stage-to-screen adaptation was always going to be a mammoth task to whichever filmmaker dared to take it on.  For Stephen Chbosky, it was a challenge he tackled with open arms. As the film arrives in Australian cinemas…

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Interview: Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn writer/director Radu Jude on filming through the pandemic and embracing bad behaviour in his storytelling

There are few films that take your breath away in such a graphic fashion as Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn.  The Romanian black comedy (you can read our review here) is now screening in select Australian cinemas, and to coincide with its release our own Peter Gray got to chat with the film’s writer…

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Interview: James Marsden on recording The Boss Baby sequel during a pandemic; “I made a makeshift studio with duvets and pillows”

Four years after an infant Alec Baldwin steered Dreamworks’ The Boss Baby to over half a billion dollars at the global box office and an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated feature, the troublesome tyke is back in The Boss Baby: Family Business, and he’s bringing his household along for the ride. Joining Baldwin and…

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Interview: Last Night In Soho‘s Thomasin McKenzie on collaborating with Edgar Wright, researching horror, and who she’d like to work with next

At just 21 years of age, New Zealand-born actress Thomasin McKenzie has amassed quite the career since her 2012 debut.  In the last few years alone she has worked with the likes of Taika Waititi (on the acclaimed Jojo Rabbit), M. Night Shyamalan (on his recent hit Old) and Jane Campion (The Power of the…

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Interview: Ray Liotta on playing a “Hollywood Dick” in The Many Saints of Newark; “One thing I don’t have is a calm intensity”

Ray Liotta has made a name for himself throughout his career portraying characters with a certain intense edge.  From Scorsese’s genre-defining Goodfellas, the psychological thriller Unlawful Entry, and the controversial Silence of the Lambs sequel Hannibal, the Golden Globe-nominated actor has made it a point to express his vigour on screen.  But for our Peter…

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Interview: Leslie Odom Jr. on the The Many Saints of Newark super secretive audition process & becoming a better actor

Since his Tony Award-winning role in Hamilton, Leslie Odom Jr. has had something of a meteoric rise.  Not content with just dominating the music and theatre scene, the New York-born actor is a wanted commodity on the big screen too, working with the likes of Kenneth Branagh, Kate Hudson, Orlando Bloom, and Judi Dench, to…

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Interview: The Many Saints of Newark director Alan Taylor on what he truly believes happened at the end of The Sopranos & auditioning James Gandolfini’s son

A writer and director known for his predominant television work, helming episodes for such lauded series as The Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire, and Game of Thrones, Alan Taylor is returning to the gangster-fuelled environment of David Chase’s Sopranos with The Many Saints of Newark, the anticipated prequel to the award-winning show.  Ahead of the film’s Australian…

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Interview: Jamie Lee Curtis and the cast of Halloween Kills on character dynamics, female representation and franchise emotionality

As Halloween Kills slices its way through Australian cinemas (you can read our review here), series scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis and fellow cast-members Andi Matichak, Anthony Michael Hall and Kyle Richards participated in a global press conference – which our own Peter Gray was invited to attend – to discuss the character dynamics formed in…

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Interview: Lair writer/director Adam Ethan Crow on making his first feature length horror film; “I think fans appreciate when they see something a bit different”

To coincide with the release of his horror film Lair, now available to rent or buy on DVD and digital in time for the spooky season, writer/director Adam Ethan Crow spoke with our own Peter Gray about his love of horror films, attempting something different to please the genre fans, and the rough seas travelled…

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Interview: Halloween Kills director David Gordon Green on how classic cinema inspired him and the pressure of taking on an iconic horror franchise

After pushing 2018’s sequel-cum-reboot Halloween to record breaking statistics, it only made sense that writer/director David Gordon Green was handed a sequel to continue revelling in Michael Myers’ carnage. Not only granted a sequel – Halloween Kills – but a trilogy (Halloween Ends, set for a 2022 release) to boot, Green expanded on the violent…

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Interview: The Black Phone writer/director Scott Derrickson on his love of the Horror genre and the importance of casting.

To coincide with the trailer launch of The Black Phone, the latest horror film from Blumhouse, detailing the abduction of a young boy who learns he is able to communicate with the voices of his captor’s previous victims through a disconnected black phone, Peter Gray chatted with the film’s director, Scott Derrickson, discussing the origins…

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Interview: Writer/director Simon Barrett on his film making debut Seance; “People who don’t like horror have no business making horror movies”

As the spooky season creeps towards its hallowed end, horror-centric streaming service Shudder is proving to be the gift that keeps on giving for genre fans the globe over.  With the recent release of the  supernatural scarer Seance (you can read our review here), our own Peter Gray got to chat with the film’s writer…

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Interview: Moneyboys director CB Yi on overcoming obstacles and the inspiration behind his visual aesthetic

As the Taiwan Film Festival in Australia continues to screen virtually for the country, our own Peter Gray contacted director CB Yi, whose film Moneyboys (read our review here) has been one of the festival’s premiere titles, to discuss the film’s origins and tackling the risky subject matter. How did the project originate? When I…

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Interview: David Arquette on wrestling, redemption, and surviving Scream; “I really wanted to find that balance of what’s human and what’s my personal struggle”.

The documentary You Cannot Kill David Arquette (read our review here) presents the titular actor in a manner many audiences will be unprepared for.  Opening himself up to the very masses that shamed him upon his attempt to infiltrate the world of wrestling, David Arquette‘s personal and professional struggles are laid out at the core…

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Interview: Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson on uncovering the lost footage for his documentary Summer of Soul

Best known as the drummer and joint frontman of Grammy Award winning hip-hop band The Roots, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson is adding to his already overflowing resume with the credit of director as his acclaimed documentary Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) releases across Australian cinemas.  Uncovering decades-lost footage of the…

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Interview: Siobhan Fallon Hogan on stepping out of her comedic comfort zone to tackle the American college rituals of hazing in Rushed

“Actors are egomaniacs, we need to be complimented at least once a day” It was that self-deprecating note that began a conversation between our Peter Gray and actress-turned-writer Siobhan Fallon Hogan for the film Rushed, a dramatic thriller marking the actress’s debut as a screenwriter.  Known for her more comedic stylings, seen in such efforts…

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Interview: Australian director Lara Köse and choreographer Zoee Marsh on collaborating for their short film, Red Passion

Created in partnership with Campari as part of its dedication in supporting local artists, Red Passion is a short film exploring the intersections of dance and film.  A trio of dancers expressing their evolution through solo, duet and ensemble pieces, the creative project from emerging Australian director Lara Köse and choreographer Zoee Marsh is now streaming…

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Interview: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Teyonah Parris on making Candyman; “There’s something tough about knowing the art we are making is in response to these violent patterns in the world”

Ahead of its theatrical release this week, Candyman stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Teyonah Parris sat down for a global discussion about the making of their horror reimagining.  Our own Peter Gray was invited to join in on the dialogue, asking about the research into their characters and why now is the perfect time for…

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Interview: Candyman writer/director Nia DaCosta and star Colman Domingo on finding the social commentary within the horror genre.

From August 26th, director Nia DaCosta and producer Jordan Peele dare a new generation of viewers to say one particular name; Candyman.  Ahead of the film’s release, our own Peter Gray was invited to join a roundtable panel with writer/director DaCosta and star Colman Domingo to discuss the important social commentary on racial trauma present…

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Interview: Hugh Jackman, Thandiwe Newton and Reminiscence writer and director Lisa Joy on the creation of a new futuristic world in cinema

Written and directed by Westworld co-creator Lisa Joy and starring Hugh Jackman, Thandiwe Newton and Rebecca Ferguson, Reminiscence is a mind-bending new thriller that asks the question of how far you would go to hold on to the ones you love? Speaking with our own Peter Gray ahead of the film’s release, Hugh, Thandiwe and…

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Interview: Australian YouTuber and professional gamer LazarBeam on being invited into the world of Free Guy

Having earned his prolific status in the gaming world through his commentary videos and comedic riffs, Australian YouTuber Lannan Eacott, aka LazarBeam, is upgrading his screen configuration to those of the theatres.  Earning his own credit among the likes of Ryan Reynolds, Jodie Comer, and Taika Waititi in the new virtual comedy Free Guy, LazarBeam…

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