Rayburn is a real survivalist, with a well-earned reputation for hunting and trapping. Do you have any of those skills yourself?
NCW: I have hunted, myself. I’ve always liked the outdoors. But Rayburn has a very specific way of surviving. He used a bottle of Jack Daniels to get through the day. I’ve never done that. Obviously, this is a story about a guy who was already pretty messed up—but losing his daughter five years before the movie starts has completely derailed him. That’s a good starting point for an actor, if you can start somewhere extreme.
It’s hard to imagine how things could get much worse for him, but they do.
NCW: At least he has a dog. There’s always dogs!
And Hero, I hope you won’t take this as an insult, but you don’t seem like you’d be the first name on the list to play a mumbly, drug-addicted Minnesota teenager.
HFT: It was so nice to do a role that was so different from the role in After. Even being a supporting role, with such a great cast…After is, you know, just me and [Josephine Langford], and it’s both of our first movies. So to go and act with Nikolaj and Annabelle [Wallis]—in a completely different role that fit perfectly into the schedule—was just a dream come true. It was quite short notice, actually, but it came together perfectly.
I’m not going to spoil anything, but it’s safe to say Brooks has some demons. How did you work your way into the headspace of a guy with so much trauma?
HFT: Some roles are relatable emotions you’re portraying, and that one is less so, for me. So I did some research on childhood trauma, and how that affects your behavior. Opioid prescriptions and drug issues—that was something I definitely had to educate myself on beforehand.
But that’s the fun of the job, isn’t it? That’s the heart of acting, when you’re trying to do something further from you. When it calls for more. When they put you in makeup, and paint your teeth brown…
The brown teeth were a very nice touch.
HFT: People were kind of hesitant, coming off After, to give me a black eye and browned teeth. And I was like, “Go for it, guys! Let’s do it!” It was [director] Robin Pront’s suggestion, and I really like the look we came up with.
Between Brooks, Hardin Scott, and the young Voldemort, you seem like you’re developing a knack for characters with a bit of a dark side. Is that the kind of role that appeals to you? Or is that just a coincidence?
HFT: I’m so early on that I don’t really know what my preference is yet. I like to do a bit of both. I guess you see what you’re better at, or what you’re more suited for. So far, it’s been less of the angelic characters. I definitely want to keep trying out both. I really don’t have a dream role. I’d love to smash something like Indiana Jones or James Bond, but there’s so many genres and movies I love. I don’t want to put myself in a position where I have something to go for, because I just know there’s so much value in all of the different roles I’d like to play.
Nikolaj, you mentioned that there was a small budget and a short window to film the movie. What was the most difficult thing about the shoot?
NCW: You just want to make sure that you get what you need. And that you enable your director to do what he wants to do. I very much believe that you have to support the director before you make any movie. But obviously, in big studio movies, there are a lot of other interests. One of the reasons I really like to do low-budget independent is that you can allow a director to do his thing.