Check our our interviews from the red carpet at the Gotham Awards.
Lucas Hedges (Manchester By The Sea)
Congratulations. It’s a really amazing performance. Tell me about getting into this kid’s head.
Okay. A lot of getting into his head was almost getting out of my head. There’s really no difference between Patrick and me. Patrick just is a kid who wants to be loved by his uncle. That’s something I can relate to simply by just standing in my body. Just getting out of my head and any idea I had about him, I was able to get into his head and into his story.
How was working with Casey?
Casey is the man. Casey is probably the coolest guy I’ve ever met in my life. It was genuinely very intimidating working with him because: Boston actor, I had to do a Boston accent. He ended up being an incredibly loving and caring man, and actually ended up saving my performance one day because he demanded that the producers give me more time on a scene that they said we had to stop because we ran out of time. He gave me the time and the result was we got the take. I owe a lot to him.
There’s so much humor in this movie given how serious and tragic it is, how did you work that out with Casey? Both of you have great chemistry. Did you rehearse a lot? How did that happen?
I think the beauty of Kenny’s scripts are that if you play them, if you literally played the scenes, the story unfolds. We almost didn’t even need to create a backstory, that’s just how brilliant Kenny is. The story is woven into the words and into the flow of the story. Simply by being present the chemistry unfolded.
How are you like your character?
I’m like him in that I just want to be loved. I want to love and be loved, and that’s what Patrick wants. That’s fundamentally what he wants.
Sasha Lane (American Honey)
Congrats on being nominated tonight. What does that mean to you?
So much. I’m very appreciative of it, you know? It’s like, wow. That consideration is very special.
How was working on the film? You kind of got discovered, I read, in the street?
Crazy. Very bizarre. It’s very overwhelming, I just constantly am saying, “Wow.” You know? This is extra special, because I never would have thought this would ever happen, you know? It’s really nice.
How did you hear that you were nominated?
I think I just started getting a lot of emails, and someone tagged me in something, and I just remember texting my manager and being like, “Is this real? What do you mean?” Yeah, so more of just like it was thrown in my face, and I was like, “Oh, wow. Wow.” Yeah.
You’ve got several movies coming up!
Some are in the works, and yeah, I just finished wrapping one. Just did a short as well, so yeah. It’s been going really well.
Tell us about a few of those that you’re excited about?
I think the really special one’s “Miseducation of Cameron Post,” and I think it’s really important right now. We’re at a gay conversion camp. It was all female directors, DP’s, writers. That was really special. The short I did was such a beautiful shoot, and the message … They’re all just really passionate projects. Things I’ve got to walk away from and feel really good about, and I don’t know what’s going to happen for the next films, but if I get to walk away feeling good about them as well, then that’s all I’ve asked for.
Whit Stillman (Love & Friendship)
It’s such a beautiful movie. It moved so fast. Would you talk about the pacing?
Yeah, that was really cool. You know, it’s interesting, because Amazon didn’t finance this film. They just bought it for the United States and gave it to Roadside. But I’d done a pilot with Amazon and those TV people really told me how to make things tight and, “You need this line? Why have this line?” So, I was in their sort of psychology. And we found that with music we really could help the rhythm of the movie. Because sometimes in a comedy, it sort of slows down the pacing for a laugh. But in this case, we could keep the pacing going, with those carriages and horses running around, and really great rhythmic music from the Baroque era, so it really helped us a lot.
I loved the minimalism of the film. The focus is on the language and the costumes.
Yeah, but there are some beautiful locations.
But Kate Beckinsale, evidently, you were thinking, about this for ten years.
I was working on it for twelve years or more. And when I first started thinking about it, one reason I thought it could be a good film is I thought an actress like Kate Beckinsale could really be good in this. But she was much too young then. And we actually had another actress who was going to do it, and last minute didn’t, and it gave us the opportunity to take it to Kate, which was a godsend. She’s been fantastic.
I can’t imagine anyone else doing it.
She’s been fantastic.
I’m a big fan of your films, but I don’t want to wait ten years for your next film.
Yeah, me neither; me neither; me neither.
So, are you working on something now?
I was working on all kinds of things, and I didn’t realize how bad it was. I think people, looking at my situation, realized how bad it was, but I didn’t. Because there’s always a location scout or casting for something that’s about to happen. It’s this illusion. You’re just about to do something and then it doesn’t happen. And I’ve noticed a lot of other directors do have some pretty big gaps so six or seven years happens a lot. Twelve years, not so much.
Judith Light (Gotham Appreciation Award)
Congratulations on this honor. Tell me what it means to be celebrated by IFP, right here in New York?
This is always going to be my city. It means everything to me. It’s like I said, this is probably the greatest honor, if not one of the greatest honors I’ve ever received. When you love a place so much, and it feeds you artistically, and in your life, and then that subsequently feeds your work, it’s not just … It holds a very special place in my heart.
David Oyelowo (Presenter)
Everyone is excited about Othello. What can you share?
Yeah, well that’s nice to hear. Yeah, we are up and running now. We’re in the middle of our previews, and it’s going incredibly well. It’s a bear of show. I did two of them yesterday so it’s kind of a miracle that I’m standing, but it’s going well.
What are you discovering about yourself doing such theater?
I’m discovering that I’m not twenty-one any more. (laughter) My body is telling me that’s not the case. I knew that when I did this play I wanted it to be something that felt, every night, felt like the one and only performance of this play. It should feel devastating. It should feel like it’s ir-repeatable. It should make the audience crawl out of the theater having experienced something and so far I think we’re doing that.
How about Daniel Craig?
He is phenomenal in this, and he is a truly astounding actor. I mean I knew that before going in, but he as Iago is quite something to behold, and he’s a complete joy.
The evening was presented by deep euphoria Calvin Klein, Fiji Water & Landmark Vineyards.
