Diane Kruger is a supremely talented leading lady who has worked with everyone from Wolfgang Petersen to Quentin Tarantino. In films including Inglourious Basterds and Troy, she has excelled in conveying both great strength and feminine guile. Ray Nicholson, on the other hand, is descended from Hollywood royalty, being the son of Oscar-winning big screen legend Jack Nicholson. He’s striking it out on his own with unique opportunities alongside cutting-edge directors like Emerald Fennell and Patricia Arquette.
In this latest collaboration with Neil LaBute, both actors dive into film noir staples to create something fresh. When they sat down with Martin Carr recently to talk about Out of the Blue, it became abundantly clear their reasons for jumping on board.
How did you both get involved in the project?
Diane Kruger: I was sent the script by Neil. I am a very big fan of his work as you can imagine and I was intrigued by that material because it’s such an homage to a time in cinema that I really love. It was also an opportunity to work with a great filmmaker, with excellent writing, and with a very specific tone.
Ray Nicholson: Very similarly, I came in kind of last minute, and I loved the material. I thought it was really sexy, really cool, and surprising. To work with Neil and Diane was a dream, I was just very happy to get the opportunity.
Having worked with Quentin Tarantino and Emerald Fennell respectively, what would you say are the benefits of a writer-director like Neil LaBute?
RN: Well, Neil and I have a really funny relationship; we are really good friends and talk almost every week. Immediately he understood me in a way that not a lot of people do. He was like, “what’s your least favorite direction” and I was like “when someone tells me to be myself and have more fun.” That is literally the only direction he gave me the entire time [laughs].
RN: He made it light, and he understood where I was in my career, and just made it feel easy and fun. Not kind of this daunting thing like, “Oh my god, I am working with Neil LaBute and Diane Kruger.” He allowed me to show up and just explore it.
DK: Neil’s a very unpretentious director, he’s not precious with his words either, even though he’s obviously a meticulous writer. He’s like a big teddy bear at times, he’s very open to suggestions. He has a very particular tone to his writing, so it does feel like he knows what he is talking about.
My instinct would always be to refer to his direction just because he knows the material so well. I have worked with a lot of directors who didn’t write the material, but they still own it, but I think by the time you take something on you have to. It’s lovely to know that if you have a concern, whatever he comes out with to change, will be equally good in terms of the writing.
There is a deep love of film noir which runs through the movie, how did that come through in your collaborations with Neil on these characters?
DK: When I first read it, we had our first Zoom meeting. I did ask him “Why do you want to make this movie? it’s not like this movie hasn’t existed before.” And he said that’s the point; we are not getting to make these kinds of films anymore. It’s OK to know what is going to happen, it lets you in on the knowledge that this is a genre you have seen before. It doesn’t take itself seriously. I was missing the point. I guess that is going to be the challenge: you either get that, or you are missing the point.
RN: The thing that I loved about Neil is also that he’s not pretentious. A lot of writers that don’t have even close to his pedigree are married to their words, and he’s like “whatever” [laughs]. To be able, as a young actor, to talk to him about a character and say “No, I don’t want to know that, you can keep that secret.” There was no choice that was wrong and we would talk constantly throughout the day.
DK:Â You were talking a lot [laughs].
RN: Constantly, I just wanted to pick his brain. One of the things he really instilled in me was “I don’t know what is going on. I don’t know how this is going to turn out, you hope that you do.” It was that “not married to it,” letting the filmmaking process unfold and letting the thing develop, it was really cool. It really impacted the way I look at my craft now and the way that I look at things. It was such a wonderful opportunity, to be able to talk and joke around with him all day.
As actors, is it the character or potential collaboration which draws you to a project?
DK:Â Now that I have more experience, it depends. I have definitely taken on projects where I love the character, and I wasn’t so sure that I was going to get along and love the director if that makes sense. I felt it was worthwhile to get to play something that was different. Sometimes you love a director so much, and the end result is not that great, but that’s OK too because you had a great time while making it.
The best of both worlds is when those things happen, I have actually had that happen very rarely, maybe a couple of times in my career. Those are real moments that you always remember because you do feel like you have created something and it feels above and beyond just showing up for work, and it becomes something else.
RN: So much of movie making is elusive. Of course, if I have the opportunity to work with a great director, of course, I want to do that. If I have an opportunity to work with a great actor that I admire, I want to do that. Sometimes when you feel terrible doing something it ends up being great, and sometimes when it feels great it’s not as good. The safest bet is always when you are working with a great director, who has vision and something to say.
RN: Like we were saying, taking this classic noir and re-purposing it in a new way without taking away from the root of what it is and putting in special effects. There is still this old way of filmmaking, this old way of taking a movie and putting it with new people, new times, a new world.
RN: That’s what I admired about Neil, by not reinventing the wheel he did something really special. It was a privilege to work with Diane and Neil; that’s all you want from an experience is to grow as a human being.
Describe for me your perfect Sunday afternoon?
RN: My perfect Sunday afternoon. I don’t know if you can hear this, but my dog is snoring, and he’s looking at me. I can see his face, he’s pretending like he’s not looking at me and paying attention, but he’s snoring [laughs]. I would say it starts out with a nice breakfast, go out in the sun, read, maybe drink something nice, hang out with my dog, let him lick me, you know, very simple. I’m a very simple guy [laughs].
DK: [laughs] Before I had children, that would have been my perfect Sunday too, just change the dog for a cat. Now I wish I could sleep till eight in the morning, instead of seven-thirty, that would be a perfect Sunday [laughs].
Out Of The Blue is in theaters Aug. 26th.
Published: Aug 22, 2022 03:40 pm