00:00 Does anyone have any classic movies that they have pretended to have seen?
00:07 I'm willing to...
00:10 I haven't seen "The Winter Soldier."
00:14 That's an error.
00:16 It's fine.
00:17 I loved working with Adam on my last film.
00:24 I thought he was amazing in that film, but I think people
00:28 thought that he was playing a version of himself.
00:31 He plays a kind of shy character,
00:34 which is not at all like Adam.
00:38 So I felt maybe his performance was underrated in a way
00:41 because they didn't see that it was actually a very nuanced performance.
00:44 So I had this idea to write a role that was the opposite end of the spectrum,
00:51 this very gregarious character,
00:55 and show this other side of Adam.
00:58 So that was an early inspiration for the film.
01:02 Did you feel the same way, like,
01:04 "Oh, I want to show people that that was actually not like me"?
01:08 Well, I think the end game for any actor
01:13 is to be able to show as much range as they can.
01:16 And of course, with any role,
01:18 you tap into the bits of the character that you identify with
01:22 and exaggerate those.
01:24 But it's also far removed from other stereotypes
01:29 and other kinds of roles that actors like myself
01:32 and other disabled actors get offered,
01:34 something that was out there, gregarious, successful.
01:38 And what I liked about the character and the way it came across on paper
01:43 is that the disability is rarely mentioned, if at all.
01:47 Sebastian, how did this come to you?
01:51 Did you guys know each other? How did that...?
01:54 My agent just loved Chain for Life
01:58 and sent me the script to end the movie
02:00 and said, "You really should look at this filmmaker and the script."
02:05 And then I just immediately, when I saw his film and then I read it,
02:09 I recognized how different it was, obviously, for many, many reasons,
02:15 but also how important and how something like this doesn't usually--
02:19 it just doesn't get made, and it certainly doesn't come to me.
02:23 And so then I felt more really in pursuit of him and Vanessa,
02:28 his wife and producing partner,
02:31 and really trying to make sure I am understanding what he's after.
02:35 What felt most different for you in production of this film
02:39 and in making it on set versus stuff you've done before?
02:43 I mean, everything.
02:46 [laughter]
02:47 Everything about it.
02:49 We were, again, a very low-budgeted movie
02:53 that we were shooting in New York City for, I get the days-- 22 days?
02:57 - Two days. - 22 days, and it was COVID.
03:01 There was a lot of things, and there was a timing issue.
03:05 There was a prosthetics piece to it that I'd never really encountered
03:08 that was important to find, and there was not a lot of time to get these shots.
03:13 And he was very specific with how he wanted to make this movie.
03:17 We were in this tiny apartment with dollies and tracking shots and stuff,
03:23 and so everybody on that movie, all the crews,
03:26 had to just be on top of their game, and also 'cause he's doing one takes,
03:31 which was incredible 'cause it keeps all of us on our toes.
03:36 And when it goes, it's amazing, but all it takes is one little thing to not--
03:40 it takes one sound person or just one thing to kind of screw up the take on film,
03:48 which also you don't get a lot of takes, so the anxiety level was pretty high.
03:52 But when you get it, and when it works, it's just the most unbelievable feeling.
03:58 You just feel gratified and unified.
04:00 I just had to accept the nervousness.
04:03 It was my first English-speaking movie, or outside Norway at all,
04:08 and yeah, I didn't know it was one takes, one shots,
04:14 and it was a lot of text.
04:16 It was very intimidating.
04:17 I said to Aaron early on, I was like, "I really want to speak to Adam,"
04:22 and he was very kind and gracious to be very candid with me
04:26 about his experience in growing up and so on,
04:28 and I was like, "I'm never going to understand how to approach this."
04:32 But he brought up this point, which I never would have thought,
04:35 which was like, "Look, you understand what it's like to be a public figure, right?
04:39 To some extent, like if you're recognized for public property."
04:43 And that I understand, and it's not--I've had my little--
04:47 very different, but some experience with just the invasion of that,
04:51 and the public property idea here was really interesting.
04:55 I hadn't thought about that.
04:56 that.
04:58 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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