Theo James & Oz Perkins Chat New Horror Comedy The Monkey

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Theo James & Oz Perkins Chat New Horror Comedy The Monkey  Report by Mccallumj. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn

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00:00Well, it was the first one I'd done, honestly,

00:02and I'd wanted to do one for a long time.

00:03And I wanted to do one that had intelligence and elevation

00:07to it, and Big Dog's the key guy to do that with,

00:10especially with those sweet nips.

00:13But yeah, I think it enables you to take risks, I think.

00:17And especially with a collaborator,

00:19where you feel comfortable to take big swings,

00:22that is a great space for an actor

00:24to be because you can try things and not feel

00:26judged if it doesn't work.

00:28You know what I mean?

00:29And I think that's a key space to be in,

00:31because it's easy to become self-conscious as an actor.

00:34It's easy if you have certain success in one sphere

00:37to think you have to always be that person

00:40or emulate that in another.

00:41And Nicolas Cage is a good example of someone

00:43who doesn't care in that way.

00:45And as a result, it creates really interesting choices,

00:48I think, and interesting performances

00:50that are very different in many ways.

00:53So I definitely think it affords that.

00:55We decided we were going to try to do it independently just

00:57because we felt, honestly, we felt

00:59like we had something original.

01:01And I know that sounds weird, but it's like,

01:03and not to decry studios by any means,

01:06because they do a lot of original stuff,

01:07but there's a needle to thread.

01:11When you're coming at something from a new point of view,

01:16someone's got to take a chance.

01:17And we didn't have anybody doing that on the studio side.

01:21And also, horror, comedy, those two words together

01:25are like nightmare words for studio executives.

01:28They hate those words together, because they're

01:30really hard to do, and they most of the time don't work.

01:34I think we did OK.

01:36Not to be too specific about it, but they sort of

01:38had another movie in their mind that was sort of testing well.

01:43And there's this thing in movies where

01:45they test with audiences, and everyone's sort of like,

01:47I think this is good.

01:48And then the studio's like, well,

01:49then it should be like that.

01:51I think in my early career, I got

01:53a little bit hampered by that, perhaps.

01:56And as an actor, you have less control over the product.

01:59Oz is the writer and director, so he can,

02:03as much as he would like to or hope to do,

02:05he can fashion something for a wider audience.

02:08I think if you're an actor and you're looking to do stuff

02:11for that purpose, it can be a path that

02:14can be a little bit dangerous.

02:15But certainly, it's good to do stuff that people see,

02:18because often you don't do things that people see.

02:20And you know, you blood, sweat, and tears into things.

02:24You're away from your kids and your family.

02:26So for them to be seen by people is hugely gratifying.

02:31But to have that as the main thing to go into a project,

02:34I guess, is a little bit dangerous.

02:36But beyond that, there's something highly satisfying,

02:38obviously, if people see it.

02:39The whole thing going into Long Legs was like,

02:41I think I do OK.

02:43I think I have an OK understanding

02:44of what a movie can be.

02:46It'd be nice if more people saw it.

02:47It'd be nice if I could feed my family better.

02:50It'd be nice if I could, like, it's like self-defense, right?

02:53Like, self-preservation.

02:54In an industry that's just like, rah,

02:57how am I going to connect in a way that

02:59makes me valuable to the money?

03:02And so with this, sort of the object

03:07was to make what felt like a Hollywood movie to me.

03:10It was supposed to feel much more like Zemeckis, or Landis,

03:12or even Spielberg, or Gremlins, Joe Dante,

03:16to have, like, a real, like, take your family.

03:18Like, sell four tickets instead of one weird loner

03:22going to see Long Legs.

03:24How about take your family to go see The Monkey?

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