Actor Jermaine Fowler talks to Fest Track about individualism, intent and genre in regards to the world premiere of his film "Terrestrial" playing the Cheval Noir section of the 2025 Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal, Quebec.
00:00You know, with Terrestrial, like a lot of the films that you're doing,
00:29and even one you're working on, I think probably now, it's the aspect of individualism and how capitalism intrudes on that.
00:39And Terrestrial, even within the genre, talks to that, you know, what our ambition is, how we show ourselves to people.
00:47Can you talk about finding that in Alan? Because it's multifaceted, without giving too much away, of course.
00:52Well, I would say when I first read the script, I really, there was something about Alan being this loner that I really connected to,
01:07especially when you're chasing your dreams, especially when you're on this journey.
01:11There was this quote that Will Smith had a couple of years ago, where he said, chasing your dreams can be very lonely.
01:23So I'm butchering it.
01:26Like, I'm surmising, like, it's, I'm paraphrasing, but like, that was the gist of it.
01:31And I just remember feeling that way.
01:33Like, when you're going after something that you believe in, you have to be the one that believes in it the most.
01:43And usually in that case, it's, you're going to feel like crazy.
01:51You're going to, people are going to think you're crazy.
01:52And a lot of times it's, it's, it's, it's isolating.
02:14I would say, especially in this particular country, which is a very capitalistic country, it's built on it.
02:22Uh, there is this, um, I guess, depending on where you're from, I'm from a town where you had to work a nine to five.
02:33You, uh, either at the mall or a government job, um, at the, at the stadium, wherever it was, you, you had to have a typical job.
02:43That's what it was.
02:44There was no time for dreaming.
02:45There was no time for, um, aspirations.
02:49You, you, you, you had kids and usually at an early age, uh, and, and you worked until you died.
02:55So that was kind of the pattern.
02:58And I.
02:59Is that changing because it's generational?
03:01I don't know.
03:02Um.
03:02Okay.
03:03From what you see.
03:04Well, I, I just know, uh, maybe the new nine to five is having a podcast.
03:10For years, they live in the periphery, observing us, testing us, trying to determine who has the greatest potential, but it's seldom the one that you think.
03:22In one of the novels, it's this janitor from Indiana.
03:26He's a fucking loser.
03:28I know about it.
03:29But the Fox, they, they see greatness in it.
03:32Um, genre, genre seems like how we can speak about a lot of things.
03:37And it seems like you're drawn to that.
03:39I'm not sure as a writer as well.
03:41Um, could you talk about using genre as a, uh, a platform?
03:46Uh, and is that conscious or is it just what speaks to you?
03:51Um, I don't, I wouldn't say it's conscious, but I will say I've noticed, uh, that it is easier to kind of spoon feed.
03:59A particular theme in a genre, uh, children and men.
04:04It's a great example.
04:05Um, I would say, hey, Star Wars.
04:10There's, there, there, there are a lot of ways you can use sci-fi or horror to convey a particular message.
04:17And I think nowadays people are leaning less on.
04:27Um, people don't want to be talked at, you know, and they, so, so genre is becoming more of a necessity.
04:35Um, there are more horror movies than I've ever, than I've ever seen recently.
04:40And a lot of them have a, uh, themes relating to mental health, to trauma.
04:47Like the movie Smiles, a good example.
04:50Uh, I like Smiles.
04:51Smiles is great.
04:52I, um, I've just noticed that.
04:55When they're ready, they will shepherd the chosen ones away into a transport vessel where they will enter a greater voxed consciousness called the vox electus.
05:03It's really, but for me personally, I, I, I love, um, I love, I love movies regardless, regardless of genre.
05:16I've always felt the word genre is so it's, it's, it's overused sometimes, you know, is that my kid?
05:25Yeah.
05:25It's a serial killer and my child.
05:28Um, maybe both.
05:29Um, so, uh, I've always, uh, uh, felt like it, it, it, it is an overused term to me.
05:36Like when a movie is good, it's just good.
05:38And if you do a, you do a genre, well, you're doing a couple of genres very well.
05:44Get Out's a great example.
05:45It is a horror movie, but it's doing many things at one time.
05:49Um, Jordan's masterful at that.
05:51Uh, I would even say, um, there are movies, uh, that don't feel like it's a, it's stuck in a box that are doing, that are reaching for many things.
06:03And that's when I think you're doing a genre very well is when you can, you know, do a romance, a comedy, a, uh, a suspense, a thriller, a psychological horror, all those things can roll into one.
06:15Um, so, um, I, I, which this does.
06:21Um, so they're like, they're good guys.
06:25I wanted to, you know, cut into that on that is perspective and perception because the way Alan sees things is the way things have to be, uh, almost as a protective mechanism.
06:46You see that, you know, in certain ways, how he deals with it.
06:49Can you talk about perspective and perception within this?
06:51Because it's, it's hard.
06:53And obviously Steve had a very specific idea of what he wanted to do.
06:57Right.
06:58Got to credit that to the writers and Steve Pink.
07:02And I'm, when I read something, I try to stay as true and honest to the character.
07:08I wasn't, again, I'm so dialed in, um, when I'm building or creating someone, uh, that it's very helpful for me to lean on the director to, uh, guide me.
07:24Especially when we're telling, um, a story from, uh, different perspectives.
07:30This one has multiple, uh, we're, we have an A side to the movie and a B side.
07:35I think, uh, what it does well is, uh, it, it, uh, kind of plucks at the, uh, the, the heartstrings of, um, people who are compassionate of different perspectives.
07:47So the fact that you were able to, you know, be empathetic in that way just shows who you are as a person, which is great.
08:00So the fact that you were able to, you know, be empathetic in that way just shows who you are as a person, you know, to be empathetic in that way.
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