Jonathan Majors On The Challenges Of Transforming Into a Body Builder in ‘Magazine Dreams', Elijah Bynums’ Directing Style & More | Sundance 2023 - video Dailymotion

Hollywood Journal

Jonathan Majors, Haley Bennett, and Elijah Bynum discussed their film 'Magazine Dreams' at Sundance 2023.

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00:00Such an incredible transformation, the commitment.

00:03He had a pretty good base, though.

00:04He had good shoulders and biceps to begin with.

00:07What is the word that's used very often that I...

00:10Deltoids. Deltoids.

00:12He's got great deltoids.

00:14Compliments of Elijah Bynum in Magazine Dreams.

00:20It's a film about a character named Killian Maddox,

00:24who's an amateur bodybuilder with dreams

00:27of reaching bodybuilding superstardom.

00:31And the movie follows his journey there

00:33and some of the obstacles he faces along the way

00:36and how he adapts to that dream being altered

00:39halfway through the story.

00:41I was offered the script in Elijah Bynum.

00:44And when I looked at Elijah Bynum,

00:46I saw a guy who had a very focused point of view on society.

00:53And he was examining that.

00:56And I trusted him.

00:58And it was only through the trust that I had in him

01:01that I could really give in and give myself over

01:04to a character like Killian Maddox.

01:07The script is incredible.

01:08I feel like it's such a universal story.

01:11There's so many universal truths.

01:14It really spoke to me.

01:15I was really excited about working with Jonathan

01:18and Elijah and Taylor.

01:20It's such an incredible cast.

01:21And also the character and her quest to find connection

01:26and then not really finding it.

01:28I'm really interested in stories about people trying to connect

01:31and not being able to connect.

01:32And I thought that that was so beautifully expressed in the script.

01:36And then now that I've seen the film,

01:38what Elijah has done to carry that from the page and to the screen.

01:43And it's translated so beautifully and cinematically.

01:47So I'm just really happy to be a part of the film and to be here at Sundance.

01:51What I attached to the most was this idea of society

01:59and what happens to an individual when they are rebuked by society.

02:03You know, I think it's really nice to say like,

02:04oh, you're being seen, you're unseen.

02:07That's pandering, you know,

02:10because unseen is being rebuked by something.

02:14And if you're unseen, if you can't see yourself in society,

02:17you begin the gaslighting begins and then your mental

02:22and your spiritual and your social begins to shift and change.

02:24I've not read a script that offered that type of opportunity

02:29and that type of challenge to myself as an actor

02:32or myself or myself as a citizen for society.

02:36And I thought it was going to be impossible to be a bodybuilder

02:41as I was reading it and I was 172 pounds at the time.

02:45And so I was up for that challenge as well.

02:47And Bynum's point of view on it was he has a nose.

02:51You know, some directors do.

02:54Spike Lee does.

02:55You know, Bynum definitely does where he goes, that's it.

02:58You know, I know that because as I was creating character,

03:01there's a lot of things around the character that are accoutrement.

03:05And as we began to work and work and work, you go, oh, that's it.

03:09Like, OK, cool.

03:09So this is what I was trying to get from him today.

03:12So he did this. Yeah, he did the same thing down the line.

03:16And I witnessed him do that.

03:17This role was probably the most challenging role

03:23that I've come across, you know, to kind of step into.

03:26And a lot of that had to do with the levels to it.

03:29Right. There's levels to the physical transformation,

03:31because at a certain point in order to make the body do that thing,

03:35you've got to be thinking a certain way,

03:38which leads to deep character analysis, et cetera.

03:40And so, yeah, I mean,

03:44I can look at somebody's plate and go,

03:47no, you shouldn't do that.

03:48You know what I mean?

03:48Like, you sure you would do that?

03:50You know, like, I mean, I'm not thinking.

03:51I love that scene in the film that you have.

03:54And you're like, you speak to a child,

03:57the character speaking to a child, and you're like, don't drink that.

03:59Yeah, don't drink that. Don't drink that Coke.

04:01But to your point, yeah, it's not every character teaches

04:04and leaves you something.

04:06In this case, I was left with an altered physique,

04:12a growing physique,

04:15and a real empathy for those people who are rebuked.

04:20And for me, like, this film is an incredible character study,

04:25and it's a thought-provoking drama about the importance of kindness.

04:31Yeah.

Jonathan Majors On The Challenges Of Transforming Into a Body Builder in ‘Magazine Dreams', Elijah Bynums’ Directing Style & More | Sundance 2023

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