- 2 weeks ago
Actor Ethan Daniel Corbett joins this edition of EoM Presents to discuss his work in the genre-defying and boundary-pushing film "Astrolatry." The directorial debut of cinematographer David Gordon, this film fixates on the systemic issue of male isolation and the dangers therein. Corbett and EoM Senior Interviewer Thomas Manning talk about the relevance of this social commentary, working with puppets and practical effects on set, and the community to be found in the film festival sphere. "Astrolatry" is an official selection of the Frontières Buyers Showcase at Cannes, taking place May 16–17.
Official Synopsis:
A chronic masturbator’s obsession with a beauty cream model propels him into violent delusions, culminating in an accident that creates a murderous, psychosexual creature.
Cannes Film Festival "Astrolatry" filmpage: www.marchedufilm.com/projects/astrolatry/
Directed/Written By: David Gordon
Cast: Ethan Daniel Corbett, Milena Abilova, Isabel Fugatt, Aaron Groben, Christine Schlehuber, Kristin Lorenz, Michael Mau, Timothy E. Goodwin, Andi Rexha, Mikah Conway
Official Synopsis:
A chronic masturbator’s obsession with a beauty cream model propels him into violent delusions, culminating in an accident that creates a murderous, psychosexual creature.
Cannes Film Festival "Astrolatry" filmpage: www.marchedufilm.com/projects/astrolatry/
Directed/Written By: David Gordon
Cast: Ethan Daniel Corbett, Milena Abilova, Isabel Fugatt, Aaron Groben, Christine Schlehuber, Kristin Lorenz, Michael Mau, Timothy E. Goodwin, Andi Rexha, Mikah Conway
Category
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Short filmTranscript
00:00We're alive! We're alive!
00:30It can, and it's one of only six films to have that honor.
00:34It's a movie that will certainly be talked about and spark many interesting conversations as more audiences get a chance
00:41to see it.
00:42And I'm glad I had the opportunity to talk to someone directly involved with it.
00:46So once again, here we are talking with Ethan Daniel Corbett about Astrolatry.
00:50I appreciated his time, and thank you all for watching and listening.
00:55Hope you enjoyed the conversation.
00:57Astrolatry is David Gordon's first feature film, and I know he has a background as a cinematographer, but this is
01:04his first time as director.
01:06So just generally, can you tell me about your first time crossing paths with David and what stood out to
01:12you about your first impressions of him?
01:16Well, my first impression with him was in the audition process, obviously.
01:21He reached out to my team because he saw a film of mine called Faces.
01:25Faces, and he wanted me to audition for the role of Elliot.
01:31And I immediately was drawn to the script because I found that it was going to be something very interesting
01:36to me.
01:37So I wanted to dive into this, and I fully committed to the character.
01:41And actually, in the audition process, I remember he told me this later, but in the audition process, I was
01:49auditioning over Zoom, and I had my laptop like this.
01:53And actually, the entire thing fell and got knocked over, and I just continued on with the scene, but on
02:03the ground.
02:03And he actually told me later that he loved that because he had plans for doing a lot of one
02:12takes, and he wanted to see if there was an actor that was able to continue with a scene and
02:19be able to handle and stay in character when things happen around him.
02:24So it was kind of a happy accident when that happened, and from that moment on, I feel like he
02:29and I were on the same page of exactly where we wanted to take the character.
02:33And he's very, very detail-oriented, which really fits me and my approach as an actor.
02:41So he and I flowed almost like we were sharing the same mind, and we were always on the same
02:46page about where we wanted to take the character and how he fit into the overarching story and the message
02:50of the film.
02:51So his attention to detail fueled me and let me feel safe to fully commit to this character.
02:57So Astrology is one hell of a directorial debut for David, and I can't wait for people to discover his
03:03genius because, again, he is a director of photography mostly.
03:08But I think that angle helped him with his specifics of exactly what he wanted in his actors, which helped
03:17me be able to take on the character of Elliot.
03:20Yeah, yeah. Well, I kind of want to ask a little bit more about that as well.
03:24When you're working with a cinematographer-turned-director, what is unique about that relationship between you and cinematographer-turned-director
03:35as an actor, as compared to someone who maybe doesn't have that cinematography experience?
03:41I honestly think it probably helped so much.
03:45I kind of said it before that his attention to detail about what exactly he wanted the shots to look
03:50like just made my job easier because he's so detail-oriented.
03:57He knew the character almost better than I did to the point where sometimes I would just check with him
04:05because the way that his mind works, he just sees the entire film in his head and he knows what
04:09he's going to be capturing where I'm like, okay, what are you looking for in this specific moment?
04:14Let's talk about where Elliot is in this part of the story because we shot out of order.
04:20So we were constantly having this dialogue between us and the fact that he was just right there behind camera,
04:27it almost made it easier to the point where if in the moment I felt like I needed something different
04:37for myself, we were able to kind of have that dialogue straight away and be like, I have one more
04:44idea.
04:44Can we just run, can we just run, run it back one more time? And he was usually gung-ho
04:48about it.
04:50And he always said that, you know what, Ethan, like most of the times when you asked me for one
04:56more take, I usually was like, yep, that was the take, just one more.
05:01And so we had like a really good rapport with each other from the very beginning.
05:07So it was a dream to work with him for sure.
05:09Yeah. Yeah. And with the character of Elliot, something that you notice about him immediately that really carries through the
05:16entire film is his body language, the poor posture, the lack of eye contact.
05:22And, you know, considering you have so few lines of dialogue as well, the performance relies even more heavily on
05:29that physicality.
05:30So I'm curious to hear about the challenges there and, you know, what that brought out of you as an
05:36actor.
05:38Yeah. Going into this movie, I knew that I had a lot to shoulder and the pressure of leaving this
05:45movie was on me.
05:48I'm in almost every single frame of the film with little to no dialogue for the majority of the first
05:55half of the film.
05:56And that was super daunting for me.
05:58But at the same time, this is my favorite kind of character work to do, the things that go unspoken.
06:07And it's funny because I got so lucky that One Battle After Another came out like a month or two
06:15before we went into production.
06:16Because I went to go see that movie and I completely got inspired by Sean Penn's performance in that movie.
06:23He was so specific about his choices and the way that we walked, like from the way that he walked
06:29down to how he held his tongue in his mouth was so specific.
06:34And I wanted to achieve that level of specificity.
06:37It made me think, what are Elliot's sources of coping and comfort when he's met with the absurdity of this
06:45world that we built in the film?
06:47And I landed on a few very specific choices and had a reasoning behind each of them.
06:55So I built these rules for what may be triggers for each of my coping mechanisms and my tics and
07:01the way I carried myself.
07:03And then I spent, once I made those decisions, I spent every evening with my script in my hand, walking
07:11around my neighborhood in character.
07:12Most definitely terrifying my neighbors as I ticked and mumbled my lines in my neighborhood.
07:19But I felt like I needed to feel what it was like to be seen in that way.
07:24So I'm the kind of actor that likes to throw myself into the fire and just see what happens.
07:30Just fully commit to a choice and just live in the body of the character and see what comes out.
07:35So a lot of what you see on the screen was weeks of oddly specific work with trial and error,
07:42discovering what felt right for him.
07:45Yeah.
07:46And there's one physical affectation he has with his lip quiver whenever he's in extremely tense situations.
07:55How did you arrive at that?
07:57Did you go through multiple iterations of finding specifically how his lip would quiver in those moments?
08:03Yeah, it came from a need or a want to speak, but not having the confidence to maybe talk to
08:16someone.
08:17So it kind of sat right there.
08:21I kept finding myself wanting to say something, but I didn't have any lines there.
08:25So I had to hold myself back.
08:27So then that's kind of where the lip quiver was born.
08:32And it just kind of became a staple of the character over time.
08:40So yeah, that's where it was born from.
08:41I just wanted to say something, but I couldn't because I didn't have any lines.
08:46Right.
08:48And, you know, there's the social commentary that we find in this film is unfortunately extremely relevant.
08:55Just the isolation of men in our current world and how men look for community and they often find it,
09:03but they're looking in the wrong places.
09:05And I think part of this is because it's so ingrained in the, you know, quote unquote, traditional masculine image
09:13to be fully independent.
09:14And then as a result of that, men are even ashamed that they seek community.
09:19And then so to compensate for that, the community that they do find is toxic and lacks empathy and lacks
09:27compassion.
09:28And it's very dangerous, as I said, and it's resulted in, you know, terrible violence as a systemic, systemic issue
09:36in our culture.
09:37I think it goes up to some of the most powerful people in the world.
09:40And I think that starts with people like Elliot, like we see in this film.
09:45Um, so I guess my first question for you, it's kind of a long windup, but what were some things
09:52you uncovered in your exploration of this character that maybe even frightened you more about these very real issues?
10:01Well, I mean, I think you nailed it on the head that it is certainly a systemic issue with our
10:07culture and society.
10:09I mean, we've all seen those text messages of men DMing women saying, I love you, you're so beautiful.
10:16And then a few days later, if the woman doesn't respond, it's suddenly like, you're an ugly whore.
10:20I hate you.
10:21That switch.
10:23And although that in and of itself is absurd, that is an actual thing that happens.
10:29So this movie is kind of a reflection of how quickly misguided men can switch from the nice guy to
10:36the toxic misogynist.
10:38And Elliot's journey mirrors that he craves these dopamine hits and a confluence of all of these different variables to
10:46create, uh, creates this perfect reject a man that is, um, hyper obsessed as a coping mechanism to navigate through
10:54his life.
10:55And the entire movie is from the perspective of Elliot and his physical and social isolation leads to the deterioration
11:04of his mental health.
11:05So as an audience member, when you're watching this movie, you're constantly questioning if everything you're seeing in the movie
11:12is actually happening, or if it's more of an extreme hallucination of what Elliot perceives is happening.
11:18And working on this film, I, I almost learned and reflected a lot on myself as a young man and,
11:30you know, growing as a young man, trying to discover, uh, who I am as a, as a person.
11:38And, uh, I feel like if one or two things were different in my life, I could have very well
11:43fell down that path of misogynistic culture.
11:47But it was because of the people, my community and the support and love of people around me that I
11:54think I was quote unquote saved from that fate.
11:57It's too easy.
11:59Like young men are looking for an olive branch.
12:01They're reaching out, trying to find guidance.
12:04And oftentimes that's found in the wrong places, like the Andrew Tates of the world or something like that.
12:11Yeah.
12:12Yeah.
12:12And so do you think it's possible to reach people who have kind of fallen down that rabbit hole and
12:18bring them back into, you know, into the light per se?
12:23I, I, I mean, I'm a very delusionally optimistic person.
12:27I think that anything is possible.
12:30You can bring people out of that.
12:32That's kind of the journey that Elliot goes through in this movie.
12:37He, after doing and experiencing so much bad, he's struggling to do the right thing and he's trying to be
12:45a better person.
12:45And like, that's what makes this movie so interesting is his clawing out of that world.
12:54And all it really took was one person to show him some human decency.
13:02Izzy Fugit's character, Iris, shows Elliot some human decency and that kind of starts to break him out of that.
13:10Yeah, I'm so glad you mentioned Isabel because I wanted to ask specifically about working with her because Iris is
13:19really the only character that Elliot truly connects with.
13:23And so first I'll ask about, you know, your reaction to that in the script and that relationship.
13:30What were some things initially that intrigued you about what you were going to be able to explore there?
13:38Well, I don't, I don't know if this was by design, but I think the order in which we filmed
13:46the movie really helped build the eventual chemistry between Izzy and I.
13:51The first week of shooting was mostly just me alone in a disgusting apartment.
13:58And then the second week started with scenes showing how the world treats Elliot.
14:02And in this absurd world the movie is set in, I was pretty much battered physically and mentally after the
14:11first 10 days.
14:12I was on screen treated very poorly.
14:18Off screen is a different story.
14:20But as the character of Elliot, I was completely battered and destroyed physically and mentally.
14:25So when Izzy had her first day, it was like I was finally being treated as a human being.
14:31Her character Iris reflects who Izzy is as a person.
14:35She is someone who was just kind in a total beacon of light when she walks in the room.
14:40So it was really easy to have chemistry with her at that point on camera because she was the only
14:46person to treat Elliot with any human decency.
14:48And I was deprived of that for the first week and a half of shooting and Izzy's natural kindness, her
14:55radiant energy and our shared obsession with the Twilight movies made it very easy to have an instant on screen
15:02connection.
15:03And I was really excited to explore that, to see the struggle of Elliot trying to do good after experiencing
15:13and doing so much bad for the first half of the movie.
15:18Just exploring the nuance and the gray area of people that might find themselves in this misogynistic culture.
15:29Right. And so many times you're watching this and part of you is thinking, wow, this is a funny thing
15:36that's happening.
15:37And then that action or situation that you initially thought was pretty hilarious turns into something very dark and disturbing.
15:46This movie is funny until it isn't.
15:49So I'm just curious for you, where did you find the most humor?
15:56And, you know, can you walk me through kind of towing that line and, you know, finding just how to
16:03walk us up to that edge and then kind of pulling out the rug from under us in that sense?
16:09Well, I feel like.
16:13Astrology is a movie that kind of defies genre, like the best way to describe it is horror satire.
16:20But it's also a total trippy mindfuck rollercoaster.
16:25It is bizarre, unhinged and wild.
16:29It's a really fun watch.
16:30But I feel like this is the only way to pull off a movie like this is to have the
16:36comedy in the horror of it all.
16:38Because despite the world we built in the movie being an extreme, absurd version of our own world, it's still
16:46scarily realistic for some people.
16:50And it's the worst of our society put on display.
16:53And comedy is a great tool for talking about these issues.
16:58So, yeah, I feel like we wouldn't have been able to do this.
17:03I feel like it would have, without the comedy, this movie probably would have been draining to watch.
17:09But having the comedic element to it, you kind of have to laugh at it.
17:14Because even these things that are happening in our world, this misogynistic culture, the nice guy trope, all of these
17:19things are absurd already.
17:23But it's real.
17:26And sometimes we have to laugh at it because it's so, more often than not, relatable.
17:33Yeah.
17:33Yeah.
17:34And, you know, talking more to the absurdist quality of some things, there, I don't want to spoil anything, but
17:41there is an interesting type of creature that you encounter.
17:46Was that like a practical puppet?
17:50You know, what did that look like on set?
17:53Yes, the entire thing is a puppet.
17:59There's two versions.
18:00I don't want to give too much away.
18:02There's a smaller handheld one that is puppeted by multiple people.
18:06And then there is a full body suit version of the creature in this film.
18:16And although it's a very shocking and almost click-baity title for the movie, it's a very small part of
18:28the overall narrative.
18:29And without giving anything away, it just plays into the absurdity of where Elliot's mental state is in response to
18:35the toxic masculinity and the hyper-sexualization of the world that we created.
18:39It's just more so a reflection of where Elliot's mind is at in the film.
18:47Yeah.
18:48So have you ever worked opposite something of that, like puppetry of that magnitude before?
18:55Or was this kind of a new experience for you in that regard?
19:01My only experience working with puppets was I did a movie called Crust with Sean Whalen, Alan Ruck, Rebecca Kennedy.
19:14And it was a creature feature, and we had an entire creature that was made out of a bunch of
19:21crusty socks, and it was a puppet.
19:23So that was like my only experience with acting with a puppet.
19:27But this took it to a whole other level where it was a giant monster that was almost terrifying to
19:36be up close with.
19:39The puppet was made by Gorgasma, a company called Gorgasma, who does a lot of special effects, and they are
19:45the best of the best.
19:47I've seen a lot of their films in the festival circuit, and they do some of the best special effects
19:52work I've ever seen, especially creating puppets like that.
19:56So it really helped having it be practical, having it be right there in front of me, and you know
20:04exactly what it's doing, what it looks like.
20:06Like it really helped with the acting, I feel.
20:08I feel like if it was all CGI, it wouldn't have been as powerful.
20:13Yeah, yeah, I agree.
20:15And there is a, there's not many locations in this film.
20:20There is, you know, your apartment, but there is another physical location, like your one landscape that is very significant
20:28thematically.
20:29And it's where the film opens, and then we return to that place a few more times, and we ultimately
20:35end the film there as well.
20:37But for you as an actor, when you have a place, like a specific physical location like that, what does
20:48that give to you?
20:49And how does that kind of help you tap into what you're doing, knowing that you're going to have that,
20:55like, physical place as something to emotionally tie you somewhere?
20:59Yeah, that, that location, it's, for those who haven't seen the movie yet, it's a giant cave on the beach
21:09that opens the film.
21:12And that location is a solid through point for Elliot's character because it ties to the woman that he's in
21:22love with, and it's her favorite place.
21:24So he keeps kind of finding himself going back to there, and it's also where the movie ends.
21:30And it's interesting to have that in my mind's eye.
21:36I remember I was, I, even in my apartment, we have a photo of that location.
21:42So just kind of always having that almost be, I don't know how to explain it.
21:49It's more of, like, Elliot's dream coming to life.
21:55That's how he always, that's where he started, that's where he went in the middle of the movie, and that's
22:00where he ends.
22:01It's, like, this pinnacle place for him.
22:06So that was always in, that was always in the back of my mind while we were filming the movie.
22:11That was, I think we shot those scenes the very last week.
22:15So I always had, like, pictures of it, always thinking of it in my mind.
22:18So that was the last thing that we shot were in front of, inside the cave of that location.
22:26And it's wild because it looks like such a serene place, and then by the end of the film, it
22:32is entirely recontextualized into a place that I'm like, I never want to go there.
22:38I'm sure it is a positively lovely place, but it's, I'm impressed with how you totally kind of changed my
22:46mind on what it was.
22:48So, yeah.
22:49And I, just a question about some, some other, like, cinematic references for this film.
22:57What were, what were some, did you have any other movies or directors in mind, you know, as you were
23:03going through this process here?
23:05Yeah, when I was prepping for the role, David had sent me a few inspiration pieces.
23:11There's this old movie called Peeping Tom.
23:14Um, uh, I don't know who directed it, but it's an old, I think it came out in, like, the
23:1970s, something like that.
23:21But it was a major inspiration for the character, and it was also, we had inspiration from Maniac.
23:31Like, this is almost a modern retelling of Maniac, of Ken Russell's Maniac.
23:36That's what we kind of wanted to, that's what we were going for.
23:39Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
23:41Um, well, you know, it's a, it's a movie that I will not soon forget.
23:45And, uh, I'm, I'm glad that, uh, I got a chance to see it when I did.
23:49And for you, I know this film is going to be on the festival circuit for a while.
23:54Um, and I have a background in the film festival space as well.
23:58Uh, so I'll kind of ask you about that, um, how, you know, what your experience is with the film
24:04festival circuit and what that means to you to get a chance that audiences around the world and different, different
24:11places will get a chance to see it at various points.
24:13How it's kind of like a staggered release, uh, just for you knowing that the reception to your film is
24:20going to kind of take some time.
24:21And how, how's that experience been for you?
24:23You know, I've always been a huge fan of going to festivals.
24:27The last couple of years, I've kind of found myself in the genre space.
24:33I have gone to Fantasia the last two years, Film Quest last two years, Fantastic, Beyond, like all of these
24:41genre festivals.
24:43And now that Astrology just got selected to showcase at the buyer's market at Cannes this next month, it's just
24:52an extremely validating experience to be selected because there's only six films that are selected to showcase there.
25:00And to have that opportunity has been rewarding and validating as a performer and someone that just has a love
25:10for, for filmmaking and genre films, uh, in total.
25:17And it's, it's kind of a beautiful thing.
25:21I, I feel like this is the kind of movie that people will want to talk about.
25:25And through word of mouth, they wouldn't be like, I haven't seen that movie with that creature, with that actor
25:31that does some crazy, crazy shit throughout.
25:36Um, so I think that's the beauty of film festivals, getting that word of mouth and genre filmmakers are the
25:46most committed and supportive filmmakers I've, I've ever met and worked with.
25:52So I think that this is a movie that's meant for that community.
25:55Yeah.
25:56Yeah.
25:56And as I was, you know, doing some more research on you, I was of course, scrolling through your Instagram,
26:02your social media, as one does.
26:03Um, I noticed we do have a mutual connection, possibly from the film festival space, uh, Tom Van Avermaet, uh,
26:09you familiar with Tom?
26:11Yeah, I met him at Film Quest.
26:14He had a short film and it's, it's, it's, was it a hearts of stone?
26:21Yes.
26:21Hearts of stone.
26:22Yes.
26:23Yeah.
26:23Yes.
26:24So we, we met at Film Quest, I think, I think like two years ago.
26:30Yeah.
26:31It must've been.
26:31So yeah, we met very briefly and I had a film called Faces playing there.
26:35And, um, so we just connected and that was about it.
26:41And I, I did see that he was connected to elements of, uh, madness as well.
26:46So that's really cool.
26:47I mean, the community is very, very small, right?
26:49Yeah.
26:49And that, that's a part of it.
26:50Just the community that you can build in the relationships, um, which I, in the past, I've run a small
26:57independent film festival here in North Carolina.
26:58And that's how I met Tom and actually when, um, he was showcasing hearts of stone here, he, uh, he
27:04literally crashed on my couch.
27:05Uh, so he, when he was telling me that he was going to be in the U S he might
27:09be able to stop by here in North Carolina.
27:11And I was like, by all means, whatever it takes, uh, we're going to give you that Southern hospitality.
27:16So yeah, it's amazing.
27:18Yeah.
27:19And you really, um, you can't, it's hard to find that community, um, or a community like that.
27:24So yeah, that's, that's pretty awesome.
27:25And, um, but yeah, I'm, uh, really glad I got to speak with you today about astrology and, uh, you
27:34know, really congrats on, uh, taking it where you're going to be taking it.
27:39And, um, like you said, looking forward to hearing more people get around to seeing it so that I can
27:44have someone else to talk to you about it because there are many more things.
27:47I'm like, I, I feel like I just can't, it's one of those where I feel like it's a secret
27:54that I have that I'm trying not to just spill to other people.
27:57So, yeah.
27:58Well, it's a very small number of people who have seen the movie so far, like less than 10 probably
28:04have seen the movie.
28:05So you're, you're very lucky and, uh, welcome to the cult.
28:11We, uh, I'm, I'm really excited for people to see it because I feel like on the surface, people might
28:18think one thing of it.
28:19And then when you actually sit down and watch it, you'll be surprised by what you take away from it.
28:25Right.
28:26Definitely.
28:27Well, Ethan, it has been a privilege chatting with you and I appreciate your time and hopefully we have stayed
28:31in touch and share more conversations in the future.
28:33Yeah.
28:34Well, thank you so much for having me.
28:35I really appreciate it.
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