- 3 weeks ago
"There’s a moment in the show where Charlie Manx unfolds a map of the United Inscapes of America and Pennywise Circus reveals itself. I think people will catch that if they’re looking for it," Quinto said of the Stephen King Easter eggs.
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00Hey there, I'm Zachary Quinto, and I am in studio with The Hollywood Reporter.
00:07Let's talk about Nosferatu, AMC's new high-concept horror series.
00:12High-concept horror series, yeah, sure, okay.
00:14Have you heard it called that before?
00:15High-concept horror series?
00:17I've called it high-horror before, but I've never heard it called high-concept horror.
00:22I wanted to talk to you about showrunner Jamie O'Brien said,
00:25I can't imagine anyone else playing Charlie Manx.
00:28How does that make you feel?
00:30I feel like she and I, Jamie and I, have had a great collaboration,
00:33and I really appreciated her spirit of openness and excitement about what we were doing,
00:40and so I couldn't really imagine playing the character with anybody else show-ready either.
00:45So, I mean, it's kind of a mutual feeling, you know.
00:49I really think that she's created a pretty incredible dynamic for all of us, cast and crew alike.
00:57And that's always what you want when you're working on a TV show.
01:01You know, it really starts with the showrunner and trickles down into all departments
01:05and affects everybody that's contributing to the show,
01:08and she's done an amazing job of incentivizing everybody to show up and do their best work
01:12because they care about what we're making and believe in the stories that we're telling.
01:17And so I, it's humbling.
01:20I feel grateful that she said that, and I feel the same way about her.
01:22When you're playing a character like Charlie,
01:25when you find out about the amount of prosthetics that you might have to do or make up to get
01:31into character,
01:32is that a hindrance or do you get excited about that?
01:34Well, with this job in particular, I got excited about it
01:37because it was something I was looking for in some way or another in my work,
01:40whether it was to be able to immerse myself into a period piece or, you know,
01:47or in this case, you know, immerse myself into a physical transformation.
01:51I hadn't had that opportunity, and it was something I was hungry for.
01:57And it was one of the things that drew me to this role in this project
02:01because originally I said no when they first called and asked me to do it.
02:04You know, I've done sort of archetypal villains in the past.
02:08Is this your third serial killer?
02:09My third serial killer, which is so weird because I'm so, I like to think I'm really nice,
02:16but maybe I'm not.
02:18I don't know.
02:19It is my third sort of archetypal villain, yeah, serial killer.
02:25And I imagine probably my last for at least a good long while.
02:30But they were like, well, just read the scripts
02:34because one of the other great things about this show is that all ten scripts were written
02:36before I started shooting, which is such a gift in television, which you almost never get, you know.
02:41And so I read six scripts, you know, in conjunction with the invitation to join the show,
02:47and I thought they were really unexpected and exciting and compelling,
02:52and they drew me in, and I was really into them.
02:56And then I talked to Jamie and understood why.
02:59And so that combined with this opportunity to transform in a way and work with Joel Harlow.
03:06Because once I said yes, I was like, look, we need to get the best of the best to do
03:10the special effects makeup.
03:12And I had worked with Joel on the last two Trek movies, and I just felt like, you know,
03:17he's so talented and has such a great spirit also.
03:21And to be able to design the look of Manx with him was really fun.
03:24And, yeah, anyway.
03:26So for me, it wasn't a hindrance is a long answer to a short question.
03:29It was something that drew me into it.
03:31There are a couple of things that stand out to me after seeing these, the first, well, I saw the
03:36first six episodes.
03:37Oh, you did?
03:38I've only seen the first one.
03:39It's kind of, yeah, it's amazing.
03:41Good.
03:42But there's a few things that stuck out.
03:45Like one of the things was a mindscape.
03:47Can you explain what a mindscape is?
03:49An inscape.
03:50Inscape.
03:51Yeah, inscape.
03:51Basically, in the world of the show, there are people who are called strong creatives.
03:56And these people possess the ability to somehow transcend the boundaries between reality and imagination.
04:04And on the other side of that boundary, in the world of imagination, exist these actual physical locations called inscapes.
04:13And these people possess the ability to create and manifest tangible places out of their own imaginations.
04:20And Charlie Manx's is called Christmasland.
04:23It's a twisted and warped amusement park where he takes and deposits the kids that he abducts from their parents
04:33who he deems neglectful or abusive.
04:36His whole belief and feeling is that he's intervening in these kids' lives and preventing them from evolving into derelict
04:44adults.
04:45But what he doesn't really account for is that in the journey between where he gets them in the real
04:49world
04:50and where he drops them in the inscape land, he drains them of their life force and their souls.
04:55And they become these kind of empty husks of themselves.
05:00These sort of vampire children who then live out the rest of their days in Christmasland.
05:07So it's warped and twisted.
05:09It gets dark.
05:10It's dark in there.
05:11Do we ever get to see Christmasland?
05:12Yeah.
05:12Oh, yeah, we do.
05:13Oh, boy.
05:13Yeah, we do.
05:14Later in the season.
05:15I'm, like, imagining one of those, like, all-year-round Christmas stores.
05:19Well, it is kind of.
05:21I mean, you know, I think part of the fun of launching the show in the summertime is the incongruity
05:26of, like, wait a minute.
05:27Why is it, you know, this whole Christmas?
05:29There's a whole Christmas music anytime Charlie Manx is around, Christmasland, candy canes, you know.
05:35But it's not Christmas time.
05:36It's not Christmas time.
05:37So there's something off about that, which I, at first, I was like, why aren't we, why isn't the show
05:42premiering in, like, November, you know.
05:44But I think it's to preserve the integrity of Christmas.
05:48Like, we don't want to corrupt people's feelings about it.
05:50Yes.
05:50Because in the show, it's really, you're welcome.
05:52It's really dark and really pretty brutal.
05:55Yeah, it is.
05:56I mean, do you think that, I mean, there is a lot of television right now that is rather dark.
06:01And this is definitely going to, going to be thrilling to people who are into dark television.
06:09Do you think it's kind of a reflection of our times that people want to be scared so badly?
06:14I think people want to escape.
06:17I want to, I think people want to escape the fears in their lives that are very real.
06:22And so I think, yeah, you know, going into a place where they can feel that sense of anxiety and
06:27dread, but it's measured and it's, you know, it's contextualized in a narrative structure that allows them to know at
06:35the end of an hour they can go back to the real fears of their lives.
06:39It gives them somewhere to go.
06:41I think that's part of it.
06:42But, you know, horror stories have been a part of popular culture and folklore for generations and, you know, trace
06:48back to, you know, Edgar Allan Poe.
06:50And I was just in a place in New York where Edgar Allan Poe frequented, and I didn't know that.
06:57It's a place where I go.
06:58It's a restaurant that I go to often.
07:01And I was in the restaurant having dinner with a friend who said this is where Edgar Allan Poe used
07:05to come and drink and, like, have meals.
07:08And it's, like, right near my house.
07:10I was like, what?
07:10That's amazing.
07:11Did you feel kind of a vibe off of it once you knew that?
07:13Once I knew that, you know?
07:14There's, like, this lineage, which I think we're all a part of, which I'm really fascinated by and interested in,
07:19which is, you know, like, where does that creative energy go when it's not embodied anymore in a human?
07:25And I don't think it just leaves the earth.
07:28I think it's sort of, like, we're all serving that in different ways.
07:30And just the way Joe Hill, who wrote the book on which Nosferatu is based, is Stephen King's son, you
07:37know?
07:37And I never knew that Joe was Stephen King's son until this—I mean, I never knew his writing until this
07:44opportunity.
07:45And to get to know his voice, which is so sort of adjacent to his father but so singular and
07:51unique in its own right, I'm so inspired by that.
07:54And, you know, what he carries forward but what he makes his own is really inspiring.
07:58So that lineage of storytelling and storytelling in this genre is something I think is really kind of delicious.
08:05Yeah, and there's a really fun Easter egg for any Stephen King fan.
08:10Yeah, in the map.
08:11The map.
08:11Right, right, right.
08:12There's a moment in the show when Charlie Manx unfolds a map of the United Innscapes of America and Pennywise
08:20Circus reveals itself.
08:23I think people will catch that if they're looking for it.
08:25Yeah, there are some parallels, I think, between Charlie Manx and Pennywise.
08:30You know, there's a car that's really involved, you know, a huge part of this show and is kind of
08:35a character in its own right, which I think has this parallel to Christine.
08:39And, you know, there are these overlaps and echoes of Joe's dad but, like, but totally in its own world,
08:47he's able to take that lineage and carry it in his own direction, which I respect a lot.
08:54I think he's a phenomenal writer.
08:55I'm really grateful to work with him.
08:57Are you a fan of any of the old horror movies during the classic film era, like the Lon Chaney
09:04or the Nugosi movie?
09:06I mean, yeah, I'm a fan of what those guys were creating and how innovative they were and how they
09:13pushed the boundaries and the envelope of the time to tell stories in a whole different way and transformative.
09:19And, yeah, I mean, I think that's all, I think that's, again, a part of this lineage of storytelling.
09:28But I didn't really go to any of those, like, for guidance.
09:32Like, people were like, did you watch the original Nosferatu?
09:34And I was like, well, no, because it's not the same thing.
09:36But I tend to like to be inspired by those things independent of projects that I'm doing that might overlap
09:45with them.
09:46You know what I mean?
09:47Does that make sense?
09:48Like, I'll watch stuff like that but not if I'm doing, like, a project that is sort of in that
09:54same wheelhouse.
09:55Yeah, it must be difficult.
09:56I mean, you tend to dip your toes into some pretty heavy fandoms and people can get real nerdy about
10:04that sort of thing.
10:05People have a lot of time on their heads.
10:07Between.
10:07Right.
10:08We do.
10:10It's true.
10:10They like to look for things.
10:11They like to feel connected to their stuff, which I respect.
10:17And we wouldn't be sitting here if they didn't.
10:19Right.
10:19So I'm grateful for that.
10:20At the same time, there's only so much that I can do, you know, I can't shape someone's opinion of
10:25something.
10:26I can show up.
10:27I can do good work.
10:27I can be a part of projects that I believe will resonate for audiences.
10:31But once my work is done, my work is done.
10:33And I think I've developed a pretty consistent relationship of being aware of that, which is like I can't get
10:39too wrapped up into what fans think or feel about something because ultimately there's nothing I can do to change
10:45it.
10:45So all I can do is focus on what's in my control and what I can contribute to.
10:49And that's generally the work itself.
10:52Yeah.
10:52Speaking again about being a villain, the cover of The Hollywood Reporter this week is a quote from the Roundtable
11:00saying that the men prefer to play the bad guy rather than the good guy.
11:05Is that true for you?
11:07Do you prefer villain roles?
11:09I'm less interested in where a character falls on a moral or ethical spectrum than I am in how complex
11:14or fully fleshed out or multidimensional a character is.
11:19For some reason, you know, I've come back to these kinds of roles a number of times, especially in television.
11:28I'm happy for the experiences, but I don't look for them necessarily.
11:31They kind of gravitate toward me for unknown reasons.
11:36But I'm open to it, certainly.
11:38I think for now, you know, Siler, Threadson, Manx feels like a good trifecta.
11:45So I'm definitely interested in exploring other territory, like consciously, actively.
11:50You know, please don't ring me up to, like, wield a knife or telepathically slice someone's head open.
11:59Right.
11:59And speaking of the unknown, can you tease out the next season of In Search Of?
12:05Oh, yeah.
12:06Speaking of the unknown, good segue.
12:07We're doing a second season of In Search Of.
12:09Bit of a different format now.
12:11You know, the first season, I was so lucky to be able to travel all over the world.
12:14We took, like, four and a half months.
12:16We went to Australia.
12:17We went to the U.K.
12:18We went to Greece.
12:19We went to Italy.
12:20We went all over the United States.
12:21We went to, you know, amazing locations and really dug deep into Morocco, you know, really dug deep into some
12:30cool ideas.
12:32Unfortunately, my schedule doesn't really allow for that.
12:35And I think, you know, we were like, we want to keep telling these stories, but we need to find
12:38a more manageable way to do it.
12:39So we are doing a second season.
12:41We're doing eight episodes.
12:44And I'm excited about it.
12:46I think it'll be a cool continuation of exploring some hallmark mysteries.
12:51Like the Loch Ness Monster and some legends of the Bible.
12:57And, you know, for me, it's a little bit more manageably fitting into my schedule, which I think is important,
13:03too, when I'm doing those kinds of, you know, ancillary projects that I'm interested in that I want to keep
13:08going with.
13:09But I need to find ways to contextualize them.
13:11So it should be cool.
13:12I don't know when we'll air them, but we've shot a few.
13:15And hopefully in the next six months we'll hear more about it.
13:18And then last question to you.
13:20Everybody's very excited about The Boys in the Band.
13:22Oh, okay.
13:22That's not what I thought.
13:23Okay, good.
13:24Yeah.
13:24What were you going to say?
13:25I don't know.
13:25Go ahead.
13:27The Boys in the Band.
13:28Yeah.
13:29Can you tell us a little bit about what we should expect?
13:32I just got the script yesterday.
13:34I haven't read it yet.
13:35I mean, I think, you know, we had a great time doing it on Broadway last summer, exactly a year
13:40ago, in fact.
13:42The whole cast is coming back, so it's everybody that did the play.
13:46You know, Ryan Murphy's producing.
13:48Joe Mantello, who directed the Broadway production, is directing it.
13:52We're all very excited to come back and work together, and I think it's going to be a great summer.
13:58Yeah, for those people who saw it on Broadway, I think this production, I mean, this film is going to
14:04be a little bit more grounded in the period.
14:08The style of the production was a little bit timeless.
14:13We didn't sort of root it, like, firmly in the period of 1968 when it takes place, but I think
14:18the film will be more so that way.
14:20I'm really excited to be shooting in L.A., to be out here is a real joy.
14:25I've been living back in New York for the last six years, so I'm really excited to come back and
14:29be in L.A.
14:30I miss it.
14:31I love L.A.
14:31I mean, have a great summer, then.
14:34You, too.
14:34Thanks, Zachary.
14:35All right, good to see you.
Comments