00:00Hi, I'm Patrick Schwarzenegger, and we are here at TIFF, Toronto International Film Festival,
00:05and I'm here with movies Bunker and Love of Your Life, and we are talking today with The Hollywood Reporter.
00:19This couch is a safe space.
00:23Hi, I'm Sarah Rankin with The Hollywood Reporter, and I am here with Patrick Schwarzenegger.
00:27Thanks for coming to visit us.
00:31You have two movies here at TIFF, Love of Your Life and Bunker.
00:35Why don't you tell me a little bit about both of them?
00:39Let's start with Love of Your Life.
00:40Tell me about that movie and who you play.
00:42Sure.
00:43Love of Your Life, which premieres tonight, is starring Margaret Qualley, Gabe Basso, Aaron Pierre, myself.
00:52It's a, it's just a really beautiful story about love, about the journey of life, about relationships, about grief, loss,
01:03how people kind of cope with it in different ways.
01:06And, and it's really good.
01:09It's a really kind of unique project that's just like this, this really non-linear storyline, and it's just filled
01:17with kind of all sorts of different emotions, and Margaret Qualley's amazing.
01:21And we filmed it exactly a year ago, and we filmed it in London, and I'm bringing this up because
01:28it kind of coincidentally went hand in hand with Bunker, because while I was in London, they happened to be
01:35doing auditions.
01:36Florian Zeller was in London doing auditions for Bunker.
01:40Okay.
01:42And it was the night before my birthday, and I got a call asking if I wanted to go into
01:47the room with him and the casting directors and producers and stuff to go and audition for him.
01:52At that point, what did you know about what Bunker was?
01:54I didn't know anything.
01:55Top secret?
01:56I didn't know anything.
01:57Yeah.
01:57And at first I was like, Bunker, I thought it was a made-up name or something.
02:00Yeah.
02:00But I got the script, I read it right away, and then it was like a, two monologues, like eight
02:06pages.
02:06And they were like, can you go in tomorrow?
02:08It was my birthday.
02:08And I was like, ah, okay, I'm going to just power through tonight and memorize it and go.
02:14And did that, went to the audition, and yeah, it just was very coincidental that they happened to be in
02:20London and that I could be there in person.
02:22And it's such a difference when you get to do auditions in person, especially with the director, because then they
02:29can give feedback, they can kind of mold the audition,
02:31and they can really get you to, you know, perform your best version of the scene.
02:37Did you feel like you hit it out of the park in that room?
02:40Like, did you feel like you got it?
02:41I did.
02:41I did feel like it was really great.
02:43And we did it a couple times, and we worked on it together.
02:47And it's a small role, but it was in a project that was like, for me, it was a dream
02:53come true, getting to work with Florian Zeller,
02:55who obviously has, you know, had so many accolades and awards and Oscars and stuff from The Father,
02:59which was an amazing movie, and Anthony Hopkins.
03:02A TIFF movie.
03:03A TIFF movie.
03:04There you go.
03:04There you go, yeah.
03:05With the facts, data to support it.
03:07They were in this room.
03:08They were in this room?
03:09Yep.
03:09Okay, great.
03:10And so to work with Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz, Paul Dana, Stephen Graham, it was just like this dream
03:17come true.
03:18And that's a movie that's also just like beautifully written about a couple that's kind of in this midlife crisis
03:24and going through the ups and downs and swings of a relationship.
03:28And it deals with different themes of kind of, you know, morality and, you know, fears and the unknown and
03:37kind of the economic, you know, gap between people in society.
03:42And I don't want to give away too much, but that's a little bit about Bunker.
03:50And, yeah, it's just cool to be at TIFF with two movies.
03:55And you play, are you allowed to say who you play in Bunker, the writer?
04:00Yeah, Bunker I play, yeah, exactly, a writer, Jeremy.
04:02And he's just, he's, like I said before, he's a character that's screen time is limited within the actual story,
04:11but has a very profound impact on the overall arc of the story and on the characters of Javier and
04:17Penelope.
04:18And he's someone that has this beautiful speech about, in a hundred years from now, and why do we put
04:24so much attention and focus on fear and what other people think of us and their values of us?
04:29And why do we make decisions based on what we think is going to, you know, bring them joy or
04:33happiness rather than just focusing on what we really want to accomplish in our own hearts?
04:38And it's something that kind of hits home for Penelope and Javier in two different ways, while their relationship is
04:44kind of dwindling apart.
04:46And, yeah, it's just a really great story, and I get to play a beautiful writer.
04:54Do you ever get intimidated when you work with, like, really, really big veterans A-listers or...?
05:01Yes and no. Like, for me, it's kind of this, I would say the first time I worked opposite Colin
05:09Firth, I was intimidated.
05:12And he was, like, so generous and kind for the staircase, and he invited me over to his house in
05:20Atlanta before we started filming, just to kind of get to know me.
05:24And I was playing his son, and so he made it very kind of like this warm connection and built
05:29this chemistry with me even before we started filming.
05:34But there was kind of this awe of watching him perform, and a little bit of nerves and, yeah, intimidation.
05:43And it's gotten better each project.
05:46I felt it on the White Lotus for sure in the beginning.
05:50We had, Jason was here. Was that yesterday? That must have been yesterday.
05:53Yeah, yeah, yeah, he texted me, yeah. I didn't feel with Jason.
05:57He broke the ice really quickly, but I felt it with other actors.
06:01And just being on that set, I found it, just because it was, like, maybe it was, like, the third
06:05season, and it was, like, what it was, and I was such a big fan.
06:08Yeah.
06:08And I was like, don't fuck this up, please.
06:10And then with this, yeah, Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardet, like, they're just, like, iconic actors.
06:17And then their real, you know, being in a real relationship, and then bringing that and performing as a relationship
06:23on the screen and with Florian.
06:24But I also kind of look at it as, like, a, you know, a learning experience.
06:29Like, it's, like, a way to grow.
06:33And, you know, these actors, I mean, every actor for the most part wants you to do your best work.
06:40Yeah, because it makes them look better too.
06:42Exactly. It's kind of like playing tennis.
06:44You usually do better when someone else is playing harder or better, you know, against you.
06:48And so they're always, you know, Penelope was wanting to try it different ways and help me and wanted me
06:54to, you know, feel comfortable.
06:55And so they were both just so gracious.
06:58And I didn't have any scenes with Javier, but he came by set one day.
07:02And, you know, we got to hang out and talk.
07:05And so long answer saying, yes, I get a little, you get nervous and intimidated.
07:09But it's more excitement that you have the opportunity to work and play opposite someone like that.
07:16Both of these movies are, like, really different, obviously, than White Lotus and the characters are really different.
07:21Yeah.
07:21But when White Lotus was coming out and you guys were getting all those accolades and attention,
07:25were you ever worried that you were too good at playing that type of character,
07:29that then you were only going to start getting roles of, like, kind of the douche?
07:33Yes, yes, yes.
07:34For lack of a better term.
07:35For sure.
07:35I mean, there were a lot of people that asked me, why would you want to do such a small
07:41role in a movie?
07:43You know, that was something that I had, you know, turned down or hadn't done some of these larger opportunities
07:49that I got for these kinds of movies.
07:52And there were a few reasons.
07:56One, it was to get to work with someone like Florian, to work with Javier, Penelope, that kind of caliber
08:01of actor and actresses.
08:03It was like a dream come true.
08:05To play a type of character that was completely polar opposite of White Lotus.
08:11Yeah.
08:12Since, you know, that was what was seen last.
08:14And it has such a wide kind of fan base and viewership that...
08:18Sticks in people's minds really easily.
08:21And so, you know, this movie is going to be seen by a different group of people.
08:25And specifically in, you know, getting to go to Venice and get to go to TIFF for it and stuff
08:28like that.
08:29It's more in our kind of circle and world.
08:32But to showcase that I can, you know, hopefully do different opposite types of roles was the goal for me
08:39with this project.
08:40And same with Love of Your Life.
08:42I mean, I play more of a friend in a platonic relationship and someone that's, you know, just a really
08:49good friend and human.
08:52Yeah.
08:52And it's that kind of support system for Margaret throughout her journey.
08:55And, you know, this guy that gets sober and has all these kind of learning lessons and is wise.
09:01And it's just completely different than Lotus again.
09:05And so, for me, that's exciting to get to kind of step into the shoes of a different type of
09:10character and a different type of role.
09:12And hopefully present to the audience is, okay, there's, you can see me not as...
09:17I'm not a one-trick pony.
09:18I'm not just the douche.
09:19Not the douche, yeah.
09:21Love of Your Life, I think, is going to be like a big tearjerker for people.
09:24Yeah.
09:24So, what kind of stuff makes you cry when you watch shows?
09:29Oh, I mean, a lot of things.
09:32Something like Love of Your Life gets me.
09:33Something like Lion King gets me.
09:34Something like Stand By Me gets me.
09:35You know, I kind of am all over.
09:37Anything that's really kind of nostalgic also, like movies that I watched from childhood.
09:43Oh, like what?
09:44What were your big...
09:45Oh, Lion King is, you know, something like that.
09:46Or something that you have also, like, a memory of watching it with specific people when you're younger, like your
09:53family.
09:53And then it's just like, oh my God, where is time gone, you know?
09:58I feel like one thing that in interviews with you during White Lotus where you talked about, like, you were
10:05really vocal about, like, I want to be on the next season of White Lotus and stuff like that.
10:09Yeah.
10:09You're really good at that.
10:10Still do, yeah.
10:10What?
10:11Mike.
10:12You're like, I was just in Venice, which is close to Cannes.
10:15I was going to go.
10:16I was supposed to go.
10:16And then we ended up going to DeVille for the film festival there, and then I couldn't go to visit
10:23their set.
10:24But I talked with Mike and Dave, and I have so many friends on this new season, and I'm so
10:28happy for them.
10:29So it's going to be, Mike was telling me about it a while.
10:32It's going to be great.
10:34Fabulous.
10:34What was your first real job in Hollywood?
10:38In Hollywood?
10:39Yeah.
10:39Okay.
10:41And no matter how big or small, and then what did you buy yourself when you got that job?
10:46Like, what was your treat to yourself?
10:48My first, I mean, well, my first thing was I did a movie called Benchwarmers.
10:52I had a very small role, but we won't count that.
10:56The first kind of, like, actual job that I would count, per se, and it's kind of a cool full
11:02-circle moment because it premiered here at TIFF, was what was called Writers at the time.
11:11It was called Stuck in Love once it came out.
11:13Yeah, okay.
11:14Josh Boone directed with Logan Lerman and Lily Collins and Nat Wolfe, Greg Kinnear.
11:19There's a bunch of amazing actors in that project as well.
11:23And I remember that was my first, like, from an audition, getting it and going and filming it, and then
11:29getting to premiere here and me getting to come here.
11:33I don't think I got myself anything.
11:35It was a small, I think I worked for a week and a half or two on it.
11:40But that was my first real role.
11:45Yeah.
11:46And that was a great movie.
11:47What do you bring with you on location?
11:50Like, what do you need from home?
11:54From home.
11:55Yeah, like, what's your kind of, like, creature comfort or, like, a luxury you always ask for?
11:59Like, some people have been saying, like, fancy candles.
12:02No.
12:02No.
12:03No.
12:04So, I'm...
12:05All the Brits have said teabags.
12:06No.
12:07Coffee.
12:08That's all I ask for on set.
12:10That's all you need.
12:11That's all I need.
12:11Okay.
12:12And snacks.
12:12I like snacks.
12:13What kind of snacks?
12:13Just give, just, just, just, just things to peck at, you know?
12:17Okay.
12:18Just, I don't know, pretzels and protein bars and, you know, popcorn, just random snacks to keep me...
12:27Peckish.
12:27Yeah.
12:28Yeah, consume during time.
12:29But espressos...
12:30Okay.
12:30I am a diva with, I do, like, coffee.
12:34Okay.
12:34And I do want coffee on set.
12:39Yeah.
12:39Yeah, that's fair.
12:40Okay.
12:40And I love crafty.
12:42Those are, like, my, that's usually who I become best friends with on set.
12:44You get to set and you zero in and you're, like...
12:46And I'm, like, we're going to be friends if we get some great coffee situation.
12:50And they're, like, let's do it.
12:52Okay.
12:52And that's, that's my thing from home.
12:57How was the espresso on White Lotus?
12:59It was amazing.
13:00I didn't get, oh, good.
13:01Okay.
13:01It was amazing because, and I'll tell you why, because they, they made cold brew for me.
13:05They did?
13:05Because it was so hot there.
13:07Okay.
13:07And, but, but also they did, which was very creative from the, the, the Thai people kind of told me
13:15about this and then they made them on set, was that they dripped the cold brew.
13:18You know, so cold brew's made when they, you slowly drip the water down.
13:21It kind of takes, like, 24 hours to get them.
13:23I didn't actually know that.
13:24I never knew how it was made.
13:24Okay. So instead of heated, it's cold water.
13:26Yeah.
13:26Okay.
13:26You know, less acidic, et cetera.
13:28They did it with coconut water dripping down.
13:31Whoa.
13:32Whoa.
13:32And then the other thing they would do is they do espresso shots and then they would, instead of, like,
13:37an Americano, instead of water, they would do coconut water.
13:41Wow.
13:42Okay.
13:42That's the good stuff.
13:43So they, they, we explore different, different options.
13:47And their coconut milk there is really good.
13:49But the Thai tea and Thai coffee is really, they do more sweet.
13:53I don't, I don't like, I like strong.
13:55Yeah.
13:56But, um, your whole interview is going to be about coffee.
13:59Thank you so much for talking about your movies.
14:01Yeah, of course.
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