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SCOTT FRANK:
“I’ve always loved those European thrillers that were dark and interesting and full of people that you really care about. There’s this overriding sense of dread and suspense because you’re so invested in the characters – and I always wanted to write [and direct] a movie like that.”
JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT:
“I did a fair bit of research on the character. I just hung out with different people who had been through similar things to the character. What I figured out was they all were individuals and trying to put any of them in a category was fruitless, and that led me to really want to make Chris Pratt not just a stereotype, to make him a person.”
ISLA FISHER (Luvlee Lemons):
“I read the script and thought I don’t want to play the cliché femme fatale. I don’t want to come in and be the woman with the sexual appetite, who wants to take down this man. I want to come in and make her this big beating heart, who doesn’t have an agenda. Every character in the script has an agenda, and I thought how interesting if Luvlee doesn’t have one, if she’s a victim of her own kindness.”
MATTHEW GOODE (Gary):
“Gary was such a great character. Since I had just shaved my head, I thought maybe I’ve got a chance for this. Gary is such a mysterious character that there was a lot of leeway to take it in different directions. To Gary, I think Chris represents the Wonka Golden Ticket. He knows that Chris works at the bank so he does everything he can do to become a part of his world.”
FISHER:
“Matthew did a great job in this. Matthew is similar to me, in the fact that we’re not method actors. Joseph stayed in character, and he had to. He had to isolate himself in order to play such a challenging role. I would at least stay vocally in character through the day, just to keep my American accent up. But Matthew’s hilarious, because one moment he would be Gary, this mean, hard, charismatic, dark guy, and then you’d cut and he’d be this charming English, happy guy. He was two very different people ever day.”
GORDON-LEVITT:
“What I like about Chris is he doesn’t give up. He doesn’t quit. I think that’s kind of the most charming thing about him. Even though it’s really difficult for him to do a lot of the things that we just take for granted, like following a conversation, or driving to work; he has to focus on them really hard. He continues to try and that’s really admirable.”
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THE CONCEPT:
