Theo James & Oz Perkins Chat New Horror Comedy The Monkey Report by Mccallumj. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
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00:00Well, it was the first one I'd done, honestly,
00:02and I'd wanted to do one for a long time.
00:03And I wanted to do one that had intelligence and elevation
00:07to it, and Big Dog's the key guy to do that with,
00:10especially with those sweet nips.
00:13But yeah, I think it enables you to take risks, I think.
00:17And especially with a collaborator,
00:19where you feel comfortable to take big swings,
00:22that is a great space for an actor
00:24to be because you can try things and not feel
00:26judged if it doesn't work.
00:28You know what I mean?
00:29And I think that's a key space to be in,
00:31because it's easy to become self-conscious as an actor.
00:34It's easy if you have certain success in one sphere
00:37to think you have to always be that person
00:40or emulate that in another.
00:41And Nicolas Cage is a good example of someone
00:43who doesn't care in that way.
00:45And as a result, it creates really interesting choices,
00:48I think, and interesting performances
00:50that are very different in many ways.
00:53So I definitely think it affords that.
00:55We decided we were going to try to do it independently just
00:57because we felt, honestly, we felt
00:59like we had something original.
01:01And I know that sounds weird, but it's like,
01:03and not to decry studios by any means,
01:06because they do a lot of original stuff,
01:07but there's a needle to thread.
01:11When you're coming at something from a new point of view,
01:16someone's got to take a chance.
01:17And we didn't have anybody doing that on the studio side.
01:21And also, horror, comedy, those two words together
01:25are like nightmare words for studio executives.
01:28They hate those words together, because they're
01:30really hard to do, and they most of the time don't work.
01:34I think we did OK.
01:36Not to be too specific about it, but they sort of
01:38had another movie in their mind that was sort of testing well.
01:43And there's this thing in movies where
01:45they test with audiences, and everyone's sort of like,
01:47I think this is good.
01:48And then the studio's like, well,
01:49then it should be like that.
01:51I think in my early career, I got
01:53a little bit hampered by that, perhaps.
01:56And as an actor, you have less control over the product.
01:59Oz is the writer and director, so he can,
02:03as much as he would like to or hope to do,
02:05he can fashion something for a wider audience.
02:08I think if you're an actor and you're looking to do stuff
02:11for that purpose, it can be a path that
02:14can be a little bit dangerous.
02:15But certainly, it's good to do stuff that people see,
02:18because often you don't do things that people see.
02:20And you know, you blood, sweat, and tears into things.
02:24You're away from your kids and your family.
02:26So for them to be seen by people is hugely gratifying.
02:31But to have that as the main thing to go into a project,
02:34I guess, is a little bit dangerous.
02:36But beyond that, there's something highly satisfying,
02:38obviously, if people see it.
02:39The whole thing going into Long Legs was like,
02:41I think I do OK.
02:43I think I have an OK understanding
02:44of what a movie can be.
02:46It'd be nice if more people saw it.
02:47It'd be nice if I could feed my family better.
02:50It'd be nice if I could, like, it's like self-defense, right?
02:53Like, self-preservation.
02:54In an industry that's just like, rah,
02:57how am I going to connect in a way that
02:59makes me valuable to the money?
03:02And so with this, sort of the object
03:07was to make what felt like a Hollywood movie to me.
03:10It was supposed to feel much more like Zemeckis, or Landis,
03:12or even Spielberg, or Gremlins, Joe Dante,
03:16to have, like, a real, like, take your family.
03:18Like, sell four tickets instead of one weird loner
03:22going to see Long Legs.
03:24How about take your family to go see The Monkey?