Underworld actor versus Dafoe’s hair
>Somewhere between Underworld: Evolution and the upcoming horror film The Strangers, actor Scott Speedman stepped before the camera on Anamorph. That was nearly two years ago. Now, Henry Miller’s feature debut, about a detective trailing an artistically inclined serial killer, is now enjoying a limited run in New York City courtesy of IFC Films.
“I like the genre and it was a good script,” Speedman tells ShockTillYouDrop.com of his decision to join the film. In it he plays the partner to Willem Dafoe’s Detective Aubray. “It was just worth taking that risk. Dafoe was attached to it and it was this subsidiary role. I was going up against him, so that was exciting to me in a lot of ways. Any time you get to work with an actor like that, it’s an opportunity you’ve got to take and see what happens.”
Asked if he felt at all intimidated by Dafoe, furthermore, the leading man’s dapper, if not tragic, hair style, Speedman laughs, “If you touched it it would fall apart and we’d have to piece it back together,” the actor breaks to catch his breath, regain composure. “I liked his hair very much.”
He adds the experience overall was a breeze save for the usual stresses that come with shooting New York City, where Anamorph was photographed. But don’t expect to recognize Manhattan’s landmarks. Like Seven this thriller is set in an anonymous metropolis just one of the many comparisons viewers will be quick to make between Fincher’s film and Miller’s. “It’s natural. If you’re doing anything stylized and with a serial killer, it’s easy to associate the two. I f**kin’ love [Seven] though,” admits Speedman. “But this film felt much more eerie and not as grotesque or sensationalistic as Seven, it’s much more of a drama, something slower, like Klute which is a favorite of mine. It’s much more of a character piece.”
Next month, the aforementioned home invasion flick The Strangers – in which Speedman co-stars alongside Liv Tyler – opens in theaters. “When I read that script – I haven’t seen the movie yet – it was just one of those things I was into,” the actor says. “Bryan [Bertino, the director] is a really cool guy. He’s got a thing about him and I think he’s going to be around for a while, he’s an interesting guy.”
Not as physically draining to star in as the Underworld films, Speedman notes Strangers certainly challenged him on other levels. “The movie takes place over four hours so you’re trying to maintain a level of anxiety, tension and fear for weeks on end was a real pain in the ass. Some days you were just exhausted and you don’t feel like running around screaming. Getting ready for some of those scenes is really tough.”
“A lot of these things I’m doing now are with these new guys taking a chance and these guys who haven’t done much,” he continues. “They either got it or they don’t. Working with Miller [Anamorph] was really cool.”
IFC Films opens Anamorph in L.A. on Friday, May 2nd before it heads to DVD this fall.
Source: ShockTillYouDrop.com
