Barry Keoghan, Christopher Abbott & Director Chris Andrews Discuss Bring Them Down & Wolf Man

[Music] hey everyone this is Steve wono with collider I'm here at the cinema center at the Toronto International Film Festival I want to give a huge thank you to Range Rover Sport for being our sponsor this year it's allowing us to cover all sorts of movies like bring them down I was like looking I'm like wait bring them down um I really want to start with congratulations um I think you two might book another movie after your performances in this film it's possible bring them down too right this BR them down more more generational trauma bring them further down right exactly below yeah so what what's funny is I'm joking around about this but the movie is kind of serious uh you know dealing with real issues but uh I hate doing this but no one will have seen the movie yet so how have you been like describing it to people um kind of serious kind of serious comedy um it's a it's um it's kind of a Mythic story about two war in farm the the share of mounting and a little disagreement escalates into something which becomes more violent and and um and brutal really um and it's it's a kind of a exploration of of generational trauma and um toxic masculinity I'm curious for the two of you um what was so you're reading the script for the first time what was it that you really responded to and said oh yeah I really want to be a part of this um do these work but they work they I swear to you they're working um I mean yeah I love the script when I read it and you know and Visually it was beautiful as well and getting the lookbook and you know and I wanted to do something intimate and [ __ ] sorry oh no you can curse it's fine fing uh you know intimate and and and challenging and physically challenging and yeah I was just on board from the get-go wasn't I yeah I mean Chris is such a good writer that like you know it's geographically it's sort of sort of like pastoral but it has like this almost like Mafia esque you know theme to it that I I was sort of drawn to in in the very micro universe that is like these you know a these two sheep farm farming families you know so it's like it has like Godfather esque themes but and like you know just with a load of sheep yeah one of the things is that uh what I'm what I really really appreciated is how minim the dialogue can be at times where people are saying so much by saying so little and so talk a little bit about and then you're also speaking in a completely different language a lovely language Irish K right so talk talk two things one about keeping the dialogue minimal and two about the challenges of speaking in a in a a tongue that you're not used to I mean I feel like you know you can say so much with so so little and I I feel like I mean that's kind of how I write you know I don't like to speak too much I don't speak that much myself you know and it's like and I think you can convey so much through actions and and and Cinema is is a is a is a medium of of of image and and um these guys are like incredible physical performers you know they they just carry stuff so you just don't need them to be saying stuff that and it's you know it's all about what they're carrying inside as well about the fact that they have such uh issues about communication you know it's about male masculinity and not being able to communicate and and our inability as like half of a species of having a a problem with communication and and and the effect of that has on us yeah I mean uh I mean for me obviously you know speaking the speaking Irish was like I was going to be a challenge and uh uh but one that you know I was excited to sort of take on but more more than that just more than that just I don't know I just love I just love this story and you know getting work with Chris getting work with like Barry finally and uh yeah that was a joy yeah and what was sorry what was the question guys I don't know I am I'm supposed to remember these I'm joking um about performing without using much di oh well yeah I mean that's always my favorite is to perform without dialogue and if you can say it you know without dialogue and you can get your point across and don't to learn them lines you know yeah don't have to learn them lines yeah um but it is like kind of kind of represents the animals in the movie as well it's quite animalistic you know the performances and um you know it's h again that's that's my favorite way to work is is that so when I read it yeah I was I was on board well I'm curious this is your first feature um so what is it like uh what was it like for you step like what were some of the things that you sort of didn't plan for when you were filming that came up and you're like oh you know what I mean or did you did you have it all figured out um I mean you you you you know you prepare for you prepare for any sort of opportunity or you or any disaster but it's just about being I just try to go in it and be as sort of Zen and and uh you know flexible as you could be because you've got the weather you've got animals you've got so many different moving com components and a very small budget you know so it's it was there wasn't any um we were pretty blessed I think the the thing that I was most concerned about was weather you know and we but we had like a an amazing we had no rain it was just had this kind of it was cold but it was it was constant so it meant that we could you know we had this constant light so we didn't have to worry about waiting for cloud and and you know when you shootting with so little time it meant that you could keep moving and you had a you could add a pace and a rhythm to to what you're shoot to what you're shooting um but on the flip side we didn't have any rain and we didn't have any wind and I was relying on that for for the soundscape because you know there's a lot of space there's a lot of silence and we wanted to fill it with something so um but yeah I mean it was it was just a joy to like these guys are so incredible that you know you try to interfere as little as possible because what they give you is going to be golden you know and I wanted it to be we've done all the prep we had the script we we talked about it and it's just about letting them be and letting them own the characters and and letting them see you know where they take it and walk through the through that world and that story I'm a huge fan of coli and uh you share some fantastic scenes with him uh you're you have some scenes with him uh talk a little bit just because of me like I'm just a fan yeah no Colin's a legend I mean he uh you know right I mean especially like he's uh's he's also you know when I like actors that are uh been around and just know the deal and you know can can turn in good performance but you know we're all there to en enjoy our time also and have fun and so you know it's fun it's great doing scenes with them but then I also just love hanging out with them when we're not when we're not shooting and so yeah love colum yeah I mean colum's up there you know him Brandon and you know there's there's a a lot of great Irish actors of you know the veterans and so getting to to do something with him was was yeah it was amazing but even Offset you know he's good good company and good crack and um you know you can watch him all day and you learn a lot from them as well so so I'm a big fan of the way of both of your work on screen and I'm just curious for a role like this you know you're going to start filming on Monday can you talk a little bit about where your head's at before the shoot like where are you really like trying to you know what I mean getting ready for the performance like are you a month out like really learning lines like where how are you figuring things out and how you want to play scenes Orland quite early right um I forgot when I got I got there bit early but I mean for me mostly it was just learning learning the Irish language stuff you know so I spent a long time doing that with uh with uh patter who who uh who was like the dialect and and language you know coach so I mean it was really just technical for a while and then when it came to shooting I don't know I just I just trusted the energy that was there so I just sort of show up and play you know what I mean so like as a if in terms of like thinking like it's a Saturday and we got to shoot on Monday I just sort of it wasn't so much of that but the months before it was just sort of getting the accent down and and get getting the language down and that was probably the most hardest the hardest thing to do yeah I mean like uh question being what's the process right like like so you're going to start filming on Monday like how early before the shoot are you really thinking about things how much is it like the month before an hour before I get to say literally you did two you did two hours with the Sheep yeah yeah we did some um sheep wrangling yeah I mean for me it's just kind of fitting into that part of Ireland because I I don't come from there I come from the city and so I wanted to understand the the logistics and you know the manner and the tone and um so again familiarizing myself with with the area and with the sheep and and making that second nature to me I mean it's all part of it isn't it sure yeah so this is for all of you guys and I've been asking in all my interviews because it sometimes leads to fun stories so you see the shooting schedule in front of you what day do you have circled in terms of I cannot wait to film this and what day circled like how the f are we going to film this all of them how the F and then um I mean like a favorite scene that you yeah like what was a day you knew you were really excited to film ch what would it be for you the crash the crash was fun that but it was it was you know we had to do the Chase and the crash and the aftermath in one day you know and so we'd like prep in and every time they had to move the cameras for the on the vehicles for the for the for the chase it was taking an hour and 15 hour and a half so it was like it was just sort of this level of vibration and and and and stress and then we did the crash and we only had a small window for the for the full aftermath of Chris coming to the car checking on Barry and Paul bringing them out and and then driving away and um we just didn't know how it was going to happen but the thought the way that the the truck crashes sort of was just amazing sort of went out of frame hit this hit this tree in this way that it just meant that we got through the next the next scene in like about an hour it was it was fantastic the bit that I was dreading was the the the night Shoots for the Sheep Massacre cuz we didn't have enough time you know we had we did it it was scheduled as four night shoots and we ended up with three split days and it was just like and the Sheep were being difficult weren't they the Sheep wer difficult but it was just like yeah I I want you to answer but then I have another thing um well you know I think the hardest thing like even just working with like just sheep and a and a a shepherd dog you know what I mean like I was like how's this going to work you know what I mean like like I never wor I never you know most having dialogue with the dog you know was like the dog had dialogue no I had dialogue I I had to sort of command the dog you know but okay so we had this um farmer Pat farmer Pat who it was his dog and his and his sheep and basically he would have to he had all these commands for the dog but Pat had a very specific accent and voice so I I had to sort of give the dog commands and try to sound as much like Pat as I could which was you know if you heard them it was wild it's spot on yeah it is it came like a tick yeah it actually did become a take and yeah I was going to talk I listen I always talk about editing because it it's so important to how a film comes together so you get in the editing room with your footage uh what ends up happening after the first friends and family screening did you make any big changes or was it like little minor tweaks yeah it was quite it's kind of minor really um we the the opening sequence is the the bit that changed the most from the script and that was so that and I think that it you know looking at it you know you you kind of you know wonder why it's not quite works because it's translated from the page into the screen um but people seem to respond to it in a in a really like visceral way and I think it sets the film up in a in a really beautiful way now um and otherwise it was just about trying to make it as Tau and as lean as possible and and and keep this momentum going through so like for me the the the the hardest bit was there was there was there was more of um Barry and Aaron uh and there was so much of it which was really funny but it kind of like slowed the pace down so we just lost a few of those few of those bits and those are the bits that I I kind of miss the most um that that we had to lose but it was just about funny oh it's hilarious it was amazing it amazing so yeah it was but it it it translated really well and and the major was worry was about the structure of the film about whether it would play in that in in the way that it was structured on the page um and so that was the first sort of real anxiety of like whether it hanged together and people would respond to it visually as they did on the page and and they did so it kind of made our life a lot easier so I want to I want to be delicate how I say this I don't want to give away too much of the movie but um there's stuff that happens to animals in the film yes and um so how much were like was anyone saying to you like it would be better if you find another thing than this you know what I mean because it's hard as as an audience member to see certain things and uh so I'm just curious what's that like behind the scenes yeah I mean is it's brutal you know and it and it's but it's meant to be you know we're talking you know this this film acts as an allegory for war you know what it you know once you started a war what does it take to finish a war and and in war as we see the moment in the world there's like casualties and they're usually people that are nothing to do with what you know it's not it's not soldiers it's it's it's it's it's just people um and um so yeah so that's what it that's what we're kind of presenting with the with the idea of the sheep and yeah that you know we we know that it's going to be we as viewers we you know there when we see something happen to human beings in films we kind of like you just take it you know it happens all the time but when we see it happening to animals has a very visceral um reaction and and we have a very visal response um but you know we we did it in a very you know the Sheep you see in doing sheepy things and then everything else uh sheep puppets and VFX you know and we work you know well I will say to you that it's it it I I never as an audience member I was like uh it it is true because you see violence against people in movies all the time but when it's with an animal uh it just it has a very you know it rips to your core yeah completely and I think it's an important question to that we're posing to the to the audience you know why do we feel like this about animals why do we not feel like it when we when we see it happen to human beings what has happened to our empathy where you know it it should feel the same for both why does it why does it feel different and you know why are we why are we happy with that or why are we accepting with that um sense of Innocence really that's yeah oh that's very true actually um so uh what you hear at the Toronto Film Festival when you were making the film at any point where you're like oh this is getting into festivals we're going to be at Tiff and celebrating the world premiere no I was like you know I'm just happy to meet we actually did say that didn't we yeah I think we had the conversation one day one did you really yeah get hands in everyone yeah we did we actually said that that's crazy that I I like you're being completely sincere yeah that was like we said that I said that at least I think I said that yeah that was on your own did you say it no no we said in Irish no one understood um Chris understood yeah colum didn't um but we did say I mean you always say that about movies when you start them right like I think everyone has you know had aspirations for what what it could be but you you know when you're in the middle of it you don't know what that is you just you know you just want to create something which you're proud of and that that that you can stand behind and then hope that other people start responding to it you know and it and it because of things that we just talked about in terms of the animals and the nature of of the story and and and how muscular and brutal it it can be in in times you just don't know how people are going to respond to it and and if it's going to connect and people in the right way that it feels like we're doing something which is which is which has weight and and and ask serious questions um um and and not you know glorify or F fetishize you know things which are you definitely don't do that no um so for all three of you um you guys are here as like the face of the movie but there's so many people behind the scenes that have worked on this to enable you guys to be here so for each of you who's like an unsung hero someone who helped make this movie that you sort of want to shout out and say Hey you know this you know what I mean I mean I could shout so many people I mean my producers have just been exceptional and like they've dragged this ship over a mountain you know um Ian McKinna and Jacob swanh Tracy Julian uh Ford they've just been incredible supporters and um and um yeah amazing but my DP Nick cook my editor George Kraig who helped me put it back together again you know they've all been exceptional collaborators um I'll shout out Pat the farmer Pat the farmer yeah um Eddie Eddie Ray the animal Handler oh yeah yeah Eddie's a nice lad and does all the animal handling in Ireland something about this is that um uh how much were you as your first film thinking about like all storyboarding everything how much are you figuring it out in the moment you know what I mean because you you want to make it a cinematic as possible but you also you only have so much time yeah I mean we I I shot I didn't storyboard I shot list um so I I'd sit down and break down every scene with my DP we would did a lot of work about how we about the language that we wanted to use from going from sort of static shots then track and Dolly then handheld then handheld track and Dolly static so there was like there was a language that we were using and that sort of dictated how we approached each each scene each sequence um but it was also I think I don't like to be too tied to to you know storyboards or you want to see what these guys do and that's that's like as a certainly as a debut filmmaker to have like these guys is like any point in your career to have these guys is a coup so as a debut just just don't want to like meddle too much let see what they do and then find the you know within your language the best way to to to photograph them so it was quite fluid like that I'm almost out of time if you don't mind I need to ask the two of you uh individual questions um I'm very excited about something called the peaky blinders movie and so what can you tease about that when do you start filming and the part two I'll start with that yeah um I start on I don't even know really when I start I think like end of September 28th 29th but yeah someone asked me did I read the script yesterday I was like I mean I wouldn't be attached if I didn't read the script but uh yeah I'm excited the script is brilliant excited to be with Killian and Rebecca um but yeah yeah I'm I'm yeah I'm so curious because what people don't realize what Killian's told me is like that show was made like $5 in a roll of duct tape and like they actually have a budget now to like make the movie yeah you know $10 on a duct tape now um my other thing for you is uh I am very curious if Matt Reeves has asked you to save any dates for next year that I can't say anything on because it just goes everywhere but yeah but that's why I ask it yeah and that I'm going to stay quiet on because yeah I've being told to stay quiet so yeah I I have a feeling if I was a betting man that either in this upcoming thing next year or the one he makes after that you would be a part of it I'm just throwing that this my I'm just smiling yeah exactly say that you know um so I I definitely have a few things for you just real quick I am so looking forward to wolf man because of Lee uh talk a little bit about what it was like making that yeah it was it was uh it was a hall I mean it was a lot of Prosthetics you know and a lot of a lot of time in the athetics chair but uh you know we we did it old school style which I appreciate you know and and Arian who was the uh the the designer for that I thought sort of designed a like a scary beautiful but like tragic looking creature you know for it so I'm I'm excited I'm really excited for people just to see that work and and uh no yeah it's it's a fun it's a fun scary tragic film and I'm excited for people to see looks amazing we just I just watched the trailer looks amazing I I think that um uh uh I because he's the one who's writing directing is why I'm you know so looking forward to it yeah no he he's he I think he did a great take on you know definitely his version of what what that story could be you know it's sort of um yeah I mean if you liked invisible man I think then you're definitely going to like this yeah also I loved upload upgrade upgrade yes I don't know why I said up my my that's but he's got he's got a lot of he's got a lot of Lee's got a lot of like tricks up his sleeve especially visually you know what I mean with that like he made that for not much money and and there are some fight sequences in that film that are brilliant with the way the camera moves and how he choreographs certain things and again they didn't have much money making that yeah yeah he he again like he's he's good at sort of the invisible tricks great that was great yeah again this is the reason why but I ALS I also have to talk about uh John Michael mcdonal uh and you know I want to say the title right which is fear is the writer Australia Day am I is that the right title or am I wrong fears the writer is it just fear is the riter I think so yeah yeah so what can you tease people about that one um I think the tease is that uh I don't know I actually don't I'm not sure if that movie is happening oh so so it's still like one of those I got it yeah yeah so and that's not like I'm not being koi that was actually genuine did you fil it but I love I love John no no no no it's one of those that like could happen it could happen yeah then I'll switch to something else um the only the main reason why I think uh Craven could be good at JC uh JC is um very talented and so um and he's told me that you know it's rated R he's has some I don't want to say what he's toldo me um I'll just say that it's it's um uh what do you what can you tease people about it and why people should be excited for it yeah no I I mean I worked with JC years ago so and he's become a buddy and you know he's a big reason why I I did that film and uh yeah I think he did I think he's think he's did something really cool with it there's um you know it's it's definitely a superhero film but it's got there there's something very raw and real about it and like um I think which makes it sort of more believable you know what I mean um like it's it's not like loads of people like flying through the air and [ __ ] it's like you know it's there's something like graphic about it you know and um no I think I think it's great also you know Aaron Taylor is um he's an okay actor you know like he he he puts in some effort yeah you know what I mean um so my last question for you you clearly know what you're doing behind the camera and um people are are really going to respond to this one are you already writing other scripts are you what are you thinking about yeah I've got a couple of things that I'm starting to work on um um hope yeah an erotic horror set in Manchester erotic horror yeah interested I don't know I'm I'm very I'm very curious yeah you know um listen I got to stop there and what I'm looking forward to is talking more in depth about the film and specifics it's just very hard when no one has seen it you know what I mean I haven't seen it I'm seeing it tonight really yeah yeah I think you might like it yeah I think I think I think I'm a producer on it you're good yeah oh me thanks you you might look another movie oh thank you you know um but for real um thank you all so much for coming in today you're a legend oh I very very kind of you and I really really hope you have a fantastic Tiff thank you thank you so much apprciate it cool thank you so much [Music]