FRED's Interview: James Norton, Miles Heizer - EX HUSBANDS #71SSIFF

Hello, I'm Dani Mantilla and this is Kinótico from San Sebastián Film Festival, where we talk with national and international talents, in collaboration with FRED Film Radio. Today I'm with the actors from "Ex-Husbands", a movie from the official section that was very well received, - I'm with James Norton, welcome. - Thank you very much. - And Miles Heizer. - Hello, thank you. Thank you for being here. What did you like about this intergenerational story about a family full of men? For me the film's tone is so specific, it's such a small bullseye, and I can't think about many movies which compare in that beautiful balance with the comedy, the heartbreak, it will make you laugh out loud, and it's got this very touching kind of heart, it encapsulates family, masculinity, asks these probing, provocative questions, but at the same time it's very gentle, nothing massive happens, - it's not a big dramatic movie. - It's life. It's life, it's a little snapshot of these men's lives. When Noah described it to me and we read the script, I felt that I could see these men, I knew these men, I also hadn't necessarily seen many movies which represented them, so I was excited to get involved. And you seem to belong in the real family, even if you're not a family in the real life, how was creating that dynamic between you and also with Griffin? Honestly, it was incredibly easy, it happened so fast, I think, we filmed the movie in Mexico, and because of that it actually sort of felt we were on vacation the entire time, and got extremely close, very fast. We even had a break in the middle of shooting, we went to an island together, and we really did get along so well that I think that it hopefully translates well in the movie, and it did make the whole thing feel very sort of relaxed and easy, the whole filming process, because we actually did really get along. We'll be back in a minute with the actors of "Ex-Husbands (Men of Divorce)" which is the long title, but we're going to watch a clip from "The Survivor", and we'll come back here. I'm interested in your story. - I'm the survivor of Auschwitz. - But nobody has asked how you survived. My girl from back home, she doesn't know that I'm alive. I want you to become an entertainer. You're a traitor! - You know why I must win. - We can't, all we can do is surviving. She's worth fighting for? THE SURVIVOR FROM SEPTEMBER 22, IN THEATRES Miles, I wanted to ask you about the chance of playing this gay character, but we are used to watching these coming out stories, this is not the same, because his family loves him and accepts him, how was playing with that struggle within the character? Yes, that was actually something that I loved so much about the movie, they portray this gay character sort of post-coming out, in a family that accepts him, and especially having the other two characters dealing with their relationships, you know, straight relationships. Mickey is sort of treated exactly the same, and approached that way, which I do think is rare to see and I really loved getting to do that, because so many stories are about coming out obviously it's a very universal experience that queer people have, but it is very interesting to show after that, sort of just living your life, and I think that the movie does that really well, and deals with conversations that queer people have all the time, and I think it's a good representation of that. And James, one last question, I wanted to ask you about the new masculinity that the film talks about. Did you like that part of the screenplay by Noah? Definitely. Nick is someone who has had all this potential, from a very early age he was told that he's this incredibly bright man, that his future is very bright and he could be anything he wants, and that, mixed with expectation sometimes on young men, to find the career, and make the money, and live this sort of aspirational path, and the combination of those pressures and expectations, and the fact that he is this brilliant mind just cripple him, and mixed with his quite serious mental health issues and depression, he gets completely lost and the more he falls short, the more guilty he gets. So I found that it was a very gentle, tender, compassionate look at a man who's slowly been broken by the expectations put on him. Congrats for the movie, I think people has really liked it this morning, - so enjoy the screening this afternoon. - This evening I think, yes. It's a really cool cinema. So, thank you guys. Thank you for having us. We'll continue in Kinótico.es, with more interviews, very soon with Begoña Donat, and it'll take place here, because this is the life in livestream, at the Festival of San Sebastián. Thank you.