Author Archives: Jonathan Williams

“Beautiful Creatures” stars Thomas Mann and Zoey Deutch talk about love, intolerance and more

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Based on the book of the same name, the new supernatural teen romance movie Beautiful Creatures is about a girl named Lena Duchannes (Alice Englert) who moves to the small Southern town of Gatlin just before her 16th birthday. But with strange occurrences following her arrival, it looks like it will be a bittersweet 16, at best. The townsfolk (particularly Ethan, played by Alden Ehrenreich) take notice of this young enchantress and the mystical abilities she begins to conjure. While Ethan’s intrigue is affable, the rest of the town (namely resident mean girl Emily Asher, played by Zoey Deutch) is ready to burn this witch at the stake. As this supernatural love story opens in theaters on Valentine’s Day, Wrestling with Pop Culture talks to Deutch and Project X‘s Thomas Mann, who plays Ethan’s best friend Link.

When superanatural occurences happen in class, Emily Asher (Zoey Deutch, left) and Link (Thomas Mann, center) pay attention in "Beautiful Creatures". Photo courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures.

Did you read the book before filming the movie based on Beautiful Creatures?

Mann: She did, but I did not. When I first met with Richard [LaGravenese, director], he told me about the books and how the script varied a lot from them. When you adapt a 600-page book, you have to consolidate a lot of things and he didn’t want me to get things confused. He was like, “You can read it if you want, but I’m not asking you to read it for the movie because it’s a different take on it.” I didn’t want to get anything muddled in my brain, so I just stuck with Richard’s vision and read the book after.

Having read the book after you finished filming, is there anything you wish you had done differently with your character now?

Link (Thomas Mann) became known as "the hat guy" on the set of "Beautiful Creatures". Photo by John Bramley.

Mann: The appearance of the character in the movie is different from the character in the book. He’s kind of a punk rocker in the book and in the movie he’s just kind of a groovier guy who wears a lot of vintage clothes.

Deutch: He was the hat guy.

Mann: Wardrobe kept trying to put this hat on me and I was like, “I don’t want to wear that. I don’t want to be the hat guy.” I was trying to lose it on purpose, but they’d bring it up every time we started shooting. Then is just became part of the character that I really liked. But it’s just a different thing and I trust Richard’s vision. We had a lot of talks about what kind of person we wanted Link to be and it’s definitely still Link. His personality is there all the same. Link is a total horndog in the book, too. In the movie, not so much so. There were a few differences, but I’m happy with it.

You guys worked with some heavyweights like Jeremy Irons and Emma Thompson in this movie. What was it like working with them and what did they share with you?

Mann: It was really intimidating at first.

Deutch: The idea of them is intimidating. They’re not intimidating.

Mann: Once you meet them and start working with them on set, it really is the best acting class you could ever ask for.

Deutch: We got paid to go to acting class!

Mann: Pretty much. They’re all so smart and have so much life experience to share with you. It was really nice because Emma Thompson would give me direction instead of the director and he’d be like, “Yeah, that sounds good. Let’s do that.” You’re not going to say no to Emma Thompson. It was just amazing getting to be near Jeremy and Viola [Davis] and I just feel very lucky.

The conservative views in the movie, especially with Zoey’s character, seem almost foreign to those of us who haven’t spent time in small Southern towns like this one. Do you feel like that intolerance was exaggerated at all in this movie or do you think that’s how people might really react to a teenage witch today?

Emily Asher (Zoey Deutch) is the mean girl in "Beautiful Creatures". Photo by John Bramley.

Deutch: I’m Jewish, so I had no idea that any of that existed. Emily is evangelical, so she’s religiously extreme. I went to a lot of evangelical churches and talked to a lot of people and tried to understand that perspective. In no way did I judge it because if you judge the character’s viewpoints, feelings and community – that’s what religion is is a community – then it’s not going to feel real to you or the audience. The people I met, it didn’t seem forced or exaggerated.

Mann: I would say the fictional town of Gatlin specifically just seems like it’s stuck in the past. I don’t know if it’s exaggerated for how things were a hundred years ago, but it is a heightened version of that and the movie has a lot of social commentary about fitting in, right or wrong, good versus evil. It helps build a strong, tense atmosphere.

Deutch: The idea is that it’s so closed-minded that it’s been built up to this craziness. It’s not even their fault because they have no other perspective.

Mann: That’s all they know and they’re just so ignorant that they can’t even see it.

There have been lots of movies and books lately that deal with the supernatural and love often gets intertwined along the way. What do you think sets Beautiful Creatures apart from those other stories?

Mann: I haven’t seen the Twilight movies, but I hope this movie stands on its own as something really special. The aesthetic of the movie is very strong and there’s a lot of humor in the movie, which I think people aren’t expecting. It doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Deutch: It’s sophisticated in this weird way. I think there’s something to be said about the fact that there are these incredible actors of such extreme notoriety.

Link (Thomas Mann) and Emily (Zoey Deutch) are somewhat conflicted classmates in "Beautiful Creatures". Photo by John Bramley.

Mann: There’s a real maturity to the movie that you don’t find in a lot of these other teen romance movies.

Deutch: It’s told from the perspective of a teenage boy, and the girl has the powers. So it’s the guy going after the girl finally. I appreciate that and I think that’s what makes it unique and will allow for guys to really like it as well.

Mann: Alden Ehrenreich, who plays the main character Ethan, is not a brooding movie [character]. He’s a typical everyman. He’s so funny and is just not the leading man you would expect, which is really refreshing.

Do you think you’re ready for Twilight-like stardom if this movie launches you into that?

Mann: I don’t know. I hope people like the movie, but I can’t really think about that. I guess the answer is no. But Zoey’s ready for it!

A big theme in the movie is the transition into adulthood. Since you’re both making similar transitions in the acting world, how did working on this film compare to what you’re going through as up-and-coming actors?

Mann: As you grow up, your interests change and when you read a script you start relating to different characters. A script I read four years ago and loved, now I’m like, “I don’t understand this kid anymore.” So you just change as a person and I think that informs your decisions and the kind of roles you want to do. I’m no longer going to school, so a character feeling insecure in high school doesn’t mean as much to me as it did several years ago. You just have to be aware of your life changing.

beautifulcreatures.warnerbros.com

Christian Clark is out for blood and lust in Atlanta Ballet’s “Dracula”

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Christian Clark accurately portrays Dracula's monstrous sophistication. Photo by Charlie McCullers, Atlanta Ballet.

Since choreographer Michael Pink first offered his balletic treatment of Bram Stoker’s Dracula in 1997, the tale of the ultimate bloodsucker has danced its way across more ballet stages than you can shake a bat at. Through Feb. 16, the Atlanta Ballet exhumes this tale of tragedy and blood lust for the first time in five years. Though he is returning to this dark Valentine’s tradition for the fourth time, this year mark’s Christian Clark’s first time playing the terrifying title role. With Dracula having three alternating casts, Clark also plays the cowboy Quincy Morris, giving him two drastically different perspectives from one night to the next. Having played both roles during the show’s opening days last weekend, Clark talks to Wrestling with Pop Culture about his conflicting roles in one of literature’s most enduring love stories.

Given the obvious differences between the two characters you portray, how do you prepare for playing each role?

They are very different. The good thing about the two roles is they’re very related to one another. So when I’m not doing Dracula, it’s easy to transition into the other role because throughout the ballet Quincy Morris, alongside Dr. Van Helsing, Jonathan Harker and Arthur, is hunting him. So the story is very interwoven in that way. That change between characters is pretty seamless and not too challenging.

That’s interesting considering the drastically different mindsets of the characters, though I guess they do share the same objects of affection.

This is the fourth time I’ve done this ballet, so I’m pretty familiar with the ins and outs, the intricacies of the music and the whole thing. Had this been my first time doing this production of Dracula, it might have been a bit more challenging. But we’ve done this ballet so many times that I’m very familiar with it.

Have you played these same roles in previous years?

I didn’t do Dracula before. Last time we did it I understudied Dracula. This is the second time I’ve played Quincy, and I’ve done a slew of other characters such as the undead, the holiday couple in Whitby, one of the villagers in Transylvania.

In the years that you’ve been involved with this production, how much does it change from one year to the next?

Christian Clark delves into Draculas more predatory side. Photo by K. Kenney.

Michael Pink, the choreographer, has elaborated a bit more on the little details of each character, so there are minor changes in that way. They did just relight the ballet, so the lighting is actually quite a bit different. I feel Dave Grill’s lighting is just spectacular.

The lighting in this show definitely adds to the spectacle, especially in the scenes with Renfield is in his cell and the effect of light shining through his window.

Grill is a master when it comes to lighting and that all helps you get into character when you feel like all the elements are coming together: the lighting, the makeup, the orchestra. If all the parts aren’t fitting together, it’s a bit hard to find yourself on stage and in character.

Dracula is one of the most reinterpreted stories ever. How does this show and that character compare to other ballet roles you’ve played? Why do you think Dracula is such an enduring story?

All the elements of the story are probably why people keep wanting us to do it again. You’ve really got something for everybody. There’s the horrific side of it, and that’s terrifying in some ways. There’s action, adventure, lust, romance, passion – I just think the book and the story have all those elements that make up a truly great and visually-pleasing story to be on stage. Some other classical ballets that we do don’t have all those elements to keep people drawn in. Some girls and older women really like Swan Lake, but you might have a hard time drawing a guy’s attention into a show like that. Whereas in Dracula there really is something for everybody.

One thing I really enjoy about this production is it is one of the more accurate portrayals of the Dracula character from the book. There have been several interpretations, but he is usually portrayed as an almost gentlemanly romantic rather than a monster. How do you go about portraying this character through dance?

Christian Clark gets animalistic in his portrayal of Dracula. Photo by Charlie McCullers, Atlanta Ballet.

Exactly. A lot of the choreography that Michael Pink has done was meant to look almost like an animal. There are times that are meant to mimic a wolf, there are times that are times when our steps imitate a bat, so it’s actually pretty fun because you tap into a very primal side of yourself. I think not having inhibitions out on stage and not being worried about the technical side of each step that you’re doing, but having the source of that feeling coming from those ideas of animalism and brute strength and a lust for blood is interesting.

Dracula runs through this Saturday. What’s next for you?

I’m really excited about David Bintley‘s Carmina Burana. We’re doing Ohad Naharin‘s Minus 16 before that and I’m really excited about that one. Our resident choreographer Helen Pickett has done two pieces that we’re doing this season. One of them is called Prayer of Touch, which I did last year and am really excited to do again. Her other ballet, which I wasn’t in last time, is called Petal and it was one of my favorite things I’ve seen the company do in a long time. Hopefully this go round I might get a chance to do that one.