We spoke about all these projects when we sat down recently with Shannon in Los Angeles.
Den of Geek: Have you and Guillermo ever talked about working together before?
Michael Shannon:No, this was totally out of the blue.
I didnt know Guillermo.
I was out here doing something silly, I dont know.
Said, Ive been writing this movie for a long time.
Ive been writing it with particular people in mind, and youre one of those people.
And I said okay.
Its an astonishingly simple and concise story.
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He said he wrote Strickland with your voice in his head.
So when you got to read the character, what struck you about the character?
I thought it was funny.
I thought it was a funny character.
I saw a lot of humor in it.
I liked the opportunity to play some uptight, confused government agent guy.
I mean look, nobodys perfect.
Some days we do nice things and some days we do not nice things.
Thats how most people seem to function.
Hed always be in the lab or behind the wheel of a truck or something.
You wouldnt go home and see his wife and see him talk to his kids.
You know those sequences are very brief, but theyre packed with so many details.
Thats the magic of what hes doing I think.
This movie is kind of about seeing beneath the surface of people.
What do you think it says to audiences today?
Well yeah, Guillermos a very conscientious filmmaker, he always has been.
Hes very in touch with whats going on in the world.
Honestly, people want to draw parallels and theyre welcome to do that.
Im sure Guillermo would like them to do that.
I honestly think that Stricklands a lot more interesting than any of these gauchos weve got in government today.
Hes a lot more interesting than Paul Ryan, these guys are just stooges.
I dont think Stricklands a total stooge.
I think any good art encourages people to pay attention, be aware of their surroundings.
It encourages you to have a perspective.
And I think this film is capable of doing that.
Did you have kind of a favorite monster when you were a kid?
I remember when I was a little kid I was really into Greedo and Hammerhead fromStar Wars.
I had the action figures, they were my favorite.
Although for the life of me I cant remember what I actually did with them.
Because now I dont know what youre supposed to do with action figures.
Its a really weird name for a little piece of rubber.
I mean they cant do anything, but you just hold them in your hands and look at them.
Yeah, I was really into Greedo and Hammerhead.
But that went away fairly early on.
And with no prosthetics.
I just think that performance of his is pretty incredible.
It might be one of my favorite things I ever saw him do.
Where do you keep your Zod action figures from when you played him inMan of Steel?
Theyre like sitting around on a shelf.
My daughter has one on her shelf.
I gave some of them away.
They make good charity auction items if you sign them.
But theres all different kinds.
Theres the bigger one, and then theres little bobble head ones.
Its very, its cool.
But I dont play with them.
Is it odd to see yourself as an action figure?
Im totally in favor of it.
Id recommend it if anyone has the opportunity.
I always like having unique experiences, so that would fall under that category I think.
Yeah, I made this with Ramin Bahrani.
We worked together on99 Homesand I think Ramin is just one of our top filmmakers right now.
I love him like a brother.
And it was kind of his idea.
He thought it was time to get this out again.
I dont think many people have seen the Truffaut version.
Its a little clunky I think.
This is much more …
I think its got more of a pulse to it perhaps.
Ramin really focused on the relationship between Beatty and Montag.
The Clarisse characters very different than in the book.
Thats one significant difference.
And its a little more modern, its a little more gritty.
But of course its a lot more complex than that, ultimately.
I thought99 Homeswas one of the best movies of that year.
It made me want to scream at the screen.
You just gotta keep doing it man, you gotta keep making people want to scream.
Maybe eventually itll work.
Yeah, Im very sad about it to be honest.
Alfonso didnt do anything wrong.
Itd be nice if there were someone like him nowadays.
Although I look at Tom Steyer and I admire what hes trying to do.
Theyre not all evil, just most of them.
It is a true story.
I hope its somewhat accurate.
But I got to meet the guy that my characters based on.
And I really admire him.
Obviously thats had mixed results, but that particular mission was I think very successful.
Theres a monument to those horse soldiers at Ground Zero.
And I think its important for everyone to know what that monument stands for.
So hopefully this film accomplishes that.
The Shape of Wateris out in limited release tomorrow (Friday, December 1).
