And I was like, You know, this is really working out great.
Did you come up with your own background for him?
He obviously sees himself as this cool customer.
Hes one of those guys where its like hes a cool customer because hes just a complete lunatic.
The backstory we came up … You know, like, who is this guy?
This is how we passed the time in Nam.
Id seenSightseers, and I absolutely loved it.
This guys hilarious, this guys dark, this guys funny, I love him.
And then they called and said, Do you know who Ben Wheatley is?
And I said, Yeah, hes theSightseersguy.
Go watchKill List, go watchA Field in England, go watch his movies.
And I did, and it was like, Oh my god.
I was like, Yes.
Tell him I said yes.
They go, No, no, no, no, no, wait a little.
Skype with him first.
I go, No, no.
Just tell him I said yes.
And fortunately it all ended up working out well.
As an actor, what are you looking for when you work with a particular director?
For me, its more like I want to learn how they did it.
Less to carry on yourself.
Its a lot of fun.
Just crawling around on the rubble, and to try this and try not to trip.
Trying to walk like you werent tripping when youre trying to look cool, all that stuff.
I mean, it was really a fun process.
Was it also fun to work mostly with practical effects and (fake) live ammo?
Its fun, its fun to watch.
Does it surprise you how quickly something like that can just sort of blow up online?
Its nuts, man.
I feel like this could turn.
Which everybody knows it can.
The monster can turn on you, so I was like, Im out of here.
Im out, this is like whatever.
Having said that, you almost played Batman almost 10 years ago.
I think theyll stop rebooting it the minute Batman stops making them money.
Its all business, I guess.
I never really planned to do a movie like this, like a period kind of pulp film.
I never planned to do something likeLone Ranger, or something likeJ.
It all is just so circumstantial.
People have written extraordinary things aboutCall Me by Your Name.
Were you excited about the prospects for that film and for people to see that when it comes out?
I love (director) Luca Guadagnino.
I was an incredible experience all around.
What are you doing next?
But Ill let Ben do all the talking about it.
Free Fireis out in theaters this Friday (April 21).
