Michael Shannon & Alfonso Gomez-Rejon interview: Lighting up with 'The Current War'
Photo courtesy of 101 Studios
The new film “The Current War: Director’s Cut” has had a long road to the screen. Its original version was slated for release in late 2017 and the former Weinstein Company movie was gearing up for a massive awards push during that festival season. But after a tepid premiere at that year’s Toronto Film Festival another shoe dropped. Harvey Weinstein, one of the chief backers of the film, became embroiled in various sexual assault claims that put “The Current War” and many other unreleased movies in turnaround. Needless to say things were not looking great for director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon (“Me and Earl and the Dying Girl”) and his unfinished film.
A few years later, upstart distributor 101 Studios has come to the rescue, buying all rights to “The Current War” and allowing Rejon the opportunity to go back in the editing room and finish his film the way he always wanted. By his own admission, the original version that premiered in Toronto was rushed and incomplete so this new version, now known as “The Current War: Director’s Cut,” is a true artistic creation.
The movie is a period drama focusing on the battle of wits and ingenuity between electricity titans Thomas Edison (Benedict Cumberbatch), George Westinghouse (Michael Shannon) and Nikola Tesla (Nicholas Hoult). Westinghouse and Tesla band together against Edison to bring a new kind of power to modern society but the key will be getting to the finish line first. The all-star cast also includes Tom Holland (“Spiderman: Homecoming”), Matthew MacFadyen (“Succession”) and executive producer Martin Scorsese.
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon and Michael Shannon recently came to San Francisco on a promotional tour for “The Current War: Director’s Cut.” We discussed reassembling the film, digging deep into George Westinghouse and other electrical bits. This is a transcription of that conversation.
Q: It’s great to see you both.
Michael Shannon: You too.
Q: How has the process of showing this film to different audiences and traveling to different cities been working out for you? Have you noticed the film working differently with different types of people?
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: You definitely get the sense of how the film is playing with different audiences. I never want to be disingenuous answering the same questions so I like to keep things fresh so I don’t keep reworking soundbites. We made a movie because we care about it and hopefully the person across from us asking questions wants to ask us genuine questions so they deserve the same respect back.
Q: You’ve been out promoting this film longer than most since it initially premiered at the Toronto film festival two years ago. The film is no longer “The Current War” but “The Current War: Director’s Cut.” Was the title change your decision or did the studio make that choice?
Gomez-Rejon: It’s certainly a dream for a director to put out the version of a movie they’ve seen in their head and sometimes the road to releasing a film can be very complicated for a lot of filmmakers. It’s the nature of the business but I’m grateful that we were able to position the film as the version I’ve always wanted to make.
Q: When you say this is “the version I’ve always wanted to make” does that suggest the original cut from two years ago was rushed to make a Toronto deadline or were you satisfied with that version at the time and later decided to retool it?
Gomez-Rejon: You’re always evolving as a filmmaker but it was rushed to make a screening. One hundred percent.
Q: Were you able to see the original version of this film, Michael?
Shannon: I saw it in Toronto.
Q: What did you think?
Shannon: I loved it. I was very pleased when I saw it in Toronto. I haven’t seen this current “Current War.” (laughs) That’s what they should call it! Not “The Current War: Director’s Cut,” they should call it “The Current Current War.” And every once in a while you can do another pass on it and call that version “The Even More Current Current War.” But I think my opinion is the lowest on the totem pole. Who cares what I think?
Q: I care what you think.
Shannon: That’s nice but why do you care? What difference does it make to you?
Q: I’m a fan of your work and think you’re pretty damn good in this movie.
Shannon: Pride isn’t a super useful emotion for me. I don’t look back on things I’ve done and said, “Goddamn I was so amazing in that!” This is something I do and then it’s gone, which makes this part of it very difficult because it’s hard to talk about something in the past. I shot this movie a while ago but I do this because that’s the way people can know the movie is coming out. But the idea of being proud of something seems strange to me.
Q: Are you the type of actor who likes to prepare before arriving on set or do you prefer to wing it and let the moment come to you?
Shannon: You have to be prepared. Just because I’m not proud of it doesn’t mean I don’t take it seriously.
Q: I definitely didn’t mean it like that.
Shannon: Well I had to learn my lines.
Q: That’s important.
Shannon: I’ve never been good at explaining what I do or how I do it but I’ve never heard anyone do that very well. It’s kind of a mysterious thing, that’s why not everyone can do it.
Q: Alfonso, what kind of atmosphere do you like to create on set to make your actors feel more comfortable?
Gomez-Rejon: I like to create an atmosphere that feels safe, an atmosphere where you can make mistakes and we can go on this journey together and find the truth. It’s all about that. As much as I love the technical side and the craft of making movies, when the actors arrive on set that’s when I get the most joy out of it. Sometimes actors can give you the tiniest details on set that can make a huge impact on the movie.
Q: What kinds of details did Michael give you on set that worked out well for the movie?
Gomez-Rejon: There were a few times Michael came to set on his own accord just to watch us work. Also, in one of his early scenes Michael was wearing a cape and he kept moving his arm to see how the cape would fall over his arm. He kept standing there and doing it over and over until he got it right and by the time it came to shoot it the movement was just effortless.
Q: George Westinghouse was very meticulous in his actions so that makes perfect sense.
Shannon: Yes he was.
Q: Did you do any research on Westinghouse before shooting this movie?
Shannon: It was hard to do much research because he didn’t make a big show of himself. He was very private and there’s not much of a written record about him. A lot of it was up to my imagination.
Q: Does that make it easier or harder for you when you don’t know much about the character you’re playing?
Shannon: It’s hard to say. Either way it’s a challenge. Playing real people that are part of our culture is definitely a challenge. When I played Elvis (in “Elvis & Nixon”), that was hard. The interesting thing to me about playing Westinghouse was wondering what it would be like to be that powerful and successful. He was one of the leading industrialists of that age. His fortune was so vast and he was in charge of so many people that I just can’t fathom that.
Q: Is there something about this movie that you haven’t been asked yet that you’d like to talk about?
Gomez-Rejon: That’s a great question! I want this movie to be played loud. This movie was scored and mixed to be played in a very loud environment. I wish I could call projectionists playing this movie and tell them to play it as loud as they possibly can.
Shannon: Sometimes they make the mistake of turning it down because they think this movie is more quiet and old-fashioned. You’ve got to play this one loud.
Q: A lot of directors do that. They send personalized notes to projectionists to play their movies a certain way. Christopher Nolan does that. And Michael Bay does that too, who you’ve worked with a few times.
Shannon: Oh yeah! As I like to call him, Old Bay. (laughs)
“The Current War: Director’s Cut” is now playing in limited release.
