Fresh from receiving rave notices as the malevolent Danny in the hit Netflix series Bloodline, Australian actor Ben Mendelsohn was in KV this week to present, Mississippi Grand, a road movie-cum-buddy flick in which he stars as a hopeless gambler cruising the sleazy milieu of casinos in the southern U.S. in search of one last big win.
What attracted you to Mississippi Grand?
I adored the script. I thought Gerry was really beautiful. I loved how lost he was. And I loved the sweetness underneath. Just what an idiot – what a lovely – fool! You know, he’s one of God’s fools. I liked that a lot. But really, when Ryan [Reynolds] came along, it started to get dimensions and it came to a sort of a life in a very different way. He’s got a little magic about him, that guy. Ryan’s a very impressive figure. So, that was very easy. Once we got the ball rolling with that sort of stuff, we had a really good time...
What’s the most important ingredient to striking up a rapport with other actors?
I think you have to listen to them. You’re dancing together, in a way. And the easiest thing to forget when you’re acting is hearing. That’s the first thing that goes out the window. You end up just blurting out what you’re supposed to say. But when you listen, you catch the waves of people’s feelings and then – boom! – you can ride in on the track. And that’s where it is. And if you lock in with someone, and they know you’re locked in with them, they start to fly. And then – whoosh – off you guys go. You can feel when that happens. You can feel when people have a connection on screen – when there’s something happening. Everyone gets better when it’s like that...
Read the whole interview by Cóilín O’Connor and Iva Přivřelová in today's Festival Daily.
