Michael Shannon and Judy Greer first collaborated when they were cast in the sweet homage to small town living “Pottersville” in 2017. They would meet up in an episode of the Duplass brothers’ anthology series “Room 104” again as actors. But in Shannon’s feature film directorial debut, “Eric LaRue,” Shannon is stepping behind the camera to guide Greer.
Brett Neveu adapted his 2002 stage play for the film, which centers on Janice (Greer), the mother of a school shooter, in the aftermath of the act. Struggling to visit her son and managing the fallout in the community, Greer delivers a powerful tour-de-force for the actor best known for her work in comedies. It’s also a departure for Shannon, who once swore he would never direct for film.
“Eric LaRue” also features impressive ensemble including Alexander Skarsgård and Tracy Letts, and opens in limited release April 4. The duo spoke with Variety about the movie, and it’s soon revealed that in addition to their talent, the pair share a sharp sense of humor. But because they’re both such fantastic actors, it can sometimes be hard to tell when they’re joking at first. They discussed the challenging material, their initial meeting and what Shannon thought of “13 Going on 30.”
You’ve worked together, but do you remember when you first met?
Greer: It was “Pottersville.” At least that’s the first time I remember meeting you.
But surely you knew each other and had opinions of one another’s work.
Greer: He was a really big fan of mine. For years leading up to “Pottersville,” you’d been tracking my career and my life.
Shannon: I mean, I was trembling when you walked in, wasn’t I?
Greer: You were so nervous you didn’t even come to work my first day. I had to do my close-ups with a baseball.
But “Pottersville” was shot in Hamilton, New York, and we took over this little town for a month. And it was so fun. Mike was friends with everyone making the movie and they offered me the role. They said, “Have you met Michael Shannon? We just want to make a movie to show the world what a sweet, kind, hilarious man he is. Everyone thinks he’s mean and dark and they just don’t know what a kind sweetheart he is.”
Michael, did you know that they that they built this whole movie basically around changing your image?
Shannon: I didn’t mind the help. I know everybody thinks I’m so scary, but I don’t know why. I wouldn’t hurt a flea. But I’m not gonna lie. I wasn’t abundantly familiar with her career. Like, I don’t sit around watching all the romantic comedies that Judy has been involved with. I mean, I did watch them after I worked with you.
Oh, I was kind of hoping you were a big “13 Going on 30” fan.
Shannon: That’s not really my jam. But actually, I saw it recently. I was making “The End” in Ireland and my daughters came to visit. We watched “13 Going on 30” and I thought, “Finally, I get it.”
Michael, I’m curious about your history with “Eric LaRue” because I could be wrong, but I feel like you once told me you would never direct, or you just weren’t interested in directing.
Greer: When we were together on “Pottersville,” I asked him if he ever wanted to direct a movie, and the quote specifically was, “Fuck no.”
Shannon: That’s back when I was swearing. Before the swear jar. But I had directed theater from time to time but film just looked like too much responsibility for little old me. But I saw “Eric LaRue” as a play at Red Orchid, our theater in Chicago. I would just keep going back to see it because I was fascinated. Brett’s got a very distinctive voice in his writing that I haven’t really encountered anywhere else. Cut to a couple of decades later, cut I’m directing a play that he wrote called “Traitor.” And on the closing night of “Traitor,” he hands me the screenplay for “Eric LaRue.” I read it and, for some reason, this barrier that had existed in my mind regarding directing a film, just disintegrated upon reading that script. I thought, “I have to direct this. If I only direct one movie in my life, it has to be this.”
Greer: I read it the exact day you emailed it to me because I was blown away that out of all the people you know you would pick me. But I was also nervous — obviously about the subject matter but also what it meant to Mike and what it would mean to me. But Mike would talk to me about the themes and the meaning and what story we were telling. Mike — I hate to give you compliments, so plug your ears or mute me. He’s such a brilliant person, aside from a brilliant actor, and I just knew it was going to be amazing. He sees things simply but deeply. And as we’ve been doing press it’s so great to hear him talk about it again and what it means to him. Things are really hard right now, so I can’t think of a better time to tell stories like this that have some meaning to them.
Shannon: It’s oddly fortuitous because the film premiered at Tribeca a couple years ago, and it took us a minute to get the damn thing out. Oh, there I go, swearing again. But I feel like it’s coming out at the right time, don’t you?
Greer: Not to pat myself on the back, but I remember telling you that it’s gonna come out when it needs to come out. And I think it is.
Judy, after all that nice stuff you said, you should probably say something a little mean, just to make Michael feel comfortable.
Greer: It was really hard on set. So much swearing all the time.
Shannon: At least I never threw anything in your direction.
Greer: No, not in my direction.
Dana Hawley
This cast is made up of so many great actors you know. Did anyone actually audition, or did you know who you wanted for every part?
Shannon: As I was reading it, I was like, “Oh this person should play that character” over and over again. I saw the community of my artistic associates. That was one of the reasons I was compelled to direct it.
What about Nation Sage Henrickson, who is phenomenal as Eric and has never done a movie before?
Shannon: Nation was in a play I directed — he was in “Traitor.” I just knew he was Eric. It was primal, there wasn’t a list of criteria or whatever. I just knew.
Greer: This movie has a lot of foreign value. I hear he’s big in the Maldives.
I’ve seen a lot of people say that Judy is cast against type in this film but I’ve seen you do so many dramatic roles.
Greer: Thank you! I mean, I get it — if it helps get butts in seats, I’ll take it. But it’s certainly not a romantic comedy, which have been some of my more seen roles. I don’t think Mike would have wanted me to do this if he didn’t think I could drama.
Shannon: I always want to be around Judy. She just lightens the load. And there was maybe a list of people that would commonly be thought of for a big fat, juicy dramatic role like this. I call them the usual suspects and they show up and they’re really good at being dramatic. But I didn’t really want that. I wanted somebody who was going to bring more of a dimension to it. And frankly, I was looking for someone like Janice in the way that Janice didn’t anticipate what happened to her life and her son, and Judy is not what you might anticipate.
Greer: I wouldn’t say I ever hesitated to do the movie, but I did wonder, “How do I find myself in her?” I played this other character once that did something that I have a real problem with, and it was really hard to find myself in that woman. But there’s all kinds of people in the world and I want to play them. I don’t know what it’s like to be the mother of someone who would do something like this, thank God, but I think that woman gets a chance to have a story too. When I was reading about a couple mothers of school shooters when we were preparing for this, it was not what I expected to learn.
Shannon: I often talk about this movie in a micro and a macro level. The micro level is the family, the people, the characters. But the macro level is more society at large. And I think there’s a real problem in this country with holding people accountable for things that they have done or are doing. The blame game is a real tornado in this country. A lot of people want to talk gun control, which is a very valid debate. But parallel to that is this discussion of why there’s this alienation and loneliness in our society that is ostensibly filled with good, honest, hard-working people. There’s this undercurrent of hurt that leads people to do unimaginable things to one another. How do you locate the source of that, and what do we do about it?
