In among the hoopla, humbug and whisky mist that engulfed the Edinburgh International Film Festival 2015, we managed to find a quiet 15 minute pause to sit down for a chat with the in-demand actor, Robert Sheehan, who plays the lead role of Jack in The Messenger. It was my first interview as press but Robert was easy going, thoughtful in both his answers and demeanour. We talked about solid scripts, unexpected reactions and why humour is always the answer.
What attracted you to the role of Jack?
The prospect of working with Darth Blair [David Blair – the director of The Messenger] as I call him once again was very, very attractive. He is a very safe pair of hands so that was immediately something that was [appealing]…because a lot of the time when you’re sent a script it can be very good but you don’t know any of the stuff that the director has made. You know you have to be very careful in getting on board because a director can make or break something no matter how good it is. The script was great and it was just one of those parts where you’re like I can’t turn that down. It was more strongly written on the page than any other parts in the film – you know what I mean it was even if I f–k it up kind of I’ll still probably steal the show – I’m joking.
How much input did you have the look and feel of Jack? He’s always in that dirty overcoat.
Yeah I wanted him to be someone who had abandoned any sense of hygiene or anything like that because this thing had been happening to him repeatedly for years to the point where he is so sick of people punching him in the face and telling him to f–k off that he’s just like f–k you, f–k you world. So that had to be reflected I think as much as possible in the whole costume – him falling asleep and waking up and the whole thing. I wanted to push more. I wanted his teeth to be f–ked up, but there gets to a point where I was politely reminded that we are making a film.
Indeed, you do need to make money from a film!
Exactly people need to be able to watch it without puking into their popcorn.
How do you go about prepping for a role like this: I see dead people?
I think you just have to work out the guy’s personality you know. The I see dead people thing is less important than how he deals with it. That’s where the interesting stuff comes out for me anyway – in this instance he deals with it in a very off hand [way]: [e.g. like him saying] “this is like something I had to deal with for years”. So it was just working away at the script and trying to feel comfortable in the skin of the guy.
The scenes in the clinic – did you go to hospitals or clinics to prepare and see how it was?
No. In this instance – I didn’t think that was going to be relevant really. It is kind of [like going ] into the unknown so I didn’t have to know what the inside of a hospital was like. So I suppose it’s great to do research if you can really make use of it but other than that it’s just wasting time.
Watching the film I found myself laughing out loud at really inappropriate moments, most people weren’t. Why do you think humour goes hand in hand with hard times?
Crikey. You know what I think humour goes hand in hand with good times and bad times but I know what you mean the dark gallows humour type thing. I think it’s probably a way of digesting a horrendous reality. If we don’t laugh at it we’ll cry – that kind of way.
How’s this interviewing going? How you feeling? Good?
Yeah, like I’m talking to a friend.
Perceptions features strongly in the film : how people view others in the film. How do you want the film to be perceived?
I like that you found it funny. I really do. I really like it when people have the non preconceived reaction to something. I really do like that. The problem I think with a lot of people when it comes to receiving art or protesting or anything like that that they confuse seriousness with solemnity if you know what I mean. You can be solemn and you can’t be having a laugh but you can’t be having a laugh if you’re supposed to be serious. When humour is excluded from anything I’m not interested.
Congratulations on having two films [The Messenger and The Road Within] at the festival. Tourettes, seeing dead people, what’s next?
Seeing dead people with tourettes. That would be awesome wouldn’t it? That sounds like a storyline out of Misfits weirdly enough. The next film that I am doing is a love story type film. [It’s] a beautifully written thing – Dunstin Lance Black -who is a writer director. He’s American – he wrote Milk and a few other bits and [my co-star is] Hailee Steinfeld. It’s small [budget] in American terms but 5 [times greater than the budget for] Messengers.
The Messenger is out in cinemas on 18 September.
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