(L to R) Dominic Sessa and Rose Byrne star in ‘Tow.’
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Rose Byrne and Dominic Sessa about their work on ‘Tow’, the true story it is based on, their characters, the film’s unique tone, and working with director Stephanie Laing.
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Byrne and Sessa, and director Stephanie Laing.
Rose Byrne in ‘Tow.’ Photo: Courtesy of Roadside Attractions.
Moviefone: To begin with, Rose, can you talk about your first reaction to learning of Amanda Ogle’s true story and why you wanted to play her and bring her story to the screen?
Rose Byrne: I mean, I was so intrigued. It really confronted my own prejudices of what someone is who’s unhoused, what they typically behave like or look like or sound like and where they’re from. She really turned all those things on its head in that sense. That’s something that really speaks to Amanda about how people have so many prejudices around that. It’s a systemic problem in the country and how that can happen to anybody through a series of bad choices and bad luck. She also hates authority. She’s very hostile. She’s suspicious of people. She’s a fun character to play and to hopefully have the audience root for her as well because she’s going up against this horrendous company, this monolithic company who couldn’t care less about her and her situation. In the end, she’s not really fighting for the car. She’s fighting for something inside. She’s fighting for her own dignity and respect. Then this very unlikely lawyer, this double act that becomes Kevin and Amanda. That was also really appealing to me and a fun part of the story. That was so true. It really happened. It’s so funny to see them together because they’re such an unlikely pair.
(L to R) Dominic Sessa and Rose Byrne in ‘Tow.’ Photo: Courtesy of Roadside Attractions.
MF: Dominic, can you talk about why Kevin decides to help Amanda, and what it was like creating that relationship on screen with Rose?
Dominic Sessa: It’s hard to understand. On paper, why would he commit himself to this journey? I mean, this huge commitment that it ended up becoming. But I think it does have a lot to do with his age. I’m close to that age that he was at the time now. I feel that sense of you wanting to prove things, especially for this character right out of law school, you have something to prove. This maybe initially presented itself as an opportunity to be like, “Oh, I graduated. I know what I can do. I passed the bar,” all of that. Then I think beautifully just turned into this very caring relationship where it didn’t become about himself. He really was doing it just for this other person to the point where he was making mistakes and felt bad about them and nervous to present that to her because he had felt such an obligation to her and this car.
‘Tow’ director Stephanie Laing.
MF: Rose, what was it like working with Stephanie again after ‘Physical’ and really collaborating with her to tell this specific story?
RB: It was wonderful. We’ve done so many episodes of TV together and you just clock those hours, you really have a shorthand, which is wonderful. This film was made in 19 days. So, it was like an episode of TV. It was so fast and furious, and we had one take, maybe two. Stephanie is incredible that she keeps everything on track. There’s no drama. She’s very organized and she has wonderful visual instincts. She casts so well. It’s not everybody can do that, particularly in these circumstances. She’s a wonderful leader and there’s no ego to it. She’s very driven by material, by performance, and it just reflects on the set. So, it was very well run considering how tight it was.
(L to R) Rose Byrne and Octavia Spencer star in ‘Tow.’ Photo: Courtesy of Roadside Attractions.
MF: Finally, Dominic, can you talk about the unusual tone of the movie and was Stephanie helpful with balancing the comedy and the drama on set?
DS: I think that was what attracted me to the movie. A large part was the tone of it and how it has this parabolic trajectory where you are laughing and then something devastating can happen. I think Stephanie’s really had a good sense of the tone and that’s what she wanted the movie to be. I think those are the movies I like the most personally and to act in as well. So, the first time we met, I understood what she was trying to do, and I think it’s the perfect tone for this story.
‘Tow’ opens in theaters on March 20th.
What is the plot of ‘Tow’?
Amanda Ogle (Rose Byrne), a homeless Seattle woman, fights her way out of tow-company hell to reclaim her life and the car that held it all together after receiving a tow bill for $21,634.
Available on premium digital from Lionsgate December 16th is the box office hit ‘Now You See Me: Now You Don’t’, which is the third film in the popular franchise and was directed by Ruben Fleischer (‘Venom’).
(L to R) Dave Franco as Jack Wilder, Jesse Eisenberg as Daniel Atlas, and Isla Fisher as Henley Reeves in ‘Now You See Me: Now You Don’t’. Photo: Katalin Vermes.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with director Ruben Fleischer about his work on ‘Now You See Me: Now You Don’t’, joining the franchise, reuniting with his ‘Zombieland’ actors Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson, Rosamund Pike’s hilarious performance, the new cast members, creating the illusions on screen, and if he would return to helm a fourth movie.
You can read our full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews.
‘Now You See Me: Now You Don’t’ director Ruben Fleischer.
Moviefone: To begin with, as a filmmaker, can you talk about the challenges of joining a successful series to direct the third installment of a franchise?
Ruben Fleisher: I approach this movie as a fan of the franchise. I love the first two movies. So, for me, the pressure of trying to make it as good as the previous two was so much self-imposed because I didn’t want to disappoint my fellow fans of the franchise. So, I did everything in my power to carry on the spirit of the original and clean up some of the things that happened in the past. For example, Henley (Isla Fisher) was in the first movie and then was replaced by Lulu (Lizzy Caplan) without much explanation. So, it was important to me that both be in the film, just because as a fan, I wanted to see those two women together, because they’re both so great. So, just carrying forward all the magic, all the fun, the banter, the relationships and everything else. So, the big challenge was just feeling the pressure not to disappoint fans.
(L to R) Justice Smith as Charlie, Jesse Eisenberg as Daniel Atlas, and Woody Harrelson as Merrit McKinney in ‘Now You See Me: Now You Don’t’. Photo Credit: Katalin Vermes.
MF: Did it help that you already had a good working relationship with Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson from making the ‘Zombieland’ movies?
RF: I was lucky because I had a pre-existing relationship with Woody and Jesse, so I had a familiarity and a comfort level and that’s what drew me to the project in the first place. I was lucky to have the help of two longtime collaborators to make sure that we did our best work. This was my fourth movie with each of them. We all did the two ‘Zombieland’ movies together and then Jesse and I did ‘30 minutes or Less’ and Woody was in the tease at the end of ‘Venom’. But I love working with those two guys, and I also knew that they loved working with the rest of the cast. I was a huge fan of Dave Franco, Isla Fisher and Lizzie Caplan. So, for me, it was just an opportunity to work with more actors that I really love, but I had also heard from Jesse and Woody about what a great dynamic everybody had on set and how they felt like a family among themselves. So, I was just happy to join the family.
Rosamund Pike as Veronika in ‘Now You See Me: Now You Don’t’. Photo Credit: Katalin Vermes.
MF: Actress Rosmund Pike gives a fantastic performance in the movie. Can you talk about casting and working with her?
RF: I have been a fan of hers for a long time. I mean, she’s so good going back to ‘Die Another Day’ or ‘Gone Girl’, but it was really seeing her recently in ‘Saltburn’, where I felt like she just stole every scene that she was in, and she was so funny. In addition to being a challenging character, I think movies to a degree are only as good as the villains. You need someone formidable, and especially when you have such a strong ensemble as we have, with such incredible actors, you need someone who feels equally weighted in terms of screen presence, threat, charisma and everything that makes a great movie character. So, Rosamund’s somebody who, beyond her dramatic ability, beyond her obvious beauty, she just tends to make her characters delicious and more than what’s expected. So, it was exciting for me to. She brought so much to it. She has an incredible, natural aptitude for accents, and the South African accent is very specific and challenging. I’m so proud of the fact that when South Africans have watched the movie, and I’ve talked to them about it, they have told me they’ve never heard a non-South African have such a perfect accent as that. So that was really gratifying to learn. But she’s just got this inherent intelligence. She seems like she’s from this lofted heiress status, and she seems smart and like she could be dangerous or somebody not to mess with. So, it was a great experience from beginning to end working with her.
(L to R) Dominic Sessa as Bosco, Justice Smith as Charlie, and Ariana Greenblatt as June in ‘Now You See Me: Now You Don’t’. Photo: Courtesy of Lionsgate.
MF: Can you talk about bringing in new cast members like Justice Smith, Dominic Sessa and Ariana Greenblatt and having them mix it up with the returning cast?
RF: That was also a great challenge just because when you have such beloved, established actors, and you got to find, younger, less established actors who you expect to be as compelling and charismatic, so they just don’t get completely blown away by these movie stars. It’s challenging, but for all three of them, I had been fans of their work. With Dominic, ‘The Holdovers’ was his first movie, but he was so compelling in it. I think it was an incredible launch for his career. But I was proud to have cast him in his first ever studio movie, and I think he more than performed at a level we needed in terms of just being funny and he turned out to be good with both the magic and the action. He’s just got this cool kind of swag. Justice is somebody who we’ve all seen whether it’s ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ or the ‘Jurassic World’ movies, but also super cool indies as well. He’s always interesting and so I’ve been a fan, and it was exciting to get to cast him. Then Ariana was just a force of nature. She was 16 when she first came to Budapest and celebrated her 17th birthday while we were there. So, she was literally a child relative to these adults, and she’s just so wise beyond her years, so capable physically, obviously a great actress and just really brought so much cool to June that she just inherently has as a person. Casting’s one of my favorite parts of the process and I think if you look at the original ‘Zombieland’ or other movies I made, casting seems to be a signature of the films just discovering people who have gone on to great things. Not to say I discovered these people, but just giving them maybe perhaps a bigger platform. I think they all have exceeded beyond my wildest hopes and dreams, and I think they’re just so compelling as a triad.
(L to R) Dominic Sessa as Bosco, Jesse Eisenberg as Daniel Atlas, Isla Fisher as Henley Reeves, and Justice Smith as Charlie in ‘Now You See Me: Now You Don’t’. Photo Credit: Katalin Vermes.
MF: Can you talk about designing the illusions for the film and how you wanted them to look on screen?
RF: The first two movies are terrific, and I love them, but there were moments as a fan where I felt like they relied perhaps a little too heavily on VFX or CGI. So, it was very important to me for our movie that we do everything as practical as possible and do everything as much in cameras as possible. One of the things I’m most proud of is that all those illusion rooms that take place in the château are all physical sets that we built. So, whether it was the upside-down room where we literally spun a room upside down, which is a Hollywood convention going back to Fred Astaire dancing on the ceiling. Or it’s the Ames room, which we probably all seen versions of in various museums of Illusion throughout the world, where one person’s very big and one person’s very small on the other side of frame. We built that, and that was all in camera and practical, and that was just so cool to experience when you walk to that room. It really did look like a normal room and then as soon as you walk in, the proportions shift. So, that was just neat and to be able to create something like that with that level of detail. The infinity staircase, which is what we call the room that Woody was in with all the mirrors going in a million different directions. I talked to the production designer about trying to figure out how we could do a practical version of M.C. Escher’s painting, where the stairs are going in all different directions and you’re not quite sure what’s up and down or anything else. So, through a trial and error, we arrived at the design for that room, which kind of does provide that feeling of you don’t know which way is up or down and you don’t know which reflections are real and which is Woody. Then there was a hall of mirrors, which we’ve seen in movies before, but that was all in camera. Truthfully, the only VFX effects in any of these environments was just when there were mirrors. We had to paint out the camera because he inherently shot his own reflection, but we put him in a skintight form fitting blue screen suit. So, it was easy to find him in all the reflections, and then we could just erase him. But I’m proud of how we committed to this concept of it having to be as practical as we could make it, and then holding true to it, and not ultimately bailing or relying on VFX, which is always a possibility.
(L to R) Woody Harrelson as Merrit McKinney, Jesse Eisenberg as Daniel Atlas, Dominic Sessa as Bosco, Dave Franco as Jack Wilder, Justice Smith as Charlie, Isla Fisher as Henley Reeves, and Ariana Greenblatt as June in ‘Now You See Me, Now You Don’t’. Photo Credit: Katalin Vermes.
MF: Finally, the ending of the film hints at more adventures for the main characters, is returning for a ‘’Now You See Me 4’ something you would be interested in doing?
RF: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, that’s why we left it off on that ellipsis of more potential adventures to go on. I’m thrilled with the reaction that the audience has had to the film, and I’d be absolutely thrilled to go back into this world with these actors and devise a new magical adventure for them to go on. So, fingers crossed.
(L to R) Justice Smith as Charlie, Ariana Greenblatt as June, Dominic Sessa as Bosco, Jesse Eisenberg as Daniel Atlas, Isla Fisher as Henley Reeves, and Dave Franco as Jack Wilder in ‘Now You See Me: Now You Don’t’. Photo Credit: Katalin Vermes.
What is the plot of ‘Now You See Me: Now You Don’t’?
The original Four Horsemen (Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher and Dave Franco) reunite with a new generation of illusionists to take on powerful diamond heiress Veronika Vanderberg (Rosamund Pike), who leads a criminal empire built on money laundering and trafficking. The new and old magicians must overcome their differences to work together on their most ambitious heist yet.
Who is in the cast of ‘Now You See Me: Now You Don’t’?
(L to R) Michelle Pfeiffer and Felicity Jones star in ‘Oh. What. Fun.’
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Michelle Pfeiffer and Felicity Jones about their work on ‘Oh. What. Fun.’, Pfeiffer’s first reaction to the screenplay, making a Christmas movie from the mother’s point of view, Jones’ approach to her character, and her relationship with her mother.
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Pfeiffer, Jones, Chloë Grace Moretz, and Dominic Sessa.
Michelle Pfeiffer in ‘Oh. What. Fun.’ Photo: Prime Video.
Moviefone: To begin with, Michelle, what was your first reaction to the screenplay and the idea of making a Christmas movie from the mother’s point of view?
Michelle Pfeiffer: First, I was so excited to work with Michael Showalter. I think I would’ve done anything that he asked me to do, honestly, because everything he does is so brilliant and it’s all different too. So, I feel like he can tackle any genre of movie making. It wasn’t really on my bucket list to do a Christmas movie and I haven’t seen a ton of them. But it’s one of those things where you don’t even know there’s a story that needs to be told until you read it and you go, “Oh, of course.” It’s like women have just assumed these roles and these responsibilities throughout the generations and done it joyously because they love their families, and they want to be with them. But then I thought, “Wow, that’s so true.” There aren’t any Christmas movies about mothers who are basically the glue to the whole thing. So, I got very excited to do it, and I loved the relationship, the mother-daughter relationship with Channing, and for Claire, the inability to let things evolve. I think that’s the stress and the pressure that Felicity’s character is feeling, the pressure to stay what she was. Anyway, I love the movie.
(L to R) Felicity Jones and Jason Schwartzman in ‘Oh. What. Fun.’ Photo: Prime Video.
MF: Finally, Felicity, can you talk about your character’s relationship with her mother, why she wants to be recognized by her, and creating that relationship on screen with Michelle?
Felicity Jones: Well, it’s just a relationship that’s so true to life, that there’s so much love and there’s so much admiration and affection. But it’s almost like the relationship got a little bit stuck. I think Channing is a bit stuck and she needs to go from being a child to being an adult, even though she’s in her late ’30s. Somehow through the course of the film, she becomes a grown up. When Claire is no longer there, then suddenly, she has all the responsibilities that Claire has, the weight that Claire must hold and suddenly it’s on her shoulders. So, in that happening, she discovers empathy and goes, “Actually, it’s not easy being my mom, and maybe I don’t need to be quite so hard on her.”
‘Oh. What. Fun.’ debuts on Prime Video December 3rd.
What is the plot of ‘Oh. What. Fun.’?
Claire Clauster (Michelle Pfeiffer) makes the Christmas magic happen every year for her family, but her children and grandchildren don’t realize the effort it takes, until she goes missing.
Dominic Sessa is to play chef Anthony Bourdain in ‘Tony’.
The biopic will be directed by ‘Blackberry’s Matt Johnson.
A24 is considering picking up the movie.
What do you do when you’ve enjoyed a breakout starring role in one of the more acclaimed comedy dramas of recent years, one that saw your co-stars nominated for Oscars and one win hers (Da’Vine Joy Randolph)? Do you see whether Marvel comes calling?
For ‘The Holdovers’ Dominic Sessa, he’s going in some interesting other directions, and the latest involves playing a respected (and tragic) real-life figure.
Sessa is now part of a biopic called ‘Tony’ that will chart part of the life of famed chef and broadcaster Anthony Bourdain.
Anthony Bourdain in ‘Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown’. Photo: CNN.
With a script by Lou Howe and Todd Bartels, ‘Tony’ will focus on some or all of Bourdain’ life.
He got his culinary start cooking in various restaurants across Manhattan in the 1980s and 90s including being the executive chef at Brasserie Les Halles in Manhattan.
Yet it was his essay collection about the ugly secrets of restaurants that put him on the map. Following there publication in the New Yorker, Bourdain became an instant star on the media food scene due to his point-blank, tell-it-how-it-is tone that was not the norm in cookery writing.
That landed him the job of hosting a number of shows on TV, but it was his Travel Channel series ‘Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations’ that made him star over its eight season run. Tragically, Bourdain passed away in 2018 after committing suicide and while researching a season of the show.
(L to R) Jay Baruchel and Glenn Howerton in ‘BlackBerry’. Photo: Elevation Pictures.
The film comes from production company Star Thrower, which has seen some success in the biopic sphere via ‘King Richard’, which followed the father of tennis champs Venus and Serena Williams and saw Will Smith score an Oscar in 2022.
Matt Johnson, who most recently worked on another based-on-truth tale, tech comedy drama ‘Blackberry’, will be behind the camera for ‘Tony’.
Off the back of his ‘Holdovers’ success, Sessa has landed roles in sequel ‘Now You See Me 3’, a drama about a real-life battle against a car towing company called ‘Tow’ and Christmas-themed comedy ‘Oh. What. Fun.’
When will ‘Tony’ be on screens?
While A24 is considering picking up the package, it has no official home yet, so a release date is a ways off. But if it all comes together and shoots this year, it could be out later in 2025.
Anthony Bourdain in ‘Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown’. Photo: CNN.
List of Anthony Bourdain’s Film and TV Appearances:
Another new recruit –– albeit someone who has enjoyed a longer career than anyone –– is also joining the cast. Rosamund Pike, most recently seen in ‘Saltburn’, has landed a mysterious role in the new movie, according to Lionsgate.
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What’s the story of the ‘Now You See Me’ movies?
(L to R) Isla Fisher, Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson and Dave Franco in 2013’s ‘Now You See Me.’ Photo: Lionsgate.
The original ‘Now You See Me’ in 2013 introduced us to magician team The Four Horsemen –– played by Jessie Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco and Isla Fisher, who specialize in dazzling big acts of trickery either in theaters or on the street, with an added extra –– they tend to steal from the rich to help the poor.
In that film, they’re being hunted by the authorities, including Mark Ruffalo’s FBI agent Dylan Rhodes, but he –– spoiler if you’ve never seen the movie –– turns out to be a magician himself, and introduces them to a secret society.
Three of the four (with Lizzy Caplan as a new recruit) returned for 2016’s ‘Now You See Me 2’ which sees the team recruited –– with threats –– by Daniel Radcliffe’s tech guru to pull off a heist.
As for the third movie? That is being kept in a special locked chest for now, with a script that has been through the hands of Eric Warren Singer, Seth Graham Smith and Mike Lesslie.
This is Lionsgate’s brief logline:
“The new film returns audiences to the thieving illusionists known as the Four Horseman while introducing audiences to a new generation of magicians.”
Ruben Fleischer –– who, of course directed Eisenberg and Harrelson in the ‘Zombieland’ movies –– will be calling the shots for this one.
Who else will be in ‘Now You See Me 3’?
(L to R) Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Woody Harrelson, and Dave Franco in 2013’s ‘Now You See Me.’
Eisenberg, Harrelson, Fisher, Franco and fellow franchise stalwart Morgan Freeman (who played a magician hired to debunk the Horsemen will be back in their There has also been chatter about Mark Ruffalo, though his name doesn’t appear in the studio’s press release. Perhaps it’s all part of a complex bluff of a sort that the Horsemen would enjoy making work.
Ariana Greenblatt, Justice Smith and Dominic Sessa are the new additions.
Ruben Fleischer is directing.
At its CinemaCon presentation this year, Lionsgate dropped word that, after years in development limbo, a third ‘Now You See Me’ movie is finally, actually moving forward, with ‘Zombieland’s Ruben Fleisher in the director’s chair (Louis Leterrier and Jon M. Chu handled the previous entries).
(L to R) Isla Fisher, Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson and Dave Franco in 2013’s ‘Now You See Me.’ Photo: Lionsgate.
The original ‘Now You See Me’ in 2013 introduced us to magician team The Four Horsemen –– played by Jessie Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco and Isla Fisher, who specialize in dazzling big acts of trickery either in theaters or on the street, with an added extra –– they tend to steal from the rich to help the poor.
In that film, they’re being hunted by the authorities, including Mark Ruffalo’s FBI agent Dylan Rhodes, but he –– spoiler if you’ve never seen the movie –– turns out to be a magician himself, and introduces them to a secret society.
Three of the four (with Lizzy Caplan as a new recruit) returned for 2016’s ‘Now You See Me 2’ which sees the team recruited –– with threats –– by Daniel Radcliffe’s tech guru to pull off a heist.
As for the third movie? That is being kept in a special locked chest for now, with a script that has been through the hands of Eric Warren Singer, Seth Graham Smith and Mike Lesslie.
This is Lionsgate’s brief logline:
“The new film returns audiences to the thieving illusionists known as the Four Horseman while introducing audiences to a new generation of magicians.”
Who else will be in ‘Now You See Me 3’?
(L to R) Jesse Eisenberg, Dave Franco, Isla Fisher and Woody Harrelson in 2013’s ‘Now You See Me.’ Photo: Lionsgate.
Deadline was first out of the gate with news on this one, reporting that Greenblatt (who will be seen this year in ‘Borderlands’ had joined the movie.
Both trade sites (and the studio itself) mention that Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher and Dave Franco will be back in their roles, while Deadline adds Mark Ruffalo, though his name doesn’t appear elsewhere. Perhaps it’s all part of a complex bluff of a sort that the Horsemen would enjoy making work.
Alexander Payne’s ‘The Holdover’ is a holiday dramedy set in the 1970s starring Paul Giamatti (‘Jungle Cruise’), Da’Vine Joy Randolph (‘Rustin’), and Dominic Sessa. Taking place at the elite Barton Academy, a history teacher, a school kitchen manager, and a student are stuck in the school and are forced to spend the holidays together. They form an interesting and unlikely bond as they learn more about each other.
This film reunited Academy Award winning director Alexander Payne with Paul Giamatti since their collaboration on ‘Sideways’, which was released almost 20 years ago in 2004.
The movie held its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival on August 31, 2023. Following the positive reaction from Telluride attendees, the film was also screened at TIFF on September 10, 2023. It was released domestically on October 27, 2023. ‘The Holdovers’ is set to have its release in the UK on January 15, 2024.
With the film being in theaters for over 60 days, showings have become quite limited. However, you still have plenty of opportunities to view the movie from the comfort of your home. The film became available for streaming on Peacock on December 29, 2023.
The movie’s three leads find themselves in a different time in their lives. Mary Lamb (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) is mourning the loss of her son, Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) is a grumpy history teacher disliked by students and fellow faculty, and Angus Tully, a student at Barton who is having a hard time coming to terms with the loss of his father, and his mother’s new relationship.
This unlikely trio is forced to spend the holidays at the Academy, and through this experience, though unpleasant at first, their eventual bond and appreciation for each other slowly help them come to terms with their hardship.
After its successful showings at Telluride and TIFF, buzz began to build around the movie, and as we head into award season, you can expect to see ‘The Holdovers’ be a part of the conversation.
At the 2024 Golden Globe Award, ‘The Holdovers’ was nominated for four awards: Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture, Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.
Paul Giamatti took home the award for Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, making it his third Golden Globe win. Da’Vine Joy Randolph wins for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture, making it her first Golden Globe win.
Aside from the Golden Globe nomination and wins, ‘The Holdovers’ is touted to be a top contender during the upcoming Award season. For the 2024 Critics Choice Awards, it received eight nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Young Actor/Actress, Best Acting Ensemble, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Comedy.
We’ll be keeping an eye on ‘The Holdovers’ as the 94th Academy Awards approach.
When Will ‘The Holdovers’ Be Available On Blu-Ray?
The movie is currently available on VOD, but if you prefer physical media, you’re in luck. It was announced that ‘The Holdovers’ became available on DVD and Blu-ray on January 2, 2024. You can purchase it from retailers such as Amazon and Walmart.
The DVD and Blu-ray will include bonus features such as deleted scenes and featurettes such as “Working with Alexander” and “The Cast of The Holdovers.”
Watch the official trailers for ‘The Holdovers’ below:
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The official synopsis for ‘The Holdovers’ is below:
“’The Holdovers’ follows a curmudgeonly instructor at a New England prep school who is forced to remain on campus during Christmas break to babysit the handful of students with nowhere to go. Eventually, he forms an unlikely bond with one of them — a damaged, brainy troublemaker — and with the school’s head cook, who has just lost a son in Vietnam. Together, the three work to rediscover and redefine the meaning of “family.”
To watch our exclusive interviews with the cast of ‘The Holdovers,’ please click on the video player below.
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To watch our exclusive interviews with director Alexander Payne, writer David Hemingson, and editor Kevin Tent about ‘The Holdovers,’ please click on the video player below.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Paul Giamatti about his work on ‘The Holdovers,’ reuniting with Alexander Payne, if his filmmaking process has changed since ‘Sideways,’ Giamatti’s inspiration for the role, working with first time actor Dominic Sessa, and the surrogate family their characters create.
Paul Giamatti stars in ‘The Holdovers.’
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interview Giamatti, Dominic Sessa, and Da’Vine Joy Randolph.
Moviefone: We recently had the chance to speak to Alexander Payne and he mentioned that during the writing process he sent you rough drafts of the screenplay to get your input. Is that correct, and what kind of input did you give?
Paul Giamatti: He did send me some rough drafts along the way, and my only input was, “Keep going. This is awesome. Just let me know. Just keep sending me this.” He’s always a step ahead of you of coming up with great stuff.
MF: What was your initial take on this character, and did you draw inspiration from any teachers you had growing up?
PG: Well, it very much reminded me of a teacher I had. So, that inspiration, he was right there, there was a guy that I had in mind who was a cranky, difficult, curmudgeonly, sarcastic guy who maybe had drunk a little too much. But I remembered thinking he was a good teacher, and he was a really dedicated teacher. So, I didn’t want to ever forget the fact that this guy really cared about teaching and that underneath the bitterness and all the self-deception was an actual desire to teach people, to teach kids. So, that always was there in the back of my head.
MF: What was it like reuniting with Alexander Payne on this film, and has his process as a filmmaker changed at all since ‘Sideways’?
PG: It’s interesting, it was different. It was a different movie, and so there was even more precision on this one, that was really kind of cool. He had a definite sense of the pace of it. I picked that up very early on and I was like, “Okay, this has got a kind of different pace from ‘Sideways.’” So that was just different. I don’t know if it was better or anything like that. But in terms of me and him working together, it was easier. I mean, we’d become friends in the interim, so now I was just actually there with a friend of mine who I was getting to hang out with, and I happened to be making a movie. Which is what he makes it feel like anyway for everybody, but it really was even deeper for me in that regard.
MF: What is like working opposite a first-time actor and what was your experience like working with Dominic Sessa?
PG: It’s super exciting, because he’s feeling everything fresh for the first time, and he’s a smart guy. He’s watchful and he’s picking up on everything, and it was great to just watch him. It mimicked in some ways the thing going on in the movie, that this guy is gaining the pleasure of watching this kid in the world and starting to really appreciate the kid. He was great. He’s such a good guy. He was a good guy to just hang out with. It was like, I like being with this guy. So, it made it such a pleasure.
MF: Finally, can you talk about the surrogate family that Paul, Angus and Mary form together through the course of the movie because they have nowhere else to go?
PG: They have nobody else there, so it’s like they’re thrown together, but they all need something. They all need to move beyond where they’re stuck a little bit and somehow each one of them begins to gain empathy for each other and move themselves forward, even for that little space of time. It’s going to break apart, they’re never going to see each other again, but it’s like they find that moment of empathy to help themselves slightly move on to the next place, which is great.
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What is the plot of ‘The Holdovers’?
Set in the early 1970s, the film follows Paul Hunham (Giamatti), a disliked teacher at Barton Academy, who’s responsible for supervising students who are unable to return home for the Christmas holidays. During this process, Hunham is forced to deal with one particularly rebellious but troubled student, Angus (Sessa), who is grieving the loss of his father.
Reuniting with actor Paul Giamatti for the first time since 2004’s ‘Sideways,’ director Alexander Payne delivers his best movie since the acclaimed Wine-themed film. ‘The Holdovers’ is a smart, sensitive and awkwardly funny movie, which is wonderfully acted and directed and is not only set in the 1970s but is also brilliantly structured like a film from that era.
Set in the early 1970s, screenwriter David Hemingson’s beautiful screenplay first introduces us to Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti), a grumpy teacher at the Barton Academy, a New England boarding school for boys, who is equally disliked both by the students and the faculty. Approaching the holidays, and with no real plans of his own, Hunham is forced to stay on campus and supervise the few students who are not going home for Christmas. Eventually he is left with only Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa), a smart but difficult student who is struggling with the loss of his father and his Mother’s new marriage. Along with Mary Lamb (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), a cafeteria worker dealing with her own family tragedy, the three lost souls find friendship and love together over the holidays.
Director Alexander Payne has always excelled at finding humor in the most tragic and awkward of circumstances. That is clearly on display in some of his best movies including ‘Election,’ ‘About Schmidt,’ ‘Sideways,’ ‘The Descendants,’ and ‘Nebraska.’ With ‘The Holdovers,’ Payne not only finds the humor but also goes deep into the human emotions of the characters in a way that he has only been able to scratch the surface with in his earlier films. This is a master filmmaker just hitting the apex of his talents after almost 30 years of the craft. Every shot meticulously framed, every edit perfectly placed, and every scene masterfully directed, as only someone with Payne’s experience could achieve.
Payne’s choice of shots and his framing with cinematographer Eigil Bryld (‘No Hard Feelings’) helps add to the 1970’s feel of the movie. There are also some beautifully framed shots of when the characters take a trip to Boston. That city has changed tremendously since the 1970s, (I know, I grew up there), and Payne and Bryld are able to capture it in a way that it really looks like the city of my childhood. Many of the movie’s best moments play out in long masters, that never feel rushed and really take their time much like the films of the 1970s. Crafting a movie that is set in the ‘70s to feel like a movie that would have been made in that era was a neat trick, and helps the audience immerse itself in the story. The music, editing and production design also helped tremendously in this endeavor, but more on that in a moment.
While ‘Sideways’ made Paul Giamatti a household name, the actor has carved out a brilliant career for himself since appearing in other modern classics like ‘Cinderella Man,’ ’12 Years a Slave,’ ‘Love & Mercy’ and ‘Straight Outta Compton,’ but ‘The Holdovers’ might just be the best performance of his career. Giamatti is perfectly cast as Hunham, as the actor is excellent at playing a curmudgeon, but also has a likable venerability. While he is very funny in the most awkward moments, it’s his more sensitive and emotional scenes that really open up the honest pain of the character. Giamatti has a fun dynamic with Da’Vine Joy Randolph, but his chemistry with newcomer Dominic Sessa is really at the heart of the movie.
Previously mentioned newcomer Dominic Sessa gives a sensational debut performance playing smartass teenager Angus Tully. It would be easy for a character like this to come off bratty and unlikable very quickly, but Sessa’s performance never crosses that line, as his emotional pain his apparent from the first time we meet him. It’s obvious from the performance that he is a smart and sweet kid that feels abandoned by his mother and is just looking to be seen. The reluctant friendship that forms between Paul and Angus through the course the film feels truly earned, thanks to Sessa and Giamatti’s strong performances.
Actress Da’Vine Joy Randolph, best known for her breakout performance in ‘Dolemite Is My Name,’ is as much a revelation in this movie as she was in that one. Randolph’s emotional range is absolutely captivating on screen and the actress has some great moments to explore that in this movie. Her character very much becomes a mother to both Angus and Paul, at a very difficult time in her life personally, where she needs that. But she also has a deep respect and affection for Paul, which at a point you wonder if it might not be something more. But Randolph is wonderful in her scenes with both actors and is a fantastic addition to the cast.
The film’s production design is exquisite, and instantly transports you to a New England boarding school in the 1970s. Barton Academy comes alive in the most palpable ways when it is bubbling with students, but then feels cold and alone when the school is empty over the holidays. The brilliant costumes also help set the 1970’s vibes, as does the smart musical choices, including the film’s score.
But it is really the impressive pacing and editing of the movie that gives it the authentic ‘70s look and feel. Editor Kevin Tent has cut every feature film Alexander Payne has ever directed, but I think this is truly his best work. From the opening credits that look like they belong at the beginning of a movie from the ‘70s, to the pacing and cutting between shots, Tent is invaluable to Payne in truly achieving the look and feel he was going for.
It’s always difficult predicting the Oscar race this early in the season, especially in a year like 2023, but with the movie’s impressive pedigree, I’d be shocked if at least the film, screenplay, director and lead actor were not on most shortlists of awards contenders. Both Payne and Giamatti deliver some of their best work in years and deserve recognition. Giamatti has never been nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars, and Payne has only won Best Adapted Screenplay (albeit twice), so it would be nice to see them recognized in the Best Actor and Best Director categories, respectively, at least with nominations this year.
While Dominic Sessa is excellent in his debut, I’m always reluctant to nominate first time actors, but Da’Vine Joy Randolph, who was criminally overlooked for Best Supporting Actress for ‘Dolemite Is My Name’ definitely deserves attention this time around. And in addition to nominations in Cinematography, Production Design, and Score, I would also like to push a nomination for Editing, which often goes to action-driven movies like the last two winners ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ and ‘Dune,’ but it’s some of the best work I’ve seen in this category in years.
Final Thoughts
‘The Holdovers’ is a masterfully directed movie with humorous and emotional performances from the entire cast including Paul Giamatti, Dominic Sessa and Da’Vine Joy Randolph. Director Alexander Payne is at the top of his game, as is his entire production team, delivering a heartwarming movie framed with the loving nostalgia of a time (and almost a type of filmmaking) that no longer exists.
‘The Holdovers’ receives 10 out of 10 stars.
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What is the plot of ‘The Holdovers’?
Set in the early 1970s, the film follows Paul Hunham (Giamatti), a disliked teacher at Barton Academy, who’s responsible for supervising students who are unable to return home for the Christmas holidays. During this process, Hunham is forced to deal with one particularly rebellious but troubled student, Angus (Sessa), who is grieving the loss of his father.
Who is in the cast of ‘The Holdovers’?
Paul Giamatti (‘Sideways’) as Paul Hunham
Dominic Sessa as Angus Tully
Da’Vine Joy Randolph (‘Dolemite Is My Name’) as Mary Lamb
(Left) Director Alexander Payne attends the Focus Features’ ‘The Holdovers’ Special Screening at Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on October 23, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Eric Charbonneau/Getty Images for Focus Features. (Right) Editor Kevin Tent attends the Focus Features’ ‘The Holdovers’ Special Screening at Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on October 23, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Eric Charbonneau/Getty Images for Focus Features.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Oscar-winning filmmaker Alexander Payne, as well as his longtime collaborator and editor Kevin Tent, about their work on ‘The Holdovers.’
They discussed their new movie, how Payne developed the idea for the film, crafting a movie that looks like it was made in the 1970’s, reuniting with Paul Giamatti, discovering young actor Dominic Sessa, Da’Vine Joy Randolph’s emotional performance, their working relationship, and if their filmmaking process has changed over the years.
You can read the full interviews below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Payne, Tent, and screenwriter David Hemingson.
Moviefone: To begin with, Alexander can you talk about having the idea for this movie, developing it with screenwriter David Hemingson, and the themes that you wanted to explore?
Alexander Payne: So first, just on a nuts and bolts level, the premise for the film was suggested by a 1935 French movie, which I saw at a film festival about a dozen years ago. I did nothing with the idea, but when about five years ago, I read a pilot script for a proposed TV series written by David Hemingson. It was a contemporary story at a private school, a boarding school. That’s when a light bulb went off and I thought, “Well, maybe this guy can get the film up and running.” I called him and asked him, and to both of our benefit, he agreed. Theme is a more unconscious thing for me personally. I just think, “Well, I’m going to write a story and themes will come unconsciously just through the process of what feels right.”
MF: Kevin, what was your first reaction to the screenplay, and as an editor, were you already assembling the movie in your head while you were reading it?
Kevin Tent: A little bit, but I don’t really know what he’s going to do when I read it, and I don’t know who the cast is. Although on this one, I think I knew that it was going to be Paul Giamatti. But on ‘The Holdovers,’ I think he gave me the first 30 pages and he wanted to know what I thought of that. He was trying to figure out what he wanted to do next. I read the first 30 pages. I was like, “This seems cool. It seems like a good idea. You should go for it.” So it took a while for him to get the rest of it done. But usually he’ll send me the script, almost always the first draft. He’ll usually send it to me and then I’ll read subsequent drafts and I’ll give my notes, my thoughts on things and stuff like that. But this one was in pretty good shape right from the get go and I was like, “This is going to be cool.” I think I gave him some thoughts, but I don’t know if he took them or not.
MF: Kevin, you’ve edited every feature film Alexander has ever directed, so what is the shorthand like between the two of you at this point? When you’re assembling the movie, do you know what he’s looking for, and does he ever go in a direction that you weren’t expecting?
KT: Yes and no. ‘Sideways,’ for example, when all that footage came in of the migrant workers picking grapes, I remember it was a second unit crew and there was thousands of feet of it. I remember calling him and saying, “Where’s this going?” He said, “I was thinking we’d do a split screen montage,” but he had never told me that beforehand. So I’m like, “Okay, great.” We had been big fans of ‘The Thomas Crown Affair,’ the original, and their split screen sequence. So that’s why when I started seeing all this footage, it made sense to me. But sometimes he’ll surprise me with stuff. I will know scenes are coming, but they’re always a surprise and fun to watch, since I’m not on the set.
MF: ‘The Holdovers’ is set in the 1970s, but it also looks and feels like a movie that was made in the 1970s. Alexander, can you talk about how you achieved that?
AP: I don’t know at what point I made the decision to try this little trick of making a period film, not just set in 1970, but that it looks, feels and sounds like a movie made in 1970. A big part of me wishes I had been working then and making films then. Again, I don’t remember exactly the moment, but connecting the dots, I thought it would be neat for the movie, to just give it something special. ‘Nebraska‘s in black and white, which just gives it something a little special formally. I just thought, “Well, wouldn’t it give this movie something special if we make it look and sound like a movie made in 1970.” But what it did, especially as my first period film, was give us the idea that we’re not from today presenting period from 1970, but rather pretending that we’re working in 1970 making a low budget contemporary film at that point. I think that helped our sense of aesthetic, that the sets and the costumes look as lived in, grimy and old as they would’ve been had we been making just a low budget contemporary movie back then. But it takes a bit of doing. You have to make sure all the period clothes are kind of lived in and frayed, and all the cars have to be not brand new-looking, but dirty. What’s hard to get is old cars that are dented. Because when you’re making a movie, they usually belong to collectors who are like, “My car is my baby.” So it’s hard to get dented ones. But at least we caked in with money. I always put a lot of thought into the movies in terms of what car the protagonist drives. It’s always an important thing to think about. It tells you as much about the character as their apartment does. The good ones, I think were, Paul Giamatti’s red Saab in ‘Sideways.’ Then the best one is Matthew Broderick‘s Ford Festiva, a little teeny tiny pathetic Ford Festiva in ‘Election.’
MF: Kevin, from an editing standpoint, how did you achieve the 1970’s look and feel of the movie?
KT: We didn’t really do a lot of things differently than we normally do. We basically cut the same way we always do, which is cutting for performances in our story and our characters. Alexander has said this before, but when you think about it, we’ve always been making ‘70s movies, and that is kind of true, but visually, this one is obviously a period piece. We did do some tricks and we have some fun with adding grain and some positive and negative dirt, and stuff like that. Some people have been mentioning the dissolves, but we always use dissolves. We used them in ‘Sideways’ and have always used them. So I think that we just did what we normally do, but with all the other elements added it feels more like a ‘70s movie than maybe his other movies. But that’s just because of the locations, cars, clothes and wigs, and everyone did a great job.
MF: Alexander, what was it like reuniting with Paul Giamatti after ‘Sideways,’ and did you always envision him for this role?
AP: Answer to the second part of your question first. Yes. The character’s name is Paul. Very early on when David started writing the script, I let Paul know what we were doing just to keep him in the loop and engaged. I showed him a couple of drafts later just to get his input because he’s such a smart guy, and good with film and narrative, and to keep him engaged from early on, thinking about his character. Then what’s it like working with him? Heaven.
MF: Kevin, what was it like for you to be working with Paul’s performance again in the cutting room on ‘The Holdovers’?
KT: I mean, he’s just so good. He was so good on ‘Sideways,’ and he’s so good here. I mean, he’s a different human than he was then and all that stuff, but he’s just phenomenal. He’s so solid and such a generous actor too, to his other actors. He was there for them all the time. David wrote complicated lines to deliver quickly, but he was so locked into the character, that it’s phenomenal. I just find him to be amazing.
MF: Alexander, can you talk about discovering young actor Dominic Sessa for this film and was it difficult finding an actor to play that role?
AP: I had the same experience on ‘Election’ years ago. It’s hard to find teenagers to be in your movie if you want some veneer of reality about the movie, because the ones who are very experienced, if not famous, not that I know who they are, but that they’re in some teen TV show or something, they’re often too polished. They’re too confident and too polished. I’m sure there are exceptions to that, but in general I have that feeling. Then on the flip side, if you try to cast a non-professional actor or a non-actor, then you’re rolling the dice with how experienced they are, can they remember their dialogue and how bulletproof are they going to be? So the answer is usually that those actors are out there, but it takes time to find them. You might luck into it and find them the very first week, like how Mike Mills found that little kid (Woody Norman) in ‘C’mon C’mon.’ If you Remember that movie, ‘C’mon C’mon,’ it’s a wonderful movie. But the kid in it, even with the camera three inches from his grill, he’s just completely natural and how he behaves, that’s a phenomenal kid performance. Well, Mike Mills, and I think he used Jennifer Venditti, the New York casting director, found him the first week. Plus that, he was a Brit, so he was even affecting an American accent. We didn’t have that luck. It took months and months and over 800 submissions. You can read of a casting call and then email your audition in. So finally we were casting at the five schools where I was actually going to be shooting. There he was waiting for us in the drama department of Deerfield Academy. It worked out really nicely for him in his first role to be a student at one of those academies, playing a student at one of those academies. It worked out just perfectly for him. But he had some personal experience as well that he was able to channel for his role in the movie.
MF: Kevin, what is like for you as an editor to cut the performance of a first time actor such as Dominic?
KT: It’s actually a real excitement, a real pleasure when you’re the first editor to see somebody who’s really good, exciting and new. Same thing with Shailene Woodley in ‘The Descendants.’ Her first scene was this amazing shot with her in a pool, and a scene that they shot afterwards with George Clooney. I was like, this girl is incredible. I felt so privileged to be the first person to see that performance. I felt the same way about Dom too. It’s just a personal thing. It’s just a geeky editing thing that you feel lucky to be the first person to see this performance except for the assistant editors and maybe the other people in the room. But you’re the first one to see it on a screen, how it will be someday in a movie. That’s kind of a thrilling thing, in a geeky editing world kind of way.
MF: Actress Da’Vine Joy Randolph gives an incredibly emotional performance in the movie. Kevin, what was it like for you to have that powerful of a performance to work with in the cutting room?
KT: She’s got an incredibly expressive face and being. She doesn’t even have to say anything, and you just show her, cut to her, and it’s just so powerful. So that was another exciting performance to work with. She gave us lots of options on things. But even that, we had so many takes in the Avid, we can stack the different takes. We had probably about five or six on just that shot when the priest at the beginning is talking about her son. We had ones that were angry. We had ones that were just devastated. Each one was different. So we kind of went with one where she’s still in disbelief in some ways, and then at the end, it’s like she’s barely able to stomach what the priest is saying. We didn’t go full angry. We went with hurt and angry. But anyways, she gave us lots of options, which was really amazing.
MF: Finally, technology has changed filmmaking a lot since you both started making movies. But has the process of making movies changed for either of you over the years, or are you still basically making movies in the same way?
KT: I think it’s just the technology that’s changed. We still approach everything in an old-fashioned film way. So ‘Citizen Ruth’ was on film. ‘Election’ was on Avid but we had film, and ‘Sideways’ was on Avid but we had film. Now the last few years, we haven’t had film. We’ve just been all digital. But we work how we used to work, how we first worked on ‘Citizen Ruth,’ which is lining up takes, examining them over and over, picking our takes, and trying not to cut too much. We try not to over-cut. So trying to get the best performances to last as long as they can, that’s kind of our thing. We really haven’t changed much in our process. Of course, we can do way more now with Avid. We can add music and sound effects, and we do all that kind of stuff. But basically, we still approach things how we always have with our performance choices.
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What is the plot of ‘The Holdovers’?
Set in the early 1970s, the film follows Paul Hunham (Giamatti), a disliked teacher at Barton Academy, who’s responsible for supervising students who are unable to return home for the Christmas holidays. During this process, Hunham is forced to deal with one particularly rebellious but troubled student, Angus (Sessa), who is grieving the loss of his father.
