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We interview Brothers by Blood star Joel Kinnaman about his preparation for his role, his work with his talented co-stars, and more.
In Brothers by blood, now playing in select theaters and digital platforms, two cousins find themselves at odds under the eye of the Philadelphia crowd. Joel Kinnaman plays a Michael off the rails, whose cousin Peter (Matthias Schoenaerts) must stop before it’s too late.
Kinnaman spoke to Screen Rant about the inspiration behind her performance and working with her costar and director.
Who is Michael and what is the relationship between Michael and Peter?
Joel Kinnaman: Director Jérémie [Guez] is one of those great, new and future directors. It’s a second film, but he’s a real writer. He wrote the screenplay, and he also grew up in a tough environment, so he understands this world. You’re going to find that a guy like this is much less likely to want to glorify or make it sound like something to aspire to; be a part of this world or make this kind of life choice. That’s why this movie is really focused on these characters and what they’re going through.
At the heart of this movie, even though you have this mafia world as your backdrop and drama accelerator for the movie, there really is a little family drama between two brothers. Even though, from the outside, Michael looks like this icy gangster who is quite close to a sociopath – his actions throughout the film are very much fueled by wanting acceptance from his cousin; but they have become like brothers. In Michael’s eyes they are definitely brothers and his actions are really fueled by that.
He’s an icy gangster, he’s very capable and born into this world, but all he needs is a hug.
One thing that I really love about this movie is that we can approach and see Michael’s education. Can you tell me how much Michael and Peter’s education dictates their current situation?
Joel Kinnaman: Sure. This film is based on a great novel by Pete Dexter, Brotherly Love. The book and the movie play out in those two timelines, where you get Michael and Peter’s fathers, who are brothers. The sons basically relive their father’s fate, and what happened between the fathers completely colors the lives of their sons and the drama that unfolds in the film between them.
Your character, Michael, starts to go off balance in almost every scene we see him in. Can you tell me about the preparation for this role and where you had to take this character?
Joel Kinnaman: Yeah, I had to go back to my education. It was a little scary jumping in there, because I got there pretty quickly. Reading it, it’s a dream role. For me it was a dream role, but a difficult dream role. The film relies on the fact that this performance is believable, because he is really the main driver of the story. Also, do a Philly accent in such a short time; I was a little nervous about this too.
But I just clicked with Jeremy. We were talking about it and I realized that I had found Peter in my upbringing. He’s a particular guy that I grew up with, who ended up being a full time gangster. He was quite sensitive, but also definitely a bully and incredibly mean to people. I think he was a sociopath, but he was also incredibly charming and could really attract people. So I based my whole performance on him.
It was funny how it clicked real fast and I started to improvise. On the first day, on the first take, I actually found the guy. I realized who he was, with the fit of the costume, and then I started to think about the way this guy moved and his physical relationships with people. So on the first day I knew where I was going and I relaxed really quickly – much faster than usual. It usually takes a few scenes to find the character, but here I found him right away and just started acting.
Of course, I play alongside Matthias Schoenaerts, who I think is one of the great actors of our generation. He’s right there and feeds and plays, so we found this vibe to be really fun. We’re neither of the method actors who demand that everyone in our environment behave a certain way around us, but we’ve really entered these characters and this world, and we were just playing with it all the time on and off camera. We found this beat where it felt seamless when the cameras were rolling and when we weren’t. It just worked; it really worked. It was a short shoot, but it was fun.
Tell me about Matthias playing Peter. What did he bring to that role that may not have been on the page?
Joel Kinnaman: First of all, as a person Matthias presents himself as a philosopher in many ways – but he’s a fool. He’s an absolute madman. I love this guy; he has so much depth in his performance, and there is layers and presence. And then he’s also a little crazy, but he’s crazy in a funny way. It’s also very unpredictable, but he’s also very present with you.
There are actors who are more performative actors. They give a performance that might be interesting to watch, but it’s not that fun to play with, as they do it on their own. They are not really affected by you or their environment; they invented their way of thinking what the scene is going to be, and then they play it. For me, it’s not real acting. It’s when you’re with someone and you are affected, and you build that focus together that makes you feel like you are in a different reality.
It comes from the theater, and in the theater it’s easier to build because you’ve been together for so much longer. But you are affected by each other and by the choices of the other, and you become 50% of each other. Every new meeting, every new actor that comes into play, you become a different person because you are now 50% connected with that person. Matthias is really that kind of old school European-style actor who is very present. He has his madman, but he is with you with the madman.
Can you tell me about the process of working with your manager? Because I think he’s phenomenal.
Joel Kinnaman: Yeah, he’s one of those guys who just has really high tastes. He knows exactly what he wants in any situation. And if you introduce him to something new, he knows very quickly whether he likes it or not. He has a very strong sensitivity and visual sense. Cinema is a visual medium, and it is absolutely a director who can also tell a story with images. He knows what type of PD he needs; her relationship with her DP was very good. He is able to find beauty in these images and in these characters, which makes him a compelling character.
But I found that for us the way he spoke about the characters and what he would like, or what he would push us towards, was all the things and all the choices that made him more interesting and gave him more depth. He’s just a very calm and confident artist. It was really fun working with him. I can’t wait to start over.
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