How Adrien Brody Performed a ‘Relatable’ Masculinity Cult Chief in ‘Manodrome’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Adrien Brody will not be within the tradition wars. It’s fascinating, he admits, “nevertheless it’s actually tragic.”

“We see how fractured our world is. Go searching: It’s not arduous to see,” says the Oscar-winning actor from his dwelling in New York. Brody needed to dive into these darkish corners when making ready for “Manodrome,” by which he performs a masculinity cult chief, and was fast to dive proper out. “I attempted to place these things down,” he admits.

However his character, “Dad Dan,” isn’t the super-serious, nefarious figurehead one summons when envisioning a libertarian masculinity cult. Somewhat, his is a pleasant, hoodie-wearing man of leisure who opens his home to all who want sanctuary. Sanctuary, that’s, from the evil, entrapping methods of girls and trendy society.

“It was essential for me to not be a superficially manipulative villain,” the 49-year-old star tells Selection of the half. “I really feel like there’s numerous complexity right here. There’s a way of fatherhood.”

“Manodrome,” which premieres in competitors in Berlin on Saturday, follows Ralphie (Jesse Eisenberg as you’ve by no means seen him), a gym-obsessed Uber driver who’s lately misplaced his job and is anticipating his first child with girlfriend Sal (Odessa Younger). When a buddy presents him a lifeline within the type of a gaggle of males who like to assist out down-on-their-luck guys, Ralphie takes it. However he quickly discovers that his new mates have some fairly particular proclivities, and have all however banished ladies from their lives.

As Ralphie struggles to reconcile being a part of the group whereas nonetheless loving Sal, he additionally wrestles together with his sexuality. The end result drives him to excessive lengths — all of which is keenly noticed, and even guided, by Dad Dan.

“I wished [Dan] to be, on the floor, a really relatable type of man,” explains Brody. “I believe there are numerous methods by which he feels he’s doing a really constructive factor. There’s an underlying sinister high quality about his personal fascination with Ralphie and watching the simultaneous demise and [Ralphie’s] personal identification together with his energy inside, which is one thing [Dan is] cultivating in all of those males.”

Brody particulars a “very intense” set in Syracuse, in upstate New York, within the lifeless of winter, and “an actual austerity” that lended itself to “Manodrome’s” severity. He heaps reward on Eisenberg, who was recreation for Brody’s fixed experimentation of their scenes. It’s not the primary time they’ve starred in a film collectively: Eisenberg had a small function in M. Evening Shyamalan’s 2004 thriller “The Village,” by which Brody starred off the again of his Oscar-winning flip in World Warfare II drama “The Pianist.”

For “Manodrome,” which is being shopped in Berlin by CAA, he delved into varied documentaries about masculinity cults in preparation for the function. However Brody doesn’t as soon as invoke the title Andrew Tate — a controversial influencer related to a harmful misogynist motion. Tate is at the moment in police custody in Romania, going through allegations of rape and trafficking, however his enduring impression is plain. A disturbing new ballot by anti-fascist charity Hope Not Hate revealed that extra younger males within the U.Okay. have seen Tate’s materials than have heard of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

“There’s numerous harm, numerous anger and numerous want for actual, constructive change,” says Brody. “A lot of what this stems from is — in my perception — a sense of an absence of management of circumstances, and helplessness, and virtually a backlash to feeling emasculated by lastly having room for extra gender equality in a world that’s been largely dominated by white males.”

His problem in “Manodrome,” nevertheless, was “attempting to make [Dan’s] actions in some way really feel acceptable and regular.”

Brody is seemingly ubiquitous nowadays, persistently popping up within the Web’s favorite TV exhibits and enjoying key roles within the likes of “Poker Face” and “Peaky Blinders.” He delighted audiences when he turned up in “Succession” as suave billionaire investor Josh Aaronson, however stays tight-lipped when requested concerning the character’s prominence within the forthcoming season.

Within the final yr, Brody additionally starred in “Blonde,” “See How They Run” and “The French Dispatch.” He’ll reunite once more with Wes Anderson on the director’s subsequent movie “Asteroid Metropolis.” “Any likelihood that I’ve to collaborate with Wes is such a pleasure for me,” says Brody. “He’s all the time pushing the bar increased, and I simply love his creativity and his thoughts. It’s all the time a very fascinating, artistic expertise.”

The “stream” — that’s, the momentum of excellent tasks — is oft-referenced by Brody. It’s all concerning the “stream,” he explains.

“There’s an expectation that after a person receives a sure degree of fame or notoriety and even possesses a level of energy, that that ought to all the time stream. They usually don’t all the time stream,” says Brody. “When issues don’t stream, you’re in opposition to the present and it’s a wrestle to ship the calibre of labor that you simply’d wish to ship.”

However proper now, he says, “There’s been extra stream.”

“I like my work. I’ve all the time cherished my work, however I like it greater than ever. I’ve a clearer sense of protectiveness for the work — which means my time and house and what I wish to do with my life — and that’s additionally partially being provided very fascinating characters to immerse myself in. One begets the subsequent layer of immersion.”