Ex. We talk to Michael Shannon about The Quarry, Jeff Nichols & Zack Snyder

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Last week, I had the pleasure to chat (over the phone) with the great Michael Shannon, about his new film, THE QUARRY, which hit VOD a few days ago and is available now. The story of a fugitive (Shea Whigham) posing as a preacher in a small town, Shannon is listed as one of the producers and also plays the antagonist, an un-named police chief who suspects the preacher isn't who he says he is. I thoroughly enjoyed the film and posted my review last week. It's certainly a nice distraction all things considered, so I was happy to chat with the laid-back, easy going Shannon, who proved to be a really nice, warm guy considering how intimidating he is on-screen. He seemed genuinely happy to be talking about a film that clearly means a lot to him, while also making the time to weigh-in on being in quarantine, the current state of the indie world and even folks like Jeff Nichols and Zack Snyder. Read on!

Wow, it’s pleasure to talk to you!

MS: Oh, thanks Chris…

Gives me something to do. It was great to see THE QUARRY on Monday night, because it was new entertainment with two…well…three actually….great actors so thanks for providing me with something to pass the time.

MS: Yeah, I mean, I think that’s kinda what we’re hoping as there’s not really a lot of new content out there right now so this might be kind of…an event.

You’re listed as a producer on THE QUARRY, something you’ve been doing more often, like on “Waco” and some more movies you have coming out. At this stage in your career, do you feel more ownership over something you’ve produced or is it more just about finding material and getting it out there?

MS: Well, I never thought I’d get to the point that where, me signing on to do something would elevate the chances of getting it done. That’s a pretty heady place to be. When I was just starting out I was lucky if I could just get a day on something here and there and pay my rent. Now I’m at the point where, if I say “yeah I want to do it” they’ll say “oh ok, then we’ll do it” which is a pretty nifty sceptre to have have in your hand I guess. But, I want to make it very clear here that I’m not doing the lion’s share of the work here ya know. In the producing capacity, our producers Kristin (Mann) and Laura (D. Smith) are contorting themselves into all kinds of shapes to get the movie done under phenomenal stress and they really do the lion’s share of the work. It’s really me just kinda saying I want to do this and therefore people are able to raise the money for it I guess.

What was nice is that it felt like a throwback to the kind of indie movie you might have seen a few years back, like the stuff you did with Jeff Nichols, like SHOTGUN STORIES. I really liked the kind of simple cool premise, that Shea Whigham is this fugitive posing as a pastor, something unique.

MS: And pretty relevant to where we are in our culture at the moment, people pretending to be things that they’re not. HINT HINT NUDGE NUDGE

Yeah especially given what’s going on right now. I loved you and Shea Whigham in this – you guys for really well together. Do you guys look for projects together or is it just kind of a happy coincidence? 

MS: Yeah, I mean, we kinda come in and out of each other’s trajectories here and there, we both have busy lives and families and stuff. Sometimes we’ll go a year or two without seeing each other been then something will come around, an opportunity, and it’s really nice and exciting to see each other again. I was really excited to see Shea play this part. That’s probably what I was most excited about going into this movie. It was a really amazing role for him.

He’s outstanding in it – you guys are both great.

MS: Thank you. 

Your character has a lot of nuance and shades of grey. On the surface your character is kind of the good guy, but then he’s also a bit of a scumbag, like when he leaves the boy to be beaten up…

MS: Yeah, I think there’s a yearning in him, I think there’s a yearning in all these characters, and of these characters who live in the town, in the Chief, in Celia, there’s something missing, their lives are going to be a disappointment somehow. They’re stuck in this town and what they get out of life is going to be limited. We all deal with that in different ways, we all struggle with that sometimes, and the chief’s personality is a manifestation of that yearning.

Well, it feels like it’s by choice for him. He could leave if he wanted to.

MS: Yeah I suppose he could, but he’s also probably scared. He’s a product of his environment, warts and all. There are some parts of that that are positive and there are some parts of that that are negative. He says in the film, he’s doing what his dad did. It’s also interesting to note that he kind of seems to be the end of the line , he doesn’t have any kids, he’s not passing the baton, which I think is indicative of maybe a certain emptiness…

And a way of life that’s ending…

MS: Exactly, these towns are kinda…

Dying…

MS: Right – it’s hard, it’s hard to know where to live nowadays. Every place seems to have its challenges. Particularly now.

It’s a pretty heavy movie, but I like that’s there’s some humor, particularly through your character, like in the eulogy scene. I like those little grace notes, was that always there in the script or was that something you brought to it?

MS: It’s in the script, it’s not in the novel, this is based on a novel and it takes place in South Africa and the chief is super tight-lipped, he doesn’t say much of anything. I appreciate that Scott (Teems – the writer-director) gave him more personality and dimension and I remember, when I was talking to Scott about the part, you know, the first time I read this, like “this guy’s a dick” but then we talked about it but the more I thought about it and I realized that it was a bit more complicated than that and Scott said “I encourage you to infuse him with whatever personality you think is intriguing and helpful” and so..I did.

Do you think the rise of streaming makes it easier to get these kinds of movies made and seen, or is it the opposite?

MS: Well, it’s tricky because there’s not as much revenue. Back when Sundance started or even more recently than that you could go out and make a little movie like this and if it got popular you could make a crapload of money. It was like firecrackers going off or something, it was exciting. But now you make these movies for these really tight budgets and I mean really tight budgets and people are still saying “yeah, even if it gets decent reviews it’s gonna be hard to make our money back.” I’m always scratching my head wondering why that is, why it’s so much harder to make the money back nowadays, as it seems like there’s more ways to actually see the movie but that’s not my department really I guess…

Even if the budget was limited it’s it doesn’t look it, it’s gorgeous looking.

MS: Oh God, yeah that’s a testament to our DP (Michael Alden Lloyd) because I’m telling ya, this was a tight one. You know that scene where the Millennium Falcon is trying to get out of the Death Star? That’s what this shoot was like.

You’ve become one of the most beloved character actors of our generation. Do you get approached a lot by fans?

MS: Yeah well it depends on a lot of factors. Depends where I am. It’s funny with this whole Coronavirus situation we’re dealing with it doesn’t happen so often anymore (laughs) although I go to the park every day to take a walk and there was some dude jogging and he stopped and he said “hey, I appreciate you man” and I thought I was gonna start crying.

Well I appreciate you too…

MS: Thanks, it’s hard because people are scared, people are depressed I would imagine and it’s hard not to think about what’s happening, hopefully this movie will offer people a break.

I mean, it’s a help to get something that will take something off your mind. I was happy to get it and it was a break.

MS: Oh, thanks Chris.

When you do a movie like this though, I imagine you can put it out how you want, meaning no notes, like with a studio movie. Is that the case?

MS: Yeah well I have to hand it to Lionsgate. They picked this movie up and they’ve done a hell of a job with it and they’re doing a hell of a job with it, they’ve taken really good care of us and I appreciate it. They’ve had a little input but that’s their right, but certainly not as if it was at Disney or something. If it was at Disney I’d probably be able to shot green rays or something. So they’re doing a beautiful job. I’m a big proponent of a singular vision… I love working with a writer-director, this is what I wanna make, this is what I want to say…that’s why I always like working with Jeff (Nichols) or someone like Ramin Bahrani. They solicit other people’s thoughts but at the end of the day they follow their own drum.

Well, I’d say Nichols is one of the best directors out there…

MS: Oh wow…

MIDNIGHT SPECIAL was probably one of my favourite movies of the last couple of years. I’ve got a MIDNIGHT SPECIAL t-shirt.

MS: Oh that’s cool, we don’t hear that one so much…

Really???

MS: But I certainly dug it and dug making it.

The site I work for, JoBlo – that’s movie’s revered. We love that movie.

MS: Oh cool.

And TAKE SHELTER…

MS: Oh yeah, people been bringing that up a lot lately.

I was gonna rewatch that one but figured it might be a little much right now

MS: (laughs)

We also love Zack Snyder. I guess a lot of people recognize you from MAN OF STEEL…

MS: Yeah, you know, I love working with Zack Snyder and I think it's very sad-he's been through a lot of hardship recently-I don't know what happened with that whole DC thing. I think it's a shame. I mean, his vision for MAN OF STEEL I thought was incredible. I don't know how that all went off the rails, but I think it's a shame.

Yeah me too, I got to visit the set of JUSTICE LEAGUE and he was super nice guy, I hope things work out for him…

MS: Yeah, I don't know what happened. People think I'm in BATMAN V SUPERMAN, which I guess I am, for like fifteen seconds. I'm mainly in BATMAN V SUPERMAN as a giant, naked, rubber dummy, which I didn't have anything to do with really.

Last thing, getting back to THE QUARRY, is there anything you hope people take away from this?

MS: I think it encourages you to take stock of yourself, a little self examination. We’ve all got a little time for it now. Make sure you’re not a hypocrite, and that you take responsibility for your actions and the effect that they have on other people.

THE QUARRY is now available on VOD.