Jesse Plemons says Charlie Kaufman film was almost “psychological torture”

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

While most people believe Jesse Plemons really burst on to the scene with his roles in Friday Night Lights and Breaking Bad, his career actually goes farther back than that. The talented actor made early appearances in films like VARSITY BLUES and ALL THE PRETTY HORSES. Since then he's managed to work with a plethora of talented directors, such as Paul Thomas Anderson (THE MASTER), to Steven Spielberg (THE POST), and, most recently, Martin Scorsese (THE IRISHMAN).

The latest in the long list of prominent directors that Plemons has worked with is Charlie Kaufman (ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND). Plemons recently starred in the director's upcoming horror/thriller film I'M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS based on the novel by Iain Reid. Kaufman's film follows Jake (Plemons) who takes his girlfriend to meet his parents, only to find himself and his girlfriend trapped in a horrible detour. Acting in any horror or thriller film entails a certain amount of intensity but if Plemons is to be believed, I'M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS was on another level. In an interview with GQ, Plemons stated the director "Kaufman-ized' the project with things going full tilt in the first week alone:

"I don’t think it’s spoiling much to say that in the first week, we were shooting pretty much in a car every day. Thank God we shot that on a stage. I was pretty intimidated because we were shooting on average 11 pages a day, every day, on a stage, prop guys throwing snow. It was almost… “psychological torture” is too strong, but it did have a strange effect. The longest take is something like 16 minutes I think? So it was like “Action! See ya in a while!” It changed acting for me in a way, I think."

Being cooped up in a car in driving snow is one thing (I live in Rochester, NY so I know) but doing it for days on end while Charlie Kaufman pushes you to your limits? That's another thing entirely. It almost echoes Stanley Kubrick's actions during THE SHINING shoot, although maybe that's an overstatement.

This will be just Kaufman's third turn behind the director's chair with SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK and ANOMALISA being the first two. Kaufman's known more for his screenwriting, having penned such notable works as BEING JOHN MALKOVICH and CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND. I'M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS also stars Jessie Buckley, Toni Collette, and David Thewlis and is set to debut on Netflix sometime next year.

For now you can catch Jesse Plemons in Martin Scorsese's THE IRISHMAN, currently in select theaters and on Netflix November 27.