Trespass Against Us director Adam Smith has praised stars Michael Fassbender and Brendan Gleeson over their work on the film — describing the pair as “brilliant”.
The first-time feature film director said they were so good that once he had cast them there was little else for him to do to mould them into the characters he wanted.
Trespass Against Us is set in Britain and stars Fassbender as traveller Chad Cutler, who is torn between loyalty to his father Colby (Gleeson) and creating the opportunity of a crime-free life for his children.
Smith — who has worked on TV shows including Skins and Doctor Who in the past — said in a chat with Monsters and Critics: “Everyone came so prepared for this film. Michael had immersed himself in that character. He stayed on site the whole time, I think there was maybe one or two nights he wasn’t on site living there, and he basically knew who Chad was.
“In a way, there wasn’t a lot for me to do a lot of the time as they’re so brilliant. You get the casting right and you’ve kind of done…when you’re working with people that are that brilliant you’ve done a lot of your job and then your job is just to create the right environment for them to be able to flourish.”
Speaking about Gleeson’s portrayal of Chad’s father, he added: “Colby had to be someone you believe Michael would say yes to, and put up with this stuff. You know, here’s a 35 year old man with a family — why is he still living with his dad?
“So he [Colby] had to be someone who’s incredibly powerful for you to believe that, and Michael’s a powerful man himself, and the character’s a powerful man, so [Colby] had to be someone who had that strength.”
Smith also praised Sean Harris, who plays the supporting character of Gordon Bennett in the film. Smith said: “He’s incredible, Sean. He’s brilliant, so brilliant. He could have gone quite big with that character, and he just keeps it totally believable. It feels really authentic and really real.”
Smith is a former TV, documentary and music video director who has worked regularly in the past with The Chemical Brothers, who provide an original score for Trespass Against Us.
Watch the full interview below…
Trespass Against Us is released in selected theaters on January 20.