Owen wears his heart on his sleeve, which is part of why everything goes wrong for him. Did that vulnerability make him easier to play?It made him fu
Owen wears his heart on his sleeve, which is part of why everything goes wrong for him. Did that vulnerability make him easier to play?
It made him fun to play, honestly. Being clueless about what’s going on, completely attached and obsessed with something, whatever that is. He listens to other people and goes with everything because he wants to find Emily. It was just a lot of fun having that eff-it attitude, being like, I’ll just do it! He’s kind of like a vulnerable puppy. That’s the best thing about him, but also the worst.
Finding Emily feels like an old-school rom-com, and it also reminded me of Sing Street. Do you want to become a proper rom-com guy?
Sing Street is amazing. That’s an incredible film, really good. I don’t know. I just want to do good work. I want to be obsessed with other people’s obsessions and do projects that are very different from the ones that I’ve done. But I do like a rom-com, and they’re a lot of fun to do.
So if the right one comes along, then yeah, I’ll always be open to doing another. I’m very proud that I got to do Finding Emily, and if it’s just this one, I’ll be super cheerful with it being this one.
You’ve said Watching the Detectives is a favorite. What else are you watching?
Watching the Detectives is a massive one. I mean, it’s pretty incredible. I’m obsessed with (500) Days of Summer. I don’t know if you could say that’s a rom-com, but I’m super obsessed with that movie. I’ve watched it, like, five times now. Spike Island is an amazing film, and it was massive for Owen. And Crazy, Stupid, Love. Anything Ryan Gosling is in.
Are you a Letterboxd person?
I don’t have Letterboxd, but maybe I should get it. I just talk to friends, you know, certain friends where we’ll talk about movies. I kind of see that as my Letterboxd.
It’s the best way. After The Odyssey, my friends and I were outside the AMC discussing it, and at least four other groups were around us doing the same.
Did you see it on 70-millimeter film?
Yes!
Wow. I haven’t seen it because I haven’t had the opportunity to see it in that format, so I don’t want to until then. I want to watch how [director Christopher Nolan] made the movie to be watched. I’m just going to wait, and as soon as I can, that’s the first thing I’ll do. I’m very excited about it. I’m trying to close my ears about everyone talking about it.
I feel like that’s impossible. It’s been everywhere. I left the theater at 2 a.m. because it was so complex to get a ticket.
That’s so good, though. How good is that for the business, the industry? That’s how movies should be. People should be excited about going to the cinema.
