Opening in theaters on November 13th is the new crime drama ‘Paper Tiger‘, which was written and directed by James Gray (‘Ad Astra‘), and stars Adam Driver (‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens‘), Miles Teller (‘Top Gun: Maverick‘), and Scarlett Johansson (‘Black Widow‘).
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of sitting down in-person with Adam Driver, Miles Teller and director James Gray to talk about their work on ‘Paper Tiger’, developing the screenplay, tone and sound, creating their characters’ relationship, and why Driver wanted to work with Gray.
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Moviefone: To begin with, James, can you talk about developing the screenplay, which is inspired by your own family dynamic growing up, and the themes you wanted to explore as a filmmaker?
James Gray: I had really only one thing in mind. I wanted to make something, as corny as this sounds, I wanted it to be about love and how hard it is to love other people, what it takes, the willingness and the ability to listen to the other person, to try and be compassionate toward the other person, and how hard it is to love your brother in a context where you’re always wondering unconsciously, which of us did our parents love more? How to love your spouse, how to be willing to listen. To me, that was the whole guiding force of the film.
MF: James, can you talk about creating the right tone for the movie, as well as achieving the period look for the film?
JG: I thought less about the period look, although that certainly matters. Maybe this is a cliche or something, but I thought a lot about Alfred Hitchcock, because he would do these stories where you had a kind of “normal family” in terrible circumstances and build great suspense sequences around those stories. I knew I wanted to do something with three or four suspense sequences throughout, and this “normal family” would be under real challenges. So, the idea was originally in tone, Alfred Hitchcock.
MF: Adam, you’ve said that you recognized your character immediately when you first read the script. What exactly did you recognize in the character that helped inform your performance?
Adam Driver: Well, not only that he was just a brother and I have a sibling, so the idea of being a caretaker role and having to keep up appearances when you feel like he himself doesn’t realize that the rug is pulled from underneath him. Then having this kind of found family in the police force is also something I relate to. The bigger metaphor of family for Gary is that he at one point is the man in the police force and he leaves, and then he comes back armed with the same tools and they don’t apply anymore because the environment around him has changed and he hasn’t acknowledged it, which I thought was so much of what being in a family is. You leave and have experience and live life and then you come back expecting people to acknowledge your difference and they keep wanting to put you in the same place where you left from. So all of those things, and just that guy, I know that guy.
MF: Miles, can you talk about creating the brotherly dynamic between Irwin and Gary with Adam, and did you discuss their backstories and what they were like growing up together?
Miles Teller: Well, yeah, we had about a week of rehearsal where it would be oftentimes myself and Adam and James just sitting around and James’ work is very autobiographical and that brotherhood is often the center of James’ stories. So, he would share and naturally we’re all sharing anecdotes and aspects of our life together. But you can’t really play that. I think the way it was able to come across with a familiarity and a comfortability comes from working with great actors and with great writing. So with Adam, you would really have to try and enforce something to not be completely present with him because he’s so incredibly real and it’s believable and wherever one goes, the other one follows. To me, it’s my favorite scene partner to have where you really feel like it is a moment to moment dance.
MF: Adam, you’ve also said that you reached out to director James Guy directly because you wanted to work with him after seeing his films. How often do you do that with filmmakers, and did the experience live up to your expectations?
AD: I do it all the time, that’s how I wound up working with Chris Rock. I know him also socially. I’d seen him at certain things and he was helpful with this movie ‘Annette‘ that I shot as a source if I had any questions. But I often reach out to not even just directors, I reach out to actors if I’ve seen something that they’re in that I think is great, even if maybe they made it 10 years ago. I always find it weird that it’s always during the time when movies are coming out and this time of the year is when we reach out to people. But my favorite part about films is they have these lives that you forget all about and it’s always nice to hear. Not just actors, I reach out to artists too. Ralph Steadman, I’ve reached out to him and went to his house. I try to do that as much as possible. It’s a good benefit to capitalize on whatever cache you have and then get out of there before they realize you suck. The second part of the question, it lived up to every expectation. I love his way of working, his scripts and I love his films and really am happy to be a part of this. It’s what a James Gray film is to me. It’s a family driven narrative, but he doesn’t sacrifice the spectacle of it and it’s a film. There’s going to be some awesome sequence that is going to be jaw dropping and this is very much in that vein.
MF: James, can you talk about collaborating with Adam, Miles, and Scarlett Johansson on set, and what did they bring to these characters that you never imagined possible when you were creating them?
JG: It’s a great question, but there’s two sides to it. The first is that, they’ll say a line that you wrote and say it in a way you didn’t imagine, but that still contains the meaning you want. That’s one way of surprise. Improvisation, let’s show them what the Pearl Brothers can do, what Miles will say to Adam or something. Great little lines of improvisation that I love, there’s that. But the most important thing with this element of surprise is how much you can see them inhabiting those people. It’s not just that they’re acting, it’s a bit of an incorrect term. They are being those people and that always shocks you. Because the camera can see everything, it’s very probing. It can tell when the actor’s not thinking, not when the actor’s lying, but when the actor is being very honest and really feeling it, you can see it. That’s what I get from them.
MF: Finally, can you talk about the importance of the film’s sound design and creating that with your team?
JG: I had great people helping me out, out of New York. I had Harbor sound, those guys are great. But you always have to think with sound, the great chance you have is people have no real reference for it and you can take every risk with sound that you could possibly want. So what do I mean? Instead of a subway roar in the train station, you’re hearing a tiger roar that’s been a little manipulated. A guy reaches, and this is true in the movie, for a glove compartment, instead of the sound of the glove compartment opening, what do you have? You have a sound of a pig being slaughtered and the audience is totally unaware. So, it’s your weapon and you are free to use it any way you want. It’s absolutely fantastic.
What is the plot of ‘Paper Tiger’?
The plot follows two brothers (Adam Driver and Miles Teller) who pursue a lucrative business opportunity in 1980s Queens, only to find themselves caught up in a scheme involving the Russian mafia, which ends up terrorizing their suburban family and puts their own sibling bond to the test.
Who is in the cast of ‘Paper Tiger’?
- Adam Driver as Gary Pearl
- Scarlett Johansson as Hester Pearl
- Miles Teller as Irwin Pearl
- Gavin Goudey as Scott Pearl
- Roman Engel as Ben Pearl
- Victor Ptak as Simeon Bogoyavich
- Cindy Katz as Iris Belfer
- Yavor Vesselinov as Alexei Yunov
- Joel Marsh Garland as Lt. Stan Durkheim
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