A Conversation with Brian A. Metcalf
I spoke with writer/director/actor Brian A. Metcalf about his film Adverse, available NOW on Digital, On Demand and DVD by Lionsgate.
Yanis: Los Angeles is often portrayed as a sunny metropolis, but you chose to portray the darker side of LA. Why?
Brian: Well first let me thank you for having me. Unfortunately for many people, Los Angeles isn’t all sunny and beaches, especially those without money. There is a huge homeless population here.
Because this film is darker and grittier, I wanted to set the world in which the characters reside to match the mood.
Y: Mickey Rourke’s portrayal of his character Kaden was inspired by his brother. Tell me more about working with Mickey.
B: Mickey was a perfectionist on playing his character. He had very vivid memories of his brother’s bout with cancer and he wanted to honor him by playing this character with the same mannerisms and dialogue.
My personal experience working with Mickey was very fun and collaborative.
We got along very well and we discussed ideas on the character he was playing. He put extreme detail into the mannerisms of his character all the way up to the clothing that he wanted to be wearing.
And also having been a tremendous fan of his work throughout the years from Diner to Angel Heart to more recently The Wrestler, I knew what type of quality he could bring to the role. I was impressed by how much he cared about his character.
Y: I loved your performance in this film. What was your approach to acting? Did it give you a vantage point from which you could better direct your actors?
B: Thank you so much. My approach to acting is combining both Meisner (instinct) and Stanislovski (substitution) techniques. I started taking acting classes in order to be a better director and to work with actors more.
When I first started directing, I didn’t know how to properly speak to actors. After years of acting classes, I got better at learning how an actor thinks. I initially offered the role of Dante to three other actors and they all turned it down so eventually I decided to do the role myself.
Y: Thomas Ian Nicholas worked really hard for this role. How did the two of you create a character that was such a sharp contrast from his previous roles?
B: When we decided to do this together, I told him I didn’t want him to repeat any roles he had done before.
I wanted a very different character from him which included how he walked, talked and looked. I wanted a character that had been through hell and back. We did extensive rehearsal and table reads focusing on the character. I think he pulled it off well.
Y: Why shoot on location rather than a soundstage? What are some of the pros and cons?
B: We chose to shoot with locations for various reasons. Authenticity was the main reason. What better set dressing than to have the real thing? But it was also cheaper and budget is a strong consideration for lower budgeted projects.
The cons are not being able to control the set as easily. Sound and lighting was a major issue. Cars driving by honking horns and airplanes was another major issue. We shot at a location near LAX and this was a major problem for us to deal with.
Y: How did the casting process go? You likely had to turn away some incredibly talented people. How do you make those tough calls?
B: The casting process is always brutal. We were very fortunate to have the help of a casting director. But we also reached out ourselves through contacts as well.
In terms of casting lesser known roles, we had to decide who would be the best fit for the film. We unfortunately worked with a couple actors that didn’t work for this and we had to replace them.
Y: This was Kelly Arjen’s first movie. How did you approach directing her versus some of the more experienced talent. Why cast her instead of someone with more experience?
B: Thomas and I had both worked with Kelly previously on a pilot we shot and we were both impressed with her performance and knew what we could get working with her again.
And because the character was meant to be ethnic who could speak both Spanish and English, it just worked out perfectly.
Having known her background, I felt she could somewhat relate to Mia’s character being a Los Angeles native since birth. When directing her, I worked on making sure she understood everything about her character, even details not on script.
Creating the motivation is extremely important for all actors experienced or not. The more experienced ones make up their own character backgrounds when not provided to them.
Also it was important to give her the freedom to slip into the role properly.
Y: Do you think since most people haven’t been to a movie theater in over a year, there are some who will never see a movie in a theater? Why should people go back to the movies once it’s safe?
B: I am a huge supporter of movie theaters. I love to go see movies on the big screen. Before the pandemic, I was in the theater 2–4 times a week. There is nothing quite like the experience of seeing the movie on the big screen.
While people complain that there can be distractions in the theater, I have watched where friends are watching from home and are constantly distracted and missing things.
And for me, watching films on a phone or computer screen are just not the same thing. I want to believe people will want to travel back out for that theatrical experience with amazing sound and huge screen.
Y: People often say “there’s nothing to do in downtown LA.” What are some of your favourite things to do there?
B: This is going to be a bit of a longer answer but I find there is a lot of wonderful things to do in downtown LA.
I personally love museums so I would visit The Broad, MOCA, The Natural History Museum, The Japanese American National Museum and more.
I love going to Little Tokyo to shop around and eat curry. Pre-COVID, I would visit Disney Concert Hall for concerts and performances. Grand Central Market is a wonderful place to travel to for restaurants and food. I was recently at The Last Bookstore.
This is a place where I can easily spend 3–4 hours if I’m not careful. Same goes for the LA Library. I have spent many weekends getting up early to go explore the Fashion District. So I would highly dispute those who say there is nothing to do in LA.
Y: What’s next for you? Where can people follow you on social media?
B: I am currently working on several projects right now. I am doing a fantasy TV series with a company called Amyale, a crime drama with sales company Disrupting Influence, a comedy, a drama and adapting a New York Times bestselling book into series as well.
I’m not allowed to go into too much detail yet but I’m sure there will be an eventual press release.
And while I love this industry so much, it can also be a bit flaky at times. You never know which one will hit first. In terms of social media, people can follow me on Instagram and Twitter. Thank you!