In Those who remain D’Alexander Payne (Descendants), Paul Giamatti becomes the unloving teacher responsible for overseeing students who cannot return to their families during Christmas break.
After twenty years of collaboration Wandering, Alexander Payne reunites with Paul Giamatti and casts him as Paul Hanham, a professor of ancient history at a New England boarding school. We are ahead of the Christmas holidays of 1970, and only a few students are not spending the holidays with their families. The remaining unfortunates were, to their great chagrin, handed over to this stern teacher.
But one thing leads to another and Angus Tully (Dominic Chessa, a newcomer) finds himself alone with Hanham and Mary Lamb (Davin Joy Randolph), the school cook whose son died in Vietnam. A friendship develops between the three protagonists.
Opening in theaters November 10, 2023, the film stars Dominic Cessa as Angus Tully, Davein Joy Randolph as Mary Lamb and Paul Giamatti as Paul Hanham.
Photo credit: Cecia Pao / © 2023 Focus Features LLC
Besides directing, what is Alexander Payne’s favorite part of his job? “Finding locations and editing,” he told reporters at a press conference attended by QMI Agency last week. “It’s not just about finding the right locations for the period in which the film is set, or the locations where the characters are, it allows me to get to know the communities I’m shooting in. We go to about 20 places before we find something visible on the screen. »
“Meeting the owners of the venues, building relationships, getting involved in the community… all these things influence and reflect the rhythm of my film. This is especially important here because I know nothing about Massachusetts. It was the same thing Descendants When we shot in Hawaii. Finding filming locations was, for me, the most rewarding part of the process. » In fact, five schools were selected, each part of a boarding school Those who remain.
Director Alexander Payne and actor Don Eyd on the set of “Those Who Remain” in theaters November 10, 2023.
Photo credit: Cecia Pao / © 2023 Focus Features LLC
Another advantage of Massachusetts, aside from tax credits, is that “time goes slowly there,” insists Alexander Payne. “A lot of the shooting locations haven’t changed, like the bowling alley or the cafe where Lydia Crane works. [une employée de l’école qui a des emplois supplémentaires pendant les vacances, incarnée par Carrie Preston, vue dans la série Une femme exemplaire et son dérivé Une lutte exemplaire, NDLR]It has been that way since the 1940s.
An unknown man named Dominic Sessa was “discovered by chance among 800 young actors, known or unknown.
“Of all the auditions sent by video, I watched about 70 and didn’t find the actor I wanted. Eventually we called the schools where we were going to film and asked the drama teachers if they had any students who wanted to audition. »
In one of them, I took two actors. The first one has only a couple of lines, but the second one, Dominic Chesa, has never acted in a movie or on TV! »
Dominic Sessa and Paul Giamatti in Alexander Payne’s “Those Who Remain,” in theaters November 10, 2023.
Photo credit: Cecia Pao / © 2023 Focus Features LLC
Disappointed that he couldn’t “share this press conference with the cast” because of the strike, Alexander Payne insisted on reuniting with Paul Giamatti after two decades. Wandering.
“He’s a product of the world I’m portraying in the film. Paul told me he could play this character because I met him as a young man at Yale, and I totally let him do it. Paul Giamatti is like Meryl Streep or Laurence Olivier, and we cast him in this role because of what he would do with it. We’re excited to see that. We know it’s going to be amazing.”
Those who remain It will be released in theaters across Quebec on November 10th.
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