April Mullen Interview: Wander
We interview Wander director April Mullen about the film’s timely subject matter, working with the movie’s talented cast, and much more.
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Wander is a thriller film that explores conspiracy theories and mental illness with a surprising amount of sympathy. Set in a quaint New Mexico town, it follows a PI named Arthur (Aaron Eckhart) who slowly becomes convinced that the death he’s investigating is actually connected to his own daughter’s demise.
Director April Mullen sat down with Screen Rant prior to the film’s December 4 release to discuss the search for the right town and the creative spark she shares with the star.
This film is so timely, because we’re truly living in a world of conspiracies. What does a movie like Wander have to say about today?
April Mullen: There are a lot of layers to the film. We started writing Wander five years ago, and the big picture conspiracy is about border control, chip technology, and what will happen when those things become a reality. Or are they already a reality, and we don’t know?
Being an indigenous, Anishinaabe Algonquin, female director, we also wanted to sort of pinpoint that at the heart of conspiracies, the victims are usually Indigenous women, two-spirited warriors, BIPOC, and displaced people who have been continually the target and victim of government subjugation and violent practices. Those big themes are kind of throughout the film, and are important as a message of the film.
For the writer Tim Doiron and I, Arthur is a character who’s going through great grief and loss. He’s dealing with mental illness and mental health issues, and how to come through that and grow past that. What might someone do when they are going through such a traumatic time, and how do they deal with that? Those are a lot of major themes that run through Wander.
Another important way that audiences may relate to the film, and Arthur’s struggles specifically, is the quest for justice. Can you speak to that aspect of that journey, and how that can lead to obsession?
April Mullen: Yes, I can. I think there are silent warriors out there in the world, really trying to shed light on the truth of government conspiracies. Whether there’s a wider range of what those warriors are doing on a daily basis to bring people the truth, I think they’re silenced very quickly, or violence stops them or power stops them.
It was in honor of those silence voices – that of Arthur, and the inner strength he has to fight for the truth at all costs. At the end, when you see him finally free and laughing, that moment brings me to my brings me to my knees. I’m crying every time I see it, because I think in that moment, you can really connect to those silent warriors that have been paving the path for a long time to try to fight for justice, and try to fight for the truth, and try to free those voices that are continuously silenced. In that moment of laughter and sheer freedom, it really says a lot about today’s world and what’s going on.
I’m just so happy in that moment for Arthur, that he was able to even find the truth for himself. Whether or not the whole world will be able to kind of believe him or not, it’s just the quest to at least have some sort of answer. It’s something I think all of us are looking for, this elusive answer to what is the big bad and who are the people controlling us every day.
You’ve assembled the legendary cast, and all the characters in the film feels so authentic. How did you ground the tone and the characters so efficiently?
April Mullen: It was an incredible cast. Aaron Eckhart brought 150% every day to the table. We worked hand in hand; we’re attached at the hip and had a really intimate working relationship, where everything was about the truth and everything was about bringing it to an original place. We were finding that spark in every scene.
He’s such a perfectionist in the best kind of way, and the bar was set so high every day by him. He was such a strong leader that I think every other actor and the crew, everybody kind of was inspired by that. He was so connected to Arthur, and I think Aaron had never played a role that felt so close to his own truth and his own person. I think he took it so seriously and really believed in the silent warrior and those fighting for the light. He was very moved by the script, and that’s why he did it. It was an absolute joy to work with him.
Tommy Lee Jones brought in this really unique dynamic; the opposite almost of Aaron, which was a great and dynamic ping pong game when they’re both on screen. Jimmy was supposed to be this trusting, open, vulnerable friend that Arthur could lean on, but at the end of the day, he did have this very dark motivation. Tommy got to really play with something I think he had never brought to the screen either; something new for him. It was very light-hearted and comical, he got to let loose and wear some great aviators and cool Hawaiian shirts. But underneath all that, there was a very dark tone to him. Watching him find that line, and then making sure we were right in the middle, was such a pleasure and such a joy.
I very lightly guided them as they brought their presence to light. It was amazing.
One of the most interesting characters in the film is the character of Wander, the city itself. Talk to me about bringing three dimensions to the town and making it come to life.
April Mullen: The search for Wander was very high and wide. Tim Doiron, the writer-producer, and myself went down to New Mexico, on the ground floor. We’re on the hunt, literally with binoculars in a little tiny rented car, for months, living out of tiny motels, looking for the character that is Wander. It was not easy to find a place that looks like it was a forgotten, zero technology, off the highway, but close enough for cast to have some sort of like accommodations and food. It was so challenging, and we knew if we didn’t find the right place, there was no way of making the film.
Because that was the backdrop of the truth. It has to be authentic; we couldn’t make something up like that. It has to be a location that exists. And of course, New Mexico being the hub of conspiracy, we went there and found this little town of Carrizozo by mistake. One of us had to go the bathroom, and we pull over to this gas station. I walk out, and Tim’s like, “Oh, gosh. Let’s explore.” And it was perfect.
What you see in the film is exactly what Carrizozo is. It’s this incredible, beautiful, genuine, authentic town that looks like its lost in time from the 20s. The population is maybe 100 people, it’s in the middle of the desert, nothing else around it. It’s the perfect count for a conspiracy to be happening. Literally, it could be happening there, and that’s what we needed. And the community was so supportive. We took over every building in the town, including their two little motels, and we lived in those motels for four months. They had one restaurant, which on Mondays was closed and nobody else knew what to do. There was no grocery store.
It was really so inspiring, and so Wander, but also very surreal. The whole thing was surreal. We were lucky enough to find it, the community was amazing and so supportive, and we got the run of the town. We really did. Everyone opened their doors, their homes, the high school, their automobile garages, everything. Everybody was so supportive.
Aaron told me that when he was preparing for the role, he would take a camera and be like, “Can we shoot some stuff at night by the trains?” Can you talk to me a little bit about that process?
April Mullen: Coming from an actor background, Aaron’s a dream, because he loves the aliveness. The spark, the breathing on camera, the unpredictability that is performance. Capturing that on film is almost impossible, even for the greats. There might be 15% of a feature film that you will remember forever, because they captured the spark. Aaron’s obsessed with that, and April Mullen is beyond obsessed with that. It’s why I direct, and it’s why he performs. If you put a dynamic duo like that together, we were both so obsessed with trying to always bring that to the table.
So, he was like, “Hey, April, let’s take Big Red,” which is the camera we shot in. I have the camera on my back, he’s driving, there’s no stunt performers involved – it’s just him and I in a super intimate setting. We’re so small anyway, which was great that on an indie film shoot, you can do these things. And I really do think that’s where the lightning happens. That’s where you capture lightning in a bottle: you just let the performer be free. Let him do what’s coming to him, whatever it is instinctually. Sometimes it’s magic; sometimes it’s laughable. Let them be free; let their soul sing, let the character sing, and just silently capture that on film. If you’re lucky to have enough of those moments in a movie, I think you make a masterpiece.
We would run and gun, go rogue literally, and just have fun in a lot of ways. The joy of independent cinema is not having the studios breathing down your neck, with the times and the constraints of budget. The fact that we were so small meant we could grab a camera and run away with Aaron into the abyss of the desert. It’s a joy and a gift that made this film forever memorable. And I think you can see those moments on the screen. You can feel the rawness of the performance; you can feel the electric lightning bolts coming from Aaron. His heart was open, and he let go of everything he had to just give it all. I have so much respect and love for that, and I hope to find that again.
It’s so rare to even be able to have a gift like that, to create like that and just feel like you’re jumping. It feels like you’re jumping off the diving board all day. It’s terrifying, but it’s an incredible feeling.
Link Source : https://screenrant.com/wander-movie-april-mullen-interview/