This interview contains major spoilers from “The Power of the Dog”.
When it comes to Kodi Smit-McPhee’s performance in “The Power of the Dog,” filmmaker Jane Campion always wanted more.
No more lisping. More stealthy body movements, similar to those of a fox. And – shit – no more comb! (His character runs his fingers through the teeth of a comb when he’s anxious.)
“I always thought ‘This is too much’,” said Smit-McPhee, 25, his slender 6-foot-2 body and wide-eyed eyes filling the screen during a video call from his family’s home in Melbourne, Australia. “But I tend to subconsciously downplay my characters, so it’s a constant that directors ask me to edit it a bit.”
Smit-McPhee’s character Peter is the quiet heart of Campion’s western, now in theaters and streaming on Netflix: a shy teenager who both irritates and brings out the softer side of a masochistic cowboy, Phil (Benedict Cumberbatch), ranching cattle in rural Montana in the 1920s. (The film was shot in Campion’s native New Zealand.)
“I think the first impression is, ‘This kid is obviously light-hearted, so delicate, maybe naive,” said Smit-McPhee, who, in a black T-shirt and baseball cap, is self-confident and philosophical in real life. “But we learn that he has greater strength for him.”
As Smit-McPhee read the script and Thomas Savage’s 1967 novel, he appreciated the ambiguity of the role, which he said allowed him to come up with his own take on Peter’s motivations. He worked with an emphasis specialist, body movement coach, and did meditation and dream work, all in the service of challenging oneself to deliver the most nuanced performance.
“Jane pushed me to explore new territories,” he said. “It’s only a few nights before I go to bed thinking, ‘I’m going to have to fully commit to this area. “”
The role is the last of a career built on sensitive and curious characters. Smit-McPhee first stood out as a son navigating a post-apocalyptic hellish landscape with his father in Cormac McCarthy’s 2009 adaptation of “The Road”, before playing a bullied boy. who falls in love with a vampire in the 2010 horror romance “Let Me In” and the evil but benevolent Nightcrawler in the recent “X-Men” movies.
During an hour-long conversation, Smit-McPhee opened up about how his struggle with chronic pain had helped him relate to Peter’s alien status and how he felt about the movie’s ending. These are edited excerpts.
The first time you met Jane Campion, in Los Angeles in 2019, she asked you to have a conversation as Peter. How was it ?
It was very liberating and forgiving compared to other auditions I have done. From a director’s perspective, you can see how well this actor understood the character’s psyche and filled in the blanks in the script. I tried to get as far away from my own thoughts as possible.
What are you related to in Peter?
Physically, people around him tend to judge him as a little weak or not enough of a man. It’s something he struggled with 100 years ago, and we still face it today – negative effects on how you see yourself when you’re told you’re not strong enough, or let people assume that about you. But at the same time, when you understand how much value you bring to the world and to others, you gain confidence and love for yourself.
In one scene, he dissects a rabbit he killed in his room. Are you disgusted with blood?
I’m not disgusted when it comes to blood, but I’m 100% disgusted when it comes to cutting flesh. My girlfriend watches these shows like “Nip / Tuck” and “Botched”, and I feel sick when I try to force myself to watch these horrible scenes. But in Pierre’s mind, I forced myself to familiarize myself with it.
Although not a mainstay of mainstream masculinity, Peter is remarkably confident. Where does this confidence come from?
I think it has a lot to do with the environment he grew up in, which was very isolated and isolated, as well as his experience of trauma – he must have physically put his own father down when he committed suicide. Because he was isolated, he had no expectations of others to live up to the way he dealt with his trauma.
When you were 16 years old, you were diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis, a medical condition that causes the vertebrae to merge and results in chronic pain. Did you relate to Peter’s feeling of being an outsider?
Absoutely. I was not as physically capable as other children, and it caused me a lot of grief in my younger years before I learned how to cope. But I used the chronic pain and the emotions to push myself further in my endeavor with curiosity. I often found myself in libraries; I found loads of books on things that turned listlessness into a sense of control or freedom. But my knowledge didn’t help me become someone who wasn’t an outcast, it just made me grateful to be an outcast because of where it has taken me intellectually, spiritually and physically.
Your vision was impaired in your left eye during the filming of the movie due to a severe cataract related to your condition, which means the scene where you grab a matchbox must have been quite difficult.
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They just let the camera roll, and it took me probably 20 times to grab the matchbox because I don’t have a depth perspective – every time someone hands me something I think it’s closer than it actually is. But I ended up having it, and it was no laughing matter, so that’s good!
Did you have any discussions about your characters, or did you let the dynamics unfold as you go?
We had a very, very in-depth discussion about our characters – there is so much going on that is internalized, so it was all about talking about all of these things that are ambiguous in so many ways in the script and the book.
Like what?
Kirsten [Dunst, who plays Peter’s widowed mother, Rose] and I got this idea – it’s not in the book at all, and I have to be clear about that because that would change the whole story – that Peter actually killed his father too. It was our little secret that would just create a weird connection between them that would translate, but audiences wouldn’t know how to put their finger on it. But apparently some people have put their finger directly on it!
What do you think of the end?
Peter completely killed [Phil] with anthrax. And he didn’t necessarily plan it from A to Z, he’s someone who really acts in the moment.
Is he attracted to Phil?
I’m still not sure if Peter started to experience his own intimate and sensual feelings towards Phil, or if this was all just a means for his own ends, but it does create a deeper layer as Peter explored his sexuality and s ‘may have been discovered itself. in Phil and had to sacrifice her love for him.
Do you think Peter’s mother knows he killed Phil?
I think Rose knows that and doesn’t want to ask. The same goes for the character of Jesse Plemons – when he hears about anthrax he knows Phil will never touch anything that has anthrax because he has learned so much in these areas. . People don’t ask what they already know.
“The Power of the Dog” wasn’t the only movie you shot near your home during the pandemic – you also play singer Jimmie Rodgers in Baz Luhrmann’s elvis biopic, shot in Australia and slated for release next summer. What was it like to go from a western to the pomp of a Luhrmann film?
My first day on set, I was just supposed to be in the background of a stage, but then Baz Luhrmann said, “I have this great idea, I want you to stand on the table and you sing.” And he gave me the option to say yes or no, but especially after working with Jane, I said yes. You just have to not think about what other people are going to think.
What would be your dream role?
I’m a huge fan of surrealism, so it would be cool to play Salvador Dalí – I think I’m like him, in a way.
