DirectorDuke Johnsonmade his feature debut with 2015’sAnomalisa, a film he co-directed withCharlie Kaufman, a filmmaker whose name alone conjures up strange, idiosyncratic projects. As a stop-motion animator, Johnson’s projects have equally been unconventional, with Johnson working on such wild Adult Swim projects asMoral OrelandMary Shelley’s Frankenhole, as well asCommunityand, most recently, working as the animator on the season two premiere ofSeverance, “Hello, Ms. Cobel.”
Johnson’s animation projects have been unusual, as anyone who has seen the quiet, psychological drama ofAnomalisacan attest, so his latest project might be one of his biggest swings in an already impressive career. Johnson makes his solo feature directing debut withThe Actor, based on the crime thriller novelMemory,written byDonald E. Westlandin 1963, yet not released until 2010, a story that seems like it might be a bit too straightforward for Johnson’s style.Yet the beauty ofThe Actorcomes in Johnson’s ability to tell a story that feels classical and timeless but through an experimental and bold lens.
What Is ‘The Actor’ About?
The Actorbegins when actor Paul Cole (André Holland) is found in the bed of a married woman when her husband comes home. The husband picks up a chair and hits Paul over the head with it. It’s a scene that looks like it could be from an old noir, or from the TV program,A Silent Heart, which Paul often appears in. Paul wakes up not knowing who or where he is, but he is told by the local cop that he’s in Ohio and needs to get out of his town. With little money to his name and his memory wiping out everything at the end of the day, Paul takes the bus to the small town of Jeffords. There, he gets a job at a tannery and meets a young woman named Edna (Gemma Chan).
Every day, Paul has to put the pieces together of his new life all over again, almost likeGuy Pearce’s Leonard Shelby inMemento, albeit without the same frequency of forgetfulness. Paul has a good life, a town that seems to like him, a girl who fancies him, and a job that might not pay much, but earns him an honest living. It’s a nice, quiet life, and yet, he still occasionally wonders about what his old life was, working as an actor in New York City.As Paul starts to investigate who he used to be, that’s when life starts getting complicated.
Considering Johnson’s previous work with Kaufman, one might expect thatThe Actorand its amnesiac story might be leading towards a real mindfuck of a mystery. But on the contrary,The Actoris surprisingly more direct than that. Arguably the strangest aspect of the film is that Johnson almost stages this like a play, with sets seemingly blending into one another, and with pretty much every actor that isn’t Holland or Chan (in a cast that includesToby Jones,Tracy Ullman, andMay Calamawy) playing multiple characters.Even though this at times seems like a story that might be getting weirder to lead to a moment that pulls the rug out from under the audience, it never goes there, and that’s to the benefit of this narrative.
‘The Actor’ Dives Into Questions of Identity With a Very Theatrical Style
Instead, Johnson and co-writerStephen Cooneymake this crime mystery adaptation into a story about who a person is, who they think they’re “supposed” to be, and what makes a life successful and worth living. Each day Paul wakes up, he has to decide what person he’s going to be, and in investigating his past, we start to realize that who he once was feels light years away from who he is now. But is the life where he had success and popularity and years that built to that more important than who he is now and who he’s become unexpectedly?It’s a fascinating question without an easy answer, and Johnson explores that beautifully here.
The way Johnson presents this story only elevates these larger themes. Most of his cast are listed as “the troupe,” as they change their parts as the story goes on, yet this never feels distracting — as it wouldn’t in a play.Johnson even occasionallyintegrates his history in animation here, as he uses miniatures and stop-motion animation, but never in a way that distracts from the style of the story.
The staging of these scenes is also wonderfully handled, and Johnson’s choices in how to cut and edit scenes work marvelously. For example, in one scene, we watch Paul and Edna argue in a restaurant, and then, as they leave the restaurant, we see them continue this fight in the street seamlessly, as if the entire town is on one big stage. There are also these remarkable moments where characters, cars, and locations fade into a pitch-black nothingness, almost as if Johnson is saying we can all fade into the darkness and become reborn something new if we only choose to do so.It all feels like it’s taking on a stage, yet Johnson ensures that it never feels “stagey” in the way these types of films often can.
André Holland Is Excellent as the Amnesiac Actor, Paul Cole
The Actorcompletely centers around Holland’s Paul Cole, andit’s an excellent performance from an actor who always does fantastic work.Paul tries to keep his composure and pretend like he knows what’s going on. Each day is completely new to him, and Holland handles this task remarkably well. At times, we appreciate Paul’s new way of living, but at other times, our heart breaks for him as characters who love him realize he doesn’t recognize them anymore. Especially later in the film, Holland has to show the fear of this situation, as we see how difficult having this affliction would be for who he used to be. The moment is absolutely shattering, a burst of unfiltered emotion that breaks through the façade that Paul tries to keep up with. The entire weight ofThe Actorcenters around Holland, and it’s a great example of his incredible talents.
WithThe Actor,Johnson finds a way to adapt Westland’s novel with flair and tells this story in a way that feels like only he could.Yet he does so by mostly foregoing the mystery elements and leaning into the questions of identity and self-discovery that make this feel like something special. Through his direction, Johnson also crafts a story that is very inspired by the films and television of the time but told in a way that’s surprisingly modern and wholly original. LikeAnomalisa,The Actoris a film about discovering who you truly are, and it also reveals that Johnson is a captivating, promising filmmaker who hopefully won’t wait another decade to make his next film.
The Actorcomes to theaters on May 14.
The Actor, from director Duke Johnson, is a captivating story about identity, led by a fantastic André Holland.
In The Actor, based on Donald E. Westlake’s novel Memory, Paul Cole (Holland) becomes stranded in an unfamiliar small town with no recollection of his identity or past. Starting anew, he forms a connection with local costume designer Edna (Chan). As fragments of his memory resurface, he struggles to discern reality, identity, and his true home.
