Barry Keoghan and Christopher Abbott Say ‘Bring Them Down’ Was a Challenge They Craved

Hey everybody, it's Joe McGovern here at The Rap Studio at the Toronto International Film Festival and I'm here with a very powerful film that's premiering or has premiered last night. Yeah, last night. Director Chris Andrews, actors Chris Abbott and Barry Keoghan bring them down. I've seen it, it's exceptional and it's a first film which people will be very surprised by. Where did it come from? It's a story, not many characters, you know, maybe a half dozen total characters in it but a sort of a, almost a primal tale of family and conflict in Ireland. Where did the ideas for it start? I mean, the initial idea came walking in the Lake District in the north of England in the rain on New Year's Eve and I was just walking up and thinking about, you know, sort of mulling over, you know, what stories and something I would like to write and just looking at the location it felt like something so beautiful and underutilised by the British film industry. So thinking about that landscape and then this kind of shepherd just walked up through the mist over the mountains, we're all in wet weather gear and hiking gear and he was just wearing a jacket and his boots and had a dog and he just seemed like this incredible sort of stoic mythical character. So that was the first germ and then thinking about the parable of the good shepherd, you know, bring a hundred sheep down, you're missing one so you go up to save the souls but what happens if somebody fucks with you, fucks with your flock while you're there? And then marrying that together with the spate of rustling that was happening in Cumbria at the time where people were taking the hind legs off sheep and just letting them bleed. We should mention that that is an element of the film but I think viewers, I'm sure they know this, but no animals were actually harmed even though it's a realistic seeming part of the movie. Yeah, yeah, no, no, no animals were harmed. It was, you know, it's, we had it in sort of layers, you see the sheep doing sheepy things, you know, and they're kind of controlled with the shepherd and the animal handlers and then as we come in and you see the more gruesome, brutal elements, it's sheep puppets. So we had these two puppets made, one was like a beanbag puppet that Chris would like carry around on his shoulders or we sort of placed him in shot here and there and then we had this kind of puppeteered animatronic sheep which would move its ears and its head and its legs with its hind legs cut off and then we embellished them with BFM. I want to talk about the dedication of these two actors in the film. I mean Barry, we know Barry's work is just so committed to every role. Chris is so committed actually that you probably know this, last year he hurt his leg really bad in a play and then did the play on crutches instead of stepping down. Literally did that. Chris, working with the sheep and finding out that they all have personalities. We were just saying how clever they were. What was this experience like for you and also, you know, we should mention that you're an American actor who is so convincing. Not only is Irish, but you also speak Gaelic. What a challenge. I mean, definitely intimidated. When I talked to Chris about it originally, I was like, do you want to just get someone Irish to do it? You know, but I felt sort of honored that he wanted, you know, and every actor, Barry too, like you always sort of look for challenges because otherwise, you know, we all have ABD and we get bored. So it's like, if you don't feel like we're being sort of pushed in any sort of way, you know, so yeah, I mean, really the, for the dialect and for the language, you know, it was really academic in terms of like the lead up to shooting the movie, you know, Pater Cox was the dialect and language coach. And we just, you know, I said before, we sort of felt like school, you know, so it was a little tedious, but it's like, it's, you kind of have to do that tedious work so that when you show up to set, you can feel free to play and have fun, you know? So yeah, it was just a bit of studying really, you know, but it was great. And the sheep, yeah, love, love, love the sheep. The sheep also spoke Irish, right? They spoke, yeah, they spoke a different dialect, yeah. You know, Barry, I was going to ask you about directors that you've worked with in your career and everyone who knows your work, I mean, the legends, Christopher Nolan, Yorgos, Martin McDonagh, Emerald Bunnell, Russell Byrne. They're like, I'm blessed. I really am. And Chris as well. And to have Chris know, you know, that was his first feature movie. It's, yeah, I'll be sending you emails and going, hey, is that script ready? But is it, in some ways, is it as exciting or maybe even more exciting? You're working with an established legend like Christopher Nolan, working with a first timer who is doing this and is embarking, you know, this is the beginning of a major career here. What's that like, you know, being a part of that? You know, for me, it's always about, it's not about the scale of the movie and the budget. You know, if anything, it's quite intimidating when the budget's massive and sometimes I get to feel like I don't get to feel like I express or get the creative juices going enough. There's so much to it. And a movie like this is a lot more intimate and there's a lot more, you know, required, like, you know, you've got to bring vulnerability forward. There's a lot more safe space and it's just a lot more time to be in that zone and that flow and to be happening, you know, consistently. And so it's not about the scale and that's not to say I don't want to do big scale movies, but it's not about that for me. It goes to the story and to, you know, what part of my career I'm in, what do I want to, what have I done previously that I can, you know, counter this and show range and really step into it. And challenge, as Chris said, challenge is all I want. I don't want to show up and do something that I could do in my sleep. And, you know, I always want to find a challenge or a physicality or, you know. How did you guys discuss the film before you were making it? Because it's a simple but deceptively simple plot. And actually there's a really amazing thing where the perspective switches, and I don't want to give that away. But I loved it, that element of it. How did you discuss the characters together? Did you go deep into, this is a movie a lot about their backstory, even though we don't get much flashback material at all. What was it like discussing these guys and the motivations and what brought them here? I think most of it was in the script and it's on the page. And then it's kind of self-explanatory in a lot of ways. And then we just talked about the type of men that they were that, you know, talk about really interested in work, you know, the way that we're defined by what we do, you know, how we spend our days and, you know, how we walk, how we hold ourselves, how we, you know, how our hands feel. And then, so we talked a lot about work and we talked a lot about what the day's routine would be like. And then the relationships within the household, you know, and about Chris's relationship with his father, Colin, and just what that space had been like without a mother in it. And this, and just holding this, you know, a secret between them. And similarly with Barry about that dynamic of his family and being, you know, he's a young character, but he's, when you're working in those environments and it's a family business, you know, you don't leave, you grow into that family and you don't fly the nest, you don't explore, you don't develop in that sense. You have to stay because you're the next generation and you're going to carry that weight and that burden. So there's kind of this sort of strangeness in their relationship where Barry's character, you know, is a young character, but he's a man, you know, and he's in this house with his parents who are, you know, struggling to keep the ship afloat. So, you know, there was a lot there to mine, but it was kind of easy, I think. I was about working with Cole Meany, who plays your dad, and I think your scenes are entirely in Gaelic. Yeah, I mean, Colin's a legend, you know, especially in Ireland. And, you know, I've seen him over the years in so many movies and he always just sort of brings it. So it's like one of those guys when you grow up and you've seen him in so many films and you finally kind of get to work with him. It's all, you know, it's exciting. And then, you know, on top of just doing the scenes with him and getting to act, he's just a fun time outside of that. He has a laugh and, you know, he's a great storyteller and I just like hanging out with him. Last night was the premiere and, you know, something about being here in Toronto when you get this audience, they just love seeing movies and you don't even know what the plot is before they go in. They don't know who the actors even might be. What is it like for you? I mean, you know, actually, Barry, is there something about being in an environment like this filled with film lovers and filmmakers? Well, for me, it's a celebration. You know, trying to be an actor growing up or a filmmaker or, you know, whatever it is you may want to be, you know, you get looked upon and not as a real job. And so getting to be in a community of people that, you know, is getting recognized and celebrating and, you know, everyone's kind of clicking and it's just beautiful. It's a space that just doesn't feel real but it's starting to feel real now. And yeah, so it's just, it's just a gorgeous feeling. How about for you, Chris? Just being here and experiencing it, I must feel it's like a, it's a dreamlike. Completely, it's a joy. I mean, like the whole city is kind of abuzz with the festival. So many films, so many people here and there's such a warmth and enthusiasm for cinema and the audience, you know, the audiences are just like electric. They just want it to succeed and it played like gangbusters last night. Yeah, they really connected with it and there was laughs and gasps and, you know, it was like there was a, there were like, there was a conversation, there was a relationship between the audience and the screen and that's, you know, so beautiful and, you know, real privilege to be here. Also, I don't want to obviously give away, you know, too much of the plot or certainly how it ends but there's a lot of conversation that's going to happen among the audience members after it's over. And maybe, Chris, you can, we have to wrap up in a minute but finish up by saying what are your hopes for this material and how it's going to be digested and talked about and argued about maybe even by all the audiences that see it? Well, I think it's just that, like you hope that that exact thing happens and, you know, I mean, the thing is we do these movies and, you know, so much of the life of it afterwards is more or less out of your hands, you know, so you can only sort of hope that people just respond to it and, you know, it's a very, this movie's a very specific world and, you know, location and story but there's so many sort of themes in it that I think are obviously very universal and relatable. So, you know, I think, I just hope people see it, yeah. I want to congratulate the three of you, honestly, on quite a masterful piece of work and I'm looking forward to many more, Chris, in the future. Thank you all for coming. Appreciate it, thank you. Cheers, thank you.