Colman Domingo and Kieran Culkin take opposing approaches to their work. Domingo researches each role and sets an alarm several hours before filming, which Culkin teases him about. “If I have a pickup truck at 5 a.m., do you know what time I wake up?” Culkin says. “5 AM” But, as they learn here, their hearts as performers are very similar. Domingo is one of the few professional actors in “Sing Sing”; Largely, his classmates were formerly incarcerated men playing themselves in a story about a prison theater program. He plays their leader, whose self-assured demeanor crumbles when he tries and fails to have his manslaughter conviction overturned. In A Real Pain, Culkin plays troubled, childish Benjy, who goes on a Holocaust tour with his cousin David (writer-director Jesse Eisenberg). As they travel through their late grandmother’s native Poland, David becomes concerned about Benjy’s constant emotional outbursts. Here, the two actors compare notes on their morning routines, the joys of having kids (and not having them) — and the annoying ways some of their fellow thespians describe their profession.
Kieran Culkin: Did you start in the circus?
Coleman Sunday: I did. I was just trying to get a gig, because I only had two acting lessons.
Culkin: Did you find any of them helpful? Acting lessons? Some people say: “I need to listen to everything my teacher says as if it were the gospel.” And this is not so.
Domingo: Some things don’t work. But one of my first teachers said to me, “I’m going to give you some tools, and you can use them, but you also want to expand your toolbox.” Anything I do, it’s always like the first time I’ve done it. I don’t want to do anything the same way. I don’t have a way.
Culkin: The moment you start doing it, you’ll feel like, “I’ve become complacent, now I’m bored and I don’t want to do this anymore.” That’s why I love testing. Whenever I don’t audition, I say, “You may not like this at all. I just did this because a producer said, ‘You should give it to this guy.'” But if you audition, at least you know what to expect. In Pain Real.” Jesse Eisenberg had never seen the movie Succession. He chose me without ever testing me or seeing me in anything. He thinks this is completely normal. He’s like, “I’ve met you before.” We met twice in passing. This is not… The way you greet someone.
Domingo: Listen, I’ve been through you a few times. I felt you so quickly. Just the way you make eye contact. You’re a little…how can I say that?
Culkin: obsessed. Psychopath. bipolar.
Alexi Lubomirski for Variety
Domingo: In fact I would say you are a very serious actor. That’s the kind of actor I like. Your work is beautiful on Real Pain. Example: “I’m not sure if I like him or not. Is he a bit narcissistic? But there’s something about him that’s so honest.”
Culkin: Benjy, I don’t think he thinks at all before he does anything. So I made a point of not planning. I would literally walk up and ask Jesse about the scene we were doing, which would send him into a panic attack. He’s like, “You have a long speech!” I say, “I’m learning lines quickly. Let’s find out what the scene is by doing this.”
Domingo: Do you know where the cameras are?
Culkin: Vaguely, but that’s none of my business. In Caliphate, the cameras were always somewhere behind. You lean on the person you’re with. I’m sure you’re used to it too. Sing Sing – One of the best bands I’ve seen in years, decades, or maybe ever. Most of these people have never appeared on camera before. This is such a feat.
Domingo: Greg Koidar, our director, invited everyone to bring what they had and didn’t judge it no matter what. I was shooting The Color Purple right before that and Rustin right after, so I literally had 18 days. I had to go there more rigorously, in a way that I wasn’t comfortable with. I like to prepare a lot. That was the first time I was like, “Oh no, I shouldn’t know exactly what’s going on.” But it made sense for this film, because here I am working with men who have lived the experience. There can’t be any Polish. I have to rely on they where they We are.
Culkin: Clarence MacLean is great.
Domingo: It’s beautiful, isn’t it? There’s one scene, my favorite in the movie, when he corners me in a tight space, and I give him the word “boyfriend.” Then he just walked away. I say, “No, no, he should really let that word affect him.” So I leaned over to my boss and said, “Can he stay there with him?” And he did. I have to give it to Greg Koidar. He rarely wanted to be called a “cut.” Everyone wants to cut that fast. I’m like, ‘Yo, give me some.’ There is more. There’s always more.”
Culkin: Sometimes, on “Caliphate,” we were just shooting. With the actors playing siblings, we would fill in the gaps with what was happening between scenes. It made the thing feel a little fuller.
Domingo: Who was one of your favorite scene partners?
Alexi Lubomirski for Variety
Culkin: Sarah Snook. You’re not supposed to have favorites; I have favorites. There were times when, just for fun, I would follow her line, then glance sideways at her. And then the scene would go on, and when that was my line, she would take my word for it and say, “I got you, bitch.” Right before we finished filming, she said, “Are you ready to cry?” No one would ever throw the two of us into anything. We’ll never work together again.” She just screamed. When you’re on a show like this, and we’re playing brother and sister, people will always make that comparison. So she’s probably right.
Domingo: Do you still see each other often?
Culkin: She lives in Australia, so it’s hard to keep up with her. I’m not the best when it comes to phones. I always counted on the fact that there would be another season. But she is my son’s godmother and one of my favorite people in the world.
Domingo: I know a lot of people, but when it comes to the people close to me, it’s very few. Do you have a small group of people or is it very large?
Culkin: My wife and child. That’s it.
Domingo: What do you like about being a father?
Culkin: Absolutely everything except dinner time. I like everything else. It’s like nothing else matters. I’m a father now, and my only role in life is that. This is real life. This is all nice, but I’m just trying to get home. Do you ever want kids?
Domingo: I wanted kids in my twenties. Now, I have a lot of really good furniture. Where do you go to unwind from it all?
Culkin: Me, no.
Domingo: I’m not going to try to be a psychologist, but I think you need some time for yourself. What time do you wake up in the morning?
Culkin: I don’t think I’ve ever woken up at the same time before.
Domingo: I woke up at 4:30 this morning. Because I only need two or three hours before I do all these things.
Culkin: You are crazy. Do you do that on set?
Domingo: Regardless of the character. Hero, villain, you name it – I need time to myself.
Culkin: I have a good question. Is there ever a note that a director gave you where you said, “I can take this with me into everything”?
Domingo: George C. Wolfe smashes my words in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” He said, “You’ve been directing, haven’t you? I can say that, because you know exactly how the scene should be. I said, ‘That’s good, isn’t it?’ And he said, ‘Yes, but I’m missing the discovery at the moment.’ I want to watch, behind your eyes, as you receive information, and it changes you. Because you can’t recycle weakness.” He was bringing me back to the 21-year-old Coleman, who was even crazier and feeling my way.
Culkin: I object to when actors call themselves “storytellers.” I don’t really like it. Sorry, Jeremy (strong). I don’t think so I Story telling. Jesse Eisenberg was really good at making sure everyone was involved, but he wrote it down. It tells the story. We’re all helping him out So that’s the observation I got – if you’re aware of the story you’re trying to tell, and you’re trying to tell the story in the scene, that’s not really your job.
Domingo: We are not storytellers. We are servants of the story.
Culkin: Let’s work together, man.
Domingo: I would like that. You’ve got a sparkle in your eye, man
Culkin: I’m not dead inside yet.
Domingo: You are alive.
Production: Emily Ulrich; Lighting director: Max Bernitz; Trend setting: Jill Mills
