EnglishInterview - Parallel – Mark O’Brien's interview
By Mulder, Zoom Interview France / USA, 23 november 2020
We had today the opportunity to interview Mark O’Brien on his new movie Parallel. Mark O'Brien is a Canadian actor and director best known for his roles as Des Courtney in Republic of Doyle and Tom Rendon in Halt and Catch Fire. He won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Actor at the 8th Canadian Screen Awards for his performance as Terry Sawchuk in the biographical drama film Goalie.
Parallel is the third Isaac Ezban’s movie after El incidente (2014) and 5Los Parecidos (2015). Written by Scott Blaszak, the cast included Aml Ameen, Martin Wallström, Georgia King, Mark O’Brien, Alyssa Diaz with David Harewood and Kathleen Quinlan.
Q : Hello Mark, you have play in a lot of great series as Warehouse 13, Hannibal and movies as Arrival, The front runner, Wedding Nightmare, Marriage Story. What can you tell us about your background and your inspiration to become an actor ?
Mark O’Brien : well I come from Newfoundland which is in Canada and i grew up as an athlete i never really was that interested in the arts and then i just got really into movies. You know in the late 90s when all those great films were coming out Fight Club and Magnolia and all these great movies, The matrix and then in the 90s i kind of got really interested and then started making movies with my buddies using like you know camcorders and stuff like that and then just got into improv and then just grew and grew and grew and then you know kind of became my obsession and here i am today you know about almost 20 years later.
Q : In a few words how can you describe the movie Parallel ?
Mark O’Brien : Parallel is about a group of four friends entrepreneurs who are trying to create the next app to make it big and in the process of that they all live in the same house together they stumble upon what appears to be a mirror in the attic which they've previously never been in before and they realize that going into the mirror which is actually possible within the realm of this film. they actually go into a parallel universe which being parallel is uniquely similar but also has its differences and they begin to use that to their own advantages .
Q : Which were your sources of inspiration to create your character Josh ? What did you bring to this character to give him a real human depth? What do you have in common with him?
Mark O’Brien : i guess i have some things in common with him but you know i think i normally just draw upon myself from my own experiences and stuff so i think with this character you'll see he's kind of, without giving away too much he kind of we see a version of him in the parallel universe and we see a version of him in our in a regular universe when the film starts and and i think, it was interesting for me because one aspect of his character is that he must have a good time he just wants to enjoy himself and something that doesn't take things too seriously but then another part of him is really confused and kind of can't place where that confusion is and i guess for me being an actor in this business always feel like that. So it wasn't too difficult in that kind of way and it was a nice stretch for an actor to kind of have a such a range in the film so that was a nice challenge
Q : What can you tell us about you collaboration on Parallel with the director Isaac Ezban ? what should be for you a great collaboration between a director and a actor ?
Mark O’Brien : oh well first of all Isaac is amazing. He's a good friend of mine he's wonderful he's got a great vision and he's very passionate and he and I become good friends since then. I think a director needs to listen they need to listen not just to the actors not just to the cinematographer they need to listen to the story they need to watch the film and how it comes out as you're making it to give what the film needs so i think it requires listening i think it requires paying attention i think that's what you need a good director someone whose eyes are open and they're and they're willing to change and they're willing to stick to their guns all in service of the story so you know you got to put the film first you got to be a nice person but you also have to put the film first and i think Isaac did a good job of that .
Q : What can you tell us about your collaboration with Martin Wallström, Aml Ameen and Georgia King on this Parallel movie ?
Mark O’Brien : we became really good friends making this film all four of us got along very well. All we stayed at the same hotel we hung out a lot which was really good for the camaraderie of the film because we're all such good friends and you know it's kind of rare because you never know when you go into a film you might end up coming out one to kill each other but in this one we came out you know as friends and we stay in touch and that's what's so lovely about this business sometimes is that you get to meet people and form relationships that are that are you know everlasting throughout your whole life and then you just look for opportunities to work with those people again so we had great chemistry i think throughout and we had a really good time doing it too.
Q : What is for you the biggest difference for you between working on a film and working on a TV series? What do you see as the advantages and disadvantages for each type of production?
Mark O’Brien : that's a good question it's funny because the series is really fun because you know you're getting new scripts all the time and you're excited to see what's going to happen and the shoot is a long one so you're kind of in this long sort of marathon but there's something kind of fun and challenging about that. The challenge though is how long a series goes on and like you know i mean and you don't know what's going to happen so it's hard to prep your character you think your character is one thing then all of a sudden you get episode five and you're like oh he kills people like it surprises you all the time so you always gotta sort of tread lightly a little bit i find as you're performing a series if you don't know what's gonna happen. For a film i like how compact it is I like how this is the story we're not trying to get any extra moments out but one of the problems. I have with tv sometimes is and this has happened very rarely in my career but i've felt it where you know they need 13 episodes so you always feel there's an episode or two in there you're like i feel like this one's kind of just jammed in there to get to that number 13. that's where television where the great television rises above that and I’ve been very lucky to be involved in some of that i think but i love how compact a film. I love that the trouble with the film sometimes is that you don't know how it's going to end up a tv show you can kind of read the script and see how it'll be on the cutting room floor and or in the cutting room and sometimes in a film some great stuff gets left in the cutting room floor and you don't know how it's gonna be released and perceived and stuff like that so it's harder to have control.
Q : In Parallel, which scene was the most difficult to play in Parallel and why ?
Mark O’Brien : i think. That's tough question. I think the emotional scenes i understood i find when you're doing a a film that's such a group film that's such an ensemble of these four characters you really want that group dynamic to be authentic and real and like i said luckily myself and Martin and Georgia and Aml we all got along very well but when you first go and you don't know each other that well so you're trying to create a camaraderie you're trying to create a chemistry and i actually find that idea harder luckily in this one i think it worked out because they're good actors they're great actors and they're great people but I do, i find that a challenge for myself sometimes going in and just creating this group dynamic one-on-one is different but a group dynamic so i found that a challenge in the beginning.
Q : What are for you the main ingredients necessary to make a good science-fiction thriller ?
Mark O’Brien : i think you need surprises. You need revelations. You need surprises. You need things that are going to happen that you don't see coming because we all sign up to watch sci-fi film or thriller to be surprised to be shocked. We can't kind of know what's going to happen that's the whole point and I think this one goes in directions that you won't see coming and i think that's integral and when i read the script i read it in one sitting because i want to know what's going to happen so that ingredient was there.
Q : If you can have as your character the possibility to travel from dimension to another dimension what will you be the first thing that you will do ?
Mark O’Brien : oh my God. Like in a parallel universe. Do you know what i wouldn't do it I just wouldn't do it because i like I don't know i like my life, I like everybody in it. i wouldn't do it.
Q : Which of the films you have worked on, do you consider the most important of your career and why ?
Mark O’Brien : maybe, i think important for my career probably City on a hill (2019) the tv show i think i got to play a character that was a really interesting character who had a lot of conflicts within him and stuff like that there was a lot going on and it was good writing and it was great actors so i think that was most important for me. But important for me, like the world. I'm really proud of Arrival and The front runner i think those films say a lot.
Q : You have directed several short movies and some TV series episodes as Reel East Coast ? Do you think that being an actor help a lot to be a good director ?
Mark O’Brien : i've never met an actor who's a bad director. I thin, i've never ever met one because actors we direct ourselves all the time we do auditions where we have to direct ourselves or we direct our friend who we're helping. So anytime i've worked with an actor who's a director they're always a strong director cause you because you know where the actors coming from you get it and that's not to say a lot of directors who aren't actors aren't great i mean for example Denis Villeneuve and on these people aren't actors and they're fantastic but i've never met an actor who's not a great director because it's the attention to detail of where that person's coming from and the truth and a lesser director sometimes can glide over important aspects of a character's emotional arc just wanting to get to the next scene whereas an actor director will be like no we gotta explore that idea a little bit and i find that really wonderful.
Q : Which director would you like to work with and why ?
Mark O’Brien : oh god David Fincher i guess i suppose because i love his films so much and i'd be there's something i'd be so curious where that would put me psychologically so i just had pure curiosity and fanboy love i'd say David Fincher.
Q : What are your current projects ? What can you tell us about Blue Bayou and The righteous, your first movie that you will direct ?
Mark O’Brien : Blue Bayou was a film i'm really proud of as well it's with by writer director Justin Chon and he's the star of it as well and Alicia Vikander. It's a story about well today and immigration and family and families being separated and i don't want to say much more than that but it's very powerful and i'm really proud of it i think Justin Chon has a lot of guts for how he puts himself out there in a number of ways and The Righteous is a film that I wrote and directed and i star in and produced as well. It's basically about you know a man facing the wrath of a vengeful god. So, it's kind of very dark and kind of a psychological horror i guess in a way exploring faith and the lack thereof and you know the mistakes made in the past and how you have your comeuppance is kind of what it's about it's pretty dark.
Q : Which advices would you give to someone who would like to become an actor ?
Mark O’Brien : never stop. You can't stop the only way you're gonna fail is by not doing it and you never know what's around the corner so you could be sitting there for i know what it's like you're sitting there for a year the phone doesn't ring you don't get any emails no one's paying attention to you. You think you're no good and then the next day the phone rings so the only way that phone's gonna ring or you're gonna get that email is if you make that phone ring or you make yourself get that email no one's gonna give it to you and even when they do give it to you once in a while they're not gonna give it to you keep giving it to you so it never stops the hustle never stops so if you love it then just go get it
Synopsis:
A group of friends stumble upon a mirror that serves as a portal to a "multiverse", but soon discover that importing knowledge from the other side in order to better their lives brings increasingly dangerous consequences.
Parallel
Directed by Isaac Ezban
Produced by Garrick Dion, Matthias Mellinghaus
Written by Scott Blaszak
Starring Aml Ameen, Martin Wallström, Georgia King, Mark O’Brien, Alyssa Diaz with David Harewood and Kathleen Quinlan
Music by Edy Lan
Cinematography : Karim Hussain
Edited by Ben Baudhuin
Distributed by Vertical Entertainment
Release date : December 11, 2020
Running time : 103 minutes
Many thanks to Mark O'Brien for answering our questions and to Susan Engel for this great interview...