Premiering on Netflix September 25th is the new crime drama ‘Unabomber‘, which was directed by Janus Metz (‘All the Old Knives‘) and chronicles the life and manhunt for domestic terrorist Ted Kaczynski.
The film stars Jacob Tremblay (‘Room’) as Kaczynski, Shailene Woodley (‘The Descendants‘), Annabelle Wallis (‘The Mummy‘), Alexander Ludwig (‘Bad Boys for Life‘), and Academy Award winner Russell Crowe (‘Gladiator‘).
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Shailene Woodley and Jacob Tremblay about their work on ‘Unabomber’, their first reaction to the screenplay, their research and approach to their characters, and working with director Janus Metz.
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Moviefone: To begin with, Shailene, what was your first reaction to the screenplay and why did you want to be a part of this project?
Shailene Woodley: I was attracted to the screenplay because I just thought the director, Janus Metz, was really phenomenal. I was a fan of his previous work, and I was curious to see how he, the cinematographer, and the editor are going to marry these two very different timelines in the edit, and somehow make the movie make sense, and they did it. So, that was very fun to be involved with. I also am a big fan of Alexander Ludwig, who I got to work with on in my storyline, and as well as Marc Menchaca and Steven Ogg. There was a lot of creative elements that were kind of my initial draw into this story.
MF: Jacob, what was your first reaction to the screenplay and the idea of playing Ted Kaczinski?
Jacob Tremblay: I think my reaction to it right off the bat was that our story tells a story that a lot of people don’t know. Everyone’s obviously familiar with the Unabomber, but what they don’t know is that Ted Kaczynski, when he was 16, he went to Harvard because he was a math prodigy. So, that was something that was really interesting and I had no idea about before going to the project. When I talked to everyone I knew, kind of about that, and explaining what I was about to go to Montreal for a month to do, they were really curious about it, but also, it was really unfamiliar to them. So, that was really interesting and stuck out, by the way.
MF: Jacob, can you talk about your research into the case and Kaczinski’s life and what you learned that really informed your performance?
JT: I think, honestly, I wanted to do a lot of research, because I knew who the Unabomber was, and I knew what he did, but I didn’t understand the context of what drove him to do what he did, and that was a huge part of the research. I really did want to understand that. But at the same time, I’m also playing a version of the Unabomber that existed before the events of his terrorist attacks took place. So, as important as it was for me to understand the situation, I also kept it pretty far to the back of my mind. I kept it pretty separate from the performance because he was just so young, and none of our characters knew that anything like that could have ever happened.
MF: Shailene, did you research FBI profilers and how the FBI handled this case, and what did you learn that helped your performance?
SW: I did research this case. I mean, obviously, I grew up hearing about this, and so it was something that I already had a little bit of familiarity with. But as far as the psychology behind being a profiler and the incessant, again, obsession that is all consuming. That was something that I thought a lot about and that I talked to a lot of investigators about who had worked on the case or watching documentaries or different YouTube videos of people who are in that field of work. Because it really can take over your life and you can lose your mind to it. So, that was the aspect that I thought was really interesting and that I spent a lot of time researching before we started.
MF: Shailene, can you talk about Joanne’s expertise and insight into this case, and how that put her at odds with her own FBI colleagues?
SW: You know, Joanne is an amalgamation of many detectives that worked on this case. She’s a fictional character. The thing that I really was struck by when I initially read the script was the trials and tribulations that came at the time, and I imagine probably still due in many ways, of being a female in the bureau at that moment, where so much of Joanne’s leads didn’t come from hard data. It came from instinct, and it came from a hunch, and how does a female in those boardrooms say, “I think that we should follow this lead, and I can’t really tell you why other than I think we should.” That’s not really how the investigation was led. So, she was consistently up against these men who wanted hard proof and hard data, even though she knew that they were going down the wrong track and following the wrong roads. The frustration that would come with that was something I was excited to explore because it’s frustration that can’t be erupted because if it does erupt, then you could be fired. But its frustration that had to lead to passion and to deeper obsession so that she could eventually find Ted.
MF: Finally, Shailene, you mentioned that you were excited to work with Janus based on his previous films. What was the experience like working with him and collaborating together on set?
SW: It was great. I love people who are super detail oriented and people who care dams and Janus does. He’s somebody who’s really well educated in the craft of filmmaking. I loved watching him. I loved the way that he interacted with our incredible cinematographer, Yves Bélanger, and the way that he interacted with our set decorator and our locations scout. There was something about him in and of himself that was quite obsessive, and I respect that highly. I highly respect that. So, I just had a great time watching him and low key shadowing and taking notes on his style of filmmaking.
What is the plot of ‘Unabomber’?
The film centers on Ted Kaczynski (Jacob Tremblay), also known as the Unabomber, a domestic terrorist who terrorized the United States for nearly 20 years. It alternates between two timelines: Kaczynski’s time attending Harvard University and his prolonged manhunt decades later.
Who is in the cast of ‘Unabomber’?
- Jacob Tremblay as Ted Kaczynski
- Russell Crowe as Henry Murray
- Shailene Woodley as FBI Agent Joanne Miller
- Annabelle Wallis as Christiana Morgan
