In Mark Anthony Green\u2019s Opus<\/em>, a young writer named Ariel Ecton (Ayo Edebiri) and her journey to the compound of the iconic Alfred Moretti (Malkovich), the world\u2019s most famous pop star, who is preparing to release his first album in 30 years. Surrounded by several journalists and Moretti\u2019s followers, Ariel quickly learns about the dark side of celebrity and tribalism in this psychological horror.<\/p>\n Malkovich and Green spoke to Digital Trends about the art of storytelling and how to create a pop star out of thin air.<\/p>\n This interview has been edited for length and clarity.<\/em><\/p>\n Digital Trends: I wanted to start with a question for both of you about storytelling because I feel like there\u2019s this debate on who is a storyteller. Can actors be storytellers? I watched a recent interview with Kieran Culkin and Coleman Domingo, and they said they weren\u2019t necessarily storytellers. They were servants who were in service to the story. That was their job. At the end of the day, it wasn\u2019t their script. Mark Anthony, I\u2019ll start with you. How do you see yourself? Do you see yourself as a storyteller because you wrote and directed this script?<\/strong><\/p>\n Mark Anthony Green:<\/strong> Yeah, I think most people would probably agree \u2014 Writer-director, storyteller, especially if it\u2019s an original story. The reason I approach it differently, I won\u2019t say I disagree with \u2026 I\u2019ll never say I disagree with Coleman Domingo because I\u2019m such a fan. The reason I kind of approach it differently, probably the best part of the job, is working with John and Ayo and Murray [Bartlett] and Juliette [Lewis] and Tony [Hale]. Working together to tell the story.<\/p>\n There\u2019s never a moment where I feel like I\u2019m the only one in charge or tasked with the story. I thoroughly expect Shirley Kurata, our costume designer, to be telling that story, and you better believe I expected John\u2019s ass there on time to tell that story, and he was. He [John] would send ideas, even improvise lines. There are some moments in Opus<\/em> when John improvises lines and tells the story. I don\u2019t think that\u2019s how it works. I think that those guys [Colman and Kieran] were being humble, and I appreciate that.<\/p>\n You think you know what the film is, and then when you\u2019re editing, you\u2019re sitting there and you\u2019re like, \u201cOh, John was doing something that emotionally has changed this. I wanna follow that.\u201d That\u2019s more interesting than the thing that\u2019s on the page, and I\u2019m gonna follow that. So, I think actors are storytellers. I think all filmmakers are storytellers, and in the most healthy collaboration, we all feel that burden and take that on together.<\/p>\n John, what about you as an actor? How do you feel as a storyteller?<\/strong><\/p>\n John Malkovich:<\/strong> I\u2019ve always said that, in my opinion, an actor in a movie is different than, say, an actor in a play for a whole lot of reasons. In a movie, you\u2019re a figure in someone else\u2019s dream. Your job is to ascertain what that dream is. How is it most clearly, evocatively, and compellingly told that you can think of, you can suggest, or attempt. I would agree with Mark Anthony that everything has to be in the service of that story and to that story.<\/p>\n Some actors \u2014 I don\u2019t think it\u2019s a majority or anything at all \u2014 may think it\u2019s not someone else\u2019s dream; it\u2019s theirs. But in fact, it is someone else\u2019s dream. There\u2019s a reason that the director is the \u201cDreamer in Chief.\u201d As in a dream, it doesn\u2019t mean that they\u2019re the only ones who are forced to articulate it constantly.<\/p>\n I would say all directors would prefer, in a way, to have help doing that. [laughs] To have someone say, \u201cYeah, but will this communicate what it is you\u2019d really like to communicate?\u201d To me, that\u2019s what the job is and the fun and joy of the job.<\/p>\n \u201cDreamer in Chief.\u201d That\u2019s a great line. Obviously, music plays a huge role in this movie. I mean, you\u2019re working with greats like Nile Rogers and The-Dream. You talked about finding the soul of Moretti. Mark Anthony, take me through those sessions. You\u2019re creating this artist and their legendary songs out of thin air. How did you find the soul of Moretti?<\/strong><\/p>\n Green:<\/strong> Well, the soul of Moretti, I believe, was John\u2019s. I think John was responsible for the soul [of Moretti]. I believe my job was to make sure that he had everything he needed and that there were no questions unanswered so that this character, on and off the field, felt real. I told a story about when I started GQ. We were in a big ideas meeting, and I had never heard of Bruce Springsteen. We\u2019re there, and somebody had to explain him to me, but once he was explained to me, I was like, \u201cOh, I get it.\u201d I didn\u2019t doubt that he was real, and he didn\u2019t erase Prince for me or contend with Michael Jacksonin the pantheon of the greats. So that was really like the job.<\/p>\n Then, as a musician and entertainer, it\u2019s like any other character. I wouldn\u2019t finish the script unless I could answer what he would eat for breakfast, how he would eat it, and who would serve it to him. His favorite hotel to stay in and the things he\u2019d be snobby and petulant about \u2026 you know what I mean?<\/p>\n Opus | Official Trailer HD | A24<\/p>\n<\/div>\n That type of character creation is super, super fun to me. At the end of the day, I would say this: If the thing that\u2019s in my head is the thing that we end up shooting, I\u2019d be so disappointed. Everybody was kind of like, \u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d I\u2019ve already entertained myself with the thing in my head, and I want to be entertained by something better than that and more entertaining and vivid than that.<\/p>\n There are so many moments where John did things \u2014 some really big, some really subtle. I understand that he\u2019s an actor in an artist\u2019s dream, but in my wildest dreams, I never pictured that. I think it\u2019s such a great collaboration. It\u2019s probably my favorite part of the occupation is the collaboration. I\u2019m proud. I watch the scene where John performs all the time. I\u2019ll just get a hit of that midday, pull it up on my phone, and watch it real quick.<\/p>\n I think you said a spoonful of honey with your medicine while introducing the film.<\/strong><\/p>\n Green:<\/strong> Yeah. Way more than a spoonful. I over-indexed it.<\/p>\n John, you\u2019ve worked with quite a few filmmakers on their feature directorial debuts. I read in the notes that it\u2019s something you enjoy. I could see some actors loving that challenge and others running away from it. What is it about working with a first-time director that excites you as an actor?<\/strong><\/p>\n Malkovich: <\/strong>Their passion about a particular project. The fact that you\u2019re creating something together with someone who\u2019s never been under that kind of pressure, duress, stress, strain, physical and mental labor, up to and exceeding anguish at times. You can only do it once, and I never had a bad experience with a first-time director. The films have come in all kinds of success levels, et cetera. I love that experience, and it\u2019s most helpful to me because it keeps you young by working with young people. I do it a lot as a director, working with young actors and actresses. I love it.<\/p>\n This was no exception. Mark Anthony, having 19 days to shoot \u2014 in movies, it\u2019s really never enough time, never enough money, never enough of whatever \u2014 has a very calm presence. A very collected presence moves ahead and doesn\u2019t give his angst freely. He keeps it for himself, and unfortunately, that\u2019s what a leader has to do. I think it\u2019s just like that.<\/p>\n Mark Anthony was exemplary in that, and oddly enough, I\u2019m never fearful of that at all. I see it more as a good thing. I\u2019ve made some not-good films with great directors, experienced directors, award-winning directors, and people who remain talented. But as a first-time director, it\u2019s quite special to engage in that world.<\/p>\n A24\u2019s Opus is now in theaters.<\/em><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t Digital News If John Malkovich is in a movie, he\u2019s stealing the show. From the high-pitched Russian mobster (Rounders) and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7282,"featured_media":10529,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1168],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7282"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10528\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Digital](\"https:\/\/www.digitaltrends.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/john-malkovich-opus.jpg?fit=720%2C479&p=1\")
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