Shawn Andrews: Discussing Fix
By Todd Konrad
Right before Thanksgiving, I was lucky enough to speak with indie actor Shawn Andrews (Dazed and Confused) to discuss his fantastic performance in Tao Ruspoli’s kinetic ode to family and Los Angeles, Fix. Andrews plays Leo, a street-wise junkie who is picked up by his documentarian brother Milo and his producer/partner Bella (played by real-life husband and wife Tao Ruspoli and Olivia Wilde) from jail who are tasked with escorting him to rehab before the day’s end or else Leo faces a stiff jail sentence.
However, in their quest to secure the five-thousand dollar check-in fee, the trio races across all of Los Angeles and come to learn more about each other and most importantly, themselves. In speaking with Andrews about the film, his approach to playing Leo and other future films, he brings the same brio and warmth through in real life as he does on celluloid and you’d be hard-pressed not to like him, no matter what he does, just like Leo.
IFQ: First things first, how did you initially come on board this particular project?
Shawn Andrews: Two incredible casting directors, Lindsey Hayes Kroeger and David Rapaport, were basically on a mission to find the character of Leo and they had met, I had heard, with almost every sort of young actor between 25 and 30 to play the role. I got the material off my management, read the script, and was so blown away. The script combined being a character-driven piece while at the same time really having something to say. You know, good material is hard to come by and when you finally get something that you know is really special, you’re really hoping you get the opportunity (to play it). And so that’s how I came to it.
IFQ: The film has a very kinetic look and feel, the one thing it never does is stand still. I’m wondering how the actual shoot was for you guys because I got a sense while watching that you were shooting it as fast as the characters were racing through this particular day.
SA: Absolutely, there was a definite sense of urgency while we were filming because not all the places we shot at had permits and some of the elements, like the heat during that summer, were particularly intense. So yeah, I think it definitely affected visually how it was captured plus Tao, the director, had already shot a number of documentaries so he understood how to capture that look, which hopefully makes people feel like they’re watching something they shouldn’t be privy to, you know what I mean?
IFQ: Oh yeah, plus there’s this great cross-section of LA that’s documented from going up into the Hollywood Hills to out into East LA and Watts, so there’s this great breadth that many other films would ignore by solely focusing either on the glitz and glamour or the ghetto.
SA: It’s pretty wild, because I’ve heard a lot of people say they’ve seen more sides of LA than in any other film they’ve seen and didn’t realize there were so many separate subcultures and other aspects to LA. Most movies will, as you said, shoot in the Hollywood Hills, the rich stuff, or you see the ghetto. So I think it’s going to blow peoples’ minds a little bit as they see this movie, to check out all these different parts of it. It’s wild that we actually did a road trip that’s all based in LA, it’s definitely a love letter to the city for sure.
IFQ: Your character, Leo, is an intense individual who is both lovable and aggravating; he’s self-destructive yet he does good deeds for other people just not himself. I’m curious to understand how it was trying to get inside his head and understand him since he’s such a complicated character and if not played just right could sink the whole movie?
SA: Oh yeah, (laughs) definitely; the pressure was on. I was really fortunate as far as how I got a chance to come to the role. The director’s brother, who Leo is based on, was really giving to me; he allowed me into his world, I got to drive his car, wear his clothes, and hang out with him. He used to hang out at this old, abandoned mansion on Wednesday nights and play backgammon, checkers, and stuff like that so I could see him trying to win. I got to spend a lot of time talking to him plus Tao shot so much documentary footage of his brother that I was able to see their relationship as brothers, which informed the dynamic of the film. Tao and I also talked a lot about not mimicking his real brother but more honoring the spirit of him and making the character (Leo) almost like a third brother as opposed to doing a typical, imitation performance. I think that as those things started to happen for me, i.e. hanging out with the brother and all that stuff, then eventually, hopefully if you’ve done the work, you begin to get surprised yourself as to what happens when you’re putting it on film. It takes you on a journey, and it becomes hopefully a sort of spiritual bridge and that’s how I started to really find that balance of playing this role.
It was just an incredibly opportunity to play somebody that is so charismatic and larger than life as well as absolutely self-destructive. I think we all wanted to make sure the character didn’t fall into the typical stereotype of a brooding, depressive drug addict because there’s different kinds of addicts out there. In particular, his (Tao’s) brother is so charming and charismatic that it would be such an injustice not to bring that forth. I remember one time after a screening a woman raised her hand and said “You know I was completely charmed by Leo and I felt guilty about it” (laughs). That’s it though; this character presses a lot of people’s buttons; that’s why I didn’t want to play him in a box. He’s charming yet self-destructive; he just has a lot of different layers that hopefully make people feel a lot of different things rather than just dismissing him as another drug addict. And that was another thing Tao was saying about this movie, it isn’t just about them (Bella and Milo) trying to save him it’s also about, in some weird ways, him teaching them something about themselves because Leo is Leo. He’s not going to change, it’s just another day in the life of this guy and I think he probably affected Bella and Milo more than they affected him.
IFQ: I find fascinating that so much of Fix comes from real life, i.e. Leo being based on the director’s brother, as well as Bella and Milo, being husband and wife in reality (although their on-screen relationship isn’t exactly that, it’s close), I’m wondering how it was for you coming into this world and engaging it knowing that the line between art and real life as it were, was pretty blurry?
SA: Yeah it was definitely set the tone and really helped build a foundation of keeping everything really honest and true. But they work so incredibly well together, they ying and yang each other so well. It definitely helped that those relationships were primarily real. I think anything you can do off camera that isn’t life-threatening but is as real as possible definitely helps authenticate what you’re trying to portray on camera. So I’m glad that happened because it made the experience just constantly honest.
IFQ: Well to wrap things up, I wanted to see if you had any new projects that are coming up on the horizon for people to keep a lookout for after checking Fix out.
SA: Absolutely, I also have another film coming out called Big Heart City with Oscar-nominee Seymour Cassel, who’s one of my favorites because he’s in all the John Cassavetes films. Wait until you see it, it’s a complete and total homage to John Cassavetes’ filmmaking. It’s actually directed by Ben Rodkin who is an extraordinary director and executive-produced by Matthew Harrison, who did Rhythm Thief and also another movie called Kicked in the Head, which Martin Scorsese produced. But it’s really like a 1970’s character-driven piece, it’s so cool, it’s definitely a character study that I hope reminds people of John Cassavetes’ days. That should be coming out around April and I have another movie I’m starting called The Last Beat too pretty soon.
*To learn more about Fix and check out upcoming screenings, go to www.fixthemovie.com
*Photos courtesy of Fix