IN CONVERSATION WITH CAMERON MONAGHAN

interview by JANA LETONJA

Cameron Monaghan has become one of the most versatile and compelling actors of his generation, seamlessly moving between film, television, and video games. Best known for his decade-long portrayal of Ian Gallagher on Showtime’s ‘Shameless’, Cameron has also made his mark as the unforgettable Valeska twins on DC’s ‘Gotham’, and in the ‘Star Wars Jedi’ video game franchise, earning critical acclaim and even a BAFTA nomination for his motion-capture performance. Next up, we’ll be seeing him as the lead in the ‘Bosch’ prequel, Amazon’s ‘Bosch: Start of Watch’. 

You’ve played an incredibly diverse range of characters, from Ian Gallagher to Cal Kestis to the Valeska twins. What usually draws you to a role?

It’s usually the question of whether it feels like a new challenge, a new step, ground that I haven’t tread before. Going forward, I’d also like it to be more about who I’ll be doing it with, cast and crew. Who are my fellow collaborators, who’s the director, who wrote it and what do they want to say?

This is going to sound kind of morbid, and I suppose it is, but I think about death a lot. What do I leave when I die? Is this a role I want to one day be a part of my history? Does this symbolize some part of my experience, my brain, my being, that I feel hasn’t been previously represented? I suppose I’m building myself a strange sort of mausoleum. Would I be okay with this role carved on my tombstone? And is this how I want to be spending my finite time? Are these people I’d like to work with? Am I comfortable putting this out into the world?

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Over 11 seasons of ‘Shameless’, audiences watched Ian grow alongside you. How did that long-term storytelling shape you as an actor?

It was high school and college for me, literally and figuratively. There was no greater drama and film school than learning how so many brilliant actors worked. Not only our main cast, but our wonderful guest performers too. Not to mention getting to learn the idiosyncrasies of how a set functions. Writers, directors, props, lighting, costumes, all of it. We had the best of the best and it was an education in one particular great way of working. Much of my last few years since the show ended have been about finding alternate ways of working, discovering and rediscovering a new sense of self as an actor, an artist, and human being.

It’s a bit like the British show ‘Skins’, if you’re familiar. It introduced so many younger, lesser known actors, who went on to have wonderful, expansive careers after its end. From Nicholas Hoult to Dev Patel, Kaya Scodelario to Jack O’Connell. These actors needed to spend time re-establishing themselves in just how versatile they can be after the show’s resolution. It’s a blessing and a curse when a show finds its success and has a long run. I’m so thankful for the experience I gained, and also incredibly eager to show the many other things inside my soul. Again, it’s that fatalism in me. I’d like to show the multitudes I contain before I rest in the earth.

The Valeska twins in ‘Gotham’ became fan favorites. How did you approach creating two distinct yet connected characters?

Like any other character, all you can do is track a person’s perspective through their personal history. I had to think of them as the individual people they are, the things they each experienced, and how that formed their worldview. Sure, they’re twins, and they have much shared history, but also they had many years of separation, as well as philosophical and personality differences that brought them to very distinct perspectives. Of course, by the end of the show, the storytelling is pretty trippy and the two sort of reintegrate or intertwine.

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Your performance as Cal Kestis helped redefine what’s possible in video game storytelling. What was it like bringing that character to life through motion capture?

It’s a deep and rewarding experience. Cal’s story explores some really big questions. What it means to become a leader, to try to make good decisions in near impossible circumstances, to deal with grief, loss, tragedy, to find hope when all feels lost. His is a huge journey, and we really watch him grow up through the story, from adolescence to young adulthood, to becoming a father figure. It is a story that, regardless of the video game medium, has always been important to the team to explore in a grounded, meaningful, and complex way. And it’s forced me to look at myself, to grow, to ask these same questions of my own life. It’s been a beautiful exploration.

The practicalities of shooting in performance capture are really indistinguishable to any other set or stage. The cast shows up prepared, we spend the time doing intense scene work. We talk about the characters, explore their circumstances, and motivations, and attempt to breathe life into them as feeling, flesh and blood people. Just as you hope you would on any job. We’re afforded a fair amount of rehearsal, thankfully. In that way it’s a bit like theatre.

Next up, you’re joining the ‘Bosch’ universe, in its prequel ‘Bosch: Start of Watch’. What can fans expect from this new chapter in the Bosch series?

This is a story about a rookie LAPD cop in the 90s, a very heightened and tense time for the department and the city itself. It’s somewhat standalone, and I think it will be a good place for people new to the Bosch character to start. While this is very much the Harry that people know and love, he’s fresh from the military and to the force, with the edges from his past still raw and him still trying to find his footing in law enforcement. It’s a grounded and gritty story, with a great script for the first episode. We don’t start work until next year, so I’m still in prep and there’s only so much I currently know about exactly what we’ll be doing.

The ‘Bosch’ franchise has such a devoted fan base. How are you approaching stepping into a world with that kind of legacy?

I’ve started by reading Michael Connelly’s books. I intend to read the full Harry Bosch series before we begin rolling any cameras. I’ve been trying to read one or two novels a week, so I’m currently on book five. Connelly has never really written about Bosch’s experience around this age, so this will be new ground, but he’s very involved in the show and I fully intend to honor his vision.

I was not familiar with the show prior to my first audition. I went and watched a couple episodes of the show and was immediately captivated by Titus Welliver’s performance. I started binging it for a few more episodes, loving the series, but had to quickly cut myself off as it’s very important to me that I don’t attempt to replicate Titus’s particular cadences or affectations. I think doing so would read as pale imitation at best and impersonation at worst. Instead, I’ll be working towards the same core of the character, the lonely heart, the tough shell, the desire for justice in an unjust world, and the particular contradiction of the caring outsider that makes Bosch such a fascinating man.

I’ll be starting prep soon. Police training, firearms, interrogation tactics, department policy, literally anything I can get my hands on to bring truth to the circumstances of the character and story. This will be a big journey and it’s both an exciting and anxious time for me. Standing at the edge of the cliff, about to jump.

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Looking back, is there a particular role that changed the way you view acting or storytelling?

I fear this might sound pretentious or cliche, but it’s true. I think I’ve been fed the most by training in the theatre. After ‘Shameless’ ended, I took a bit of a break and went on a sort of wandering samurai journey for a while. I went to London to a few different schools and studied Shakespeare and contemporary drama. I did a lot of voice and body work out there, Alexander technique and movement. I got myself reacquainted with the physicality that I’d grown into. 

In LA, I worked for a couple years with a pretty extraordinary crop of actors specializing in Stella Adler technique with a teacher by the name of Marjorie Ballentine. She’s a tough woman. Fair, but tough as nails, and she kept me, kept all of us, honest. We studied the great American playwrights, new and old. Sam Shepard, Neil Simon, Tennessee Williams. Those plays make you face things in yourself. To really honor them, you have to be brave, you have to let the uncomfortable parts of you be seen. Last year, I performed a Clifford Odets play, called ‘The Nursery’ off-broadway for a brief run at The Flea. That really fed me. I think, for the first time in my life, I truly, fully felt comfortable being seen. Acting is an exercise in making the innermost private public. That can be tremendously vulnerable. And I think, honestly, I needed time to really find who I am these days so that I can lift the veil and let others see it.

Something that’s really surprised me is how much I enjoy aging. Because in that continual growth and evolution, we get to be open to discovering and exploring new parts of ourselves. As I continue to develop, I hope one day I can show it in some of the great roles. ‘The King Lears’, the ‘Big Daddys’. Of course, this is looking far down the road. But the future excites me. I’m not sure it did in my younger years.

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You’ve been recognized by both Critics Choice and BAFTA. How do you measure success for yourself as an artist?

I’ve never really thought of myself as successful, to be honest. It’s been a long career, but it really does still seem like the start. The work doesn’t ever really end. I think I prefer it that way. I hope we as a culture continue to value the importance of art, of storytelling. I hope that I have more opportunities to explore the work. I hope all of us do.

With such a varied and busy career, how do you recharge and unwind?

I watch movies. Is that sick? Do I have a problem? That my rest from filmmaking is to watch other films? But it’s what I do. I watch Criterion Blu-rays with my friends and I pet my dog.

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TEAM CREDITS:

talent CAMERON MONAGHAN
photography ILARIA IEIE
styling MARCO DE LUCIA
hair and makeup JESSICA RAIMUNDO X LUIGI RIZZELLO STUDIO
dop NICOLA CATTELAN
styling assistant CRISTINA PIANTA
coordination CRISTIANO SPELTA X SCENARIO PR
editor TIMOTEJ LETONJA
interview JANA LETONJA
cover design ARTHUR ROELOFFZEN