IN CONVERSATION WITH LUCAS ENGLANDER

interview by JANA LETONJA

Lucas Englander is co-starrring alongside Nicole Kidman in the second season of Hulu’s ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’, which debuted in the US on 21st May, and globally on Prime Video on 22nd May. Recently, Lucas also starred in Netflix’s ‘Transatlantic’, the Netflix limited series about the Emergency Rescue Committee (ERC) and the evacuation operation of refugees fleeing Europe during WWII. 

left
jacket SANDRO
pants FRATELLI MOCCHIA DI COGGIOLA
undershirt, tie and shoes VINTAGE

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suit and shirt MAXIMILIAN MOGG

You are starring in the second season of ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ alongside Nicole Kidman. What was your first reaction when you found out you landed the role of Martin?

I called my teenage friend Sebastian and told him I’ll be working with Jonathan Levine, the director of ‘The Wackness’. When he realized who I was talking about, we both just cracked up like little kids for a minute straight.

When Sebastian and I were around 17, ‘The Wackness’ was one of our go-to comedies. This was the time when ‘The O.C.’, ‘Gossip Girl’, and ‘Sex and the City’ were influencing lots of kids in Vienna, me included. I went from being a skater kid who fell on his face every day at the skatepark, to wanting to be muscular, hot, wealthy and untouchably dominant. That’s what was seen as cool by the media I consumed, so why should I bother about anything else but those things, I thought. Luckily though, there was a video rental store down the street from my home. It was like a portal to another universe. Sebastian and I went there every other weekend. That’s where we found ‘The Wackness’. 

I don’t think we fully understood the movie back then, but our insecure selves that were putting on a daily facade felt a little less alone watching it. It marked the beginning of another kind of manhood for us, I guess. One where we were allowed not to know who the hell we actually were, feeling that was OK, and where we were allowed to understand our issues with love and empathy. So, I was profoundly happy to be working with Jon, and even happier to carry my good friend Sebastian and our teenage selves in my heart during production.

Martin is described as a complex, emotionally layered character. How did you prepare to bring that nuance and vulnerability to life?

I’m touched to hear that he’s described as that. The process was a quirky, hypnotic roller coaster that sent me down many roads within myself I usually keep away from. It was at times frighteningly brutal, goofy, and filled with some unforeseen adrenaline rushes. Surrendering to his way of seeing the world was an important lesson that leaves me with more awareness and openness towards the many reasons behind why we do what we do, and to remember to take a moment now and then before painting a picture of something right away. Our (re)actions can send us down some strange roads, become patterns, and suddenly define who we believe to be, believe to have to be. I guess I left this journey with more empathy and forgiveness, towards myself and others.

 In terms of more hands-on preparation, I used books, podcasts, music, and walks in the forest of Englischer Garten in Munich. Among many different genres, the album ‘Suenos En El Tren De Medianoche’ by DELALUNA became Martin’s main on-set music. With a variety of books, I found myself exploring the more rebellious and impulsive parts of Martin’s personality. Two of the books that opened up some of his ways to me were ‘Freedom is a Constant Struggle’ by Angela Davis, and ‘The Pedagogy of the Oppressed’ by Paulo Freire. And then there was Molly Allen, our American executive producer. The first day I arrived in Munich, I took a walk through the studio, swaying my arms around like a kid who’s on an adventure in Wonderland, and Molly came walking towards me. She changed her own walk the closer she got and began mirroring mine. I laughed, and it made me think “Damn, wow.” It’s true, I sometimes have such a silly sway, throwing my arms around like they’re swings on a playground, completely oblivious of what’s around me. So I said to myself, let me push Martin’s walk further in exactly the opposite direction, into his own oblivion. And that’s how that part of Martin’s physicality took shape, for example.

The finale is rumored to be explosive. How did it feel filming that culmination, both emotionally and technically?

My emotions were full of the world’s current events, to be frank. We’re going through such a brutal period of humanity in many communities these days. It’s heartbreaking. Be it the cost of living crisis, the educational crisis, the climate crisis, or wars. It’s a lot that we’re all facing these days. And that’s not even considering the ups and downs of our private lives. We’re all looking for direction. And that need in our current climate breeds calls for radicalization, or radical numbness. Both distort our perception and make us forget that we’re all just imperfectly human and that we need to figure out solutions to live in dignity and respect with each other all around this planet. It’s a messed-up world, and as Dr. Martin Luther King said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” I channeled those reflections and guided them to the deep faith I have in communication, reconciliation, organization, and reform. Yeah, that’s kind of the journey of what I felt.

 Technically speaking of the scenes, the art department and the SFX department are absolutely incredible and made the experience an immersive joy to be a part of, and I hope you’ll enjoy it too.

You made a powerful impression in ‘Transatlantic’. How did connecting with your family’s heritage influence your performance?

I think, like a lot of people, I never really dealt with my heritage, and just accepted it as a story. But my mom’s the kind of person who will try to bring a little kindness and connection to everyday life, and she got that from her dad, who was a refugee in the US for some time. A smile at a stranger, a little chat with a person who sleeps rough, holding open a door. My mom normalized that for me when I was a kid. It’s not that easy to know what a person's going through really, and instead of the isolationist fight or flight, I want to believe that we can empower each other to feel just a little more love and togetherness while we all figure out why we're here. I’d say those values were with me during production, maybe some found their way to the character. I’ll always remember a moment on set one day. In the scene when Ralph Amoussou’s character, Paul, tells Albert about the experience of oppression, “The fear that you are less human for daring to have your own culture.” We had to interrupt that take, and I needed a few minutes of hugging this phenomenal actor Ralph, because this story is almost a hundred years old and we’re still, and again, facing these issues. Heritage, companionship, listening, another human’s heritage, unity, love.

It was a real gift that Anna Winger and Netflix gave me to understand a bit more about our shared human heritage, by playing such a driven person, refugee, economist, professor at Yale, Columbia, and Harvard, all who Albert O. Hirschman was, and to do so surrounded by these engaging creatives. I was lucky.

Your César nomination for ‘Appearances’ was a big moment. How has that recognition shaped your path as an actor?

That recognition opened the door for me to the French film world. The people of France were so kind to welcome me with film and TV auditions, and gave me a place to work and learn the language at the same time. It really wasn’t planned for me to suddenly become a French film actor. It was a lucky accident. All I really did was not take it for granted. I locked myself in my tiny chambre de bonne every day for about an hour and just learned the language. Vocabulary, speech patterns with YouTube videos, reading newspapers out loud, stuff like that. I also worked with an amazing acting coach, Véronique Ruggia, who helped me connect to the language.

 It’s been four years now, and I’m glad to say that Paris has become a place I call home. The cultures that fuse together there and in the banlieues inform my perceptions of what’s going on in the world, and in my art. In many ways, France played a big part in teaching me that it’s alright to dare to fail while performing, that I’m allowed to be raw, to have something to say, and to discuss with others to find good and exciting solutions. Fail, tickle a laugh about it, and find a better way.

With your growing international profile, do you feel your European background brings a different lens or texture to your roles?

I feel like we all have our own cultural mixtapes nowadays. My European background brings what it brings, but I’m just as inspired by Ana Lily Amirpour, Ashgar Farhadi or Tsai Ming-liang, Pablo Larraín, Nina Simone, Fela Kuti, AOC, Dr. King, P.T.A., Chekhov, and many others, as I am by let’s say Gaspar Noé, Adèle Haenel, Pedro Almodóvar, Kae Tempest, Helmut Qualtinger, or Agnieszka Holland.

You’re an ambassador for the International Rescue Committee. What does that role mean to you, especially after filming Transatlantic?

It means that every little step we take towards justice is a step away from injustice. Our democracies are crying for our engagement. I believe we should seize the day and move this world towards a more just, equal and enjoyable place for us all. 

 And you know what? Even the smallest moment we accord to caring for justice counts. No matter what, engage with the world around you. Be it to stand up against discrimination when you witness it, volunteer, teach a foreigner your language, become a part of discussion groups, learn about fascism, about how people like you and me fell for the lies of fascists around the world in the 1930s for example. Read Toni Morrison’s steps towards fascism. Concern yourself with rights, laws, and community needs. Engage. Join local gardens, pick up trash in nature. Call your representatives, protest. Help a person carry their shopping bags. Whatever you can do today, it has an impact. Imagine a world that cares, and work towards it. What you do matters. You are powerful, and together we make the world go round.

You’re outspoken about sustainability and human rights. How do you use your platform to advocate for these causes?

I think we need to redefine what we think is “cool” in our world. What and who we celebrate. Then, I believe, we’ll get to a more loving normal. I celebrate whoever’s peaceful and caring, like Bell Hooks, MLK, Majora Carter, or Luisa Neubauer. Whoever doesn’t make us believe we’re half-gods walking around on a planet, as if we’ll still be able to live when harvests go out, and clean water is in short. I want to belong to a culture that doesn’t base its idea of power on domination and division, but on understanding, forgiveness, love and peace. And for that, I think we need to reassess who we put in the spotlight, and which actions we want to highlight. I guess making the good stuff fun, hot and exciting helps. But most importantly, give the loudspeaker to politicians who care, and who can lead us towards a more sustainable, healthy, and respectful world. Today, you don’t even have to say it’ll be your kid’s generation that’ll suffer the consequences. Pollution, crisis, and wars are here now, and it’s up to us to change course. So we have to stop normalizing, profiting from, and even celebrating all that careless nonsense around waste society, just because it’s faster. I’m sure you’d agree that not all good things are fast, and that there’s a place for taking it slow. So, anyway, discuss, sign, manifest, be kind, dance, sweat, love, get euphoric, support each other’s journeys, dare to be political, dare to have the will to change. Cause it’s cool, and hot.

With ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ poised to be your breakout moment, what kinds of roles or stories are you most excited to explore next?

If I really were to try to select something right now off the top of my head, I’d say I want to shoot a story about waste society, play a punk musician with a green mohawk, shoot a movie about modern love and questioning gender roles, or play somebody who loses his way in some extremist ideas and finds a way back out. If there’s any way for me to play a character who has to combat a lung disease from cigarette smoking, I’ll jump on it. Maybe I’ll finally quit forever after that. I’d also love to play a creature and undergo a physical transformation. One of my dreams is to work with Andy Serkis. It must be so much fun to create a non-human being and bring it to life. What if the creature is a Marvel superhero who is born from deep within the earth and comes up to protect the world with Spider-Man from a group of evil super rich people trying to take over our governments by brainwashing the population into following a system that will clearly destroy the planet.

What’s one thing fans might be surprised to learn about you off-camera?

I, for the life of me, don’t remember songs, lyrics or melodies, and I will annoy you with made-up ones whenever I can.

TEAM CREDITS:

photography GHALIA KRIAA
groomer DEBORA WALTL
styling FRANCESCO MOCCHIA DI COGGIOLA