Lewis Pullman talks filming 'Lessons in Chemistry' with THR on the red carpet for the Spirit Awards. Plus, he praises Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi for their work in 'Priscilla.'
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00:00 Congratulations! Lessons in Chemistry, nominated.
00:03 I mean, did you know, did it feel special when you were filming it on set?
00:07 Did you know that this was something special?
00:09 Yeah, it definitely did. I mean, I read the book and I knew it was special from the get,
00:14 but the whole team that was culminated was just, it was a dream team of collaborators.
00:19 Everyone was like, very much wanted it to be a process,
00:23 a mutually exclusive creative process, which is rare, especially on that scale.
00:27 And Apple and Lee Eisenberg and Brie were all like, everyone was just so adamant about making it.
00:34 You know, staying true to the book while also staying true to whatever was truthful
00:38 in us at that moment in order to bring some breath and some like, some real life to it.
00:43 What's your process when you get a script like this? Do you go immediately and read the book
00:47 or do you want to just stick to what's been presented to you?
00:49 If I've got the book, I mean, you're lucky to have a roadmap like that.
00:53 Yeah, I wouldn't disregard that. I have done stuff where, you know, it's like,
00:56 a movie repeat, like I did Salem's Lot and I intentionally didn't watch those beforehand.
01:03 I watched them after just because I was like, that when you're doing a, you know,
01:08 you're playing somebody who's already played it on screen.
01:11 I think that I didn't want, I want to stray away from replicating anything.
01:14 It's nice to see you here too. I don't know what your schedule's like.
01:18 I've just been reading all these headlines. You're off to do Thunderbolts. Is that
01:21 happening? When do you leave for that?
01:23 I am having fun in Venice Beach in Santa Monica. Where are we?
01:28 Santa Monica. I'm, you know, I'm just going wherever the wind takes me. Yeah.
01:34 And then tell me, you know, part of the independent spirit is like championing the
01:39 work of others. And what's great about being here today is they celebrate so many people,
01:43 yourself among them, across film and TV. Was there a performance, a film that you saw
01:50 in this crop of nominees or even just this year that really jumped out to you and meant
01:54 something to you? Oh, throughout the nominees of this year?
01:56 Good question. I just on the plane watched Priscilla. I don't know if it's nominated,
02:03 but yeah, yeah. And I worked with Kaylee. I thought she was magnetic and I thought
02:10 Jacob was fantastic and didn't, you know, that role. So there's so much myth surrounding it.
02:17 I can't imagine how hard it must have been to kind of allow yourself the freedom to
02:21 inject your own self into somebody who is so defined. And he really did that and brought
02:26 life into him. And I thought Kaylee just can't sing a false note. Kaylee's always delivers
02:32 like the best work. I'm so excited to watch what she does.
02:35 And she does it so young. I mean, she's so.
02:37 Yeah, it's incredible.
02:39 Like you, you watch someone like you and you're like, he was born to do this. She was born to
02:43 do that. Do you when you see something like that, especially an actor like Jacob playing a real life
02:49 person, does it inspire you to I mean, is that something that that comes with its own set of
02:53 challenges? Is that something you want to do? Would do.
02:57 I mean, that is one hell of an undertaking. And I really respect his his bravery. You know,
03:04 that is there's a lot against you, you know, and you just have to I imagine what he did was
03:09 just kind of shut those off and just go tunnel vision and just do it for yourself and do it for
03:15 the truth of the story. Yeah. I mean, I would love to play like a real, you know, love to,
03:20 you know, evil, evil Bruce Springsteen. I don't know. I would I would I would be
03:26 terrifying, but I'm all about chasing the terror. So.
03:29 And then last question, what's the most in the thing you've had to do on a set like is there
03:35 either bootstraps kind of production? What's like what's the most you've had to give up?
03:39 What's the hardest you've had to work? I mean, probably like, you know,
03:42 getting the using the doing the boom, you know, going like, I don't know, getting the crafty like
03:50 I did a lot of like shorts. That's how I got my start with my buddy Graham Parks,
03:54 who's a great filmmaker. And so that was just like nobody had like a set position. Everyone
03:59 was doing everything. And it's fun. That's how you learn like what the whole organ,
04:03 how the whole organism works, you know.
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