Chris Marquette – I Hate the Man in My Basement

By: Jamie Steinberg

Q) What are the recent projects that you are working on?

A) The last thing I finished that will be out this year is the remake of the Harrison Ford film The Fugitive. We did the remake for this new streaming platform that hasn’t been accessible just yet called Quibi. It was a really fun sort of modern-day rendition with Boyd Holbrook in the Harrison Ford part. And I got to work a ton with Glenn Howerton from “It’s Always Sunny.” Other than that, in the meantime I had a baby. So, I’m busy learning how to take care of a baby.

Q) Please tell us the premise for I Hate the Man in My Basement and about your character Claude.

A) I think the movie is a really nice indie (what I call) genreless film. It’s not quite a thriller. It’s not quite a mystery. It’s not quite a drama or comedy or rom-com. It’s a little bit of everything, which are my favorite movies these days. Films like this take what audiences expect and flip them on their heads. I think in that context, this movie is unique. I think it’s very original. Dustin Cook (the writer/director) is a first-time writer/director and I think he’s got an incredibly unique voice and he’s got a very polished writing style. It’s got actors like Nora-Jane Noone, Manny Montana, Jeffrey Doornbos and Mary Birdsong. It’s pretty incredible writing. This movie is about a guy I play named Claude who is suffering in a way that is pretty serious for quite a while in the movie. All you know is whatever caused him this grief also caused him to track down a man somehow (unbeknownst to the audience), get him in his basement and keep him there. He’s not quite torturing him, but he has the ability to. So, that’s the strange premise. In the meantime, he’s invited to by a coworker (who obviously knows nothing about this scenario) for some salsa lessons to get him out of the house as there is a hint that he is dealing with some sort of tragedy with his wife. He goes to the salsa lessons and meets the instructor. It was not the date he was set up on, but he begins to fall in love. Then, the movie starts spinning off wildly from there. What happens when a grieving man who has this other man locked in his basement falls in love? How does he reconcile these two worlds? I think it’s a movie about love and I think it’s a movie about healing, forgiveness and redemption and revenge. Lastly, when I read the script and when I performed it I really thought it was a fantasy movie where you fantasize about what if the worst thing in my life happened to me? What would I do? Especially if something happened where someone inflicted you some harm? What would you do? Would you forgive that person? Would you seek them out? Would you try to hurt them? I think that is what this movie explores, that part of ourselves that responds to someone who hurts you.

Q) What is it about this individual or about this woman he loved that makes Claude unable to let go of his grief and pushes him to this extreme?

A) Yeah, it is extreme. I think that is why it is a bit of a fantasy. I think when people hear about awful things in the world that people do, I think there is a fleeting thought of everyone of wanting to retaliate…Maybe not in everybody, but certainly in me – maybe that’s why I responded to this as an actor. I think there is a fleeting thought for a lot of people that if someone…For instance, if someone stole your car or just broke into it. I don’t know if you’ve ever had anything stolen from you, but I’ve had bicycles stolen from me in my life and almost every time all I want to do is walk down the street until I find whoever did it and take it back. I’ve got a speech prepared in my back pocket of what to say to them. I think that same instinct, that same drive that when you’re wounded, I think that is where this character comes from. So, it’s an extreme circumstance (as I said). Obviously, he found someone and locked them in the basement. But that’s the point of it – if you were able to get away with that sort of revenge…If someone hurts you that badly that you want to lock them up in your basement and hurt them, would you actually want to do that? Because that’s what this story is asking. Would you actually want that kind of revenge? Because here they are; they are at your disposal. It’s an awful way to say it, but they’re here and you can hurt them if you like. Would you actually do it? I think that’s what the question is to the viewer.

Q) What advice did director Dustin Cook offer you while filming that you took to heart for your performance?

A) Not really. He said some really cool and interesting things about his movie and the characters. He said he doesn’t love protagonists that are whiny. Protagonists that feel victimized and are sitting there telling the world, “I’m a victim. I’m a victim.” So, he really lauded the idea that Claude is a guy who is not asking for your pity. It’s the opposite; he’s not asking for anything. So, that was important for me as an actor in this story to take to mind. Also, I think the whole movie that he wrote, the genesis for him was that he wanted to show the parts of a movie that you don’t normally get to see. In most action-thrillers, in the first five minutes the hero’s significant other or child or friend…Someone really important to them is taken from them in a way and you get to watch as they battle their way back to go save that person or to find redemption. That’s a very classic story. We see it all the time. In this story, Dustin wanted to show the other part of that, which is what happens…Liam Neeson’s daughter gets taken and then he’s got to go to Europe to battle the bad guys and get back his daughter. What happens when he has to heal from that whole process? He’s got the bad guys and they are all in jail and now he has to sit there and face them and he doesn’t want to do that anymore. Where does he stand? Dustin told me, “I think this movie is really about healing. It’s about watching someone heal from a big wound.” So, I took that to heart and I thought that was really ultimately the story I was there to tell.

Q) What were some of your favorite scenes to film?

A) I loved, obviously, the date scenes with Nora-Jane. [laughs] I loved put-put. That’s actually where I went to propose to her years later. It was a rollercoaster to get it out in the world and I’m really grateful to Gravitas Ventures for distributing it for us. But we went back to that put-put place and went on a date and got on one knee. So, that was obviously very special – those days. But I really loved the entire experience of this movie. I think it was really nice to flex those muscles that they asked in some of those scenes. Throughout the movie Claude visits the grocery store. They are these very simple little scenes that don’t have a whole lot to do with every other part of the movie (the guy in the basement or falling in love or his work life or this tragedy you haven’t seen). It’s not quite connected, but it almost tells the entire story out of context. It’s just him visiting the grocery store and you get to see how this character is doing literally by how he is buying groceries. At the start of the movie he’s buying awful food and he doesn’t care. He’s like hopeless in life. He’s aimless and has no purpose and is empty. By the end of the movie, or a certain point in the movie, he’s like really happy and seems great and is really conscious about what he is eating. It’s giving him like a boost and he’s there to get some vegetables and maybe cook a good meal. He’s doing it for this girl that he really loves. Then, there comes a point where that twists again. He’s at the grocery store for a pretty intense and sinister reason. It was really interesting those scenes to film because all I was asked to do was stand in line at the grocery store in the checkout aisle and watch as someone just sits there and talks. That has always stuck with me because I was just asked to act out the entire movie by standing in line at a grocery store and watch items get checked. It was challenging. It was really challenging and interesting because we would film one and then the next scene takes place fifteen minutes later while this character is on a whole other part of this journey. And I had to all of a sudden put that on my face.

Q) With such dark subject matter, how did you shake off a long day of filming?

A) I don’t know if we did. We also filmed this movie in like fourteen days. It was a very short amount of time. Manny Montana and I filmed all the basement scenes in like a four-day period at the beginning of the shoot. So, we really just showed up every day to a warehouse built to be a basement and stayed there and in the scenes and the character for four days – just hold up. I honestly don’t think I shook off much for quite a while afterwards. It felt a little bit like whiplash because it was a really ambitious thing. We didn’t have a lot of money to make this film, so we kind of just had to get in there and live with what you got for a short amount of time and let the chips fall where they do. By the time we were done, I think everyone involved kind of went, “Did we actually just film that movie?” [chuckles] So, I don’t know. We didn’t really get too far out of it. Also, Nora-Jane Noone and I…A couple of months after we shot it, we got together and had a coffee. That coffee led to a real relationship and now we’re married and that’s who I have a child with. So, I didn’t quite shake off everything. [laughs]

Q) You are a part of social media. Are you looking forward to the fan feedback you’ll be receiving to people who see the film?

A) Yeah, that would be cool. I mean, internet chat scares me. I just don’t like it, quite honestly. [laughs] It’s very aggressive and opinionated. I feel like a lot of people say a lot of things on the internet that they wouldn’t say in person. So, I don’t know. I like Instagram. It’s nice to post things and I stay connected with a lot of people I don’t get to see too often that way. I love social media for being a part of movies these days because it adds a lot of things, especially a lot of creative things you’re really able to share it with people and share it directly. I am looking forward to being able to talk with people and a lot of folks have reached out that they have gotten to see it since it was just released. They really dug it and have been really complimentary. I love criticism. I like when people say, “I didn’t like this.” I remember we screened this movie at the Wichita Film Festival. I talked with this woman after the screening. She had a few drinks in her and she said, “You know, I really liked the acting. But I don’t think I liked the ending of this movie.” She got really honest. I asked her way and I think she had just enough drinks in her to really tell me what was going on and what her thoughts were. She really hated that one of the characters did something. She said, “Honestly, Chris. I don’t like the movie for that reason.” When I walked away, I came over to Dustin and said, “I think your movie is a success.” I told him what happened and I said, “Look, your movie wrapped this woman up enough to where she really debated with herself what she would do in this scenario and it really caused an emotional reaction in her.” I was like, “That was the whole point. The movie worked.” That’s the whole point of this. It’s supposed to garner that type of reaction. So, I like when people have some wild opinions about what these people do and why and I do like hearing that stuff.

Q) You started your career doing a lot of comedic roles and now have branched out more to the dramatic side. Is there something about dramas that attract you to them these days rather than sticking to your comedic roots?

A) It’s what comes my way and I always like being a part of good projects. I’ve been acting my whole life now and having a lifetime as an actor your career changes all the time. It doesn’t ever really stay in one place. I’ve never reached that threshold where some actors do. You kind of get to a place where the work you are able to do and the respect you are able to garner kind of cross align. Maybe things get a little easier. Maybe you get a little more freedom with the choice of what you are a part of or want to be a part of. I don’t know if it happens for every actor, maybe it doesn’t. But it does for certain ones, but I’ve never crossed that line I don’t feel. I feel very, very lucky for the stuff I’ve gotten to work on. So, I don’t know. Maybe that’s the long way of saying I’ve always dug comedy and drama and just good stuff that I’d like to watch myself. Kind of the only thing I’ve ever gone by is throwing my hat into the ring for any opportunity I’ve been given and getting energetic and excited about projects that I want to watch. Something like Basement I was really excited about because after I read it I was like, “I’d like to watch this.”

Q) We loved your arc on “Barry.” Talk about what it was like for you working on this series.

A) It was awesome! Two of my favorite casting people that have ever been casting in the movie business are Sharon Bialy and Sherry Thomas. I’ve been auditioning for them for a long time and I guess they read the pilot and it was really strange. I think on paper “Barry” is a very strange idea and premise. Bill Hader…There is nothing in his career pre-“Barry” that sort of gives you the confidence that he’s going to be able to pull off this really dramatic twist on a character like Barry. I think everybody kind of read this and thought, “What is this show?” Bill and Alec Berg and all of the producers of HBO were really on the same page it seemed and they were all really excited about what the potential of the TV show could be. So, Sherry and Sharon brought me in to read with Bill Hader. We read scenes from all over the course of the first season and ended the audition with that last big dramatic scene between Barry and the character I played in the car. We did it and it felt really good for me and it obviously felt pretty good for them. Then, I was hired. It was great! Bill Hader is everything everybody wants Bill Hader to be. He’s incredibly charming. He’s really humble. He’s so nice. He’s just a guy who is very present and available. I think he felt just as grateful to be a part of that set as I did and anybody else was. Bill really doesn’t have an attitude of “I deserve this.” He’s a guy who is always very grateful and surprised that he’s been able to have the opportunities that he has and he deserves them because he is wonderfully talented, incredibly smart and hardworking. I am really grateful to have been a part of that show.