Master of body horror, David Cronenberg, is back in his old stride again, with ‘Crimes of the Future‘, continuing the director’s legacy in this genre, which includes films like ‘The Fly’ and ‘Videodrome’.

At a Manhattan Q&A with the director and cast, it became evident that the actors didn’t always understand his depiction of bodily autonomy, Variety reported. 

“I have to admit that I didn’t quite understand everything when I read the script at first”, Léa Seydoux said, adding, “I jumped in the pool, and I think that’s what David wants. He’s an observer of his own work.” 

The Palme d’Or winning actor, who received the prestigious award and widespread acclaim for her role in ‘Blue is the Warmest Colour’, plays the role of the assistant to Viggo Mortensen’s character, Saul Tenser. 

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In the film, Cronenberg’s longtime collaborating actor slips into the role of a man suffering from ‘Accelerated Evolution Syndrome’, a disease which causes unusual organs to grow inside Tenser’s body. Seydoux’s character surgically removes these organs in front of a live audience. 

The French actor said, “To me, it was also a metaphor about what it is to be an artist, and this is how I related to the film. As artists, we just give everything — our body and our soul.”

Cronenberg, however, said that he wanted to elicit a raw performance from his actors, and hence didn’t care if any of them understood the meaning behind the story or not.  

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“You cast brilliant actors who are just right for the role, and it doesn’t matter if they think they don’t know what they’re doing”, the director said, adding, “I’ve had many actors say, ‘I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing.’ And I say, ‘yeah, you just keep doing that.’ I really want to see what the actors’ intuition is and what the actor brings.” 

Cronenberg continued, “We don’t have discussions, we don’t rehearse, we don’t intellectualize. When I see what happens on the set, unless there’s something that everybody thinks has gone off the rails, I don’t say anything.” 

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Mortensen, who’s worked with the director on films like ‘Eastern Promises’ and ‘A History of Violence’, praised Cronenberg’s ability to inspire trust in actors. 

“He can back up what he’s doing and explain it if need be”, Mortensen said, adding, “You realize that he has your best interests, the character you’re playing, at heart as much as anything else. That trust allows you to try things without questioning too much that you might otherwise not try for other directors so readily.”