It is difficult to present a coming-of-age story that is both realistic and romantic. This is what makes Goran Stolevsky’s new film, Once upon a time, so special. Telling the story of an Australian ballroom dancer born in Serbia who slowly falls in and out of love with his partner’s brother, Stolevski straddles the line between longing and melancholy, acknowledging the pain of first love and the regret of a romance undone by time.
In an interview with Digital Trends, Stolevski and leads Thom Green and Elias Anton discuss the challenges of portraying characters in two different time periods, what drove them to make the film, and what viewers can learn Once upon a time after looking at it.
Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Image used with permission of the copyright holder
Digital Trends: Your previous film, You won’t be aloneis very different from this Once upon a time. Why did you decide to tell this story now?
Goran Stolevski: I mean, it’s never really intentional that I do one film at the moment and then another film after that. I’m always amazed whenever I get permission to shoot a film. It took a long time to make this one.
Honestly, I didn’t know if anyone would be interested in this story, which is very specific to my upbringing. I wrote it so it could connect to other people, but I just wasn’t sure if it worked. A few people I trust read the script and it made them cry. And they were very different from me. And then I said, “OK, this might work.”
How long did the filming take?
Stolevski: It was about three and a half weeks. We got a few days off in the middle so Thom and Elias could grow facial hair for part two, which takes place 11 years later.
Elias and Thom, what drew you both to this film?
Elias Anton (Nikola/Kol): Well, when I first auditioned for it, I didn’t get the whole script. I only got a few scenes that I was asked to shoot, so I was left with a few gaps to fill. After meeting Goran and Tom and reading the entire script, I felt that it was really impressive and that it was something I definitely wanted to be a part of.
Thom Green (Adam): Yes, aside from the script, I was really drawn to Goran’s statement of intent, where he went into detail about many of the backgrounds of the film and why he wrote it.
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Goran, why did you choose Elias and Tom for these roles?
Stolevski: It was a really complicated casting process, partly because initially with the script, as it said on the page, everyone, including me, assumed that we would have to hire two separate actors to play characters in two different time periods. Especially for Kol, I didn’t think it was physically believable for anyone to portray someone who’s 17 and then 28, you know, not just physically, but psychologically.
With Thom, I didn’t have that problem with his character. He was the best actor I met for the role. He has a certain look and a specific energy, which allowed me and the audience to believe that he could play Adam at both ages.
With Elias, he initially didn’t make the cut because he’s the exact opposite of how the character was written. Kol was supposed to be a short, skinny kid, and Elias is not that at all. But I asked for the right feeling character more than anything else, and Elias had that.
Thom, your character, Adam, starts out as kind of an instigator in the first part, and then, in the second part, he becomes more submissive. How did you approach your characterization and the path your character takes in the film?
Green: I don’t know if he will become completely submissive. Without giving too much away, there are certain things he doesn’t reveal from the start. So there is definitely a reason behind his reticence.
Goran and I spent a lot of time preparing the segment from 1999, which we recorded first. We had a 3 to 4 day break between the two time periods, so both of our character’s transformations came naturally. For me, there was not too much internal change because in the first part of the film he almost completely grew into himself. He doesn’t change as much as Elias who goes through an incredible metamorphosis between the first part and the second part that takes place years later.
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Elias, for your character, his transformation is almost the reverse of Thom’s; Kol is withdrawn and clumsy in the first part, and more extroverted and self-confident in the second. How did you pull it off?
Anton: Well, the younger Nikola was much more vulnerable because he is still closed and unsure of his identity. Approaching the older Kol, it was more about owning who he had become and holding himself in a certain way to suggest that he had grown up and accepted who he was.
An unforgettable moment in the film are the dance sequences with Kol at the beginning of the film and during the wedding towards the end of the film. Elias, how did you train for that?
Anton: I had a very good choreographer, Lauren Drago, who worked with me for about 30 hours of training. It was much more challenging to dance in the opening scene of the film because I don’t have a partner to interact with; only I dance alone. It took me a lot longer to make that dance scene work than the later one. [Laughs]
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What do you want viewers to take away from it? Once upon a time after looking at it?
Green: I hope that every person who watches it feels seen in some shape or form, whether they’re trying to find their own identity or have already asserted one. And they feel like they’re championing it or celebrating it. That’s what I hope people take away from it.
Anton: Regardless of anyone’s identity, I think growing up there is always a feeling that you are trying to figure out who you are and your place in the world. I just hope that the audience can resonate with the characters in the story and find a part of themselves in it.
Once upon a time currently playing in select theaters. It expands nationwide on February 17.
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Categories: GAMING
Source: newstars.edu.vn