Yahoo Autos 'Inside': Willem Dafoe is 'a work of art' in one-man psychological thriller
"I really needed an actor that people want to look at," writer-director Vasilis Katsoupis says
If there's one actor who can carry an entire film as a one-man show, it's Willem Dafoe, who collaborated with filmmaker Vasilis Katsoupis for the psychological thriller Inside (in theatres March 17).
“When we were first developing the idea with my producer I said to him, look there's no reason to make this film if we don't have an actor at that caliber,” Katsoupis told Yahoo Canada. “I really needed an actor that people want to look at and Willem Dafoe is not only an actor that people want to look at, he's like a work of art by himself.”
“Everything on him is telling stories. … It has to be an actor that is very physical, that can talk by his movement, he can talk by his gaze. … I don't easily think of anyone else that could deliver this.”
In Inside Dafoe plays Nemo, an art thief who we first see breaking into the New York City penthouse of an art collector. The tech system in the home malfunctions and in an attempt to get out, Nemo makes matters worse, busting the main control panel. Nemo is stuck in the space alone and the temperature in the penthouse rises to an extreme heat, there is barely any food to eat and the water has been shut off.
With no one coming to get him, Nemo has to be innovative to survive. A space that initially seemed like a luxurious palace ends up being a terrorizing area of confinement, with Nemo destroying more elements in this lavish home as time passes.
The premise of the film, quite simply, came from Katsoupis coming to New York City and seeing all the skyscrapers for the first time.
“Being from Greece, we don't have tall buildings,” Katsoupis said.
That's when the filmmaker started thinking, what if someone is stuck in one of these tall buildings, and nobody comes to rescue them.
