(upbeat music)
- [Molly] Your real name's Harry.
- Harry James Barber.
- And you changed your name, because why?
- [Harry] The F.B.I. is looking for me
'cause I robbed a bank in California.
- And?
- Hey everyone, you're watching InStudio,
and I'm so delighted today because we have Rachael Taylor.
- Hi.
- Thank you so much for coming in.
- Thank you for having us.
- Now you're here to talk all things Finding Steve McQueen.
- Yes.
- For those who haven't seen the film yet,
can you kind of give a quick
pitch to what the film is about?
- Yeah, well it's inspired by a true story,
an incredible true story actually.
- It's a true story that wasn't ever told, yeah.
- It's the kind of story that you hear and you go,
I can't believe I've never heard of this.
But, it's about seven men from Youngstown, Ohio,
that set out to commit what becomes
one of the biggest bank heists in U.S. history,
which is incredible.
- [Interviewer] (mumbles)
- Yeah, and they attempt to steal Nixon's secret millions,
which is like, a bunch of money that he's hidden
in California, of secret and
- Dirty. - Illegal campaign donations.
So, yeah, it's a good 1970's story.
It's pretty incredible.
- That was a good pitch, we're done!
- Okay, great! - That was it! (both laugh)
For you, what drew you to Molly and drew you to the scripts?
- Well, I'm always looking to try and balance projects
between what I did last
and the project that I had come off
at the time we shot this movie was Jessica Jones.
And, you know, Jessica Jones has like a,
psychological kind of noire palate.
And Finding Steve McQueen,
although it's a bank heist movie
on kind of the surface layer,
it also kind of has a big heart
and a kind of comedic tone running through it as well.
And comedy is not something that I've done
in a really long time.
And I just like that Molly is the character
in the film that is holding Harry Barber,
who was played by Travis Fimmel,
holding him accountable.
And demanding the truth out of him,
which, I think, is kind of a really lovely,
strong quality for a woman to play.
- Well it is, it explores this love story between them.
Can you kind of talk about their dynamic?
- Well, yeah!
I think she's kind of, she's the tough one of the two
and she really does like to, like I said,
hold him accountable to the truth.
And at the same time, they're both
kind of bonded by their love of cinema.
I think, Harry has this kind of fantasy
of being as cool as Steve McQueen,
and of course nobody--
Travis does a good job,
but no one can be as cool as Steve McQueen.
- Yeah, I try sometimes.
- Well, just that whole like 1970's palate is so cool!
I don't know why they were so much cooler than us,
but they were.
And Molly in her own right, I think,
is a little bit of a mirror to Harry in a way.
I think she also likes to fluctuate identities a little bit
and I think secretly she probably
would like to be a celebrity.
(laughs)
So they're bonded over this
kind of mutual love of escapism, and cinema,
and being able to shift identities, and
wishing that they were better than what they are.
- She has these ever-changing wigs,
did you have a favorite wig?
Did you keep one? (laughs)
- No, I didn't.
No, that's weird, to keep the wig.
You don't keep that bit.
But, I like kind of the Jane Fonda-y shag hair--
you would never get a shag haircut now,
it would be kind of too much to manage,
but to flirt with it for a minute was really fun.
- Now, Harry really idolizes Steve McQueen.
I was wondering for you, who were your idols?
- As the character or as Rachael growing up?
- As you, for yourself.
Yeah, growing up. - That's such a tricky one.
I mean, I've been talking about this film
for the past couple of days,
and one of the things we've kind of landed on
is it's the kind of movie, movie
that made us want to do what we do,
which is be part of this business.
You know, I grew up on a diet of films that were,
you know, anything from like Breakfast Club,
to like Terminator--
You know, like these big kind of big old studio movies.
That mid-budget film that's not made so much anymore.
So, I dunno, maybe Sara Connor?
I suppose?
In that movie, in the Terminator movies or something.
All those kind of like feminine heroes,
like Sigourney Weaver in Aliens,
that kind of came up at the time
where I was probably, you know, 11 or 12
and started watching those movies
and became obsessed with them.
- Now there's also Trish and Jessica Jones.
Which we'll get to later (laughs).
This was the largest bank heist in history--
- In U.S. history!
I know, and it is!
It's one of those stories that you--
- But a lot of people aren't too familiar with it,
so why do you think that was?
- I don't know, but I remember reading the script,
and it says on the front page
based on a true story,
and you just read it and you're like what?
How did I not know about this?
You know, not to mention,
they're essentially setting out to rob the President.
Which is a wild and crazy true story,
that he had stashed this illegal campaign money
in a bank in California.
And that these small town crooks
were the people that set out to rob him.
And that's something that I really like about the film.
It kind of asks this question,
well why was Harry Barber,
who is, aside from the bank robbery,
by all accounts, a very good man.
And in real life, people in the town
that he spent time in, after--
when he was on the run from the F.B.I.
all wrote letters to say
you know, Harry was such an asset to our community
and such a lovely man.
Please sentence with that in mind.
And someone like Harry Barber, who's--
- [Interviewer] I think he was sentenced to seven years?
- Yeah, someone like Harry Barber who was so loved
by the people that he met,
was held accountable, but Richard Nixon wasn't.
Which is kind of a really interesting idea,
what makes a good guy and what makes a bad guy?
And why do we hold some guys accountable and not others?
I just think there's an interesting theme in there.
- [Interviewer] It's very true today as well.
- Yes.
Not to get into that whole situation.
- (laughs) No, we're not. - We can, but--
But, totally.
I mean, it really makes you think,
like why did those big fat cats get away with it
and other, the smaller guys don't?
So there's a little like Robin Hood element,
kind of through it, I think.
- No, and that's like the most powerful thing
about the film.
In telling true stories,
do you face different pressures, as an actor?
What are they?
- Well, my character Molly was more of,
she wasn't based on--
she was an addition,
but I think kind of secretly an amalgam
of who Harry had dated at the time.
But that's just kind of subtly woven in there.
So, I didn't have too much pressure
because she was more of an invention of fiction.
But I just met Harry Barber, recently!
Who Travis Fimmel plays in the film.
- Did Travis have conversations with him before?
- I'm not sure.
Whether this was that Travis is a wonderful actor,
and he is, but or whether it was just good casting
on behalf-- on Mark Steven Johnson's account,
I'm not sure, but they kind of had a similar body energy.
In a way that was quite astonishing actually.
They have like a similar kind of vibe to them,
which was cool.
- Going back to what you said about
kind of Molly wanting to be this celebrity
and kind of like ever changing her identity,
at the end, the Bonnie and Clyde moment?
Very much stuck with me,
'cause it was almost as if they were happy with that.
They were happy with being this Bonnie and Clyde story.
Do you agree?
- Yeah, I remember feeling that.
And that was actually,
the last part of the film was the very first bit
that we shot, which was tricky.
- [Interviewer] Well, how so?
- Well, I was cast in this film really late to it.
I think I was cast about four or five days
before we started shooting.
So there was a little bit of a sense of like
whoa, I've just stepped into the 1970's, where am I?
- [Interviewer] I see.
- But it also can be an advantage,
because A, I was coming into a film
where the tone had already been established,
and Mark and Travis and the boys had already
like set the rhythm, and set the tone.
Which was such a loving and fun environment to be part of.
They were really very like warm and generous
and loose, in a way.
That Mark really encourages improvisation
and encourages exploration as an actor,
but at the same time when he hits on something
that he knows is working,
he'll kind of push you down that road.
If that makes sense?
- That's so great.
(laughs)
- Yeah, it was fun.
But back to your question,
the bit at the end where they do have this sense
of the fact that they've emulated these movie stars
that they look up to in real life,
almost is a little sweetener to the fact
that they're never going to see each other again.
But I had thought the same thing when I was filming it.
That there was something tragic, but cool about it?
- They're okay with it!
So am I.
What were some of your favorite memories from filming?
- You know, I really enjoyed working with Travis
and he's really--
- Did he kind of feel pressure about playing Harry?
- I don't know.
- Okay.
- I don't know that Travis feels pressure about anything.
(laughs)
But I think, you know, I knew Travis as a dramatic actor,
and obviously know how great he is in Vikings
and have seen a bunch of his work.
But I wasn't prepared for how funny he is.
He's really really funny,
he's quite a gifted comedic actor.
So that was a cool little surprise.
- Now I have to ask you,
have you ever in your life considered robbing a bank?
(chair creaks) (laughs)
- I love that the chair just creaked when I did that.
Um, I don't think so.
I mean maybe since I finished shooting the movie
I was like oh?
I mean, and also, amazingly in Finding Steve McQueen,
they were in that bank for three days.
They went back Friday night, Saturday night, Sunday night--
or Thursday night, Friday night, Saturday night.
No, Friday, Saturday, Sunday,
to keep looking for this money.
Which is kind of, not what you would expect
from a bank heist.
- (laughs) No.
- You would think you would get in and get out.
But they didn't, they kept dipping back in.
- You didn't have any scenes with Forest Whitaker,
what kind of how was working with him?
- Just that last scene. - Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
- At the end, when Harry's arrested, yeah.
- How was working with Forest?
- I mean, amazing.
It was kind of a trip.
I look up to him so much.
And then suddenly, he, you know,
swaggers into the scene and you're like,
ah, damn, that's Forest Whitaker.
(laughs)
He brings something so great to that role, I think,
which is both himself and Lily Rabe that played this,
played the F.B.I. agents that are looking for Harry Barber.
Our characters never really cross paths,
but I love the chemistry between Lily and Forest.
I think they're so great in the movie.
- One of the real stand-out scenes was when
they were kind of tracking Forest's character down
and they thought he had a gun in the car,
but then he was picking up his son from (mumbles).
And you see Harry kind of have this emotion
of like I don't want this to happen,
like, there's a kid involved.
- Yeah, definitely the character of Harry Barber
has this sense of morality, you know?
And humanity, yeah.
He's not someone--
he's not like a shoot 'em up kind of bank heist guy.
It's definitely, he's troubled by his actions.
- [Interviewer] Which makes it funny and complicated.
- Yeah, and I think it also makes him
a very redeeming protagonist, like he is a criminal,
but at the same time, just like in real life,
everyone kind of attested to what a good man he was.
- Before you go, I have to ask you about Jessica Jones.
- Please, please do.
- So I was, as everyone was, saddened by the news
that season three will be its last.
What was your reaction and I guess,
the cast reaction to finding out?
- Well, you know, I'm so proud to have been
part of the show and to have told that story.
Like we've had the most incredible fan experiences
on that show that I've had women come up to me
in cafes and say like,
those characters mean so much to us.
And usually, they say, I wasn't a comic book fan,
but those women are so complicated
and they really speak to me
and really move me, thank you.
It's been incredible, being part of that journey.
And it's also been incredible playing Trish Walker,
who is such a complicated, ambitious woman, you know.
- [Interviewer] Badass!
- She's badass, and she's also, I think,
deeply jealous, and she's a really complicated woman.
So, you know, the truth is,
I could've kept doing that show for
five, six, seven years.
So, I was really sad to see that it was canceled.
But at the same time, I am really excited
to share season three with everyone.
And I think we definitely go out with a bang.
And also, we have the luxury of--
I think we could kind of foresee
that there was a cancellation within site.
So I think we bring a sense of completion
to all of the characters that I think,
I hope our fans will be satisfied by.
- What can you tease about what that means?
- I mean, I guess I could tell-- (laughs)
I guess at this point I can say whatever I want.
- Sorry Netflix!
- But no, I don't want to spoil it.
But yeah, it's definitely a cracker finish.
- You mentioned that you could've played Trish
for seven years--
- Well I think that she was that interesting!
And that's not just because obviously I love
working with you know, Netflix and Marvel
and Krysten and Eka and Carrie--
like I love, I loved the people that I worked with
for the last four years,
and I say four years because we did Defenders as well.
So it did feel like four seasons.
But the reason why I could've kept doing it
is 'cause I still think that there was
stuff to find in the characters.
You know, that's how good the writing was.
It didn't fall into a sense of, um,
familiarity, in a good way.
It kept me on my toes.
So, I mean, that's what you really want.
- Speaking of Trish and kind of
the other characters you've played,
as an actor, is there a character
you wish you had time with?
- Oh, that's a great question!
You know, I just shot a movie,
an Australian movie actually,
called Ladies in Black with Bruce Beresford,
who did Driving Miss Daisy,
who's a very important Australian director, I think.
And I had a sense of walking off that film,
God, I wish this one was a TV show.
I really wanted it to keep going.
And you know, to be fair, Finding Steve McQueen too,
they had such a-- or we had such a good vibe on set.
And it was really fun dipping into
that slightly lighter, more comedic tone for me.
I think this would make a great TV show, actually.
- I was thinking it would have made a great TV show.
If it wasn't so based on a true story it wouldn't be.
- Yeah, I mean you could for sure play this out
over a number of seasons.
One of the things I like about the film
is that it's quite jam-packed with narrative.
You know, Mark was saying when he was editing the film,
he had to be very very careful with what he took out.
Because the true story is so intricate
and the plot of this film is really kind of like Jenga,
and if you took one scene out,
the whole narrative would crumble
because it is-- you know,
it crosses three different timelines,
and a bank heist, and a romance.
It's an engaging kind of story.
Complicated story.
- Thank you so much for being here.
- Thank you for having me.
- You can check out Finding Steve McQueen
in theaters now, and on digital and on demand.
(whooshing sound effect)