Notes
One of the most fulfilling projects that I was grateful to shoot during the pandemic was Windfall. When director Charlie McDowell called to offer me the role, we had quite a meaningful conversation about the film and how he wanted me to approach my character with my lived experiences and authenticity.
The film was shot with the strictest of safety protocols at one location. The great thing about a small group is that everyone feels connected, even with masks and shields. We had a collaborative shoot where everyone came to give their best, regardless of the situation.
The “Gardener” character for me was an opportunity to do what I set out to do when I chose to become an actor; to represent those with a similar background and perhaps who also look like me and don’t always feel represented properly. I’ve been a gardener, and I have many friends and family members who have grown their businesses to become landscape designers and full-blown entrepreneurs, always providing for their families with honest and hard work.
Windfall touches on many social and economic themes that can’t be ignored as we try to rebuild after some very trying years hopefully. Economic Disparity and respect for essential workers, wealth accumulation by some, and even the responsibilities we share when things turn dark. What is freedom, and as some play with what’s right and wrong, who gets hurt?
I always look for meaning and signs that show how one thing leads to another, and since art does imitate life, I find that the film truly does have pandemic DNA. Of course, it was born from the limitations and isolation of this time and the character of Nobody isolates a couple and forces them to face some truths, infecting Wife with some of his fire. As they begin to breathe in the same air that ultimately takes lives, including an innocent one, accident or not, it all becomes a bit of a time capsule wrapped in a nice screenplay with just the right score and creatives willing to get it done while giving it their best.
Ultimately, Windfall leaves a cinematic mark, and I’m proud of playing a small and pivotal role in Charlie’s film. My character dreams big, works hard, loves his family, does nothing wrong during this time, and falls victim to something beyond his control, just like the sad number of lost souls we’ve had during this COVID-19 period.
It’s just a movie, but when you’re creating art and when you’re immersed and can’t escape reality when filming it, and when you are expecting your very own pandemic baby to be born as you shoot, like Jesse Plemons and I both were, and when Charlie and Lily were about to get married, and as we were all following the vaccine rollout, and seeing the toll it was taking on everyone, well, then the art you are creating does carry weight. And you’re grateful to be able to do it.