“It Was Never Going to Work” — Edinburgh

Jake Gyllenhaal almost landed one of the lead roles in Alex Garland’s critically acclaimed debut feature Ex Machina. The revelation came during a Q&A session with Garland and his longtime producer, Andrew Macdonald, at this year’s Edinburgh Film Festival. The filmmakers were initially pushed to consider Gyllenhaal to secure financing for the project.

“The sales companies wanted us to cast Jake Gyllenhaal because he was bankable and they could sell foreign territories,” Macdonald shared with the packed audience. However, he admitted that negotiations with Gyllenhaal’s representatives never progressed far. “It would have changed the whole film,” Macdonald noted, adding that they quickly realized it wasn’t going to work out.

Instead, the lead roles ultimately went to Alicia Vikander and Oscar Isaac. At the time, neither actor had sufficient star power to attract the necessary international sales. So, Macdonald and Garland sought financing from Hollywood, which provided more flexibility to choose their desired collaborators.

“We decided to make the film with Universal International. They had a film with Oscar Isaac, a Coen brothers’ film, and they believed it would win Oscars, so they thought he was a winner,” explained Macdonald. “They also had an Alicia Vikander film they believed was going to be a winner, so they backed us.”

Garland described Ex Machina as his favorite directorial effort. The film was seen as a remedy to his previous experiences on “toxic” film sets where he worked as a writer.

“The cast was young, hard-working, and committed,” Garland said. “We had a friendly crew that believed in the project and were working hard. There was a good vibe, and everyone was pulling together.”

Garland further shared insights about the film, including the origin of the now-famous disco dancing scene. In this scene, Oscar Isaac’s character, Nathan, dances spontaneously with a mute human android played by Sonoya Mizuno. Garland constructed the scene to break the film’s tone intentionally, to avoid monotony.

“I remember showing the film to my then-wife, who rated it a solid 6/10,” Garland recounted, referring to a previous project, Never Let Me Go. “The problem with that film was not the source material, which was a brilliant novel. The film hit a particular note but didn’t vary, making it monotonous. It’s a good film in some respects, but flawed.”

“The reason the Ex Machina disco dancing scene exists is because of Never Let Me Go,” Garland revealed. “I thought I had to disrupt the tone in Ex Machina. I couldn’t be afraid to disrupt it. And it turned out to be a GIF.”

Never Let Me Go was one of the last screenplays Garland wrote for another director. He eventually moved on to direct his own projects, including Ex Machina, Annihilation, Men, and Civil War, all produced by Macdonald.

The duo has once again teamed up to revisit an earlier project, the zombie film 28 Days Later. Garland has penned a sequel, 28 Years Later, which is planned as the first part of a 28 Years trilogy. Directed by Danny Boyle, the feature has completed production and is set in the north of England.

“Tomorrow morning, we start part two,” Macdonald announced. “And we hope there’s going to be a third part, making it a trilogy.”

The Edinburgh Film Festival concludes on Wednesday.

Source: The Wrap