TRIBECA 2021: NO FUTURE Interviews With Star Charlie Heaton & Writers/Directors Andrew Irvine & Mark Smoot

At this year’s Tribeca Film Festival I was able to speak with star Charlie Heaton and writer/directors Andrew Irvine and Mark Smoot about their newest film No Future. A meditation on grief and addiction, the film focuses on Tim, a recovering addict, who after losing a close friend begins an affair with his friend’s grieving mother Claire (Catherine Keener). We spoke about the complexities of the main relationship, how personal of a story this is, and what they’re hoping the audience will take away:

These interviews have been edited for clarity.

Hello Charlie! This is Kristy Strouse with Film Inquiry. You were terrific in the film!

Charlie Heaton: Thanks!

So what was it that originally caught your attention about this character and about the script?

Charlie Heaton: This was going back to 2019, and I was really looking at the time for a story that explores addiction and recovery. This script just kind of came in my inbox. And honestly, it was one of the only stories, in my opinion, that gave real reflections of what that looks like. It felt very true to me and never felt hollow, a real humanized version of the story. 

So yeah, I read it, and I believe I understood it and connected with it and when I spoke to Mark and Andy, we talked about the script and the character and I felt like I had a quite clear understanding of what Mark was going through, from kind of knowing people who were in recovery. I think our visions aligned with what the story needed to be and how to do it. 

How did you interpret the relationship between you and Catherine Keeners character Claire?

Charlie Heaton:  I saw it as two people who are both dealing with loss but in a different way and also kind of kindred spirits, who come together in that. There is obviously a massive age gap. They are both kind of using each other to kind of heal in a way. But it never, to me, really felt sexualized, it was more just that they both need each other.

It was amazing to get the opportunity to work with Catherine and kind of see her process. She’s such a seasoned actor and the amount of care she gives to her character… I’ve never seen anyone stand up for their character so much in the working process. Before shooting we had these really long conversations and then every day before we shot. You know, she would sit with her script and say “yeah, you know, I need this to happen” and it was really amazing to kind of go through that. It made the process so real. I think we all understood and really cared about getting them, and getting it right, and I hope that came across.

Absolutely! I love hearing that. Was there any kind of preparation for the role?

Charlie Heaton:  Yeah, a lot. I was living in New York at the time when we when I got this role. I think I had like a month prior to shooting and yeah I wanted to really explore it. I did know somebody who had been in the room for meetings a long time and I did explore. I went into smaller ones, spoke with people and my friend shared his story with me. I was really lucky in the sense that I got that first-hand experience. I did go to NA meetings and it was quite amazing, the kind of bonds that happened in those meetings. They really save lives. So, I got to do that. A lot of people talking and sharing stories.

How would you describe your character/story to someone who hasn’t seen it?

Charlie Heaton: It is a story about recovery and addiction but also, really, how the addiction really affects, everyone who’s kind of attached to somebody that’s an addict in their life.  It’s more of a journey of recovery.

I mean, it’s something he lives with every day. You see this character and he kind of drops off his recovery.  He stops going to meetings and all very quickly his choices, and his recovery, become second to what is going on in his life. And when that happens, you know it, and then it is quite a downward spiral.

I felt that was really real, in the script. Also, how it affected his relationship, and his girlfriend, and while he was dealing with loss of his friend.

It’s also about the relationships that we kind of seek out in those moments when you’re feeling really vulnerable. So, his relationship with Claire came from a vulnerability of needing to understand, and she was going through the same thing he was, with loss. I think his girlfriend wasn’t as understanding even though she was really supportive. So, I don’t know if that really answered the question but I think I said a lot. [Laughs]

You did [laughs], it was perfect. Will does have a lot of different relationships in his life that are impacted, including his girlfriend (Rosa Salazar) but also his father (played by Jackie Earle Haley). 

Charlie Heaton: Yes! Family members, you know it’s hard because you… you always feel like you have to be there and sometimes you just… you can’t. And it impacts your life. It’s extremely difficult. His father obviously wants to be there and support his son but at the same time, he can’t. Because it starts impacting his life.

The parent-child relationship is a big part of this too, even if it isn’t as present, as Catherine deals with her loss. 

Charlie Heaton:  Yeah, I mean there’s no, you know, there’s no one way to deal with it, right? You take it your own way. Some people are more supportive and I think also, there is this kind of motherly instinct which obviously is strong, with Claire. It’s her baby. So, you have the responsibility, it’s naturally there for her. 

Before I let you go- what’s next for you?

Charlie Heaton: I’ve got The Souvenir: Part II, coming out. It’s also been super exciting to work on shooting season four for Stranger Things, which is going to be incredible. And then after that… well, I’ve not been home in 17 moments! I’ve been in the States, so I, after we’ve shot I want to go home to my family.

Yeah, I completely understand!

Charlie Heaton: I mean, yeah, if this year taught us anything it’s that bonds are very important.

Absolutely. Well, thank you again for taking the time to speak with me!

 

 

Congratulations on the film! I enjoyed it, it feels real and grounded. You both co-wrote and co-directed this film, where did the idea come from? Did anything inspire it?

Mark Smoot: Yeah, definitely. I mean, it is a personal film. We were going through some difficult times there for a while, and this story was our way of working through those times.  Through loss, grief, depression. Yeah, I mean it feels good to have something so positive come out of those times. I don’t know if Andrew wanted to add anything before.

Andrew Irvine: Oh just that we appreciate you saying that, because it’s a goal of ours to take feelings or experiences at our fingertips and find a way to adapt them into what we would think is a compelling story. We want to ultimately convey that sense of a convincing reality. We hope that’s what we are communicating, but you never really know, so that’s very great to hear. 

Of course! How long did the writing process take, and do you have a certain way that you work together? 

Mark Smoot: So, this was several years in the making, basically we had the seed of an idea- the general premise. And then, something things happen in life and you’re like, “Okay, this is how I tell that story.” These are emotions that we want to work through. And then it was a several-year process, we would talk every day, meet up often. And Andrew and I are very big believers in table reads, those were extremely productive. And so by the time, we’re ready to share the script with other people and put it out there. It was very, very close to what was the shooting script. 

Let’s talk about the casting! So much of the film centers on these two characters, what was the process of finding them like?

Andrew Irvine: It started when our producers got us in touch with a really great casting director. And she really supported the script and I think through her relationships with agents and her encouraging them to you know give it a read. She was trying to figure out who the best actors would be for and then we got these amazing actors. Through her relationships, there were opportunities to go after actors you’d never fathom. And then unimaginably they engaged in the material. So, it’s really kind of like surreal, to put it lightly. Yeah, it was great, I mean if you can find incredibly talented people that totally connected to the material it’s really like, best-case scenario.

They were both perfectly cast. 

Andrew Irvine: Yeah! I think it was pretty quick, we were told about Catherine and that this might be material that she might be interested in. And I think, like, two weeks later, she joined. I think our next was probably Charlie after she was in. After that it was like through her involvement then it just unlocked like all these other talented collaborators. So, it was very cool of her to kind of take that leap with us and to kind of be a part of it. It created like a best-case scenario, you know, we want to tell a story that you really care about but it is a collaborative effort, so you want the best, most talented people would do great work in all those roles and there’s obviously going to do that, because she has a track record of doing great work for so long. And then everyone else kind of all these other great talents kind of get became accessible because of her involvement.

Was there a lot of collaboration at all with the characters? Did they change from the script?

Mark Smoot: Yeah, absolutely! You know that’s what is so exciting about material like this, is that feels so personal. It’s what attracts people as colorful and talented as Catherine and as Charlie, Jackie, Rose everybody. There are things that they can draw upon in their own lives and infuse them within the character and elevate what’s on the page.

Andrew Irvine: Yep, that’s it and then just to build on what Mark said, I think what’s cool about it, and something I didn’t necessarily anticipate, was by doing something that felt so emotionally close to us, it attracted people who have creatively similar sensibilities. I felt like everybody understood where everybody was coming from,  and as a result, everybody has good ideas. Because everybody’s connected to the material, everybody has a similar creative sensibility. And so, it just feels like as we’re working through a scene that process is always going to the outcome of that will always lead to an enhancement of what was there, so that was exciting. It’s an exciting process. If you’re doing a film like this you know you’re doing it for the love of the game, and it just brings out the best in everybody and everyone’s had a very collaborative spirit. So yeah, I really feel like the actors truly made the characters, their own, and I can’t imagine the characters in any other way. 

It’s something I asked Charlie as well, but I’m wondering how do you see the relationship between Claire and Will? While there’s a lot going on in the movie, it’s all sort of running through the two of them.

Mark Smoot: It’s a great question. They’re bonded by this shared grief that really is so personal to them. And sometimes you can feel very alone with your feelings, even if there are feelings that are universal. But because it’s so specific to Claire’s son, and their kind of guilt, their feelings, and their complicity in his struggles, they have this emotional psychic bond that no one else will have. And I think that’s what I found to be the most compelling about their relationship. 

Andrew Irvine: To just kind of build on what Mark said, it is always encouraging to kind of like use what’s at your fingertips. I think that’s something everyone at some point in their life has gone through, like, you’ll end up relating to or becoming close to somebody that you. It is a big part of what draws those two people together as they have a similar sense of pain or grief or whatever and so even if it may not function very well long term, they kind of create like a unique sense of intimacy. 

Very well put! And so what are you hoping audiences will take away from this?

Mark Smoot: Similarly, to how the material is to the collaborators, actors, department heads- that they can bring their lives and emotional experiences to the material. Our hope is that audiences will be able to do that as well. That they are able to project their own lives and emotional experiences. I mean, you just want to put something out there in the world that creates some kind of empathy and understanding and compassion, the forgiveness of self and others. The world could probably use more of that.

Absolutely. Well, thank you both for talking to me today! Congratulations again on the film!

We want to thank Charlie Heaton, Andrew Irvine & Mark Smoot for taking the time to speak with us. 

No Future premiered at Tribeca Film Festival on June 13th.