In the weeks ahead, the critically acclaimed Call Me by Your Name will expands into more theaters nationwide. The movie stars Timothee Chalamet as Elio, a teenager spending the summer in the Italian countryside with his parents when he falls for Oliver (Armie Hammer), a grad student who has come to stay and assist Elio’s father. I saw the movie at Sundance last year and it held up beautifully when I rewatched it in December. It’s a gorgeous, sumptuous, heartfelt movie, and I can’t wait for more people to see it.

Late last year, I got to do a phone interview with Armie Hammer. During our conversation, we talked about following the movie since its premiere at Sundance, preparing to play Oliver, starring in a gay-positive romance, how working with David Fincher on The Social Network prepared him for future roles, the possibility of a Man from U.N.C.L.E. sequel, looking back at The Lone Ranger, and more.

Check out the full interview below, and click on the respective links for Adam Chitwood’s review from Sundance, Steve Weintraub’s interview with Timothee Chalamet and Michael Stuhlbarg, and to find out when Call Me by Your Name is opening at a theater near you.

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I saw the film at Sundance and loved it and I was kind of curious. What's it been like since the movie premiered at Sundance and sort of following it throughout the year?

ARMIE HAMMER: Yeah, I mean it's been a great situation. We made a passion project that we all really believed in and all kind of put a bunch of energy, and effort, and sweat equity into. To have people appreciate it is great.

You've spoken pretty openly about this film. I was just kind of curious. How did it compare to previous movies you had done in terms of your preparation and getting to live with this character?

HAMMER: My preparation's pretty much the same for every project, just like how I approach it, and what I do to get ready, because I like to feel ready. The preparation was largely the same. It was just the experience that was so unique and rewarding. It was just an amazing opportunity to get to work in the Italian countryside with people who I really respect and admire.

Do you think, having worked with David Fincher so early in your career and his unique approach to working with actors, that that shaped your process, in a way?

HAMMER: It's the first race you ever run is a marathon, and then every other 10K you run after that seems a little bit easier, you know?

One of the things that really jumps out to me about this film is how it's willing to sit with these characters and live alongside them. I spoke with Luca a little earlier today, and he said he didn't feel stressed out by this film. He felt that there was a joy to the filming. Did you get that sense?

HAMMER: Oh, 100%. The same feeling that people say they walk away with, where it feels like they went on an Italian vacation, that it was just relaxed and sunny, and they almost felt sweaty by the end of it because they could feel the heat and all that. That feeling was really pervasive on set. Luca intentionally fostered an environment that felt relaxing, and just languorous, and just enjoyable. It was one of the easiest feeling movies that we've ever worked on because Luca intentionally kept the vibe on set really relaxed and really true to the tone of the movie.

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Image via Sony Pictures Classics

Working on indies, do you feel that has sort of freed you up as an actor to try things that maybe a blockbuster, whatever its constraints, just doesn't allow?

HAMMER: Yeah. The thing about blockbusters is they're movies made by formula. There are entire companies and corporations that are dedicated to figuring out what they think the audience wants, and what they've got to do for the movie, and all that stuff. Whereas a movie like Call Me by Your Name doesn't really have anyone doing that. It just lives and dies on its own artistic merit. You don't have a lot of cooks in the kitchen. You don't have a lot of downtime. You're just kind of making this work, and going through it, and it's a really great experience, to feel like you're just plugged into the process of making a movie, as opposed to making something that if it doesn't make $800 million, at least, then it's a failure.

Yeah, that is a frustrating bar. Especially when I feel like some of the blockbusters you've done are very unique. Like I love Man from U.N.C.L.E., and I really wish they would make another one of those.

HAMMER: Yeah. Me too, man. I'd love to.

Have you spoken with Guy [Ritchie] at all about possibly returning to that world?

HAMMER: Yeah, we had some chats about it and we talked about potential script ideas and stuff like that. I've been talking to Lionel, who produced and co-wrote and wrote the first one. Yeah, we'll see. You never know what's going to happen. It all depends. Guy's really busy right now doing Aladdin, so we'll see. You never know.

And Lone Ranger is sort of an interesting film, as well. Did Gore [Verbinski] ever tell you where he thought future installments of that might go, had it continued?

HAMMER: No. We never made it that far. That was such a monumental undertaking. It was just a massive budget and a huge physical production. We built close to 20 miles of our own personal railway. We built multiple towns. At one point, we had like a 500-person crew on that movie, I think. It was really just focusing on handling everything we had to then, so we never really got a chance to talk about where it would go in the future. And then it opened to the reception it did, so any talk of sequels was sort of squashed.

Right, right. I had a lot of fun with your role in Free Fire. I thought that was so funny, and I'm excited that you're re-teaming with Ben Wheatley. How does Freak Shift compare?

HAMMER: The thing about Ben is he's such a unique and singular filmmaker, who has a really interesting approach, and style, and sensibilities. He's so smart, and so clever, and so charming, that he could literally make a movie about anything and I would signup for it. He's such a talent, and I'm convinced that anything that he's going to do is going to be fantastic. It's really more about working with Ben than anything else.

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Image via Sony Pictures Classics

Another film that you're working on is On the Basis of Sex. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is such a fascinating figure in our culture, and what she's done.

HAMMER: Right.

What can you tell me about that film, and what appealed about it to you?

HAMMER: That film, which I actually just wrapped this morning, at 1:30 in the morning in Montreal, it was an amazing opportunity to play a strong, not for me ... but for Felicity Jones to play a really strong, intelligent, driven woman, who is the hero of this story. You don't see a lot of that. You see it like Wonder Woman, but that's a totally different kind of movie. This is about a woman who changed the world just by her perseverance and her intelligence, and she is such a fascinating character and she's such a fascinating person. It's going to be really interesting for people to see how the notorious RBG became the notorious RBG.

One thing Luca's talked about is possibly returning to these characters, and sort of seeing how they grow. Is that something you'd be interested in, as well?

HAMMER: If Luca's directing it, I am.

Watching this journey, and as you said, people kind of come away with this enthralled feeling. Was that always the expectation, like when you started Call Me by Your Name, or is that something that surprised you when the film was completed?

HAMMER: I never even really considered it while we were making it. I never really considered the audience's reaction. I never considered how it would be received or anything like that. It was always just about making it. It was always just about being there and being present for whatever was required of us while we were shooting.

One of the things that I really love about the film is that it’s very gay-positive, especially opposed to films from as recently as 20 years ago where gay characters always had to carry an air of tragedy.

HAMMER: Yeah. I remember when I read it, I just thought, "Oh, this is so nice. Like a beautiful love story between two humans, and no one has to pay for being gay." No one gets sick. No one gets beat up by rednecks. No one has their family turn on them. If anything, it's like the opposite. You see the familial support, and you see the support system and structure that Michael Stuhlbarg gives him in the movie, and it's just like an ode to how we should all parent our children and the parent we all wish we had. It was just like a really humanist story about people enjoying each other and falling in love, and sort of the love, and beauty, and pain, and all that, that comes from that.