From creator  Mark Heyman and based on the book of the same name,  the drama series Strange Angel is inspired by the real life story of Jack Parsons (Jack Reynor), an ambitious blue-collar worker in 1930s Los Angeles who helps to pioneer the unknown discipline of rocket science, as he dreams of building rockets that will take mankind to the moon. After meeting his eccentric neighbor, Ernest Donovan (Rupert Friend), he finds himself pulled into a new occult religion, created by Aleister Crowley, that performs sex magick rituals meant to turn fantastical dreams into reality.

Collider recently got the opportunity to chat 1-on-1 with actor Rupert Friend about the series, for which the full 10-episode season is available to stream at CBS All Access. During the interview, he talked about why he initially hesitated about signing on for the project, what appealed to him about playing Ernest Donovan, having one of the most memorable character introductions ever, being bummed about the things he wasn’t allowed to do himself, getting a custom-made wardrobe, working with such a talented line-up of directors, and the future plan for the series. He also talked about playing Theo Van Gogh and working with director Julian Schnabel for At Eternity’s Gate, along with playing a fun cameo in Paul Feig’s upcoming movie A Simple Favor, opposite Blake Lively.

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Image via CBS All Access

Collider:  I know that when you were sent the synopsis for Strange Angel, you initially resisted signing on for it. What was it that made you hesitate about the project, initially?

RUPERT FRIEND:  The thing was that I didn’t have a huge amount of time to consider it. I was getting on a plane to go to the Antarctic, where there’s, thankfully, no phone signal or wi-fi, or anything. The script landed – or all of the scripts landed – with, “You need to decide now because we don’t have time for you to take a couple of weeks to read it. We start shooting in a couple weeks.” I was like, “Oh, hell, okay.” The synopsis that they sent was very, very interesting, apropos Jack Parsons. I didn’t know about him, and he is just an endlessly fascinating figure. I thought that was a pretty damn good basis to begin a television show with. But the guy they wanted me to play, they had likened to a Kenneth Anger figure. I’m not sure if you’re familiar with that guy, but he’s a filmmaker and has been involved with various cults, at various points in his life. I just had this sinking feeling that I would be sacrificing virgins under a full moon, or something, and I didn’t really fancy that. But then, I read the first script and met Ernest Donovan, as we all have, those of us that have seen it now, and just was completely charmed and bewildered by this man, answering the door with a goat in his arms. Every episode that I read, the more sucked in I was, and the more I found him to be completely compelling and fascinating, if a little perplexing, at times.

I think Ernest really has one of the most amazing introductions of a character, ever, coming to the door holding a goat with no explanation, and it just kind of is. What was it like to have to pull that off? Was that a weird scene to film, having a goat that you have to carry around?

FRIEND:  Yeah. It was actually one of the first scenes that we did. No one had been forewarned about anything, particularly. It was great, because as you very rightly said, it just is. It’s incredibly surreal, but a brilliant bit of writing by the guys because all of your antennae are just freaked out. You’ve met this quite suburban, domesticated couple, Jack and Susan Parsons, and then their neighbor couldn’t be more different. That, of course, is the beginning of Jack’s pull to exploring his spiritual and sensual side. But practically speaking, obviously, it’s a real goat and it was adorable. He peed on me, quite a lot. There was one take where he got a bit bored and did a big old wriggle in my arms. They weigh like a big dog. They’re not nothing. He just gave this almighty kick, and he kicked the screen clear off the door. It was really brilliant. I don’t think they used that take, in the end, probably because Bella [Heathcote] laughed because it was all getting so ridiculous.

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Image via CBS All Access

It seems like it would have been hard not to have a little bit of a laugh when someone is trying to get through a scene while holding a goat.

FRIEND:  Oh, yeah. Every take, the main problem was more about Jack [Reynor] and Bella not laughing.

This is a character that really has allowed for the opportunity to do a lot of different things that you wouldn’t typically get to do, especially with one character. What’s been the most fun aspect of that, and was there anything that was particularly challenging or difficult to do?

FRIEND:  You’re quite right, every script was just a complete adventure playground of wonderful, zany, out-there things that Ernest decides to do. The only bummer for me, to be perfectly honest, were the things that I wasn’t allowed to do. I ride a motorcycle, in real life, but wasn’t allowed to do the motorcycling, even at one or two miles per hour, because they didn’t wear helmets back then. I get that it’s for safety, but that was a bummer. And then, with flying the plane, which was an original ‘30s biplane and a thing of absolute beauty, the original idea was that this very, very accomplished pilot would fly with each of us, in the different seats, and the cameras moved around, so that we actually would go up with the plane. On the day, it was too windy. I was like a kid at Christmas who had his toys taken away. I was so upset. I was like, “This is proper flying.” It’s not like getting into a modern jet. It’s basically like sitting in a taxi or something. It was a fiberglass, wood and canvas thing, and it felt visceral and alive, in a way that I’d never felt in a conventional, modern aircraft. I definitely got bitten by that bug. One of my resolutions, post doing Strange Angel, is definitely to try to get up in some of those older aircraft again.

The surroundings on set seem like they must have been so beautiful that it was just a giant distracting playground with so many things to look at and play with and do, and then there’s the wardrobe. Was this just a really cool set to be on?

FRIEND:  Yeah. Good spot on the wardrobe because J.R. Hawbaker, who designed the costumes, and I were allowed to really go to town and reference everyone from [Willem] de Kooning to Norman Mailer to E.E. Cummings to Jack Kerouac. All of those people were in our sphere, when we were building Ernest. She just let it fly with a lot of beautiful custom-made pieces, just for me. She did such an incredible job. Then, there were the cars and the motorbikes. It really is a postcard to California and the beauty of California that people were discovering in the ‘30s, and that’s still the same. There orange orchards where the plane flies is all the same as it was, and just as beautiful.

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This is a show that’s definitely very hard to describe and explain to people because there are so many elements to it. Was that part of the appeal of it for you? Do you like the fact that this is a show that can’t be pinned down, as one thing?

FRIEND:  Take a wild guess. I love it! There are plenty of shows about doctors and nurses, and about cops and robbers. This is a show, as you rightly said, that you can’t really describe, which probably makes it very hard to market. But I think the rewards are in the watching because it’s a rich, layered story, 98% of which is completely true. It’s written brilliantly, and I think it’s a world where, once you delve into it, you’re excited to see where it will take you. I’m glad that it’s undefinable.

I think these characters are all so interesting. I wonder about what each of them are up to when we’re not seeing them.

FRIEND:  Well, that’s a great compliment to the writing. There’s that iceberg philosophy of writing, where you don’t see the iceberg, but you know it’s there. That was a Hemingway trope. It’s the idea that all of these people are obviously living lives, it’s just that the filmmakers have decided which chunks we’re going to get to see of those lives.

You had some pretty great directors on this, throughout the season. Were there any directors that you particularly liked working with, that you’d like to work with again?

FRIEND:  Yeah, David Lowery, who directed the first two. I just adored working with him. Pretty much the moment we finished the season, he and I began talking about doing a film together. And Ben Wheatley is a rare talent, too. Kate Dennis, who did the finale, was a blast. There wasn’t any bad one. Ernest Dickerson is great. There were no bad apples in the barrel.

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By the end of the season, it’s clear that this story definitely isn’t finished being told. Have you heard anything about a second season, or where things could go for your character? Is this someone you’d like to keep playing?

FRIEND:  I know that, when Mark Heyman conceived of this, he conceived of the story as a five-year arc. Obviously, Jack Parsons was a real person. He was working for the American government in the war effort. He got involved with L. Ron Hubbard, who eventually ran off with his first wife. There are some pretty major American figures that feature in the Jack Parsons story, and there’s definitely more to be told. Ernest is a made-up character. In a way, I find that even more exciting. One of the things we explored a lot is that, yeah, he’s a bit wild and all the rest of it, but there’s something really spiritual going on, in terms of him trying to find a sense of self and trying to find who he is. It’s not a new search, but in that time, reflection and self-reflection like that wasn’t really in the cards. People just got married, got mortgages, got lawn mowers, and then died. They didn’t do spiritual self-analysis. One of the things that I know the team wants to explore with the character is, what happens if you push that to the nth degree? In the way that we’ve seen how Ernest tends to push everything to its limits, what happens if you push that search to its conclusion and come out the other side? I know that there’s plenty of very, very exciting stuff to build on. I haven’t seen the episodes, but I read them, obviously, and at that the end of Episode 10, there’s something of a cliffhanger.

Ernest is such an unpredictable character. He’s this free-wheeling guy, who’s wild and reckless, but he also has a pain to him and a curiosity. There are so many things at work with him that it makes him fascinating to watch, and I would imagine really interesting to explore.

FRIEND:  Well, thank you, and yeah, it is. Just when you think he’s the macho guy, there he is, broken and beaten and wounded, in every way. Just when you think he’s turned his back on someone, he’s doing something incredibly selfless. He’s constantly surprising, for sure. There’s something very freeing about playing somebody who is, if not made up, definitely an amalgam of themes and ideas and feelings while Jack is a real character and there’s a bible of his life that we can follow. Playing the two against each other leads for a pretty fascinating study of some early bromance, I guess.

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You’ve also played Theo Van Gogh, opposite Willem Dafoe and for director Julian Schnabel, in At Eternity’s Gate, which seems amazing. How did you find the experience of making that film, working with those people, and playing that character?

FRIEND:  It was an incredible part, and it’s full of actors that I would have been lucky to be in a film with, and they’re all in the same film, like Mads Mikkelsen, Oscar Isaac, Emmanuelle Seigner, Mathieu Amalric and, obviously, the great Willem Dafoe. We actually just found out that the film will close the New York Film Festival in October, which is a great bit of news. And working with Willem is wonderful because he is 100% in every moment, which sounds like a bit actor hippy-dippy, but he really is one of the best living actors. I was very, very fortunate to play most of my scenes with him. Julian is a wonderfully esoteric filmmaker who trusts his actors absolutely, and he looks at what he’s looking at with the eye of an artist. To make a film about such a brilliant artist as Van Gogh, it really had to be an artist making the film. Van Gogh was anything but traditional. I think that’s why Schnabel is the perfect guy to make that film. I think that film is coming out in the fall, so you won’t have to wait too long to see it.

Is it odd to switch gears and go do a Paul Feig movie and make something like A Simple Favor, which seems again to be very different from what we’ve seen you do?

FRIEND:  I basically play a cameo in that one. It’s a noir, but there’s an element of comedy. Anna [Kendrick] is so talented at that, and Paul is obviously a master at comedy. I’m playing Blake Lively’s boss, who is a fashion designer, so it’s something completely different and I hope sort of silly. I thought it was hilarious. It’s a little part, but I just thought it was a very funny part. We’ll see.

Do you find that it’s hard to come across the kind of roles that attract you, as an actor?

FRIEND:  It’s difficult because everyone in our business, whether you’re an agent, an actor, producer, or whatever you are, is trying to look for a formula. The truth is, you don’t know until you read it. When you read something that appeals to you, for me, it’s like when you’re at a party and you see someone and you think, “Oh, I’d really like to get to know them. They seem interesting. They seem like they have a different world view than me. Maybe we would make each other laugh.” Sometimes you meet them, and then people get in the way of your view and they’re not where they were and you don’t get to talk to them. That feeling is a bit like when you’re reading a script. It’s not about going, “Oh, look, this is the biggest part,” or “This is the one with the most lines.” As you can probably tell from what I’ve done, it’s a bit of a mixed bag. It’s more like, “Yeah, I only saw him in two scenes, but I think that they’re the most fun two scenes in the movie.”

The characters you play are all so interesting and so different that I like to check out what you’re doing because I know that it will at least be unexpected and that I’ll most likely really enjoy myself.

FRIEND:  That’s a great compliment. Thank you very, very much. You’re my perfect audience. It might not work, but you’re like, “Well it’s not going to be dull, and I’m going to be intrigued by why would you do that.” Well, there’s one more in the menagerie of last year’s work that is coming out. I did the second season of a crazy little show on Adult Swim, called Dream Corp LLC. It’s on at midnight, and each episode is quite short. It’s a very insane and wonderfully wacky comedy where people come into this laboratory and let a doctor go inside their dreams to fix a neurosis or a problem, and the dreams are all rotoscopes. When you’re in the dreamworld, it’s all beautifully animated. For the second season, they got a bunch of different guest stars. It’s me, Liam Neeson did one, and Jimmi [Simpson] from Westworld did one. We’re all half in the real world and half in the animated world. I spent my episode with a real tarantula on my face for a lot of it, which was something that was completely different. That may or may not be your thing, but it definitely won’t be boring.

Strange Angel is available to stream at CBS All Access.

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