FX’s new series Mr. Inbetween comes from the creative duo of Nash Edgerton and Scott Ryan. Edgerton is the brother of Joel Edgerton (Black Mass, Boy Erased) and has collaborated on many films with him. Ryan is a newer quantity, and also stars in the show as Ray, a criminal trying to be a good dad to his daughter (Chika Yasumura).
Edgerton spoke with Showbiz Junkies after FX’s Television Critics Association panel for Mr. Inbetween. Mr. Inbetween premieres Tuesday, September 25, 2018 at 11:26 after Mayans MC on FX.
Does the tone and nature of Mr. Inbetween harken back to the film you did with Joel, The Square?
Nash Edgerton: “Yeah, the tone, it’s definitely a tone I gravitate towards where you play things very straight and then the humor comes out of the situations. I generally have quite a dark sense of humor and I definitely related to that in the stuff that Scott had written. I like showing criminals as regular people that have other things going on in their lives besides the crimes that they’re committing. Ray may kill people for a living or be a standover man, but essentially he’s a father, he’s a brother, he’s an ex-husband of somebody. He’s trying to date. He has regular things going on in his life. It just happens that his job is something that is out of the norm.”
Since you do movies, did you appreciate the luxury of having multiple episodes to take your time with things?
Nash Edgerton: “I did, yeah. It was interesting, because I directed all six of them, I actually shot it like a film. I blocked it like it was a film rather than in two episode blocks. It felt like I was shooting a movie but editing was a completely different experience because I was doing the separate episodes. It was great to be able to take a character much further and for longer.”
Scott is a relatively new actor. Did you make adjustments for him?
Nash Edgerton: “Totally. I think every actor comes with a different background and approach. I’m constantly working out how to best get performances out of the actors I’m dealing with. Chika had never been on a film set before. Scott had never been on a film set before. I have some very seasoned actors and very inexperienced actors. You learn what their strengths are and use them to the best ability you can.”
When you were on the set, did Scott switch between his actor hat and producer hat?
Nash Edgerton: “Not so much. The scripts were written and he was pretty much there to perform as Ray. I looked after the rest of that stuff.”
What did you learn about directing a young actress like Chika?
Nash Edgerton: “Chika had such great natural ability. She comes in with no preconceived notion of what acting is and so I tried to make the situations be as real and natural for her. I had them both ad-libbing a lot. There’s a scene in episode two that’s based on a conversation that her and I had in real life, which is completely surreal to direct her to relive a conversation she had with me.”
Can you tell us how it starts so we know it when we see it?
Nash Edgerton: “Yeah, she asks Ray whether Santa Claus is real or not.”
So whatever answer he gives is what you told her?
Nash Edgerton: “Pretty much, yeah.”
Is this series closed or is there room for season two?
Nash Edgerton: “No, there’s definitely room for more. We did it in a way that you get to know Ray and there’s plenty of room for more.”
Are you developing any projects with Joel again?
Nash Edgerton: “Yeah, Joel and I are always talking about stuff. We’ve got a couple of things we’re working on together.”
Would they be film or television?
Nash Edgerton: “There’s a couple things. There’s a TV show we’re both looking at and then I was involved in his film Boy Erased that’s coming out in November. I’m also working on a film that he wrote that’s shooting at the moment in Budapest. We’re developing something else for me to direct and he to be involved with as well.”
Are you developing other things by yourself too?
Nash Edgerton: “Yes, I am.”
Are there any different genres you want to explore?
Nash Edgerton: “I’m a bit of a horror fan. I’d really like to make a horror film. Generally, I like things with a dark sense of humor to them.”
Are you developing any projects in the horror realm?
Nash Edgerton: “One of them has some horror elements to it, yeah.”
This post was last modified on September 25, 2018 7:36 pm