When I spoke with John Carroll Lynch by phone on September 19, 2017, one of the things I asked him about was choosing a topic for his directorial debut that our culture prefers to ignore. We started, though, with something remarkable about Stanton as an actor, the peculiar light that shines from his eyes, despite being situated beneath a heavy brow.
We went on to talk about how Stanton’s life informed the script; the illusion of immortality; the lessons Lynch learned his first day on the set; and the benefits of yoga.
We finished up with a consideration Stanton’s devotion to smoking and to mariachi singing; Lynch’s one regret about the film; and the decisive role that he played on “The Walking Dead.”
As for who President Roosevelt is, referenced at the end of our conversation, in the context of LUCKY, you’ll just have to see the film yourself to find out. You won’t be sorry.
LUCKY features Harry Dean Stanton’s final, and perhaps finest performance in a film that addresses the end of life issues for an atheist from a practical and philosophical point of view that is both wry and poignant..The title character, a man almost 90 who is in singularly robust health for a man his age,but is suddenly confronted by what may or may not be a signal that the end is nigh.
Lynch directed from a script by Logan Sparks and Drago Sumonja. His previous work includes Frances McDormand’s artist husband in FARGO, the cross-dressing brother of the title character on The Drew Carey Show, Twisty the Clown on American Horror Story, Lyndon B. Johnson in JACKIE, and a strikingly humane survivor of the zombie apocalypse on THE WALKING DEAD.
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