Sharper’s Sebastian Stan and the actors have revealed what drew them to join in Apple TV Plus’s glitzy new thriller – and it’s safe to say the number one reason was actress and producer Julianne Moore, who did not disappoint.
The script was selected from Hollywood’s annual ‘Black List’ of popular but unproduced films, and it stars Pam & Tommy’s Stan, Justice Smith from Pokémon: Detective Pikachu, and The Tender Bar’s Briana Middleton in a high-stakes game of cat and mouse in the highest echelons of New York City society.
The audience is left wondering the truth about student Sandy (Middleton), bookshop owner Tom (Smith), and the con-artist team of Max (Stan) and Madeline (as views shift and storylines play out from different angles) (Moore).
When asked if working with Oscar winner Moore was a key reason for committing to the project, the trio were effusive, with Smith saying she was “the reason I wanted to do this,” and Middleton noting, “Watching her and getting to work with her was a masterclass.”
With the trio speaking to Metro.co.uk ahead of the film’s release, Stan agreed that she was ‘the reason why we’re all here.’
He added: ‘What was amazing is sometimes you meet somebody you’ve watched for such a long time and [you know] the image and you don’t know how they’re going to be in [real] life.
‘You’ve got all this time that you’re sitting around waiting for the shots and all that – and the fact that she was just as welcoming and just as nice and generous off-screen, and connecting with each person… It was the icing on the cake.’
Sharper sees the performers’ characters take on new roles as the power dynamic evolves and secrets are revealed.
To begin with, Stan’s Max is introduced as a vicious but polished con, but as Moore’s Madeline makes her fashionably late appearance in the film, his intentions grow murkier – part of what the Emmy contender was eager to sink his teeth into.
‘When I first read the script, I didn’t really understand what my character was trying to do, what was he after really,’ Stan explained.
‘Was it a revenge thing or was he… I don’t want to go into what happens in the movie! So, it was more kind of just going into and trying to figure that out, and that part of it was intriguing to me. I liked how it started, how he starts out and suddenly it’s totally something else.’
Avoiding some pretty major spoilers, Middleton shared: ‘Without trying to give too much away… I think just the fact that there are so many different characters that my character is playing – that was the biggest selling point for me.’
Smith’s Tom is the character’s whose story is first introduced and in a way that encourages sympathy in the audience, although he’s also holding something back of himself.
‘For me, I was really interested in the psychology of somebody who had so much but is empty inside. I thought that was something I had observed in people of wealth for a while, and I was fascinated by that, and I wanted to explore it.’
Musing on standout scenes, Smith added: ‘There are scenes that we shot that really stayed with me just as a person – I’m excited for audiences to see the entire film, but these scenes in particular were just really magical moments where I was with a fellow actor who I trusted and a director who I trusted on a set of amazing people. Very special moments happen in this film, and I hope that comes across to the audience.’
Sharper opens in select cinemas, and streams on Apple TV+ from Friday, February 17.