Why the Wild Horse Nine Cast Rehearsed McDonagh's Script Like a Play
Summary
McDonagh held rehearsals before the shoot and let Malkovich and Rockwell play with rhythm, a first for him, while keeping every line.
"Martin McDonagh rehearsed Wild Horse Nine with his principal cast before filming, treating the screwball comedy like a stage production, The A.V. Club reported Wednesday. McDonagh, who came to film from theater, said he loves ""juicy dialogue that goes on for pages and pages"" and named Billy Wilder and Preston Sturges as models for the film's banter.
John Malkovich said the actors kept rehearsing throughout the shoot, and Sam Rockwell compared his character's relationship with Malkovich's to a long-married couple, citing His Girl Friday as a reference. Parker Posey recalled a reading at the Public Theater where McDonagh asked Malkovich to bring more heat to a passage.
McDonagh told MovieMaker he wanted the film to have ""more of an improvisational feel to it, for the first time ever, really,"" describing the result as ""almost like jazz on the offbeat."" The actors played with timing and rhythm, he said, but did not change the lines. The film opens Friday."
