Matthew Brown (‘Freud’s Last Session’ writer and director): ‘It was an incredible experience’ working with Sir Anthony Hopkins [Exclusive Video Interview]
“You never know what to expect,” admits writer/director Matt Brown about casting the legendary Sir Anthony Hopkins to star in his latest feature “Freud’s Last Session,” For our recent webchat he adds, “when you get an opportunity to work with somebody that that’s so esteemed like like Tony is,” he explains, “what I didn’t expect is how absolutely creatively generous and committed he is. It’s otherworldly. I don’t know if I’ll ever experience that again. If I do, it’ll be a miracle. The amount of effort and time he put into preparing for the role, people just take it for granted. But he does so much work in advance, and he did so much on this from creating this gravelly voice that he worked on for about a month and a half, to bringing a lifetime’s worth of experience to this. It was an incredible experience. An education, really. It was wild!” Watch our exclusive video interview above.
SEE ‘Freud’s Last Session’ with Anthony Hopkins, Matthew Goode: ‘We’re all cowards before death’
Sony Pictures Classics’ biopic “Freud’s Last Session” was directed by Brown, who co-wrote the film with Mark St. Germain, based on his stage play of the same name, which itself is based upon the book “The Question of God,” written by Armand Nicholi. The period drama stars two-time Oscar winner Hopkins (“The Silence of the Lambs,” “The Father”) and Emmy nominee Matthew Goode (“The Crown”), and is set on the eve of the Second World War, imagining what might have taken place when two of the greatest minds of the 20th century; famed psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud (Hopkins) and acclaimed author C.S. Lewis (Goode), meet to discuss their opposing views on science and spirituality.
“We live in such a polarized society right now, where everyone’s in their tribe,” Brown explains when looking back at why he wanted to bring this story to life on screen. “I thought that about five years ago, when this first started, and now I feel like it’s that, on steroids. I feel like it’s not in the best interests of human evolution, you know. There needs to be conversation. People need to be able to have a modicum of respect where you can try to listen to the other side, and maybe they might have something to offer. Even if you don’t agree totally with everything, there might be something, and to me that’s what drew me into this. I believe that science and religion, or call it spirituality or God, or whatever you want; they don’t have to be enemies. We don’t have to completely negate the other.”
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