Alex Wolff on “Castle in the Ground”

2018’s Hereditary put Alex Wolff on the map as a young actor to look out for. Though, if you watched Nickelodeon in the mid 2000’s, you knew this charming child actor had all the confidence in the world to tackle some of the more meatier roles in years to come.

Eleven years since the finale of rockumentary kids show, The Naked Brothers Band, Wolff, 22, demonstrates an emotional intelligence, on and off screen, that will put him at the head of his generation of actors. 

In his latest film, Castle in the Ground, Wolff plays Henry, a teenaged caretaker for his terminally-ill mother. After routinely crushing and serving his mom (Neve Campbell) Oxycodone pills, his earnest attempts to nurse his mother back to health are swiftly followed by her funeral. Turning to drugs to cope with his mother’s death, his life spirals out of control, not without the help of his budding friendship with a recovering addict neighbor (Imogen Poots). 

On May 13th, 2020, native New Yorkers, Wolff and NOIAFT founder, Taylor Taglianetti, discussed the film.

Before we begin talking about Castle in the Ground, I have to say that I saw my neighborhood in your directorial debut, The Cat and the Moon. That was very exciting! 

Oh yeah, thank you! You’re in Park Slope? 

I’m right on the outskirts. All of my schools growing up are in a five-block radius of Ninth Street and Sixth Avenue so seeing that on film is really cool. 

Wow, that’s crazy. It chokes me up a little talking about New York because I haven’t been there in months. I feel kind of guilty not being able to go through this whole thing with my city, and my parents are there. I miss it. I really miss New York. It’s a tough time to be there right now, but I miss it. I miss walking around. I miss going to cafés. 

Yeah. At 7pm every night, it’s the best sound you can hear – all us New Yorkers clapping. How we’re dealing with this gives you a really interesting perspective. New York is such an amazing place and we’re showing off our character more than ever before. 

Yeah. I think so. It’s a huge bummer. It’s hard to even think about without being there, but I don’t want to be too much of a downer…I’m really missing it. I’m feeling really nostalgic this morning for New York. 

Well, near or far, I’m happy to have a chance to speak with you. I have to say the Italians are pretty big fans of yours. 

Wow, really? I premiered my film, The Cat and the Moon, in Italy. Right in Ischia on the Amalfi Coast. It was the best welcome I got. It was also the best response I got from any place. I felt really lucky that I got to share it with the Italianos! 

I did get a lot of requests to interview you and I know Scorsese praised you on your work in Hereditary. 

What Martin Scorsese said changed my life. 

How could it not? 

It’s pretty amazing. 

Let’s talk about Castle in the Ground. I really, really enjoyed your performance in the movie…which is so weird to say because the material is so heavy. It’s also such a strange movie to watch during lockdown because it’s not a very hopeful film, but I think it’s even more powerful watching it during this time. 

Me too, me too! That’s how I feel. I don’t think it’s necessarily timed to be “hopeful” during this time. Right now, it feels kind of hopeless in the real world. I think the best way to work through that is to watch movies that echo your feelings. I think it’s important. Some people want to go for bottom shelf emotions right now. They go watch Love Island or real easy, candy entertainment, but I think it’s going to rot your teeth if you medicate with sugary TV. I think it’s important that we, as a society, bond together through art and connect over the more tragic stories. It’s a really important time for it to come out. 

I absolutely agree and, to your point, the film is more about a feeling than it is about plot. Plot is secondary. It’s very character-driven. When the film ends, I’m not thinking about how these characters wind up where they do. It’s almost inevitable, so instead, I’m just left with a feeling. I feel a certain way that’s been, almost, prescribed to me. In a way, I think that lends itself to music. The lyrics are the story, but the music is the feeling. 

Oh, that’s so cool! That’s such a poetic way to put it. It’s so nice when you get an interviewer so nuanced, smart and interesting as you. That’s such a smart, deep thought. I love that. This movie is one of those movies, exactly. The lyrics guide the beautiful music, but it’s definitely more about the music.

Relatedly, is there anything from your musical background that lends itself to the work that you do in the film? 

It’s interesting. I haven’t thought of it. The short answer is not really in this particular scenario. I think music helps you in everything. It’s a lot about connecting with other people. I think there is a feeling of when you play music with someone, you get an insight into their soul. When acting is at its best, you can get that, too. 

For the most part, this movie was a lot more about what I can do physically, how I can get myself there, and how I can use the people around me to my advantage. Imogen Poots just lifted me up in such a deep, profound, and exciting way. Neve Campbell, as well, and Keir Gilchrist is just incredible. 

I think it’s interesting that you bring up the physicality of the performance. You say a lot with your body and your facial expressions alone. It could have even been a silent film, I thought. 

That’s so cool! That’s a good way of putting it. 

I know you are quite the energetic person in real life so I have to ask, how do you get in the zone for a role like this?

Well, thank you, first of all. That’s a great thing. I think this is my most physical role. I can’t explain it. In The Cat and the Moon, I’m thirty five pounds heavier. I felt very muscly and big. In this movie, I felt like a bug. I got so skinny to play the addict that I felt my body in a whole different way. I felt my legs and my arms. I felt like this weird, dancing skeleton or something. I was more connected to my body than I probably ever have been. 

Oh, wow. Well, I think what’s also interesting about the film is how intimate it is. The aspect ratio, the color, the cinematography. There are these whole other layers that I think add on to the intimacy of your performance. Is that something that you’re hyper-aware of when you’re acting…how the aesthetic is affecting how people are seeing you on screen? 

I actually think it’s the actor’s job to completely disregard that. I treat every movie like it’s going to be a character study and that it’s going to be about the people, not the plot. Even when I was doing Jumanji, it felt like a character study. Your job is to invest in your character and die on that hill. For whatever it’s worth, it happened to be on this movie that it turned out to be my fantasy, in that, it’s just a character study. It just followed me. 

There’s a number of films about the opioid epidemic that have been coming out. I know the Mickey and the Bear Instagram account follows you. I really loved that film. 

Yeah, me too! Oh, they follow me on Instagram? That’s cool. 

Yeah! I saw that and I said that I have to bring it up! It’s also so much about codependency which obviously this film is about, too. What do you think makes this film different from some of these other films about drug addiction? A lot of films on the subject can tend to be the “same old, same old” and have similar trajectories. 

Well, one, I just followed Mickey and the Bear back on Instagram. Two, this movie…I don’t think really is about the opioid crisis. There are movies that do that. I think Requiem for a Dream is more about that. There is a way to paint broad strokes with this very widely spread illness of the opioid crisis, but I really think this movie is a character study of a young, sweet lost boy trying to find his footing. I think it’s really about what happens when you lose the only thing you have and seeing if it’s possible to not go down the wrong road when it comes knocking at your door…literally. It’s about choices, and can you make good choices as a young, impressionable, lonely, grieving boy? I think the angle of this movie is that he’s just a kind, lost, soul trying to connect. He, unfortunately, gets wrapped up in this crazy shit, but it’s not his main goal. He doesn’t make choices for himself. He is just falling off the roof into a pit of despair. 

Well, your character in this film and your character in The Cat and the Moon are similar, in some ways, in that they both are young men struggling with the loss of their parents. Is there anything that inspired you from directing and writing The Cat and the Moon that you used in preparing for the role in Castle in the Ground? 

That’s interesting. I would say no. They were entirely different experiences. I found Cat and the Moon, in some ways, to be an open wound, as well. I found Nick to be someone who is jovial and gregarious in a lot of ways and buries his sadness and rage pretty deep, but wears the front of this real, easy-going person. Whereas Henry in Castle in the Ground is like a little boy who has no filter, no ability to transform himself. He is what he is and he can’t help it. I almost thought, in the beginning, is he on the spectrum? He is so open and so naive, in a lot of ways. I found that to be really different and moving. 

Totally. Is there anything else you want to say? I know you have a number of other projects. I was looking forward to interviewing you at the Tribeca Film Festival. Unfortunately, it was cancelled, but I’m glad we got to talk about this. Is there anything else you want to promote? 

What I want to promote is that everyone just needs to stay the fuck inside and stop leaving. Just stay inside. I want to get back to making movies. I want to get back to seeing people. 

I’m with you on that. Thank you so much. I’m a big fan and if you ever need the Italians for anything, just let us know.

I’m going to need you for everything and I really hope all of Italy is staying safe right now.

Castle in the Ground is available on VOD