Adam Cooper Talks ‘Sleeping Dogs’ And Russell Crowe’s “Nuanced” Performance

Adam Cooper makes his feature directing debut with Sleeping Dogs, a neo-noir starring Russell Crowe. Co-starring Karen Gillan and Tommy Flanagan, the feature is now playing in theaters. Cooper talked to Deepest Dream about Crowe’s performance and what drives hiim as a storyteller.

Although Sleeping Dogs is his filmmaking debut, Adam Cooper has carved out a highly successful career as a screenwriter. Tower Heist, Exodus: Gods and Kings, and Assassin’s Creed are just a few of his big scale credits. His extensive writing experience enabled him to value directing from a refreshingly grounded perspective.

“As the director, it’s your job to be in, in charge of all the parts of the story,” said Cooper. “And being the person who wrote the story certainly helps you as it relates to being in charge of the whole story. I’m just compelled by characters in crisis and and character journeys. So I think it’s always about coming back to the journey of the character and what serves that journey. Not to get too caught up and sort of camera tricks and it’s just what what serves the story that you’re trying to tell.”

Russell Crowe plays Roy Freeman, a former police detective who is suffering from memory loss. Before his dementia worsens, Roy reinvestigates a murder case which may have led to a criminal’s wrongful conviction.

“It’s an interesting movie to be sitting on set and directing, because so much of the work that Russell did is really so nuanced,” said Cooper. “He’s such a gifted actor. There’s so much going on behind the eyes. I think a different actor might have done something that was kind of more ostentatious, really trying to sort of sell the condition that the character is in. It’s just such a well calibrated performance. Because for a lot of the film, he’s basically isolated. He’s a man alone. It really fell a lot on sort of what Russell chose to do with those circumstances in order to bring the viewer in and make them feel what he is feeling. He just kind of did it expertly. He’s so camera aware.”

Check out our CinemAddicts review of Sleeping Dogs (podcast and YouTube version):

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Interview with Adam Cooper is below:

Sleeping Dogs is now playing in theaters.