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Marc Menchaca (Ozark, Every Time I Die) stars in Alone, a thriller about a woman (Jules Willcox) who attempts to escape the clutches of a killer (Menchaca). During our interview Menchaca talked about working with Willcox, how music fits into his acting process, and why Dead Poets Society is one of his favorite movies.
Directed by John Hyams, Alone is a well crafted and lean thriller that is, in sum, elevated storytelling. If you don’t believe me, please listen to Super director James Gunn:
This 1 took me by surprise. Fantastic, small horror-thriller @alonemovie elegantly directed by @jrhyams (whose only work I’ve known is TV stuff & Universal Soldier movies!) & great lead performances by @jules_willcox & @marcmenchaca (who was also amazing on Ozark). Check it out! pic.twitter.com/kAZxCusOeM
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) September 20, 2020
During the Alone interview, I also asked Marc Menchaca if he is going to record “The Man Who Sold The Word,” a track his character performed to stunning effect in Ozark. Check out our discussion below, and most importantly feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section once you see Alone!
Alone is an awesome film, and just wondering about your initial reactions when you saw the final cut?
I loved it. I absolutely loved it. It had been a while. We shot it almost three years ago. John (Hyams) was really busy and I had done some ADR for it but I hadn’t seen much of it when I did ADR. When I saw the final cut, you can’t always say that with indies that you do, but I was like “wow that was really good.”
I was just thrilled about the film itself. Not just the performances – I thought the film itself was great.
Can you talk about your close knit collaboration with Jules Willcox. It’s a partnership that really works.
Jules and I didn’t know each other before we shot the film. It was essentially a two hander. Anthony Heald is in there, but Jules and I got quite a bit of time together before we got to the more intimate scenes. We hit it off from the start.
When you shoot a film, you create this little family that you know you’re going to have for one or two months. Television maybe six months and you just kind of give it all you got. You only really have each other.
Jules and I – it was very easy for us to, once we met we became quick friends. When we got to that point, we had become very comfortable with each other.
Was it an arduous shoot dealing with the elements and environment?
It was. Pretty much the whole film, we shot outside and the Pacific Northwest – the weather out there it would rain for an hour and it would stop. It was cold and we were shooting in October and November.
It was getting cold up there and with the rain and the mud, we were running and gunning and trying to get as much done as we could. It was a bit arduous but we had a blast doing it.
Anderson Cowan and I review Alone in the latest episode of CinemAddicts:
Can you talk about the preparation you did for Alone?
I did my own work beforehand just trying to get to the right place with him. I would say it’s private what I do before because it just wouldn’t make sense to anybody else.
Yeah I just kind of do that on my own and then combining it with Jules. Thankfully what we had done together as our own worked as a team.
The Find Your Film crew reviews Alone:
Does your passion for music and songwriting feed into your work as an actor? Or does music and acting have separate roads for you?
Maybe a kind of combination of the two. I’ve written songs from the perspective of a character I guess. I always travel with my guitar so that kind of seems to be an outlet for me when I’m working.
I would say I probably tend to lean to music in that world or the character’s world.
Can you name one of your all-time favorite movies and why does it resonate with you today?
Dead Poets Society. I know that film well and after seeing that film, that’s what made me want to do this. And it still makes me want to do it today, (just) thinking about how that film made me feel and how it still makes me feel today.
When will you do a complete recording of “The Man Who Sold The World” and I’m sure you get that question a lot!
I get that quite a bit. I get it on social media. The true answer is I have, but also the true answer is I wasn’t 100% satisfied with that recording and I want to do one.
The last year or so I’ve been on the road just working for a long time. It was back to back and I haven’t been able to get into a recording studio and then this year happened. My neighbor in Brooklyn has a recording studio in his basement. I was going to do one there and they’ve been gone all year and I’ve been gone all year.
There is actually a mutual friend of John and I who has a little recording studio in L.A. and I’m going to try and (record) with him by the end of the year. I’m in Romania right now for a job so when I’m out there in November, I’m going to try in and do it.
I love that song.
Marc thank you so much for your time. I really loved Alone and can’t wait until you record “The Man Who Sold The World.”
Alright. Well thanks man.
Alone is now playing in theaters and is available On Demand.
