Mute's Paul Rudd and Justin Theroux Are Not Method Actors

The two actors talk friendship, Daniel Day-Lewis, and their very, very complicated Mute characters.
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Keith Bernstein/Netflix

It's early on a Monday morning, but already Paul Rudd and Justin Theroux are ready to talk. Rudd's leg bounces up and down after he's seated, telling me we own the same pair of sneakers (Adidas Ultraboost Laceless) and how comfortable he thinks they are. Theroux leaps to the ground to poke my soles. "It's like styrofoam cups," he observes.

Today, we're talking Mute: Duncan Jones's newest sci-fi, now streaming on Netflix, set in a near-future Berlin, and in the same universe as his debut feature, Moon. The pair have a relaxed chemistry that speaks to their history working together—mostly in comedy—for more than a decade. In Mute, Rudd and Theroux play Cactus Bill and Duck, two black market surgeons who seem to be in some way connected to the movie's main character, bartender Leo (Alexander Skarsgard), and his search for his missing girlfriend. After swapping notes on where to buy the comfy sneakers, we got down to talking about the indelible bond of soldiers, filming in a strange country, and how Theroux came to terms with his most psychologically difficult role to date.


GQ: The pair of you were together on Wanderlust. Is it just a happy coincidence that you ended up together on Mute?

Justin Theroux: Yeah, I think so. We did a movie together that we never had scenes together in... The Ten. I know you probably love it ...

Paul Rudd: Yeah, I'm sure you're a big fan.

Justin: Big Ten viewer over here.

[I do, in fact, watch the "I Did It As A Goof" segment frequently.]

Paul: This is actually our fourth movie together.

Justin: When I was talking to Duncan, Paul was already attached and I was very excited to come on and [work with Paul] again.

Paul: Oh, I was really happy that Justin came on as well. It was great. We hung out a lot. We worked together, and we even stayed in the same place.

Justin: Just a couple of doors down in Berlin.

And you guys have been friends for a while. How far back did the two of you go in creating Duck and Cactus Bill's friendship? Did you flesh out that history they have?

Paul: Not really. I think it was beneficial that we knew each other and sort of know each other's rhythms. We have a similar sense of humor and things like that. It was nice to have kind of a built-in friendship that already existed that we could capitalize on.

Justin: Some of those moments we have together on screen had to come across unplanned, or happened in unconscious ways. Sometimes you can say, "Oh yeah. These guys do know each other." We've known each other for years. That's certainly helpful. But then we were also lucky to have Duncan saying "Check out M-A-S-H." Because we were using Donald Sutherland and Elliot Gould as kind of a template. Down to our looks.

Paul: It was very direct, this homage. It was nothing Duncan was trying to hide. He was just like , "Yeah, I based these characters on those kind of characters." Obviously they're way more fucked up than the M-A-S-H characters.

Justin: Oh yeah. [laughs]

You both play these seedy but competent surgeons in Mute. Did you go method at all? Learn how to do some stitches?

Justin: We both took a course at the Berlin hospital.

Paul: It was quick. It's one of those things you do almost for fun, because you think, I don't really need to do this. 'Cause we didn't really do any insert shots of surgery.

Justin: We did have a guy, I remember, he came in–

Paul: We did have a guy who came in very serious and he brought six raw chicken breasts?

Justin: We did spend the day sewing raw chicken breasts. Learning how to do stitches and things like that. Using the implements and the tools.

Paul: We basically did what Daniel Day-Lewis did. Here's the thing: If for some reason at any point in this interview you suffer from an appendix burst, Justin and I will be able to take it out and stitch you back up. Now, we wouldn't do that for Entertainment Weekly, but we will do that for GQ.

It will be an honor to die by your hands.

You guys have to do a lot of talking in this moving to supplement Alexander Skarsgård. What's it like acting against a truly silent main character?

Paul: It's interesting. He's not doing nothing. He's doing an enormous amount, actually, and I imagine it's more frustrating for him having to push everything that he's thinking just into the eyes. I think he gave a really beautiful performance. It didn't feel like I didn't have a scene partner at any point. It felt like he was totally there. And you have the luxury of stopping between takes and working stuff out.

Justin: Yeah, I think that you're absolutely right. It never felt like it was a one-sided effort. We just had more to memorize.

Paul: Right, yeah, ultimately. We basically just had big, long scenes where just us were talking. So basically we're saying Alex was being lazy.

Then, Paul you also have to act opposite a silent child (played by twins), your daughter. You're doing the talking there, too.

Paul: They were lovely. Didn't really speak English 'cause they were German and I would try and test out my very rudimentary German with her. She could teach me some things and sayings. By the end of it I felt as if I had a connection with those kids and could converse like the four-year-olds that we were.

Now, this is all part of a larger world, obviously, this being in the same world as Moon. Did Duncan Jones share with you what the rest of this world is like? Berlin feels like a very specific microcosm here. How did you come to see this entire world 40 years from now?

Justin: Those practical sets were cool. I thought the analog throw-back feel to a lot of the vehicles. It was like Cuba where you have all of these old cars. Even in the future there were some very futuristic vehicles, but then there were also things from the '60s and '50s. Not just in the cars, but in some of the—

Paul: Like the phone Alex has. It's the phone you'd give your aunt or grandmother. This is a world I think that Duncan had conjured up and knew intimately for so long because the movie is something that he'd been living with for such a long time. I felt as if we were kind of discovering it as we were filming it.

You both have experience both performing and writing comedy. This being quite a dark, tonally difficult movie, do you find that's something Duncan was looking for in the actors for Bill and Duck?

Justin: I think so. He was very good at saying, "Feel free to improvise some stuff." He really wanted it sort of feel like there was a natural banter between the two of us.

Paul: Yeah, I think he was keen on having these two characters be funny and then have some levity. The kind of guys that, if you didn't know them, you were kind of drawn to them a little bit... until you realize how sick they really are.

It is a difficult movie, and these are difficult characters, especially with the reveal Duck is a pedophile working in medicine. How did Duncan pitch the necessity of that as Duck's character? How do you feel that relates to the film as a whole and Duck?

Justin: He pitched it to me as... I think he kinda liked the turn that these guys have, which is, as Paul said, you sort of think they're all funny and goofy and then eventually they get much darker. I think in the world of the film... The way he pitched it to me was basically that, "Look, this is a guy who... these are two guys who did tours of duty in war and probably did untoward things there." And there's no reason why my character wouldn't continue doing those things even in Berlin once he's out of a war scenario. But it was also something I struggled with. This is not something I really understand. I didn't particularly didn't want to do research on the role. The little ins and outs.

Paul: That's where your Daniel Day-Lewis instincts drew the line

Justin: [laughs]

Paul: "I'll learn to sew a chicken breast, I'll do the sutures. But..."

And Paul, then you also confront your friend and, in some ways, want to work with him or forgive him for this thing.

Paul: Yeah, I think there's a bond I think that comes with soldiers. Certainly people who've fought in a war together. I think that there's a real love that the guys have for one another. They're friends! Like this is something that I've maybe known for a while, but have turned a blind eye to. But also want to protect him from himself and that my stepping in is actually trying to set up some kind of reprimand. I maybe consider it an act of love of like "You haven't done anything. Don't do anything."

Justin: You would talk about it a lot in terms of just basic addiction. If your friend is going down a rabbit hole of any addiction you try and love them first before you write them off.

Then you fuck him over.

Justin: Well, Yeah.