Simon Rex
You have a lot of dialogue in Red Rocket. How much time did you have to prepare?
I had to be in Texas three days from when Sean gave me the offer, and I had to drive there, because if I’d flown, they would have had to quarantine me for a week. So I deleted all my social media and I memorised as much as I could on the drive. I didn’t have time to think too much. Which I prefer, quite honestly. I like to just go off of instinct and not overanalyse things, especially with comedy.
Did you consult any real-life porn stars?
Sean had been researching this subject for a year, and he showed some of the interviews. After a few minutes, I was like, “I totally get it.” I know people like that. There’s a lot of actors in Hollywood who are the same. They’re narcissists that have delusions of grandeur – they’ll just roll over anyone and not consider other people’s feelings. So it was easy to tap into that type of persona and play with it.
In what way?
I just brought my spin to it. When you read the script, he’s a really awful, unredeemable character. So I just made sure to make him somewhat innocent and somewhat boyish: he knows not what he does. That way, the audience is a little more conflicted. Because if he’s just an asshole, who cares?
DAMON WISE