65 follows an astronaut named Mills as he crash lands on what he believes to be a foreign planet. However, he and the sole survivor of the crash, Koa, discover that they are actually stranded on Earth 65 million years ago. In order to survive the pair must work together to cross unknown terrain full of dangerous prehistoric beasts including dinosaurs.
65 is written and directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, best known for writing A Quiet Place. 65 stars Adam Driver, Ariana Greenblatt, Chloe Coleman, and Nika King. The sci-fi action thriller is also produced by horror aficionado Sam Raimi.
Screen Rant spoke with Adam Driver about his new movie 65. He explains what drew him to the movie when he first read the script and the chemistry between his character and Greenblatt. Driver also shares a story about real life dangers that they faced while filming on location in New Orleans.
Adam Drive On 65
Screen Rant: Adam, congratulations on the film, man. This is the reason I go to movies. There's danger around every corner. And I just want to see how this all plays out. Can you talk a little bit about your character Mills and the themes of family and found family in 65?
Adam Driver: First of all, thank you for that, that's really great to hear. What you're describing was the appeal for me of doing something really big that has dinosaurs and laser guns, it's a family movie, and everybody in the family can watch it together. Which seemed really important at the time when I got it, which was in the middle of the first wave of COVID. But also to do something that had those big set pieces, but really was about two people who couldn't communicate and were going through something that is obviously outside either of their experience.
Which seemed obvious at the time with COVID, the metaphor, but also that they were battling externally what was going on internally, and it turned from two people processing in real time grief. Making two people from completely different walks of life, become found family but not really telling that story or landing it into the last moments of the film, which I thought was ambitious and a rare opportunity.
Now you and Ariana have amazing chemistry in 65 with very little dialogue. Can you talk to me about cultivating the chemistry between the two of you and the physicality of your performance? Especially with how little dialogue there actually is?
Adam Driver: That was a big challenge to walk the line. He hasn't processed his grief so sometimes everything that she does reminds him of his daughter in a way. It's hard not to, for him, to open up and because there's no dialogue it makes our physicality so much more. When does he actually start caring for her? When does he actually start letting her in? How do we tell it physically without him seeming inhuman and not sympathetic?
But I've always found with people who are just really great actors and especially with younger actors who are not self-conscious, don't overthink it, are just totally present, and are good that it's nothing you have to work out. You don't have to try to find chemistry it just naturally happens and that was for sure with Ariana and Chloe Coleman.
I know Sam Raimi was one of the producers, and he's known for being a master of practical effects. This did a great job of blending practical and CG did you guys shoot in physical locations? And if so how did that help inform your performance?
Adam Driver: A lot. We shot in New Orleans and then in Oregon. It's a huge character of the movie. With the dinosaurs, obviously, it's a guy dressed in green hitting you in the head with a tennis ball or that you'd have to imagine that. But it was massive in the danger, just one example there's I guess it'd be crocodiles or alligators. I can't remember the difference.
We're in New Orleans in the swamp. And there's a scene where I have to drag Ariana which was a stunt person on a raft through this waist high water in the swamp and their method of clearing out the crocodiles or alligators is just to go and clap the water. It's like, "We scared them. So we did it already. We scared them away. So just go ahead, and you won't get bitten. But if you see a nose coming at you just say something." And I'm like "What the fuck is wrong with you?" But that it lent a sense of terror.
About 65
An astronaut, Mills, crash-lands on an unfamiliar planet but realizes he's actually been marooned on Earth 65 million years ago. Mills and the sole surviving passenger, Koa, must travel across an uncharted and dangerous landscape full of prehistoric beasts, including dinosaurs, as they struggle to survive.
Check out our other 65 interviews:
- Ariana Greenblatt
- Scott Beck & Bryan Woods