Warning: Spoilers for Echo Valley’s ending!

Apple TV+’s new thriller Echo Valley is an acting masterclass thanks to its top-tier cast, which includes Julianne Moore, Sydney Sweeney, and Domnhall Gleeson. Written by Brad Inglesby and directed by Michael Pearce, the movie follows a grieving woman named Kate (Moore), who is running her horse ranch alone since the death of her wife. Her strained relationship with her drug-addled daughter Claire (Sweeney) reaches a boiling point when she returns home with blood on her hands.

Kate goes to the ends of the Earth (or the bottom of a lake) to help her daughter cover up the supposed murder of her boyfriend, but drug dealer and all-around villain Jackie (Gleeson) hanging around makes it that much harder. The dark yet compelling family thriller explores important themes of loss and love even as it swirls with secrets kept by its leads. Fiona Shaw also stars as Kate’s best friend and partner in crimes for the greater good.

ScreenRant interviewed Pearce and Gleeson to break down the highs and lows of Echo Valley. Pearce revealed how Moore’s early casting helped the movie come together, while Gleeson echoed the praise when it came to her performance. The director and actor also discussed key moments from the movie, upcoming projects, and classic roles such as About Time.

Casting Julianne Moore In Echo Valley Was The Key To Unlocking The Movie

“Strangely, This Was The Easiest Casting Process I’ve Ever Had”

It’s no surprise that the first thing that stands out about Echo Valley is its casting. The subject matter is heavy, especially as screenwriter Brad Ingelsby was drawing from family history, so the talent had to be spot-on. Pearce emphasized that casting was “super crucial because a film like this lives or dies based on the performances.” The mother-daughter bond is particularly important. “Even if it’s a really well-constructed, plot-driven thriller, the characters are at the heart of it, and it needs really strong performances.”

Despite such a tall order, Pearce declared, “Strangely, this was the easiest casting process I’ve ever had, and I’ll probably never be able to repeat such an effortless casting process again.” He revealed that Julianne Moore was his first choice, along with his producers and casting director. “We sent it, and a few days later or maybe a week later, she came back and said she wants to do it. And then we met in London, and we found that we were creatively simpatico in what we wanted to do with the movie and what we wanted to explore.”

The rest of the process fell into place like dominoes, with Sydney Sweeney receiving the offer and agreeing to do the film a few days later. “I told Julianne, and she was so excited,” the director recalled. “In fact, that was quite sweet to witness because every time I had updated her, like when I said, ‘We got Domhnall to play Jackie,’ she was like, ‘Oh, my God, he’s so good. I love that actor.’ We’d say, ‘Fiona’s going to play Leslie,’ and she was like, ‘She’s amazing!’

Pearce gushed, “It was cool to see actors who were so eager to work with each other,” explaining that it made his job easier. “When you’re working with actors you really admire, and you already have so much trust in their range and how seriously they take their work, it doesn’t mean you relax as a director. But I was certainly walking into the first day of shoot with a relative amount of confidence. I was working with some of the best people in the business, and that’s a good place to be on the first day of the shoot.”

Gleeson also waxed poetic about getting to work with Moore. “She’s just amazing,” the actor gushed. “I got to tell her a couple of nights ago that getting to work with her was quite a big deal for me, and it was wonderful that she was as amazing as I hoped she would be.”

He also revealed how her personality influenced their onscreen dynamic. “It was great because my character’s trying to break her character and leave her empty; leave her with nothing. And her character’s obviously trying to stand up for herself, and it made for a really cool dynamic. She’s a strong person. Her character’s a strong person, so you need somebody as formidable as her to play that part, and she was just amazing in it. I love the scenes with her.”

Domhnall Gleeson Breaks Down Echo Valley’s Complicated Villain

“I Think That’s Just The Work Of Being An Actor”

Hall’s Jackie is a villain, but he does have a level of sympathy baked into him. Gleeson gave a little insight into his character-building process, explaining that, “I think you want him to be real. There are people who do despicable things, but they will always have something human about them. No one’s just all one thing. So, you want to make sure that you have that, and that you can present it and give it to them.”

“It’s their choice whether they use it or not, but I was glad to see that they found a couple of moments just to see a slightly more connected version of him as opposed to someone who’s just evil.” Gleeson added. “Even though he’s always looking for vulnerabilities to exploit, he’s not just that, I suppose.” Part of the process involved speaking with the director about Jackie’s backstory. “We talked about how he was with women and bringing an exploitative aspect to him from a Sєxual point of view.”

“There was a moment of it in the script, but we wanted to fill that out in terms of our idea of who he really was, how dangerous he could actually be, and how much of an exploiter he was.” The actor was adept at filling in those gaps from one moment to the next. “Sometimes opportunities present themselves, because that’s a part of a character and you feel it, where suddenly a line can take on a different tone. That sort of stuff happens all the time. But I think that’s just the work of being an actor.”

Crafting Echo Valley’s Climactic Scene With Practical Effects

“It’s Going To Eat Into Our Budget, But We Need To Do This For Real”

Almost as crucial as the casting of Echo Valley is the climax, in which Kate burns down her barn at Jackie’s behest – only for the tables to turn, revealing she has more control of the situation than he thought. Though he acknowledged that “VFX is so great with what they can do,” Pearce was adamant that the fire should be produced with practical effects. “There are certain things that I feel are hard to replicate.”

Water and fire are especially difficult to bring to life, in the director’s eyes. “There are just little subtle nuances that I can just tell when it’s done for real and when it’s not. And it’s such a huge momentous moment in the movie. I was really campaigning to the producers, ‘Look, I know it’s going to eat into our budget, but we need to do this for real.’” The scene was achieved by building a replica barn and burning it to the ground, which “gave us such an abundance of material later that fit the climax of the movie.”

Pearce cautioned that, “You win and lose some battles as you’re making a movie because you can’t do everything you want.” Nevertheless, he was adamant in conversations with his producers that the fire was a must. “It became one of the non-negotiables, and it takes time.” But once the safety measures were in place, the effort was well worth it. “Everyone on set that day was just stunned by the ferocity of it, and I hope that we captured some of that. The animal nature of a fire feels like it’s a living, breathing thing that’s very violent.”

Domhnall Gleeson Reflects On About Time 12 Years After Release

“The Film’s About Love And About Making Space For It In Your Life”

Gleeson may be better known for his work in Star Wars, but About Time remains a classic. Aside from being a milestone in his career, it was a touchstone for him personally. “Richard [Curtis], in the making of it, said it was going to be the last film he directed,” the actor revealed. “Part of the reason was that he was taking time to be with his family more. The film’s about love and about making space for it in your life and connecting with people, and it was such a beautiful shoot. It felt so full of love.”

“The film itself was also full of love,” Gleeson added. “I’m lucky with my family and very lucky with my friends. But it was a nice, timely reminder to make space for all of that. That was pretty good.” He was still (lovingly) salty about the moment Tim returned to stay with his father. “Everyone says it’s their favorite scene of the film, and it is the only scene of the film that I’m not in, and I’m very resentful of that. So, when I talk nice about Richard, I also absolutely hate that piece of s–t.”

Despite the pain, he gave props to the actor who played young Tim – who was also emblematic of the family theme. “Richard’s son played the younger version of me in the film. They dyed his hair red for it, and he did a great job.”

Source: Screen Rant Plus

Michael Pearce Doesn’t Know What Comes After Echo Valley

“You’ve Got To Fall In Love With It in A Big Way”

The director was reluctant to hint at his next project, instead explaining that he’s not one to mulтιтask in that regard. “I can never do that. I need to finish a movie, have it come out, and then I start to find the next piece of material. I haven’t got the skill yet where I can jump from one film to another. I’d love to be like Luca Guadagnino or Edward Berger, who are editing one movie and are in prep for the next movie, and they’ve finished that before the last movie’s come out.”

He added, “At the moment, I’m just reading scripts and reading books. It’ll take me another few months before I figure that out.” As for choosing between an adaptation and an original work? “I’m open. I think it’s just that if I pre-design it too much, it never works out. I just try and remain open when I read a script, and hopefully I have the same feeling as I had when I read Brad’s, which was just that I just voraciously went through it, and it was just so immediate that I knew I wanted to make that film.”

“It was a bit of a compeтιтive situation,” he revealed, referring to the bid for Echo Valley. “I knew there were other directors who fell in love with it too. That’s what you want: just to fall in love with a piece of material, and the moment you get to the last page, you’re calling your agent and saying, ‘How do I make this movie?’ It takes three years sometimes from that point until this point, so you’ve got to fall in love with it in a big way. That’s what I’m hoping happens here.”

Source: Screen Rant Plus