It felt like there were unexpected and interesting story turns at every corner. What sparked this idea for you?
Wyatt Rockefeller: The spark for the idea came, really, from a feeling. I was in the woods with my Dad, and it was snowing.

It felt like there were unexpected and interesting story turns at every corner. What sparked this idea for you?
Wyatt Rockefeller: The spark for the idea came, really, from a feeling. I was in the woods with my Dad, and it was snowing.

Can you talk about working with your cast?
You have to have great actors. You have to cast great people to get great performances.

Can you talk about making the transition from athletics to a visual and creative artist?
Savanah Leaf: In a way, I think a film is this combination of working in a team environment.

Randall, what gripped you about this story and these characters?
Randall Park: I first read the graphic novel when it came out back in 2007, and I was just mesmerized by it. A lot of that has to do with Adrian’s writing, but also the style of the art.

The following questions and answers are excerpted from a conversation that followed the NBR screening of Rebel Hearts. How did the project begin and how did you two come together? Shawnee Isaac Smith: I’ll start since it was twenty-one years ago when I met one of the Immaculate Heart sisters and was so inspired by their […]

Can you talk about genesis of the film?
Kazuo Ishiguro: I can tell you about the origin story of this film, before the real work started. I can take credit for having the original idea, because it was kind of an obsession of mine for years. It was partly because I was a Japanese kid growing up in England and I was always very interested in any Japanese film that was shown in England.

Can you talk about your scriptwriting and research process?
Writing can come with all sorts of weird blocks, so part of it for me is outsmarting those blocks

Do you think Nicolas Cage’s casting creates an expectation with the film? And if so, did you intentionally subvert those expectations in any way?
I think it does create an expectation. Certainly, people have certain types of films that they associate with Nic Cage. But we never set out to subvert anything

Did you find it helpful to engage with the previous iterations of the story when you were preparing for this film?
Nicholas Britell: Well, what was interesting, actually, was that when Benjamin first told me that he had this inspiration to to do Carmen, my first instinct was that I actually didn’t want to adapt or rearrange Bizet at all.

The scope of the film is massive. How did you approach this subject?
I should say that I’m kind of obsessed with hidden histories and forgotten biographies.

There was such incredible chemistry amongst the cast. How did you build that? What was the rehearsal process?
Viggo Mortensen: Early on, which was great and doesn’t always happen, Matt brought me into read with the last couple of kids we were casting.

Sometimes as a documentarian, you don’t have total control. But it this film you were able to script things and envision scenarios.
Kirsten Johnson: Honestly I was trying to engage in not being in control.

Can you talk about how the idea for the film came about? I read it was somewhat autobiographical.
That sounds weird off the bat. I have not committed fraud.

How did you get on this project? How did it come to you?
John Krasinski: So I was about to start pre-production on Jack Ryan, and some of the producers on Jack Ryan were Platinum Dunes, and they said, “Would you ever act in a genre movie?” And I said, “Oh no, I can’t do that, I don’t do horror movies.”

What was it like developing the script with your cousin Jessica Barr after she had written the first draft?
Jessie Barr: We did a lot of talking and a lot of sharing; there were intimate conversations about what we’d gone through when we lost our parents.