DP/30: Hereditary, Alex Wolff

Alex Wolff became famous as a Naked Brother, got In Treatment, was explosive as Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in Patriots Day, and was the precursor to Dwayne Johnson in Jumanji 2. But you've never seen him quite as you will in Hereditary. (For an encore, his first feature as a director will be out soon.) Alex spoke to David Poland about Hereditary and a long, serious-minded career for a guy who can't legally gamble in Vegas.
Shot in Los Angeles, May 2018
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[@adam-ll1yf]

Holy shit was he amazing in this film! I did not expect him to have such a large and impactful role. At some points he even stole the film from Toni Colette! So vulnerable and so tortured. He played it all brilliantly!

[@Alf202]

Yeah really, never knew he would play such a large part!

[@swankhood]

Adam Taucher I agree. He was awesome.

[@theSpiritofTamzin]

Adam Taucher, agreed!!

[@MetaLeir93]

The car scene / him going to bed / him hearing his mom cry and howl was the best out of Alex

[@amirahkukan782]

I agree. But Toni's scene of utter heart wrenching grief was almost too painful to watch. You really believed you were witnessing a mothers loss. There is no greater loss I think I can safely say and she nailed it. He was great but stealing the show.....no. Why that lady hasn't won an Oscar I just don't know. Boggles the mind. Then again oscars are meaningless. When u think of the politics and the people voting. It's like....whatever

[@TheProphegy]

The car scene messed me up. One of the most powerful, shocking scenes I’ve seen in a while. Catches you completely off guard.

[@TisLita]

ikr especially when we seen her face on the street

[@Skibbles007]

I agree especially seeing the pain in his face realizing what happened I felt that part

[@SquareNoggin]

Dude... and then the drive home afterwards, trying not to glance in the rear view, totally traumatized, retreating to his bed only to be startled by the sound of hysterical grief as his mother discovers the corpse... confirmation that it was all real, that it did really happen, it wasn't a nightmare... And just the idea of Annie going outside on a normal day, sure that her children came home safe and sound last night, nothing out of the ordinary so far, and then to see what she sees in that car... godDAMN that was chilling. So much of that movie was really hard to stomach and uncomfortable (but amazing and well done, I love it). The scene that well and truly had my blood pumping, I could hear my pulse slamming away in my head, was the dinner table scene for sure. Mostly because it was just so deeply and thoroughly relatable and seemed like exactly the kind of argument I could imagine having with my own mother in that scenario. Which made the rest of the movie so damned shocking and disturbing because I saw myself and my family in these character. All the decisions they make, the emotions they go through, the way they react - it seemed so much more real than I'm used to seeing in other horror movies. This family was falling apart completely, and was suffering through the most unimaginable horror, but the way respond to it, talk about it, live through it... it's exactly like what I would imagine a real family would be like. Obviously in horror a trope is that characters make decisions that make no sense, or react in ways that don't line up with what's happening to them - either they're too stupid and do reckless things that nobody would ever actually do, or they're too competent and composed for the kind of situation they're in. Because the movie either wants to contrive to put these characters in horror situations, or the movie wants the characters to overcome the bad guy or whatever. But it just reminds you that you're watching a horror movie every time. But with Hereditary that was just a normal family going through some deeply unnatural and fucked up stuff, but doing and saying all the things a normal family would do and say. It just made it so much more bone rattling to me. Combine that with beautifully haunting and shocking cinematography and atmosphere and you've got perhaps the best damned horror movie I've ever seen. And that says something because these days there really is a lot of good horror, the genre has become a lot more high brow in the last decade.

[@crazy_bloxie_gurld745]

I went to my room and then I thought about that exact scene and it was completely dark in my room so imagine thinking of that scene. I ran out of my room real fast😂

[@corpsefoot758]

I just didn’t understand how her head stayed the same shape after impact lol

[@TheatreofSymphony]

Who would imagine that this kid is the same from Naked Bros. Band. What a performance...

[@crazy_bloxie_gurld745]

Rightttt!!!

[@lilyibarra2980]

I like his sense of humor most celebs wouldn't dare joke around the way he does. I love dark and dirty humor

[@nox5870]

Give him Oscar Nom for this performance please ... he highly deserved it!

[@MoviesYouveScene]

they all deserved awards for their performances

[@CruzCuaya94]

I'd love to sit down, have a drink and talk for hours with this dude.

[@erishah447]

id love to redacted redacted redacted redacted

[@halloweenfriday]

He did a fantastic job! I saw Hereditary last night, and it’s my new favorite horror movie! If you’re looking for a unique, slow-burning thriller with great acting and directing, and without any jump scares or cliched horror movie tropes, then I highly recommend Hereditary!

[@AshtonGleckman]

OH GOD ITS PAIMON, RUN

[@JediNiyte]

I REALLY want a sequel with Paimon as the central character.

[@jskd2953]

All hail King Paimon! :)

[@diddykong7894]

I’ve seen the film, but that’s a pretty big spoiler.

[@lp712]

Oops! You shouldn’t have said that name.

[@lookcloser6960]

What a cool dude

[@Bamgeutcutiepie]

didn't think that would ever end up crushing more on Alex than Nat! ;) and yet, here I am. totally in love with this young dude.

[@helpmeImpoor5314]

Such a moving intense role! I cant stop thinking about Peter's story. So very well acted. Im in awe

[@hollyburke5116]

i'm pretty sure he's the sexiest man i've ever seen in my entire life

[@miraculousronpa9028]

Holly Burke omg

[@sofiariquelme9183]

i agree

[@cawemarqs]

OMG YES

[@MarinaAndTheDevil]

THIS

[@jgr1625]

no because he’s literally so attractive

[@kaicy5023]

Alex Wolff is FIONE but it lowkey weirds me out that he was this kid brother from the naked brothers band and now my heartthrob 😩

[@pocrack5714]

He is a very talented and down-to-earth young actor. Brilliant performance in Hereditary!

[@greggoat6570]

Alex was a genuine revelation in this film. One of the best theater experiences I’ve ever had.

[@MarioVelezBThinkin]

This is one of the best interviews ever fucking made. Wow. This guy is so chill who is questioning him. He lets him play during it and everything! I love it.

[@midnightacapellasandinstru7695]

Don’t say that in front of the Chalamet heads, they’ll crucify you

[@alexblock3091]

I didn't want to see the film at one point because I knew he was from Naked Brothers Band and he ended up making me a believer, Dude better be nominated for an Oscar for real

[@AllysonWonderlandd]

Alex Block FOR REAL

[@alexblock3091]

Allyson Wonderlandd Yes maam

[@johnnyq1992]

I hope Ari and Alex work together again.

[@topnotch3232]

People criticizing his performance because his crying is kinda funny.. as if that wasn't intentional lmao just analyze the character for like two seconds and then try to tell me that his pathetic crying just slipped all the way through to the theatres as an accident

[@SquareNoggin]

Who wouldn't be crying in that way after going through what this character goes through? Folks who really think that his distress and depiction of trauma as-it-happens is unrealistic just haven't seen people going through seriously fucked up shit. You ever see somebody after they discover the corpse of a loved one unexpectedly, or some similarly messed up shit, and that's how they react. It's not the pretty, contained, subdued, Hollywood crying we're used to seeing in movies and TVs. It's ugly, it's pathetic, it's confused... Fully grown and mature adults revert back to being lost toddlers. This character was only a teenager FFS, barely out of childhood, so the notion that he would look like a child again after seeing and going through what he does in this movie makes perfect sense. He played it perfectly, and the reason people are reacting to it is because usually crying and distress in movies isn't this well done. Well, maybe that isn't fair - in most movies and TV shows you don't actually want to depict trauma and distress super realistically, because most movies and TV shows don't actually want to make the audience super uncomfortable, so they go a little lighter on the heavy stuff. A lot of people don't actually want to have visceral and unsettling experiences when they enjoy movies and TV, and they want to see characters bounce back and succeed and so forth. Obviously this movie is about doing something else - it's basically trying it's very best to traumatize the audience along with the characters in the film. And it seems weird or unnatural to some of the audience because the reality is people have seen more trauma and utter breakdowns in movies and TV than they have in real life (thankfully, it's not fun to see a lot of trauma and desperation IRL). What Alex Wolff was doing was playing it how it actually looks IRL.

[@Cec2500]

I was really surprised by how good his performance was! Watched it a little after it came out and recently saw Midsommar, and I’m hooked on Ari Aster! Such heavy themes. Kudos to Alex.

[@kruksog]

It's interesting to hear this guy describe his method-y procedure vs. Toni Collette describing method acting as essentially bullshit... it makes me feel that maybe there was a conflict between these two humans that was actually valuable in the creation of SUCH A GOOD FILM. (Edit: they are both wonderful. Please know that I loved both of them in the movie and don't hold one above the other.)

[@appleeyebeauty]

fuckkkk man his performance made me leave my body absolutely haunting!

[@Induce_117]

The emotions and craziness in the second half of the movie is just awesome the expressions and anger, sadness makes the movie just a really good drama/thriller it puts it in the perfect genre 10/10 movie I love the Hereditary

[@Allonsy305]

He and Nat Wolff now look ironically look like twins, despite not being twins. I've been getting them confused

[@sarahalotaibi1230]

Teon Quant same!

[@theSpiritofTamzin]

This guy is a great actor!!!

[@60scinema]

Going to see this tomorrow (so fucking excited!). Alex Wolff is so CUTE!!

[@Lyrachristine1111]

Omg this kid was fantastic. This movie is so gross and creepy I cant stop thinking about it.

[@Whitney2022]

Hes a much better actor than his brother wow I am really blown away. Really didn't expect that!

[@alwright3941]

Wow the description says that Alex Wolff "was explosive as Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in Patriots Day." Really...

[@qb9music]

it good pun lol

[@huamulan9279]

lol 😂

[@midnightacapellasandinstru7695]

grow the fuck up. It’s a joke.

[@SquareNoggin]

Ti West is really good I'm glad Alex agrees. Definitely my favorite horror director (until I saw Hereditary, now Ari Aster is a contender for sure). It's nowhere near as terrifying and unsettling as Hereditary, but I love love love his movie "The House of The Devil" and despite not really being as viscerally scary as many other horrors, up until I saw Hereditary it was probably my favorite horror flick. I just love the way it's shot, the pacing, the sound, and I find the survivor girl to be a really appealing actress as well. It just elevated the 80s camp horror in a really cool way I thought. The Innkeepers is also really well done, and is a lot more unsettling than it feels it has any right to be. I'm glad Alex pushed back on the interviewer saying he was "commercial". Because I think Ti West actually does find a happy medium between being accessible and fun while also being unique and fresh. In a lot of ways his movies are drawing on horror movie tradition and trope, but they are worthy of being remembered and have a timeless feel to them I think. Eli Roth on the other hand I don't like and I don't get. I would say he's more commercial, and I don't at all understand why he's so respected tbh. His movies really don't do it for me. That's the kind of horror that doesn't impress me at all. He did work on Cabin Fever though which was pretty good, so I'll give him that.

[@diddykong7894]

Yeah, Eli Roth’s movies just try to rely on shock value from practically NC-17 amounts of gore and torture. Hard pass. I don’t even qualify things like Hostel as cinema.

[@cawemarqs]

He's perfect

[@SquareNoggin]

I really like this guy. But goddamn, dude is living on the wild side method acting a character like that in a film like this for so long. It produced some amazing acting, and the other actors were also at the top of their game as well which made for some of the best acting overall I've seen in a long time, but dude is going to do some real psychological damage to himself method acting a role like that for so long... I mean you hear about audience members feeling traumatized from this movie, and while I think that's a little excessive I do agree that the movie is more unsettling than possibly anything else I've seen. I can only imagine what it would have been like to method act that shit. I watched "The Ring" when I was 12 and that was the first, and up until Hereditary, only movie to really thoroughly get under my skin and stay with me for long after I saw the film - which as a horror movie fan is something I've been searching for for a long time. I wanted to watch a movie that made me feel l was a kid watching my first horror movie again. And for the most part that's impossible - kids have so much less experience, and are so much more sensitive to and immersed in stories and fantasy that it's very hard to re-capture that suspension of disbelief as an adult. The Ring actually holds up quite well and I still consider it to be a really solid horror movie, but you get older and it becomes a lot easier to see the seams in the film and to recognize that it's all just make belief. But then this movie Hereditary comes along, and it's so elevated, it understands family dynamics and drama so well, it depicts desperation and terror so convincingly... so much so that rather than struggling to suspend your disbelief, you struggle to remind yourself "it's just a movie". And that's the mark of a really really quality horror movie in my opinion. I love horror movies, but 99% of the time I have to force myself to be "into" them. I have to look past a bunch of things, and I have to put myself into the right mindset to hopefully be kind of scared by what happens on screen. If I just go along for the ride and don't actively suspend my disbelief then it's hard to be scared by anything. But Hereditary comes out of the screen and grabs you by the neck and says "LOOK AT THIS!!! BELIEVE THIS CRAZY SHIT!!!" and it's so damned well done that for the first time in a long long time I was telling myself "it's just a movie. it's just a movie" while I was watching it -- I was a kid again. I was truly and genuinely disturbed and terrified by a film, and I didn't have to put myself in the right mindset to be immersed in it. Really from the very beginning the movie basically doesn't give you a choice but to be totally engrossed in what's going on, and when the accident happens then there's no going back - at that point it's like some Clockwork Orange eyelids-held-open kind of shit... you couldn't look away if you tried. And I'm so grateful for that. We all watch so much movies and TV these days, we've all seen so much, that it's damned rare that something as passive as watching a movie makes me feel really alive... But this movie had my blood pumping at several points. Particularly the dinner table scene... Even now when I watch the clip out of context I can hear my pulse in my head. There's just something about it that seems so real, seems like I'm really watching a family go through this horror. It's so damned impressive man.

[@tgeijer937]

I hope this was just his way to tackle a role that would have been a tough nut to crack for anyone, nevermind someone still in their teens while filming, and this particular role only. On the other hand, I was happy to hear that Aster was very supportive of his actors and i trust he took care of the teens in this film, so that the burden of such difficult subject they were handling - and the horror on top of that! - didn't get to them too much. I definitely agree with you on that immersing himself in a character that is essentially a sacrificial lamb who is emotionally, spiritually and psychologically beaten and broken down until he unravels entirely, can not be good for his psyche in the long run. Having said that, I must add that his haunting performance in the film was nothing short of absolutely stellar.

[@itstherudy]

Good stuff man. Good guy. Great role in a great film. Kudos +_0

[@trishacollymore4397]

I remember him from the naked brothers band on nickelodeon, lol

[@Karin_Allen]

I am rather uncomfortable with the amount of time spent talking about Alex's mole.

[@EsthledoKid97]

He's super hot!!!!!!! Like what the fuck 😂👌🏽😂👌🏽😂 And... very funny. The whole package 👻

[@Kkwbia8588]

I was more like the girl who falls for hunk but now I am really into nerdy guys like Alex since I found him in the latest Jumanji

[@temurtaymour5333]

Nobody cares

[@missing11eleven40]

His left eyebrow and the way he carry himself... 😍😍😍

[@marijaradonic2265]

Alex don't try crack.

[@kadosh081]

Which is his ancestry?? He looks so iranian/pakistani/north indian....

[@midasan6930]

His father is jewish. Lol I saw this same comment on another one of his interviews XD.

[@sarahalotaibi1230]

He does look Iranian

[@whitespirit26]

I think he looks Jewish lol.

[@LittleKittyCat]

Jewish Russian, Polish, and German. And he does not look Indian at all.

[@kadosh081]

@@LittleKittyCat northern indians - many - have that looking, those eyes, hair.....In capital Delhi, Gujarat, Kashmir state you'll find people with lighter skin and those features (been there)

[@Gonko100]

Probably will be the riddler at some point.

[@midapita]

Does anybody know who the two are talking about at 10:55?

[@user-vu2yb1gy4l]

Lars Von Trier! great movies, weird dude, check him out!

[@axisdiagonal392]

Hamida Sanford Lars Von Trier Danish director Directed: Antichrist, Melancholia, and Dogville

[@jgr1625]

god he’s hilarious

[@Karin_Allen]

Who is he impersonating at the beginning? Is it Sam Rockwell maybe?

[@denaedupree1608]

he’s so hot

[@12bendi]

Meu crush hhahahaha

[@RichardWilliams-yh4cq]

It's interesting that his jokes about crack are making me feel slightly uncomfortable! Like it's somewhat funny, but after a second thought it's just not cool given the current predicament so many people are in regarding drugs. Maybe just stick to one little joke insert instead of like 10! But anyway, I am in awe of this movie! And the performances! Amazing that this very young actor could pull out a performance like this! And so much of it is silent acting, facial expressions, etc. I wish both he and Toni Collette were acknowledged by the academy snobs for their performance!

[@ABC_12367]

He's supposed to limit his jokes because of other people's problems? Absolutely not.

[@neeNaa-od1no]

Good

[@comcam.]

Incredible performance! The only outlier was his crying during the seance scene. My wife and couldn’t help but laugh our asses off😆

[@scotscub76]

Dennis Buzard I thought his crying was spot on. He was so terrified he was resorting to childish behaviour. If yer terrified that's how u would be.

[@kiahwilliams687]

Part of the #moleclub

[@TisLita]

Him crying made me laugh

[@edum.6353]

Heil Paimon!

[@e2theoc]

great movie, but jesus listening to actors talk about acting is the worst sometimes lol

[@_tardigrade]

Pretentious movie, pretentious actor.

[@chynnhowe]

tardigrade Really? Is it not worth watching? I haven’t seen it yet.

[@_tardigrade]

It's worth watching if you have an interest in movies and/or this genre, but it's definitely not on the top of my would recommend list for people looking for a terrifying movie.

[@chynnhowe]

tardigrade Ok thanks 🙏

[@whitespirit26]

@@chynnhowe It's a great movie, but should come with a lot of trigger warnings. Alex Wolff is not the least pretentious, he's hilarious and very honest.

[@lp712]

@@chynnhowe yes. It’s very worth watching. Watch it