“ The main character of Nitram, explains its director, Justin Kurzel, dreams of having the physique of an Australian surfer, but cannot achieve it. So we were looking for a sweet character, which contradicts the way the character dreams of himself. “ When the Australian filmmaker and his screenwriter, Shaun Grant, travel to Los Angeles, they have Caleb Landry Jones in mind.
At 31, he already has behind him a series of outstanding supporting roles that make him an icon of American independent cinema. Heroes hunk and destroy Mad Love in New York, of the Safdie brothers (2014), perverse figure of Get Out, Jordan Peele’s horrific blockbuster (2017), he was also noticed as Red, the publicist of Three Billboards, by Martin McDonagh, or as Bobby the mechanic of The Dead Don’t Die, by Jim Jarmusch (2019).
“ We make an appointment, tells the director of Nitram, Caleb wanted soft-boiled eggs. While he ate them, he spoke in that natural way that immediately dazzled us. In fact, our decision was made, but he didn’t know it, and as we had to go on another date, he started following us, and we couldn’t get rid of him… ” Listening to Caleb Landry Jones has mineral blue eyes under his red eyebrows and a laugh tumbling down from his shy face.
Dallas, Texas. Or, more exactly, its periphery: Richardson. The father is a contractor – masonry, carpentry, heating, everything… A heavy guy, big beard à la ZZ Top, cowboy hat and bolo tie – the small leather cord which replaces the tie among the rednecks. The mother ended up quitting her job as a teacher to give piano lessons. Young Caleb says he always heard her compose songs. “ In the summer, when I was little, she spent a lot of time recording herself at the piano, I saw that her work prevented her from creating, that in her heart, her dream was to make music. “
Puzzles to assemble
Caleb has two brothers. The eldest is in the army, the youngest works with the father. He himself took the key to the fields. “My dad named his company Jones contractor and sons, so I guess the idea was for me to work alongside him. Too hard, too physical, it did not connect me. When I was 17, I started watching movies. It obsessed me. In college, I was playing in the theater and an agent came by, saw monologues that I was performing, liked, pushed me to audition. First stamp [une microscène dans No Country for Old Men des frères Coen], a year later another – the director thought I was high, wanted me to audition again, but that’s because I was avoiding blinking because I thought it was scary. Finally I got the part and it brought me 5,000 bullets, enough to break me in LA “
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