In the eyes of many theatergoers, Geoffrey Rush is finest recognized for his swashbuckling flip as the pirate Captain Hector Barbossa in Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. A fan-favorite foil to Johnny Depp‘s Captain Jack Sparrow, he is performed all of it throughout his time crusing the Seven Seas between serving the crown, working an empire, and preventing Sparrow as an immortal skeleton. His new function in The Rule of Jenny Pen, nevertheless, could not be extra completely different. Following the horror flick’s debut at Fantastic Fest, Collider’s Perri Nemiroff spoke with Rush about the movie, the place he defined why he signed on to be a part of John Lithgow on-screen and the way it in contrast to some of his previous roles, like Pirates.

Directed by James Ashcroft and written by Ashcroft and Eli Kent primarily based on a brief story by Owen Marshall, The Rule of Jenny Pen casts Rush as Stefan Mortensen, a misanthropic choose left in a wheelchair after struggling a stroke in the center of a courtroom throughout the closing case of his profession. Due to his situation, he is despatched to a nursing residence for care, the place he meets the vicious long-time resident Dave Crealy (Lithgow) and his dementia doll, Jenny Pen. Suddenly, Stefan turns into the newest goal of Dave’s torment, with Jenny finishing up his sadistic acts. Everything builds to a horrifying conflict between the two males that can solely finish with one as the victor and the different lifeless.

Rush’s key purpose for taking up such a mission was that it was vastly completely different than something he’d performed in his profession to this level. Lauded for roles in an array of interval items from <em>The King’s Speech</em> to Shakespeare in Love, amongst different initiatives, he was intrigued by taking a flip into horror, particularly after being blown away by Ashcroft and Kent’s different Marshall adaptation, Coming Home in the Dark. He defined:

“If I had recognized 10 years in the past. I dropped out of the business for a bit to flip issues down as a result of they felt like materials that I’d performed earlier than, and this was the type of unpredictable mission that I used to be ready to land in my lap. I learn it and noticed
Coming Home in the Dark
, which I watched with my household, who’re all movie buffs, and we simply sat there type of gobsmacked. Our jaws had been on the floor, going, ‘I do know that he made this in 18 nights for a million {dollars} in New Zealand.’ That’s quick. It received accepted into Cannes, after which COVID closed Cannes, after which it went to Sundance, and he turned the golden boy in Los Angeles, I believe. But he definitely knew the materials.”

Rush Loved the Theatricality and Challenge of ‘The Rule of Jenny Pen’

Merely being completely different wasn’t sufficient to pique Rush’s curiosity ever. Yet, The Rule of Jenny Pen immediately clicked with Rush, particularly when he and Ashcroft synced up due to their mutual theater backgrounds. The Oscar winner understood that there was one thing a lot deeper to what the director and Kent had placed on the web page than a run-of-the-mill, jumpscare-heavy horror affair. It was the theatricality and aptitude for the dramatics that made it a must-do mission for the actor.

“So, we got together on Zoom. I knew on page five. I just said to my agent, ‘Get me into this film. This is the role.’ The whole style of it was just curious. We both come from huge theater backgrounds, James for half of his life and me for half of mine. We both worked at the theater in different countries, and then both got interested or wanted to get into film in some way. There’s just something inherently heightened, not only because of the genre that it touches on — I think it’s a psychological thriller, but it’s really a drama. I didn’t treat it as being, ‘Oh, I hope there are a lot of jump scares that make this film very popular.’ I just thought there was so much more going on in it.”

As a slight bonus although, the movie provided an additional problem for Rush. Like studying to grasp his sword-fighting scenes in Pirates, he was equally devoted to mastering the motion of his wheelchair in Jenny Pen, particularly since he could be using it for many of the movie’s runtime. Just as he needed to seem like a expert swordsman to promote the concept that he was a infamous pirate, he needed to get acclimated with all 5 speeds on his wheelchair to make it appear as if he really had to rely on it. While the studying course of made for some blooper-worthy moments on set, it additionally resulted in a satisfying shoot that sated his want to be challenged with what actions he has to make plausible.

“Also, the problem of, I really like duties with a character. I did a movie a few years in the past referred to as
The Tailor of Panama
, and John Boorman, the director, mentioned, ‘I really need you to lower out a complete swimsuit on digicam.’ You know what I imply? He used it in the starting, sped up, and I had to learn the way to chalk and use the ruler and the shears and all that kind of stuff. I liked studying my sword fights for
Pirates
[
of the Caribbean
]. I liked studying to look as if I might play the piano accordion in
The Book Thief
. And this, I assumed, ‘You’re gonna spend the complete movie in a wheelchair. You’re reined in.’ But my wheelchair had 5 little lights on the joystick from pace one to pace 5. I knew by the finish of the story I needed to be skillful sufficient to rise up to pace 5, even in the most enclosed corridors. [Laughs] They did a blooper reel for the closing wrap celebration, and it is largely me simply working down the director, hitting the digicam, working into a staircase. They edited me very, very rigorously.”

Shudder acquired The Rule of Jenny Pen and can debut the movie on its platform someday in 2025. Stay tuned right here at Collider for extra on when the movie can be launched and additional updates from Fantastic Fest.