In Affection, afflicted by a mysterious condition that resets her memory, Ellie becomes trapped in a cyclical nightmare with a man who claims to be her husband. She soon must uncover the horrifying truth of her existence—before she forgets it all again.
Directed by BT Meza, the movie stars Jessica Rothe (Happy Death Day), Joseph Cross (Mindhunter), and Julianna Layne (Audrey's Children), and it currently sits at 95% on Rotten Tomatoes ahead of its release in select theaters this weekend.
Earlier this week, we sat down with Cross to discuss his role as Bruce, the father figure in this family who is hiding a dark secret. The actor, who many of you may have grown up watching in movies like Jack Frost and Wide Awake, goes to some dark places in the sci-fi horror and takes us through how he created the character.
We also hear from the actor about collaborating with his co-stars and get some insights into Bruce's past, working with a first-time feature director, and whether he views this as a villainous role.
You can check out our full interview with Cross on his Affection role in the player below.
What a journey [Affection] was to go on as a viewer. I can only imagine when you sat down to read the script, what you were thinking as you explored this character of Bruce.
Yeah. I mean, it was going to keep me busy. When I read it, and I heard BT's vision for it, I was like, "Okay, well, I can already wrap my head around the emotional component of this character, what he's going through, his grief, his longing, his loss, his refusal to accept what life has given him." But the work that I had to do in addition to that quickly was a deep dive into the science behind it all, which is very real and coming down the pike more quickly, I think, than we imagine. I can't say BT's gotten it exactly right or that any of the people who are prophesying about what might come are right, but over the last 30 years, we've seen an enormous technological explosion, and people are interested in being alive for as long as they can. So it stands to reason that we're going to see a lot of that fused in the future.
I loved how it is just the three of you in the film, obviously yourself, Jessica and Juliana, but your collaboration with Jessica in particular and that really complicated dynamic between her and Bruce as the story plays out. Did you work a lot with her to try and figure out how these two would interact, particularly as the film goes on?
Yeah, I mean, we spent all of our time together when we were making this movie. We spent almost all of our downtime together. We were in upstate New York in the Western Catskills in a town that didn't have self-service really, and we were both there by ourselves for the whole time. So we were really able to spend a ton of time together and establish a lot of trust. Jessica's obviously an amazing actress, and when I first saw her work, it was just really exciting because I was like, "Okay, we're going to be able to do something special here." And yeah, I just had a great time with her. I just think the world of her. I think she's incredible.
Having been a child actor yourself, how impressed were you by what you saw from Juliana, because what a talent she is.
Yeah, Juliana is fantastic. She's a great actress. I was really blown away by her. And there was one day where she did a scene, and then we did my coverage, and then she was like, "Can I do my coverage again?" And we were like, "Yeah." And she did it again, and she was like, "Even better." And she was so right to ask to do it again. But for an 8-year-old to have the understanding and the courage and the want to improve on what she did when she saw what the other actor ended up finding in his coverage was just great. She's great.
When Bruce's darker nature is revealed, you get some very physical moments, obviously with your co-stars in the film. And I imagine that takes a lot of trust between the two of you. Is it difficult for you to get into the headspace of where Bruce must be?
Yeah, for sure. I think that Jessica and I have established a lot of trust. She knew that I thought the world of her, and I think that we both really trusted each other to push it and to really go for it. And of course, we had a stunt coordinator on set, and we had an intimacy coordinator on set. So there's always somebody standing by to make sure everybody's safe from a bird's eye view. But I just think that she and I could look at each other and know that we were in a good space and check in between takes.
The film alludes to Bruce having been doing what he's doing for a long time. Did you really think a lot about what he's been through to get him to this point and where we find him? And was that something you and BT discussed to help you get into his head a little bit better?
Yeah, of course. I think that it's been decades of this, if not centuries of this, for him. It has been a very, very long time, and I think he's been driven to the brink of madness. He's a science-minded person, so he has the patience of someone who's capable of experimenting over and over and over and not getting the result that he wants, but it's so linked to his heart, to what he wants for himself and his family, that I think it has just driven him a bit mad by the end. Maybe I'm putting it mildly. Bruce is not a psychopath. Bruce is not a sociopath. Bruce thinks he's doing the right thing for the people that he loves who love him. Bruce thinks that he is skirting his fate. He thinks that he is doing right by these two people in his life and that he is going to return his family to what it was meant to be. So Bruce's fatal flaw is that he just can't accept life as it has come at him and grieve and move forward. He is dead set on playing God in that sense. And that's where all good sci-fi goes.
I think everyone's going to take away something different from this one. But for you personally, did you walk away thinking of Bruce as a villain or just this desperate man who's just, as you said, over all these decades and years has just maybe lost his way?
No, I don't think of him as a villain at all. As I said, I don't think of him as a sociopath or a psychopath or even like an anarchist at all. I actually think he is a singularly focused person who, in his attempt to do right by his family, is doing morally questionable things. And what is a life? If Bruce has given life, can he take it? If he's given life in an attempt to give a certain life and it didn't work, is it permissible for him to take that life to start over? Which is really... I mean, I think that the movie just asks a lot of deep philosophical questions, in my opinion, and that's what was able to keep me forever curious about this person and about these topics.
To work with a first-time director like BT on this, what's that like for you as an actor? And is it easy to form a partnership with him? I know this was a very personal story to him as well, so does that add pressure at all for you?
Yeah, I mean, BT has a long history of directing music videos and commercials, and he did an amazing short film that I loved. So he's got a lot of experience on set. This is his first feature, and it is deeply personal to him. Everybody's made their first movie at one point. The most legendary filmmakers at one time or another set out to call action for their very first time on their first feature. So it does feel special to me to maybe be here at that moment for BT. I think that BT can have a really long career doing whatever it is he chooses to do. And so I was honoured to be able to support and to help him realise the vision that he had.
Affection arrives in select theaters on May 8.