‘Lake George’ Interview: Carrie Coon and Shea Whigham

(L to R) Shea Whigham and Carrie Coon in ‘Lake George’. Photo: Magnet.

Opening in theaters and on digital beginning December 6th is the new crime drama ‘Lake George’, which was written and directed by Jeffrey Reiner (‘Homeland’), and stars Shea Whigham (‘Fast & Furious’, ‘Kong: Skull Island’), Carrie Coon (‘Gone Girl’, ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’), Max Casella (‘Inside Llewyn Davis’), and Glenn Fleshler (‘Joker’).

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Carrie Coon and Shea Whigham about their work on ‘Lake George’, their first reactions to the screenplay, reuniting after working together on ‘Fargo’, their characters’ unusual partnership, shooting a road trip movie, and collaborating on set with director Jeffrey Reiner.

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(L to R) Carrie Coon and Shea Whigham in ‘Lake George’. Photo: Magnet.

Moviefone: To begin with, Shea, what was you first reaction to reading the screenplay and did you recognize immediately that this would be a great role for you to play?

Shea Whigham: I read it in one sitting, and that’s usually the litmus test for me. I read it in one sitting, and Jeffrey had written it. I think he came to me first, and so you got to honor that. I felt like Don, he’s difficult because he doesn’t say a lot, especially in the beginning of this piece. So, I said to Jeffrey, we got to really trust that. I love that challenge. I loved these kind of throwback characters like this that don’t say a lot, but have a lot to say, especially as it unfolds throughout the film. Then you get a crew around you that you feel like they can execute this, and (Carrie) was at the top of my list.

MF: Carrie, can you talk about your first reaction to the screenplay and the unlikely partnership between Phyllis and Don?

Carrie Coon: Shea called me and said that he and Jeffrey had been working on the script for a couple of years and they finally got the money, and it was during the strike. He said, “Do you want to come out and make the movie?” I read it in an hour, and I said, “Yes, I want to figure out how to make this movie with you,” because I knew we would have a blast. I mean, Shea and I were good friends from ‘Fargo’. What’s funny about Phyllis, I guess, is what I realized is her energy is so much closer to my energy that I have in my life, which is not something anyone ever sees in my work. So, you could argue that Phyllis is the most Carrie Coon character that’s ever been made, but no one would ever guess that I don’t think. I loved her. Also, because people don’t invite me to play leading ladies. I’m gratefully part of an ensemble most of the time, and I’m happy to do it, but it’s fun to have to do the heavy lift. It’s a challenge.

Carrie Coon in ‘Lake George’. Photo: Magnet.

MF: Carrie, to follow up on what you just said, what was it like playing a character that is so close to who you are in real life?

CC: I guess, in some ways, just a pleasure. It was a pleasure because also, everything about it was so open. Shea and I are good friends. We came in with a close friendship, so we knew right from the jump it was going to have good chemistry and good intimacy. I really love Jeffrey, and we assembled a great crew, and everybody understood the assignment. It was a small crew. It was a quick shoot. We were moving around a lot, but it was really an adventure. It was a road picture, and it truly was. We were driving up the coast in Jeffrey Reiner’s car, and so it was the best kind of filmmaking. It felt like that small, scrappy little movie that could, and that’s kind of the best. It felt like summer camp. It was fun to get to lean into my own nature.

MF: Shea, can you talk about the guilt and disappointment that Don carries with him and what happens when he decides to partner with Phyllis?

SW: I mean, look, the film is about guilt. It’s about redemption. He meets this woman that looks like she’s swallowed a light bulb. You know what I mean? He’s just done a stint of 10 years (in prison). I think these two oddly are what each other need this moment in time of their lives. He needs her at this moment to help guide him, much like Shea needs Carrie in his life. She’s great and it’s a difficult character to execute. You don’t just show up on the day and she just gets to play herself. This is, if there’s a better performance, and I see a lot of stuff, I haven’t seen it this year. It’s a very complicated nuanced performance if you really watch it. She’s kind of poo-pooing that, but the amount of work that goes into that to make the comedy and then the heaviness, you can’t play any of that. You must go away from it for it to land. She’s a gamer. I don’t know any other actors that would let me pour dirt on them for five hours at a time and never complain a moment. But I think that’s what you see, this film, oddly, it’s a crime film and it’s got these moments of enormous levity with Armen (Glenn Fleshler) and Phyllis and I, but it’s rich. By the end, hopefully you’re moved, and that’s the only thing I ever ask. Move me. Move me to tears or make me cry. I don’t care. Scare me, but move me, and I think by the end of this, you are.

(L to R) Shea Whigham and Carrie Coon in ‘Lake George’. Photo: Magnet.

MF: Carrie, do you think your experience working with Shea on ‘Fargo’ helped inform the characters and their relationship together in this movie?

CC: Well, fundamentally, between two artists, it’s about respect. I respect Shea’s body of work and the actor that he is, and I know that I have a great scene partner across from me. So, that’s just an invitation into the best part of working, which is just being present and seeing what will happen. That’s when it’s most electric and most fun to do. I think obviously, our friendship was instructive in that, and we didn’t have to spend any time getting to know each other. We were just catching up. I think a sense of history is always useful. I come from the Ensemble Theater where some people have been working together for decades, and we don’t have that as much anymore in the American theater or in film. You just don’t see those relationships develop over time in that way, and so there’s a real pleasure in getting to rely on authentic friendship to help build character. Absolutely, I think it does add depth to the movie, for sure.

MF: Shea, the film is really a road trip movie, can you talk about the challenges of filming on location?

SW: When I first read it, I said, “Jeffrey, to me, this is your love letter.” It’s very personal, obviously, for him and Don, and I knew that. He said, “This is personal.” I learned a little bit of that as we went through. But to me, I looked at it as kind of a love letter to Southern California as we moved from Glendale all the way through the east side, into the Valley, out into the western part of the Valley, and then up into Goleta, Santa Barbara, and then Lone Pine. I mean, we really embraced the history of the state, where they made the Westerns with John Wayne. At one point Carrie was like, “This is John Wayne’s suite that he stayed in,” in the little Lone Pine Inn as you’re going up to Mammoth. We were using Jeffrey’s car that I’m driving, Jeffrey’s house, his sister’s house, his house up in Goleta, and the forest that he and his wife walk through. It takes it from something that just could be run-of-the-mill to, it’s a visceral quality through the piece. We’re going to show you California and you’ll never get to experience this again, where we take our time going through.

‘Lake George’ director Jeffrey Reiner.

MF: Finally, Carrie, what was your experience like collaborating with director Jeffrey Reiner on set?

CC: The best thing about it was that he has written this very personal script, which often can suggest someone’s going to keep a tight grip on their material because it’s so personal. But he was having a great time, and he was playful. So, if something wasn’t quite working, he would be open to shifting the language. But also, there were moments where the way a scene is on a page, sometimes you can see it, right? You see it how it plays out in every other genre picture, and there’s a version of that scene, and you could just do that. Then Jeffrey would say, “I don’t know, maybe you sit on her lap?” So, some of the stranger moments in the film came from his inventiveness, playfulness and openness to what the dynamic was becoming between me and Shea, and I so appreciated his willingness to do that. It was a lot of fun.

Not Yet Rated1 hr 58 minDec 6th, 2024

Showtimes & Tickets

Newly released from prison, a white-collar criminal, used to dealing with numbers, is tasked with one last job by his boss: kill the boss’ girlfriend before she… Read the Plot

What is the plot of ‘Lake George’?

Tasked by mobsters with putting an end to Phyllis’ (Carrie Coon) life, Don (Shea Whigham) is unable to pull the trigger, and instead, the two set off on a road trip that evolves into something much more. Phyllis has designs of her own and proposes a little tag team action to Don: combine forces with the aim to steal all the money from the people who want her dead.