‘Plainclothes’ Interview: Tom Blyth, Russell Tovey and More

(L to R): Tom Blyth and Russell Tovey in ‘Plainclothes’, a Magnolia Pictures release. Photo: Magnolia Pictures.

Opening in theaters on September 19th is the new film ‘Plainclothes’, which was written and directed by Carmen Emmi, and stars Tom Blyth (‘The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes’) and Russell Tovey (‘The Good Liar’).

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Tom Blyth, Russell Tovey and filmmaker Carmen Emmi about their work on ‘Plainclothes’, developing the screenplay, the true story that inspired it, Blyth and Tovey’s approach to their characters, and the forbidden relationship they have together.

(L to R): Tom Blyth and Russell Tovey in ‘Plainclothes’, a Magnolia Pictures release. Photo: Magnolia Pictures.

Moviefone: To begin with, Carmen, can you talk about developing the screenplay and what were some of the themes that you wanted to explore as a director with this movie?

Carmen Emmi: I wanted to explore what it feels like to police your feelings. That was always the goal with this film, and specifically, I wanted to take a closer look at my anxiety and think about how my anxiety created a barrier to love, I suppose, in my life, but also a barrier to me being my true self. That’s what I set out to explore doing this film.

MF: Can you talk about the true story the film is based on?

CE: Well, I saw it through the lens of Lucas’s coming out experience. I mean, specifically plot wise, this was inspired by real events, by a sting operation in Long Beach, California, that I read about. It happened in 2014, where officers would go undercover and lure and arrest men who are cruising in a public restroom. I think that this policing of homosexuality or policing in this way has even gone on until 2019, I’ve heard recently. So, it’s oftentimes when people hear the plot of our story, they think, “Oh, well, that, wouldn’t happen today.” But it is inspired by events that happened and happened recently. It’s unfortunately a part of our history. But when you get in that state of mind, you know, “Everyone will just reject me,” you start telling yourself these things when you suppress your feelings. I knew that it was beyond queerness. I think anyone with a secret can probably feel that in their family dynamics.

Tom Blyth in ‘Plainclothes’, a Magnolia Pictures release. Photo: Magnolia Pictures.

MF: Tom, can you talk about Lucas’ struggle to do his job while holding on to this secret and the guilt and paranoia that he experiences?

Tom Blyth: Yeah, the whole film is about him trying to spin these plates, multiple plates at the same time of his own personality and his own life. Even Lucas not quite knowing yet, which are the real plates, and which are part of the façade he’s put on as a survival mechanism. Even once he meets Andrew, he adds a new plate to spin because he chooses at a different name. The first instinct he has is to say his dad’s name to cover up and to not be himself because he’s scared to tell Andrew his real name. So, he’s constantly having to lie and part of that is that he’s in this job at the police force as an undercover cop. So, he can’t stop lying and putting himself in these holes, but it’s all to do with his survival because he’s so scared of not being accepted for who he really is. So much of Carmen’s exploration of his own anxiety is in that story. So, it was it was a difficult place to live in for a month and a bit. To kind of go there every day but being surrounded by Carmen, Russell, Maria (Dizzia) and Amy (Forsyth), our amazing cast, and everyone. It was such a loving set to be on, which I think it had to be to tell a difficult story. But I think ultimately getting to see to see Lucas from A to Z and getting to have that breath of release at the end of the film that is a breath of hope and it’s complex and life is not going to be simple by any stretch just because he’s been able to be honest to himself. But certainly, as a release, he’s lived with this tension for so long and now he just gets to, even if it’s complex, be.

MF: Russell, can you talk about your approach to playing this character, his relationship with Lucas, and creating that relationship on screen with Tom?

Russell Tovey: Well, it was amazing working with Tom. We had very wonderful days on set. It was a joy to share these moments with him and I’m so proud of what we’ve achieved. People believed this relationship and believed this connection and that’s something that you have no control over when you step on set. You hope and pray that whoever you’re love scene partner is, you can act that out. We were able to do that. So that was a given and we didn’t have to think about that. So that was wonderful, and special. This character for me is someone that is a study in shame. How do we live but carrying a deep embedded ingrained shame? And what that does to people. So, it was kind of great to play because I think as actors, we want to be challenged. This is a guy that is multilayered and is hiding in plain sight from himself. How he is with Lucas is unlike how he is with anyone else in his life. It was like this relationship gave him a space to be free and could be the most honest he ever could be ever in his life. That’s why it’s so tragic, I think, that they aren’t together. But for me, I just I love the challenge of this character. I just think he’s. sad, but full of love.

Russell Tovey in ‘Plainclothes’, a Magnolia Pictures release. Photo: Magnolia Pictures.

MF: Russell, can you talk about the ramifications of this relationship for Andrew and what he has at stake?

RT: Well, the stakes for him personally, are the highest ever. He’s married, he does admit it. He says he’s got a wife and he’s got kids and for him, his children are everything. He does not want to lose his children. If this all comes out, he might lose his children and he might never get to see them grow up. That for him overrides any persuasion he has within him to live out his sexuality. He has rules and he sticks to them. Even when he falls completely in love, the advice he offers Lucas is it’s going to hurt. This is going to really hurt, but you do get over it, and you might get this feeling again and it’ll hurt again, but you’ll get over it. This poor guy has been through pain after pain after pain and he’s never allowed himself to feel the full gamut of what that joy could bring him. This is a guy that has never experienced pure joy and probably never will. But through Lucas, he can give him the invitation to take that choice. I think that’s a real act of generosity that he has, and he wants to make sure that Lucas has a wholesome, as much as it can be, even though they’re having sex in the back of a minivan, first experience that doesn’t leave him scarred or in recovery from this. All he’s got to recover from is a swollen heart from emotions, not like psychological damage, I hope.

MF: Tom, can you talk about Lucas’ grief over his father’s passing and does that add to the shame that he is feeling?

TB: I mean, as Russell said, shame is such a big, through line for a bunch of the characters in the film, and not even just the characters who are dealing with having to repress sexuality. I think even the mother, the uncle, the shame across the board. I think Carmen’s written a great study on human shame and how we put it on ourselves and put it on other people when we need not do that. The damage it causes, you see the rifts in the family around Lucas that is all about the shame of how they judge each other. Sometimes they will hold each other to certain expectations. I can certainly relate to that and seeing your own family and how they judge each other or hold each other to certain expectations. But what I love about how Carmen wrote the family is that despite Lucas’s fear of being accepted by his mother and his family, if he were to come out, there’s also a lot of love there. These are not abusive parents. They’re not parents who have made Lucas think that that he won’t be accepted. A lot of the fear and the shame is Lucas assuming that he won’t be accepted because of societal expectations. I hope Carmen doesn’t mind me speaking to this, but we talked a lot about his experience with fear and coming out with family members. I’ve met Carmen’s family, and they are some of the most loving, generous, warm hearted, accepting people I’ve ever met.

(L to R): Tom Blyth and Russell Tovey in ‘Plainclothes’, a Magnolia Pictures release. Photo: Magnolia Pictures.

Finally, Russell, what does this story mean to you and what do you hope audiences take away from watching the movie?

RT: It’s a study of perfectionism. We all struggle, and these characters are all struggling with being the perfect societal example of what they’ve been prescribed and none of them can be. Nobody in life can be the version that society says, “This is what you have to uphold to”. So, everyone’s struggling in this film. Whether it is sexuality, whether it’s just being present and being in the room with the people, they’re all struggling. So, it’s a study on perfectionism. It’s a study on shame and hopefully so many people are connecting with this film on so many levels because it’s universal. That’s what we all go through. That’s what we all feel. No matter who we’re attracted to or not, we’re all struggling and we’re all carrying around shame. We all want to be this perfect version of ourselves, which we never can do.

What is the plot of ‘Plainclothes’?

Set in 1990s New York, a working-class undercover officer (Tom Blyth) is tasked with entrapping and apprehending gay men, only to find himself drawn to one (Russell Tovey) of his targets.