Warning: This article contains spoilers forBabylon.
You’ve never seenTobey Maguirequite like this.
The two connected when Chazelle was working on the script.
Tobey Maguire plays James McKay in ‘Babylon.'.Paramount Pictures
Even still, it was Maguire who ultimately chose the villainous role for himself.
EW got Maguire’s side of the story.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY:So, of all the roles inBabylon, why did this one speak to you?
Tobey Maguire in ‘Babylon’.Scott Garfield/Paramount
TOBEY MAGUIRE:Oh, that’s a good question.
[Laughs] I don’t know.
It seemed like fun.
There was just a lot of possibility in the characterization.
Was there another role in particular that you considered?
Well, there were other things that I was looking at that looked fun, too.
But I just got pulled to McKay.
They’re so good.
But I just gravitated to James.
Damien described the role to me as sort of like an overgrown Pied Piper.
I would say in terms of inspiration, no no one person specifically.
[The character] is also pitching movies, which I thought was hilarious.
And I think for him, he’s like, “Look atthisworld.”
He wants to share [the underworld].
But to him, this is what it is to be human.
How much input did you have over his look?
What all went into that?
It was fun in the testing of it.
Because again, it was pretty broad what we could do.
So I think, starting with the clothing, we tried some different directions.
There was a green suit, kind of just like a basic salesman look.
It would have felt quite different.
And then [what we went with] felt like “emcee of the underworld” clothing.
Then, the hair and makeup actually went pretty quickly.
Damien had people wearing masks and makeup and said, “Let’s try some makeup on James.”
So we were playing with that really pale makeup.
[Damien] had some images fromDeath in Venicein his mind that we were looking at.
Your scenes are some of the most disturbing in the film, and are very dark.
Did you have the chance to, at other times, be on set and enjoy some lighter moments?
Yeah, I definitely visited on different days.
The exterior and interior locations of the first party.
And then my kids are in a shot there, too.
They were extras very briefly.
But they were so excited just to get in, like, the clothes and makeup and stuff.
Damien had said he’s never seen you in a role like this one.
Does this feel like a turning point to you?
It was certainly fun.
Certainly nothing I can remember.
Nothing in film that people would have seen.
And McKay for me was like, “Huh, not sure.
But I think it’d be fun to take a stab at figure it out as I went.”
And then I would work on it, I really worked on it.
I would just play it wildly differently.
I’m just talking about in my living room or backyard.
And it was a lot of fun.
I felt a lot of freedom.
What are you looking to do next?
Do you want to tackle another darker role like this one?
I don’t have anything specific in mind.
It just calls to you.
