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Apr 25, 2013 By Chris Tinkham Web Exclusive

23-year-old Texas native Caleb Landry Jones is growing up before our eyes. Two years ago, he appeared wide-eyed and fresh-faced as Banshee, the mutant with the sonic scream in X-Men: First Class. In his latest film, Antiviral, a change is evident from the opening shot. Antiviral begins with Jones, his hair grown long and pulled back, standing hunched in an overcoat with a white object dangling from his mouth as he glares forebodingly into the camera. Something is clearly wrong with his character.

In an intense and physically demanding performance, Jones plays Syd March, a salesman at the Lucas Clinic, a company that purchases viruses from celebrities and re-sells them to obsessed fans. On the side, Syd carries samples of viruses in his own body and deals them to the black market. When he becomes stricken by a virus that has made superstar Hannah Geist (Sarah Gadon) terminally ill, he must trace its origin to survive, facing a treacherous group of underground characters along the way. The chilling, twisted film is set in an alternate present day. It’s the first feature from writer/director Brandon Cronenberg, son of David Cronenberg. Antiviral premiered at Cannes in 2012.

Before Jones moved to Los Angeles at 19 to focus on acting, he sang and played drums in the promising Dallas-based band Robert Jones. His film career began auspiciously with a small part in the Coen brothers’ No Country for Old Men. In between that and X-Men, he had a featured role in The Last Exorcism, a brief part in The Social Network, and appearances on Breaking Bad and Friday Night Lights. Under the Radar spoke with Jones over the phone at the end of March.

Chris Tinkham: What was it about Brandon’s script and the part of Syd resonated with you?

Caleb Landry Jones: It was something I had to be part of. That’s the best way I can say it. [Laughs]

Your co-star Sarah Gadon has described this film as a love story. Do you remember if you had thought of it as a love story prior to filming?

No, I didn’t see it as a love story. I guess obsession can be a part of love [laughs], but no, not particularly. But I really like that idea.

What was your primary focus in preparing for this part? Did you do any research or approach the role in ways that you hadn’t with other parts?

Everything I do seems to be a trial. I’m not sure if it’s gonna work, and I still don’t know if it works, whatever it is. There were a lot of things on this film that I haven’t done before. Although, that goes for a lot of the films I’ve done. I’m not sure what I’m doing necessarily, so to speak, so everything I do just seems to be just a go. Does that make sense?

Yes. Every performance requires something different, but I was curious—

—Right. That’s what I mean. I’m always searching for whatever it is that’s going to make it work. But I’m not sure what it was, if it did, how it did. [Laughs]

There are a number of shots in the film where you have your head slightly bowed and your eyes looking up. Was that something that you came up with, or did Brandon want that?

Whether it’s something we wanted without knowing it, or something he wanted the whole time and I did, and then there wasn’t anything that needed to be said, I’m not sure. I love Kubrick, and in every Kubrick film, you’ve got your hero or antihero, whatever the hell you want to call him, whatever film it is, and there’s always this shot—and I think that you know the shot that I’m talking about that Kubrick always seems to get—I think it spawned from that. It’s the only thing that I can think of. You know what I’m talking about when I say that?

I think I do—

—In Barry Lyndon, it’s at the trial, and a bunch of men are keeping him down. In 2001, it’s in the helmet. You know what I’m talking about?

The first thing I thought of when you mentioned Kubrick was A Clockwork Orange, the opening shot.

Yes, and there’s a shot in Clockwork, a few of them with that exact same bowed head and upward eyes that’s just— Aw, what a powerful film. I don’t know, especially the face, to do that, and Kubrick used the hell out of it.

You’re also shot from behind in several scenes. Is that freeing for an actor, to not have the camera pointed at your face?

Uh, no, it’s about the same. [Laughs] Nothing really changes, except your face isn’t there. I’m not sure or not, because I’m very unsure of myself.

Syd March, played by Caleb Landry Jones, tends to Hannah Geist (played by Sarah Gadon).

If you’re unsure of your performances, what kind of director works well with you? What characteristics does a director have to help you through that?

I’m not wise enough to go about that question. I wish that I were, but I’m not. I read that answer in a few books several times by a few people, and they worded it much better than I have. And I’d agree with them. [Laughs] I wish that I had quotes and nice leads for you, but I don’t.

We talked a little bit about A Clockwork Orange. What was it like working with Malcolm McDowell? Did you get to spend much time with him?

It was daunting because I was affected by that film so much when I saw it. It was the only film like it that I’d seen at the time. I should say still seen. I thought I was nervous the first day of working, but I was really nervous when he arrived on set—when God stepped into the room. It’s funny, because now that I’ve watched it, I saw many similarities, things that reminded me of certain things about Clockwork that I didn’t think about at the time. And that made me feel even better. But it makes sense it a strange way, I suppose, to me.

What drew you to acting? Was there a particular work or performance that made a big impression on you?

Yeah, there were. [A Clockwork Orange] was one of them, not necessarily acting but it got me interested in film. That was a big one. And that was one of the first films that I needed to see that I was finally allowed to see because of my age. I’m sorry, what was the question my friend?

Oh, what drew you to acting?

It’s wild fascination with the art, I think, the whole bag. Not just acting but everything that goes into it—the music, the editing, the makeup, the props, everything. It’s very interesting to me.

Does Landry in your name come from Tom Landry?

Yes, it does, I was told by my parents.

Were your parents big football fans or does that come with the territory living near Dallas?

My mother’s as much a football fan as she can be, I suppose. [Laughs] And my father, naturally, loves the sport and loves the team very much. America’s team. But I think they were more influenced by the man himself. I know that they took great pride in some of the things that he did and said. I don’t know much about him except for the Super Bowls that he got us along with the players. There was something about him that struck them enough to name their first son.

What about Caleb? Were you named after someone else as well?

Yes, I was. Biblical, Caleb and Joshua entered the Promised Land. It’s from that story. My younger brother’s name is Joshua.

Are you still playing music?

Yeah, when I have the time. [Laughs] And when I’m in an environment where I’m allowed to.

But that’s something you keep to yourself now? You don’t go out and play anymore?

No, I haven’t gone out and played for a few years now, strictly because I put my attention elsewhere, as far as in the performance aspect, it seems. I still do everything that I did before, the only thing is that I don’t show it, I suppose.

The first credit I see for you is No Country for Old Men. Was that your first job on camera?

Yes, that was my first audition. That was my first handshake in the business, my first look into the eyes of cinema. It was the best introduction to film that I could have had in the modern day. The Coen brothers are something else. Javier Bardem is something else. It influenced me extremely, and that’s partly the reason I’m here, I’m sure. I didn’t drum until I saw the film and saw everything that I did wrong. Theater is all I approached in high school. And so, I didn’t know there was a difference, the extreme precision that one could get in film that they can’t get in theater. Although, I’m sure that someone would say the exact opposite as well. But there’s something about film that’s unlike anything else.

What can we see you in next? Can you talk about anything?

Yes, Tom à la ferme will be coming out at some point, I presume. And I’m looking for Queen and Country on the horizon, John Boorman.

What kind of music have you been listening to?

I just got back from Steinbeck country, so I’ve been listening to a lot of Dylan. [Laughs] But then I’m always listening to a lot of Dylan, I suppose. We were listening to The Tempest, which I’d never heard. And then we were listening to World Gone Wrong, which I hadn’t heard as well. I stopped after a certain period with Dylan, for own personal reasons. [Laughs] World Gone Wrong, if you haven’t heard it, I recommend it. I needed to hear it. Maybe you do too, I don’t know. I needed to hear him sing those songs, specifically, and I didn’t even know it. [Laughs] Funny how that is, isn’t it?

Antiviral is available on VOD as a part of the IFC Midnight electronic film festival.

ifcfilms.com/films/antiviral

http://robertjones.bandcamp.com