Metro UK

Sebastian Stan and the cast of Sharper have spilled the beans on what it was that attracted them to star in Apple TV Plus‘s glossy new thriller – and it’s safe to say the number one reason was star and producer Julianne Moore, who did not disappoint.

The script was taken from the ‘Black List’ of popular but as-yet-unmade films that circulates Hollywood each year, and sees Pam & Tommy actor Stan, Justice Smith from Pokémon: Detective Pikachu and The Tender Bar’s Briana Middleton all embroiled in a high-stakes game of cat and mouse in the upper echelons of New York City society.

As perspectives shift and stories play out from different angles, the audience is left guessing the truth of what they know about student Sandy (Middleton), bookstore owner Tom (Smith) and the con-artist duo of Max (Stan) and Madeline (Moore).

On the question of if working with Oscar-winner Moore was a big motivation for agreeing to the project, the trio were effusive, with Smith saying she was ‘the reason I wanted to do this’, while Middleton states: ‘Watching her and getting to work with her was a masterclass.’

With the trio speaking exclusively to Metro.co.uk ahead of the film’s release, Stan agreed that she was ‘the reason why we’re all here.’

He added: ‘What was amazing is sometimes you meet somebody you’ve watched for such a long time and [you know] the image and you don’t know how they’re going to be in [real] life.

Sebastian Stan, who plays Max, praised Moore’s generous attitude on set as ‘the icing on the cake’

‘You’ve got all this time that you’re sitting around waiting for the shots and all that – and the fact that she was just as welcoming and just as nice and generous off-screen, and connecting with each person… It was the icing on the cake.’

During Sharper, the actors’ characters take on different roles of their own as the power dynamic shifts and secrets are uncovered.

Stan’s Max is introduced as a ruthless but smooth con to begin with, but when Moore’s Madeline makes her fashionably late entrance in the movie, his motivations become murkier – part of what the Emmy nominee was keen to sink his teeth into.

‘When I first read the script, I didn’t really understand what my character was trying to do, what was he after really,’ Stan explained.

‘Was it a revenge thing or was he… I don’t want to go into what happens in the movie! So, it was more kind of just going into and trying to figure that out, and that part of it was intriguing to me. I liked how it started, how he starts out and suddenly it’s totally something else.’

Avoiding some pretty major spoilers, Middleton shared: ‘Without trying to give too much away… I think just the fact that there are so many different characters that my character is playing – that was the biggest selling point for me.’

For Screen Captures and the corresponding video click here

Yahoo UK – “We’re exploring the consequences of money and, to some extent, capitalism”

The Menu, Triangle of Sadness, The White Lotus; we’re fascinated by the lives of millionaires – and Sharper, an upcoming Julianne Moore-starring thriller heading to Apple TV+ on Friday, 17 February, takes another shot at the wealthy.

“We’re exploring the consequences of money and, to some extent, capitalism,” Sebastian Stan, one of Sharper’s leads, tells Yahoo UK when asked about the current wave of ‘eat the rich’ content coming to cinemas and streamers.

Read more: Sebastian Stan undergoes transformation for new movie

“Money is supposed to give you all these opportunities, but at the same time, it takes so much away.

“It divides in so many ways, and it imprisons you and isolates you.”

Justice Smith, who appears alongside Stan in Sharper, believes we’re all fascinated by “the darkness inside of ourselves”.

“We all like to imagine that we would be good people under different circumstances,” the actor – best known for Detective Pikachu and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom – says.

“But we’re fascinated by our capability of darkness. Same reason why we’re so fascinated by serial killers. We’re fascinated to the extent that people can be horrible to one another.

“Because we recognise in ourselves how we are, how we could potentially be horrible.”

It’s a theory that’s fitting considering Sharper’s about a group of people who, on the surface, appear normal, yet transpire to be a bunch of liars, thieves, and double-crossing scam artists.

To say too much more would spoil the fun – over its runtime, the movie slowly reveals itself, every new scene unravelling more secrets as we discover what drove a young woman (Briana Middleton) to steal $350,000 from a book-store owner (Smith).

Directed by Benjamin Caron, who helmed the last two episodes of the Star Wars series Andor, Sharper’s a tight mystery that, ideally, should be seen on the big screen. However, the movie’s heading to streaming a week after its theatrical debut in the US. That’s not too much of an issue for Smith.

“I like streaming,” he says. “It’s accessible. “There are people, me included, where sometimes I can’t sit through a two hour film. I need to watch it on my own terms. And I enjoy it because I got to watch it on my own terms.”

Stan is slightly more cautious. “I think having the choice is important,” he says. “But maybe I’m more old school. I hope that we continue to also protect the theatrical experience.”

Yahoo points out that a film like Sharper probably wouldn’t get made without a streamer’s backing. “Where does [a movie like this] live nowadays?” Stan asks. “I’d rather have it exist, quite frankly, than not.”

“I was going to sit through the movie [in a cinema] because I was like, ‘I don’t remember what my acting is like on a big screen. I don’t even know if it’s any good,’” he continues.

“There’s something that gets processed in a different way when it’s like that.”

Sharper will enjoy a limited theatrical release in the US and UK, and will stream on Apple TV+ from 17 February, 2023.

For Screen Captures and the corresponding video click here