Even though Denzel Washington, Rami Malek and Jared Leto are big stars, they always worry about the little things.
The three of them have teamed up for a new psychological thriller that poses serious acting challenges – even for a trio of titans who have all won Oscars.
In “The Little Things” they portray complex characters with cryptic backstories or mysterious motivations in the film about detectives working in Los Angeles in the early 1990s to track down a serial killer.
Director John Lee Hancock wanted to turn the crime genre on its head and introduced flawed characters like Joe Deacon from Washington, an assistant sheriff who is haunted by a case from his past.
“I could only imagine what it would be like to be John Lee and ask a million different questions with the three of us,” said the 66-year-old Washington of the star cast.
“You just start asking questions and questions lead to questions and hopefully answers, and you just get specific. What is he eating Why is he eating it? When does he eat it? Why is it so heavy? Why is he that? Why is he that? “said Washington, who won Best Supporting Actor for Glory and Best Actor for Training Day.
In the movie, which hits theaters on January 29th and on HBO Max, Washington’s Kern County, California cop works with Rami Malek’s hot young detective from LA as women keep disappearing or showing up dead.
Leto, meanwhile, plays the suspect, a creepy man named Albert Sparma, who is obsessed with crime news and finds humor in the detectives’ pursuit.
“When I think of Albert Sparma, I see him as a kind of charmer,” said Leto, 49, who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Dallas Buyers Club. “I guess I wasn’t on the receiving end of what might seem scary or terrifying, but I never really felt that. I thought he was a lovely guy. “
Hancock wrote the script for “The Little Things” in 1992. A longtime fan of crime thrillers, Hancock said he wanted his film to “undermine” expectations of the genre, which often resulted in final scenes being all about the hunt for the good and the bad. “
Like his peers, Malek played a complicated character, Jim Baxter, who ignored the recommendations of others and hired Washington’s tormented deacon to help him with the case.
“When I personally see wisdom and great instincts and experiences before me, I will lean on it,” said Malek, 39.
“I think that was inherent in the script for someone struggling in a case where (there is) so much build-up, so much responsibility, the ability to rely on someone who has clearly been there before and had seen something quite dark. There was almost a need to bring this person into your life and seek advice from them, ”continued Malek, who won an Oscar for best for his performance as Freddie Mercury in“ Bohemian Rhapsody ” Actor won.
“I think Baxter knew, in some ways, that it could lead him down a harmful road, but there was something beneficial working with this man that could help him solve this very difficult puzzle.”
