Barbarella chats with Joe Swanberg who stars in OFFSEASON

Hello, my friends. The horror film OFFSEASON hits theaters, VOD and digital on March 11, 2022. In the film, at the behest of a mysterious letter, Marie returns to the island where her late mother is buried as she closes for the offseason. Strange encounters with the locals hint that all is not well in this small town.

Written and directed by Mickey Keating (Psychopaths), the film stars Jocelin Donahue (Doctor Sleep), Joe Swanberg (The Rental >, "Easy"), Richard Brake (3 From Hell, Mandy), Melora Walters (The Pale Door, "Pen15"), Jeremy Gardner (After Midnight, The Mind's Eye), and lots of fog.

I had the opportunity to speak with Joe Swanberg, who plays George. Check it out.

For our readers who haven't seen it yet, I'm not going to say whether or not you survived this movie, but in other movies I think your character usually gets killed. Why do you think filmmakers love watching you die so much?

"I'm so glad you're finally giving me the opportunity to talk about it. My group of abusive and sadistic friends never miss an opportunity to humiliate me, cover me in fake blood, stab me, putting firecrackers on me and blowing me up. It's time people took notice and took a stand.

“I don't know. I think I'm just easy to abuse. They know I'm a director myself and I've been on their side. it's that dying in a movie is always messy. Somehow you end up sticky, cold, with all the bad stuff possible. I'm just an easy target there." I know who will. Joe will.""

If you could choose the death mode for your next role, how would you like your character to die?

"I've never had a face or head mold made. If I were to do something that I've never done, my head would explode or something would change to some kind of molded head that would explode or something like that. I think that would be cool."

That would be cool. What appealed to you the most in OFFSEASON?

"Well, I just wanted to work with Mickey. I didn't even read the script or know what the movie was about when I said 'yes'. I was so excited and happy that he called me. [I] was like, 'I'll do anything, Mickey. I wanted to work with you. Count on me."

"But then, once I read the script, we talked about the project, and I understood the character, I had a lot of fun. Mickey allowed me to bring some naturalism and some of my own energy. I always love when I can improvise a bit and anchor these characters in supernatural or mystical film genres in more naturalistic character spaces."

How much ad-libbing have you done?

“Not a ton. It was a scripted movie. Mickey really is a writer, but we were able to have fun. There were some areas where it seemed like the relationship would make more sense or feel a bit more naturalistic if we improvised dialogue or changed things, [so we did] a little. A few of those scenes, especially the stuff in the car, I feel like we had some freedom to shoot longer takes and riffing on some things. Most things outside of the car are closer to the script."

Do you want to go on a road trip with George? Why or why not?

"Absolutely not. He seems unbearable to me. For the same reason, I wouldn't want to clone myself and go on a road trip with myself. One version of me would kill the other in two hours."

Exactly how many fog machines were on set, and did you find the fog distracting or useful for getting into character?

"Oh my God. The fog was all over the place, but the truth is, I'm ready to put up with anything as an actor when I think the footage looks really cool and the director is happy. We We were constantly struggling with the fog, but once I got to look at it, I was like, "I see what's going on. Alright cool."

"Then it gets fun. I'm part of the challenge to walk through the right density of fog, or get it to part and reveal just enough fr...