Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Evans & Yung Lean say filming 'Sacrifice' felt like "summer camp" | TIFF 2025

You all know that you're starting at kind of a base level because everyone said yes to the crazy. And so you're like, OK, we're all here. Got it. Understood. Roman, I will start with you. You wrote that this is a film about faith. Why did you want to explore that idea in such a really and I will make the pun explosive way? I think because we we we live in a in an environment where we all dancing on the edge of a volcano, I feel like. And I feel like faith is something that like and faith can be faith in love, faith in making this movie was an act of faith because it was, you know, on paper, it was insane to make that movie independently. And I think there is a lack of faith for ideology, for for love, for any type of belief. And so we wanted to explore the theme. What was it? And I'll go to you next. What was it when you first heard this story and and heard about Joan that made you say, I'm really intrigued by her and what this is going to teach also me? You know, I was going through a bit of a crisis. I was really not handling a lot of world events, but especially kind of climate change very well. I couldn't switch off my brain. And then I was on a birthday trip to Yosemite and I got this script and I thought, OK, this is either going to be really bad for my mental health or very good for my mental health. And it just there was something about her belief and the image that Ramar painted of the adventure that we were going to go on, I just thought I want to have that experience. And I believe that that experience will make a really, really interesting movie. And Chris, I know we've talked. You were eager to take this leap of faith. What was it about when you read Mike and then we're talking with Ramar about it that made you so interested? It's a topic to me, to me, you know, we all have different interpretations. One of the beauties of the movie is that it's a bit of a Rorschach test for me. When I read the script, I saw a story about the death of ego. I saw a character. I know he's an actor. I know we have an overlap there. But to me, I saw a person who was suffering. I saw a person who was living within his ego in these cyclical patterns that, you know, I'm not going to say he's imprisoned by them, but certainly tethered and and was at a crossroads in his life where he was trying to wake up. And and, you know, I always looked at Joan as kind of a manifestation of his soul, someone that kind of crashes in and tries to wake you up and tells you you're special. But it's terrifying. It's unfamiliar. And the mind clings to what's familiar. And he goes on this journey of deconstruction to get back to his true nature. And to me, you know, I've made movies about a lot of different topics that resonate with different audiences based on different experiences. This topic, if you have a pulse, this movie's for you, because I think everyone here to some degree is suffering and looking to wake up. Sam, I see you nodding pretty vehemently back there. You feeling it? I'm feeling it. Yeah, it's like I have a pulse. Like I have a pulse. I have a pulse. And this movie's for me. Yeah. What what made you take the leap of faith? I look at the themes of the film are so current and poignant. And it's like a brilliant satire on as as direct a moment as it can be. You know, and the sort of this this this juxtaposition of wealth of power and then like this juxtaposed against this passion with physical power was like a very interesting thing for me. And then I also get to play a Hollywood agent. So I was like, I'll do it. Yes. I mean, this this film is backed by CIA and you specifically are a CIA agent. I'm not with CIA. OK, so what was that like? Did you go like deeply method? Yeah, I started representing some clients. Got some pretty good deals, too. Chris, you know, guys, if you want to jump on the bandwagon, you know, I'm getting good deals. I do take nine percent. So just to get started, Sunshine Talent. That's the name of my company. See, don't we love when just making a movie leads you to an entirely new career path? Yeah, it's pretty incredible. I mean, well, Jonathan, for you, this is kind of an idea of jumping into a new arena. What has it been like to kind of break into this part of the business with Sacrifice and this group? It's been fun. I mean, I'm blessed, blessed to be here. It's been good. This is a special film. I think it's very important right now in a way that everyone, especially in celebrity culture and today's culture, everyone's talking about doing a sacrifice. Everyone's just saying free Palestine and free for for for what? You know, what is everyone doing? And everyone is going to these charity events and this this whole world. I'm not that familiar with that world, but I've everyone has seen it. Anyone who's who's alive is, you know, being force fed this. And no one really wants to take a real sacrifice. No one. No one wants to share their home with a fugitive or, you know, no one wants to give up their actual money or actually do something. You know, you just want to say it because it sounds right. So I feel like Chris's character, there is Buddhism to it. There is, you know, the break of ego. And there is. Yeah, everyone just wants to be right in today's society. No one actually wants to do what Chris ends up doing and what the divine warriors were doing. And I think you have to come from an isolated place to be able to do that. Vincent, for you, I mean, this character in Bracken is kind of an amalgamation of the kind of like billionaire archetype. But what was it about him that you found really interesting? I needed to work. I called him because no, most seriously, the problem is that if you believe in things that you don't understand, then you suffer. Superstition ain't the way. You did it well. You did it well. No, the character actually Bracken is kind of the only, from my point of view, sane character is is pragmatic, is realistic, and he doesn't believe in things that he doesn't understand. So at the end of the day, even though he's the most cynical character, I think he's the one who deserves to be alive at the end, even though things should happen. But the divine warrior path, at the end of the day is to sacrifice to eventually meet yourself. No, no, no, I rather not. I rather understand and not jump. I love that everybody has different perspectives on it. I think that's, again, like, Chris, what you were saying, what is so interesting about watching the movie and what has been so interesting talking to you all about it. But it also seems like you guys did have a lot of fun. As deep as this film was, you guys were you and the donkeys were hiking up a volcano every day. What was, I guess, what was the most enjoyable part of the sacrifice of making this movie? Adventure Summer Camp with every day being a new obstacle course that you got to go on with people who were like very down to do it and very funny. And as you said, kind of came at it from all these different perspectives. Like it's really it's a very well cast movie in terms of the way we approach things. And yeah, it was just a delight to spend so much time with these beautiful human beings working on something that we all felt really excited by and challenged by. And in the most peaceful locations, like you kind of can't put a price on being outside that much. And that being where you're going to work every day. We spent how long did we spend in the gala? I think two weeks, two weeks. I think the two weeks in the gala, we were all feeling suffocated. Like we were just like, let us let us out into the fresh air. So, yeah, Adventure Summer Camp. Who was the really like the camp counselor here? Ramon, was it you? It was it was Jonathan. Jonathan was in charge of everyone. There really was a good vibe. I mean, that that kind of that eagerness to hang out after work usually reserved for your 20s, isn't it? You know what I mean? When you're first starting out and exciting, it's like, yeah, let's go do stuff. But you hit your 30s and 40s and you're like, I'm tired. But you're in a foreign place. No one's from here. And there was this enthusiasm, you know, between you're kind of from there. Sam and Miriam and our writer and producer. I mean, it was there was always a little community of people always up to something after work. And that doesn't happen very often the older you get. So it really was a bit of a throwback. It was really like summer camp. I know you two met playing charades. Were there any more of those games on set? I don't think we ever got it. We never got running charades. I got an ugly. I would love to see Ramon play running charades. I'd like to see Vincent play running charades. It's charades, but you run. Yep. It's the best game. But we played Goat Run. We did. We did do Goat Run. It's honestly, it's so fun. Goat Run. What's Goat Run? You have to watch it on film. People shoot at you with crossbows. With arrows. And you outrun them. Yeah. Like in the movie. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But with less actual real arrows. That's right. Well, listen, I wasn't there. So maybe maybe I don't know what you guys got up to. But again, like that idea of Ramon, the movie is obviously very deep and exploring these deep themes, but it also has a lightness and there's a fun and a humor to it. How did you go about, you know, making that balance happen? I know you also worked with Will Arbery from Succession as well on this screenplay. Well, we wanted to make something that is of our times and our times is pop culture. And so we wanted to make something that is fun and first funny. And that takes you by the hand and you're in this world and it's purposive and and entertaining and little by little to dive in deeper within the psychosis and like the inner questions of of Chris and the belief of of Joan and and to kind of like dive in into the rabbit hole with them. So to start fun, but take the take the audience in a rabbit hole in some some way deeper. Well, Chris, as you say about, you know, what how this experience was different, you know, from others before. I am curious for all of you how making this movie kind of like changes you in the sense of like what you're going to take to your next project. How do you think about the role that you're going to take next or that you're going to work on? You know, having been for you, Chris, and for you, and you've been so big of a part of the process also as VP, too. You certainly realize how important it is to feel passion for the people you're working on. I think everyone up here at some time or another is taking a job that your whole heart might not have been into. And halfway through those jobs, it becomes work. But when it's something that you really connect to, something you believe in, it's it's it's just a blessing. How did this for you, Ania, like as you go back to go on to Dune, how did how did you find yourself maybe different as an actor? You know, I I I crave unique experiences and I crave not not a randomness, but like being in a situation where you just think, I don't want to be anywhere other than right here in this moment. I know that I am exactly where I'm supposed to be. And climbing up, you know, an hour to get to the top of a volcano at the whole time, I was like, this is exactly where I'm supposed to be right now. I'm not supposed to be absolutely anywhere else. And I feel very, very lucky that I feel the exact same way I'm doing. And what about for you? Well, they said it all. I mean, the thing is that you work as an actor and you, you know, you get to do jobs and on many occasions, it's already something that you've seen before. The the feeling of being on something that, wow, maybe making a movie that we haven't seen is already a plus. Then the success and everything, it's another story. But to be conscious that you're doing something that you might never do again, it's actually a great feeling for an actor. I really think it's one of the key thing, really, to keep your desire alive. And the people that that attracts as well is really fascinating because you all know that you're starting at kind of a base level because everyone said yes to the crazy. And so you're like, OK, all right, we're all here. Got it. Understood. But yeah, you meet really wonderful people. It is. It is definitely that definition of finding your people, finding, finding your tribe. Jonathan, what about for you as you kind of continue down this path of acting? How did it inspire you? It's very inspiring. I mean, I thought we were doing like Apocalypse Now at one point. We're in the forest, there's a boat at Kalashnikov. I was fully in in it, you know. And also, I think Roma since since the jump has been has had a good, very good understanding of pop culture. And I don't know any other director that would put together this this crew and do this film with, you know, genuinely. He really means it. And Will is a great scriptwriter. So when I read the script, I was like, oh, this is a bit more savvy than Roma usually is. The mix, the French mix. And this is all, you know, look at us. It's all from different places in the world. And there's a mix of the European seriousness and the American fun and insanity of is a lot of worlds colliding. And I don't think a lot of people could have put this together. And here he is. He put it together. And it's been lovely just being on this journey. But I don't know what your question was. No, you completely answered it. You nailed it. But Sam, I'm going to have to bring us home at that same idea. Well, even on the personal way, what I get from this is like, you know, you know, I work in a lot of comedy. And this is a different muscle of comedy to try and like sort of thread the needle on, you know, still keeping the stakes alive. But then also like, you know, humanizing humor a little bit, which was a cool chance. Like I want to continue to sort of sort of grow in that. I think you're never done growing. You know, the timing rhythm always moves, you know. So getting to bring that to this has been really fun. And also, you know, my agency, Sunshine Talent, again, would never have been born, would never have been born had it not been again, also teaching auditioning workshops. So, you know, Instagram, it's on Instagram. Check out Sunshine Talent. Shout out Sunshine Talent. I will be number you put it there. OK, please bring us all of your exclusive signing. Will do. Will do.