RAÚL-CASTILLO,-AARON-DOMINGUEZ,-&-EMAN-ESFANDI-THE-INSPECTION-Feature

Writer-director Elegance Bratton‘s feature-length directorial debut, A24’s The Inspection, is a raw and personal odyssey of self-acceptance and belonging. Based on his real-life experiences, Bratton’s film follows Ellis French (played by Jeremy Pope), a young queer Black man, who joins the Marine Corps during the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” era. Having been homeless after his homophobic mother (played by Gabrielle Union) kicked him out at 16, French is seeking a sense of belonging and purpose, but finds himself struggling with his identity when he falls for his drill instructor, played by Raúl Castillo. Actors Eman Esfandi and Aaron Dominguez play French’s fellow recruits Ismail and Castro in the film.

COLLIDER VIDEO OF THE DAY

During their interview with Collider’s Editor-in-Chief Steve Weintraub, the trio spoke on filming in Mississippi, the methods director Bratton employed to provide the necessary head space for the actors, and which films they watched to prepare for their roles. They each also shared which projects from their filmography they’d suggest to fans who haven’t seen their work, and touch on Esfandi’s potential place among the stars in Star Wars. You can read the full interview below, or watch the video above.

COLLIDER: First, I want to start with congratulations on the movie. Films like this are tough to get made. Before we get into that, I like throwing a curve at the beginning. For all three of you, if someone has never seen anything you’ve done before, what is the first thing you want them watching and why?

EMAN ESFANDI: You go first.

RAÚL CASTILLO: The first thing I want them watching? I did an independent film years ago called Amexicano. It was like the first feature film I ever did. So I want them to start at the beginning. It was shot in Queens, New York for under $200,000, and it’s very much an independent film. We premiered at Tribeca in 2009, but that’s a good start I think.

AARON DOMINGUEZ: You’re up.

ESFANDI: Shoot, honestly, I did a lot of indie films, but I probably wouldn’t ask anyone to watch those. I’d probably say start with King Richard. It’s not a huge role, but the movie’s so beautiful and I was a tennis pro for nine years, so it means a lot to me to be a part of that tennis movie. So yeah, King Richard.

DOMINGUEZ: For me, I agree with you, by the way, for me, it would be the show that kind of gave me my first big break in the industry and that was Only Murders In the Building and I loved working with all those people on that show. Smooches to all of them.

the-inspection
Image via A24

Getting ready for this project, I would imagine you put some pressure on yourself to make sure you delivered authentic performances. There’ve been some great films like Full Metal Jacket and Jarhead. Are you watching projects like that before stepping on set, and how much are you avoiding that and just looking at what’s in the script?

CASTILLO: I mean, for me, Full Metal Jacket‘s one of the films I’ve probably watched the most in my life. So that film was definitely in the zeitgeist when I was thinking about this project for sure. I don’t know about you guys.

DOMINGUEZ: For me, to answer your question, yes and no. I feel like because this story is so unique, and it’s not full-on war, it’s almost like getting you ready for that. For me, though, to kind of channel that culture or ambiance, Jarhead is one of my favorite films, so I watched that a whole bunch before. But at the same time, also being aware and sensitive to what’s in the script, and what this film is about.

ESFANDI: I haven’t seen either of those movies. Also, just the nature of the character being so fresh to the Marines, and it all being so new, and novel, and daunting kind of felt like it mirrored taking on the task of joining the film, and the project, and how new everything was in general. So I didn’t really feel like other than learning what I needed to for the character. As far as learning other things that are marine-heavy or military-heavy, I just felt like it would all happen naturally if I took it in as we shot it. So I didn’t really watch anything.

I love learning about the behind-the-scenes and the making of movies. So for soon-to-be fans of this, what do you think would surprise them to learn about the actual making of the film?

DOMINGUEZ: Mississippi is hot as hell.

ESFANDI: Oh man.

DOMINGUEZ: Well, I’ll let you guys kind of touch on the artistic part of it, right, like the culmination of all that.

CASTILLO: I mean, yeah, filming in Mississippi was really interesting because we were in Jackson, which there’s not a whole lot to do in Jackson coming from New York City. So we were kind of sequestered in our hotel, and I think the form of the process, making it elegant, really set us up to mirror the bootcamp experience. I mean, he really made a point of dividing the drill instructors and the recruits, so there wasn’t a lot of socializing at the beginning between both sets. That really kind of informed the work, I think, in a major way. But just being in Mississippi because, again, there’s not a lot to do. We’re all just kind of piled in together and it kind of mirrored the bootcamp experience in some way I think.

DOMINGUEZ: Yeah, it did.

ESFANDI: Adding to that, when I first met Raul and Nicholas Logan, another one of the incredible drill instructors, I went up to them so cheery like, “Hey, what’s up guys?” And they both looked at me and looked at each other and were kind of like, “Hey. Hey.” Then I was like, “Oh,” and then I found out they were told not to interact with us, but at first I was like, “Dang, all right, drill instructors.”

CASTILLO: Yeah, don’t fraternize with the recruits.

ESFANDI: Yeah, because they were told not to do that so that’s probably something that’d be fun to find out about the behind-the-scenes of building the dynamic of that.

the-inspection-jeremy-pope
Image via A24

DOMINGUEZ: Absolutely. I think Mississippi, as a whole, kind of played a big part to set the tone for the film because Mississippi is a southern state, and it’s got its own history, as well. I think within the weather and the habitat that was built, I feel like it was very easy at times to channel and tap into the realism of all of it within what was in the script. So, once again, it was very hot.

ESFANDI: It was also shot at a police academy, so it was actually where people were really training, and we were given the opportunity to go and see some of their training happen before the film started to understand the intensity of it all, and how everything moves as a unit and how the dynamic between being a recruit and being an instructor, or whichever role you ended up playing, played out in real-time on those grounds. Even while we were shooting, there would be people training and running, and the whole time it was happening around us while we were also performing it, which was really a fascinating experience.

DOMINGUEZ: Shout out to Octaya Jones who was-

ESFANDI: Taya, Taya Jones.

DOMINGUEZ: … who was kind of our instructor in real life. She kind of got us ready and prepared for all the drills we had to do, and to really have the full posture of a marine, and get our head in the right space.

ESFANDI: Yeah.

Eman, I have an individual question for you. I have to know what it was like landing the role in Star Wars. You’re playing a very popular character. It means a lot to a lot of people.

ESFANDI: I don’t actually have any confirmation about it, and there’s really not much more for me to do towards it, but I do love how many people are stoked for me to play that. That would be so cool. I appreciate the people putting the pictures, and we’ll just kind of see what happens, but I appreciate that. Thank you.

The Inspection is now playing in select theaters. You can watch the official trailer below:

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