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Brummer inhabits Nicholas with immense emotional complexity.
Youd think this might be the performance of a seasoned actor, though Brummer is anything but.
By intermission, both knew they had found their man.
But youve talked before about how different you are from Nicholas.Im just way more outspoken than Nicholas is.
You know, I havent grown up in that world.
As much as my parents were from that world, its not the new South Africa.
Were different in, just … so many ways.
Hes not at all like me.
I tend to talk a lot.
Your dad was conscripted in the 80s, around the same period Nicholas is in the movie.
Did the conversation ever come up when you were younger?My father had never spoken about the war.
I feel I have a better understanding of that generation now.
How close were you beforeMoffie?Ive always been close with my dad.
Im close with all of my family.
I always feel like the only way to move forward is through understanding.
Theres a lot of shame around the apartheid period.
Its important to interrogate it.
Theres a lot of comparisons to be made there, and the damage it caused to an entire generation.
The mechanism that was apartheid was this monster.
I watchedSaturday Night Feverwith my mum, and she was like: Oh, I dont remember that scene!
The censorship board had cut out everything they deemed inappropriate for South African audiences.
Has that carried through to the present?Yeah, its the heritage we carry with us.
It just covered apartheid.
We didnt want to break into civil war.
And now, in 2021, theres all this stuff festering underneath.
Its our responsibility as young South Africans to pull it back and really scrub out all the muck underneath.
Theres still segregation, white monopolies, and a lack of spread of wealth across our nation.
I really appreciate his performances.
They always … he draws you in.
Hes a fantastic actor.
Hes a great example, too, of another publicly straight actor whose breakout role was a queer character.
As much as I dont identify as queer, I still believe that sexuality is fluid.
It always has been for me, its always been so much more about the person.
But its definitely something that crossed my mind.
They went through a massive audition process in which they tried out people from all over the country.
I think they saw 3,000, 4,000 people for the role.
Looking back toBeach Rats, is Eliza Hittman next on your directorial hit list?Oh my gosh!
If I get to work with her, I would be so happy.
I love her films.
Theyre so intimate, and theyre ruthless at the same time.
For a viewer, they just break your heart every second of the film …
I really appreciate her as a filmmaker.
Who else would you love to work with?Claire Denis.
And theres a couple of young South African directors I really want to work with.
But at the moment, Im really open to working with anyone new.
And hopefully I can do that.
