MANCHESTER BY THE SEA

OF ALL THE PRESTIGE PICTURES LANDING THIS AWARDS SEASON, none capture the dread of regret and triumph of redemption quite like Manchester by the Sea. The latest from acclaimed writer/director Kenneth Lonergan, the slow-burning film explores generational pain as a man faces his past in the wake of his brother’s death.

The film’s top-tier cast includes Kyle Chandler ( Friday Night Lights’ Coach), Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams and Lucas Hedges.

Speaking at a roundtable in Toronto, Chandler explains that he saw some- thing special from the get-go. “I got the script, I read it twice, I was amazed by it,” he recalls. “And to jump to the end, when I first saw the film, I had no idea that it could be as wonderful as it was.”

Despite an airtight script, Lonergan borrowed from his theatre training and had his cast complete rigorous rehearsals. “The material was explored,” Chandler explains. “When we got to set, we knew what was going on. And he let us off the reins a little and let us fill in the spaces.”

The rehearsals were so in-depth that Chandler filled in all sorts of roles, including hockey coach — and that wasn’t even his weirdest makeshift part. “In rehearsals, I was the barmaid and there was no dialogue,” he remembers, laughing. “I was the quiet barmaid, which I was really good at. I liked that role.”

Chandler doesn’t just share a last name with Manchester by the Sea’s Joe Chandler; the character also fits in with a long lineage of noble patriarchs the actor has played. So what attracts Kyle Chandler to these wise, strong, warm, kind, masculine roles?

With a smirk, he answers, “All the people in my life that know me well and have known me for years wonder the same thing.”