Money bubbles
The Big Short’s big-time cast
Ryan Gosling and Steve Carell were unlikely cutup confederates but they clicked in Crazy, Stupid, Love. So reuniting for the dark comedy The Big Short was an easy decision.
In the Adam McKay film, Carell plays a hedge fund manager who works with Gosling’s Wall Street banker to reap rewards from the U.S. housing collapse which eventually leads to a worldwide 2009 recession.
In an another sub-plot, Christian Bale plays a genius money manager who anticipates the real estate collapse and tries to earn billions by betting the boom will go bust. And then there is Brad Pitt, who plays a retired finance man persuaded to enter the fray.
The film, produced by Pitt’s Plan B production house, is based on the Michael Lewis book of the same name, which chronicles the economic breakdown caused by the corruption of big banks, corporate media, watchdog organizations and governments at all levels.
It’s a sobering premise, but McKay skewers the dishonesty with a satirical approach — right in Carell’s comedy wheelhouse. Despite that, Carell says he had some misgivings, at first, about joining the cast, “I felt like one of these things is not like the other when Adam said Brad Pitt and Ryan Gosling and Christian Bale and me.”
To make matters more intimidating, McKay and Carell were having the conversation in the middle of the director’s shoot with Bale whose scenes were mostly a solo effort and filmed first. “And I said, ‘ How’s it going?’ ” says Carell. “And Adam said, ‘ Oh my god, Christian is unbelievable. It’s incredible — it’s transcendent.’ And, you know, great, now I have to follow that.”
By all accounts, the rest of the cast were equal to the challenge. Gosling, especially, seems adept at portraying a smarmy, self-absorbed money man but the role, and reconnecting with his buddy Carell, weren’t the only attractions. “The Jheri curl,” says Gosling. “I said to Adam, ‘ You had me at Jheri curl’. ”
Working with the Anchorman director was another plus. “I love Adam’s movies,” Gosling says. “And in some ways, they are not even movies, they’re like friends of mine.”
Granted The Big Short is a departure for McKay but his approach heightened the unmasking of the subject matter.
“Adam has a way of maintaining his sense of humour about something that’s very upsetting, and I think it’s unique,” Gosling says. “It was a very exciting thing to be a part of.”
Wit aside, Carell and Gosling met with their real- life counter- parts — Carell plays a version of volatile fund manager Mark Baum and Gosling a variation on the vain banker Jared Vennett.
“We had breakfast and I went over to his apartment and met his family, and he came to set a few times, as well,” says Carell of Baum who ended up raking in over US$ 200 million from his “short” play. “So, yeah, I got to pick his brain and find out about how he factored into this world.”
Gosling’s meet- and- greet was more of a formality because his character in The Big Short is also a device. “He’s the narrator and the tour guide through this world,” Gosling says. “At times, I felt like a talk-show host. I was breaking the fourth wall in order to introduce a new guest or a new segment. We really had to take some liberties.”
The caustic nature of the comedy does have a dramatic purpose, however. Carell says that’s especially evident when Pitt’s player informs his proteges: “Don’t dance” when they’ve make a fortune in a stretch where millions of people lose lifelong investments and retirement funds.
“I think that’s such a crystallizing moment because the entire movie boils down to just that one small, seemingly inconsequential moment,” Carell says.
“‘ Don’t dance’ — the way ( Pitt) delivers that. It’s so heartfelt and so human, and he’s so connected to the tragedy behind all of this.”
The Big Short is in theatres now.