The longtime actor explains how he made his feature debut as cinematographer in twisted thriller “Strange Darling.”
That longtime character actorGiovanni Ribisisuccessfully made the transition, making a stunning feature debut with J.T.
Mollner’s twisted thrillerStrange Darling, is a notable feat on its own.
Giovanni Ribisi behind the scenes of ‘Strange Darling’.Magenta Light Studios
That he did so between starring in two major studio franchises Kevin Costner’sHorizonsagaandJames Cameron’sAvatarsequels is even more remarkable.
But, like most good things, it didn’t happen overnight.
“But it wasn’t really something that I liked to talk about.
Giovanni Ribisi and J.T. Mollner behind the scenes of ‘Strange Darling’.Magenta Light Studios
I wanted to really cut my teeth and pay my dues.”
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So how did he end up as the cinematographer for writer-director Mollner’s genre-defying serial killer thriller?
Giovanni Ribisi and J.T. Mollner behind the scenes on ‘Strange Darling’.Magenta Light Studios
“Well, J.T.
“Over the years, J.T.
would send me material that he was working on and vice versa.
Willa Fitzgerald in ‘Strange Darling’.Magenta Light Studios
And then working on the cinematography was sort of an evolution from that conversation.
I’m just grateful for him giving me the opportunity.”
“And I was like, I really can’t wait to put you in a movie.
Like, kindly do a movie with me.
I want you to act in one of my films because I love your work.
And he showed me what he’d been working on and lots of footage.
And I was just blown away that he hadn’t shot a feature film yet.
It was like unmined gold.”
We were still wearing masks and we had a COVID team on the production,” he explains.
“But with theAvatarmovies, I love it.
So there was definitely a lot of time, and it was also in and aroundHorizon 1and2.
There were a couple of days [of shooting] for each movie and then3and4are a lot heavier.
and work on this and conceptualize, and it was just such a joy.
It was just one of the better experiences I’ve had professionally in this business.”
“He’s being pretty modest,” adds Mollner, sitting alongside Ribisi for the interview.
“He’s so busy, it blows my mind.
I don’t know how to multitask on things like that.
I make a movie, and that’s all I think about for years.
And Vonni, going off and working with Kevin Costner on the range and doingAvatarsomehow?
We shot the movie two years ago and then went through post-production after that.
Ribisi’s interest in filmmaking dates back to his early days in Hollywood as a child actor.
“I went to school on movie sets and in the basements of sound stages,” he says.
“My schoolmates were really the camera crew.
I didn’t want to hang out with other child actors.
I still don’t want to hang out with other child actors,” he adds with a laugh.
“But I was fascinated with the craft.
Eventually, about 15 years ago, I bought a digital motion picture camera and started shooting my friends.
“At a certain point, they started to get hip to what my agenda was.
With his first feature, it’s clear that voice is already coming into its own.
I’d never really felt that to that degree.
It was very cool.
I really loved working with him and obviously, he’s an amazing actor and an amazing DP.”
Check out Ribisi’s work in this year’s most unique horror-thriller,Strange Darling,in theaters now.
