MANK Interview: Ferdinand Kingsley On Working With David Fincher

The new David Fincher movie is finally OUT on Netflix and FilmSpeak brings you their Mank interview with one of the stars of the film, Ferdinand Kingsley!

MANK, the latest film from acclaimed director David Fincher drops today on Netflix, and we sat down with star Ferdinand Kingsley to discuss. The film follows the story of Herman Mankiewicz (Gary Oldman) in the Golden Age of Hollywood as he pens the screenplay for Orson Welles’ highly-acclaimed film, CITIZEN KANE, all while maneuvering through his alcoholism and conflicting ideas with people around him.

Kingsley plays Irving Thalberg, one of the co-founders of MGM Studios at the staggering age of just twenty-six. Thalberg tragically passed away from a congenial heart disease ten years later, but during his career, he helped produce upwards of four hundred films. He was known for being a very hands-on producer, and would often help guide the types of lenses, cameras, and lighting to be used during the shoots. He also pioneered several modern production techniques, such as test screenings, story meetings during the pre-production phase, and picture re-shoots.

Kingsley had his formal training in the theatre and has spent a lot of time studying and performing the works of William Shakespeare. Plays such as Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, or Henry V are considered by many to be valuable works that can strengthen the abilities of the actor. To perform Shakespeare, an actor must develop a rich understanding of the material and use that knowledge as a resource. How, then, does this type of training translate to working on a Fincher set?

“Whatever you do, whatever other work you do, can only be improved by getting your brain around text like Shakespeare,” Kingsley says. “Getting your head around that complexity of thought, and length of thought, and length of text makes you more able to tackle everything . . . the stamina you get from working on text like that is invaluable for a set like Fincher’s because so much of working with him is about minuscule changes, minuscule adjustments over and over and over again.” Fincher, who is famous for doing dozens of takes, had one scene in MANK that he shot approximately seventy-five times, accordingly to Kingsley. He continues, “I think the discipline you get from working with those great texts is perfect for a job like working with Fincher because you're ready to pace yourself and to sort of look a few acts ahead in the day, rather than just do your best and turn your brain off.”

MANK is streaming now on Netflix and playing at select theaters and drive-ins. Enjoy our interview with Ferdinand Kingsley!

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