Sacha Gervasi’s ‘Darlington’ Is About a Tech Billionaire Unlike All the Others

Sacha Gervasi knows The Terminal changed everything for him.

The British screenwriter and filmmaker was at a dinner party a couple of years before he began work on his directorial debut, a rockumentary about a Canadian metal band he’d befriended over 25 years earlier (2008’s Anvil! The Story of Anvil), when he met a “total stranger” with whom he formed an immediate bond. “I had no idea who he was, and he said, ‘Oh, I’m a screenwriter,'” Gervasi recalls to The Hollywood Reporter. “And then I looked him up, and I was like, ‘Oh my god!’ It’s like meeting Mick Jagger.”

This man just so happened to be Oscar-winning industry heavyweight Steven Zaillian (Schindler’s List), who became — and remains — a mentor to Gervasi. Zaillian introduced the Brit to Steven Spielberg, a meeting that would eventually lead to his 2004 starrer with Tom Hanks playing a man stuck in New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport terminal. “It opened so many doors,” Gervasi nods. “It’s a massive thing in the life of any writer to have arguably the greatest director in the history of the medium say, ‘I want to direct your script.'” That collaboration would allow Gervasi to work on a slew of other projects, such as 2010’s Henry’s Crime, 2012’s Hitchcock, and, in 2018, his passion project My Dinner with Hervé. The Peter Dinklage-led drama followed the later days of French star Hervé Villechaize, whom Gervasi interviewed just a couple of days before his 1993 suicide.

And as brilliant as the director-writer’s anecdotes about Hanks and his years-spanning friendship with Dinklage are, it’s his latest feature that we’re here to discuss — another product of Gervasi’s deep-rooted Hollywood ties, which, he admits, can be traced back to the Stevens. “I owe them everything,” says Gervasi from his L.A. home.

In Darlington, represented by CAA for North American rights and launching international sales with Rocket Science at AFM, Kate Spencer (Renée Zellweger) is a faded television actress long-forgotten by the industry. She’s invited to reprise her most famous role — not in a revival of the show, but in the real world, where a reclusive tech billionaire (The Holdovers star Dominic Sessa) has meticulously restored an English country estate to its former glory. Having retreated from the world, he now lives his life there in the fantasy that it is actually 1923. As Kate settles into this strange, controlled existence, she discovers that illusion and reality are far more entwined than she ever imagined.

“Someone described the film as The Truman Show meets The Remains of the Day, and I think that’s pretty accurate,” Gervasi says. He was inspired to write the script based off the buzzing questions he had for current-day tech billionaires, who have more money than they know what to do with. “The idea [is] that when you can do anything, and you actually do do anything, how healthy is that for the rest of the world and the people in there?” he asks.

But unlike the more searing takes we’ve had this year on the tech billionaire — Artificial, The Social Reckoning, and Alex Gibney’s Musk documentary immediately spring to mind — Gervasi maintains this is by no means a political film. “It is light-hearted. I think there are stakes and there’s real emotion to it,” he says. “But ultimately, it’s satirical. […] It’s not a treatise on the profound meaning of tech billionaires.”

Below, Gervasi dives into the making of Darlington, set to kick off production in the U.K. in early spring. He talks about luring the hard-to-pin-down Zellweger on board, why he couldn’t resist working with Dinklage once again, and how, in an industry that’s never seen more hurdles, he got this high-concept, original story over the line.

Sacha, you began your career with a documentary…

Yeah, I wanted to direct something, having been a bit in the Hollywood system. I went to UCLA Film School and then started to get out there, and then was immensely fortunate that Steven Spielberg made a script of mine with Tom Hanks. It was an incredible thing because when I arrived in L.A., I didn’t know a single person. I knew that pitching my documentary about two elderly Canadian metal stars who no one’s heard of didn’t exactly inspire commercial excitement. Let me put it that way. So I knew that I had to do it myself. So I ended up reconnecting with a band I’d known when I was 15 and had been on the road with as a roadie. And it’s a story about the cost of refusing to give up your dreams. Because most artists don’t make it. […] You find that a lot of people give up, or others just keep going for its own sake. And there was something I felt very pure about that, and very inspiring about that. That these guys were not bitter at all; they just did what they loved, and they just didn’t give a fuck.

How did dipping your toe in the documentary waters inform the rest of your career?

Obviously, I became a writer and I’ve worked — silently — on many big films, which has been its own reward. I’m lucky for the day job, but it’s really the personal projects like Anvil… I paid for that documentary myself because no one would pay for it. So I love doing these films and I also love working with Peter Dinklage. I met Peter Dinklage in 2001, and I had this idea to do a story about Hervé Villechaize, who I’d interviewed back in the ’90s, and I was the last person to interview him. Five days later, he sadly committed suicide. […] I felt like I wanted to tell a story, and I met Peter Dinklage. I wrote it as a short, and that short actually reached Steven Spielberg, and he hired me basically because he read My Dinner with Hervé.

Wow!

Well, what happened was I met a total stranger at a dinner who turned out to be Steven Zaillian, who had won the Oscar for Schindler’s List. I had no idea who he was, and he said, “Oh, I’m a screenwriter.” And then I looked him up, and I was like, “Oh my god!” It’s like meeting Mick Jagger. I gave him my demo tape and he passed it on to Steven Spielberg. So the only reason I have a career today is because of Steven Zaillian. He believed in me at a very early stage, introduced me to Steven, and that script eventually became a film. […] I love the personal films and in a way Darlington is one of those films because it’s from my life. I’ve observed a lot of the things that the film speaks to.

Just before we get on to Darlington, how did The Terminal open industry doors for you?

I mean, how did it not? It’s a massive thing in the life of any writer to have arguably the greatest director in the history of the medium say, “I want to direct your script.” It opened so many doors. […] In terms of the two Stevens, Zaillian and Spielberg, I owe them everything. Particularly Steve [Zaillian] because he was and is my mentor and is my best friend in the world.

And I can tell you one quick story, which I don’t know if I’ve told before. I was working with Tom Hanks on a project at his office and I was driving him home, and Tom said to me, “Do you mind if I take the wheel for a moment?” And I said, “Okay.” He was in the passenger seat. And I said, “Why?” And he took the wheel and said, “Well, because I’m going to be starring in your movie.” And I completely freaked out, and I was like, “What the fuck?” I put my hands on my head, and thank god Tom Hanks had the foresight to take the steering wheel. I’ve had crazy encounters like that, and he’s an extraordinary man. […] The alternative is he doesn’t take the wheel, and we both crash and die. No movie and no Tom Hanks. So I feel like it was a good choice from him.

With Darlington, you’re not only the director but the writer too, so this is a very singular vision.

It is a real personal thing. […] I sat back and I was like, okay, so I’ve done biopics about Alfred Hitchcock, about Anvil, about Hervé Villechaize, and I felt like it was time to do something different. So I think this carries with it the energy of being a different phase in my creative life. It’s not based on anything or anyone. It was just an idea I had. During COVID, I was quite isolated, like everyone was, and it was a very challenging experience. I just thought there’s this thing about loneliness and it just made me think about the world. I was watching all these the rise of the tech billionaire people, and how interesting and changed the world has become because of them — the disproportionate power they hold, and the unfairness of those types of people. This is why there’s tremendous apathy toward the ruling class because there’s this sense of total disconnection from the world. Born out of me was this idea of doing a dark comedy, a satire. For me, the idea of a young guy making billions and suddenly with the means to leave reality behind, constructing a new reality… It felt to me like we’re not far away from that. If Elon Musk announced that he’s bought a Caribbean island and he’s now living in the 16th century as a pirate, we wouldn’t be that shocked.

I would welcome that move for him.

Just as an example. [I don’t] personally know him. But the idea [is] that when you can do anything, and you actually do do anything, how healthy is that for the rest of the world and the people in there? […] There is a lack of empathy and understanding for people who don’t have those types of resources. And just in my travels around the world, I’ve seen the blindness of incredible wealth, particularly to other human beings on the planet.

If you can do anything, then it’s very easy to forget how other human beings on the planet are impacted. So there’s a satire in there. It’s gentle. It’s not a political movie by any stretch of the imagination. It’s an entertaining kind of exploration of what it might be like if someone did something like this. Our eyes and ears are through the experiences of an actress, in this case, played by Renee Zellweger. […] So it’s just a number of things [that] came together from being in the world, through COVID and looking at how things have changed and how the balance of power and wealth has changed so substantially, and wanting to get inside that and ask a few questions, but also wanting, hopefully, an entertaining, fun movie. It is entertainment and it’s a bittersweet comedy in the vein of Hal Ashby. Through COVID, I watched all of Hal Ashby’s movies again. He’s a real touchpoint for me in terms of the quiet ludicrousness of the situation and playing straight the humor of it. You’re playing something absurd, but everyone’s taking it really seriously. There’s an element of that in Darlington. […] Someone described the film as The Truman Show meets The Remains of the Day, and I think that’s pretty accurate.

It’s funny how tech billionaires have proven to be such ripe material, even just this year alone.

Yeah. And I think we have to be real — most of the world resents them. Because some of them behave in a way that could come across as arrogant and demeaning and entitled, and it just seems generally unfair and completely out of touch with the struggles of the rest of humanity. When you’re starting your own space program, and people can’t afford to buy groceries, it does seem a little bit ridiculous. So I think there’s a natural spotlight on who these people are, what are they doing, and have they lost touch so completely with planet Earth? […] A lot of them are genuinely trying to improve the world. But there is something unusual about having billions and billions of dollars and being able to do anything. Maybe it’s not such a good thing.

It sounds to me like a little more of a light-hearted take on the tech billionaire than we’ve seen so far.

It is light-hearted. I think there are stakes and there’s real emotion to it. But ultimately, it’s satirical. It’s having fun with it. It is an entertaining audience film, hopefully a sophisticated one. It’s not a treatise on the profound meaning of tech billionaires. It’s more like, ‘These people are fucking crazy.’

Touching on the casting, with Renee…

She is incredible. She’s so dexterous. She’s done so many things, and I think that she really sparked, hopefully, to the originality of the idea, and we met and we got on. Renee came along at exactly the right moment, and she is absolutely perfect. I could not ask for anyone better. Her acting chops are indisputable. She’s always played interesting characters, and I think again, this is a challenge for her because she’s never quite done this before. And I think that’s one of the reasons she was kind of like, “This could be interesting for me.” […] Dominic Sessa is a great, young up-and-coming actor who I love, and Alexander [Payne], our executive producer, discovered him and put him in The Holdovers. Alexander’s involved with this film, so it was a natural fit there. And Dominic is extraordinary. I got very lucky.

Dominic is a real star in the making after Tony too.

He’s very soulful. He’s really skilled. He’s just a natural, and he’s been, so far, just a pleasure to deal with. And I love him. There’s a mother-son element to this film. I think the Renee-Dominic [dynamic], that really works. Tte thing about being a filmmaker is it’s great because if you get really good actors, as we have in this case, you just get a front-row seat to watch these incredible people be creative. My job is to just not fuck it up too much and just let them do that brilliantly. (Laughs.)

And then also Peter Dinklage, who I’ve been working with on and off since 2002 or something. Peter came to read an earlier version of this script, you know, we put together a group of actors. […] He’ll always be honest with me [and] we have an ongoing collaboration.

Is it tempting for you to say, “Peter, I’ve got a job for you…” every time you make a film?

No, no. We get together, we spoon, and we love each other. (Laughs.) No, but we’re just good friends. We’ve been in each other’s lives for so long that it just felt natural. He actually read the script when I rewrote it and he called me up and said, “I have to do this film with you. So tell me what you want.” I said, “What do you want to do?” He said, “I’ll do anything. I just don’t want to be the housemaid.” I said, “Okay, let’s rule that out.” Great actors, to me, are present, available. They’re open to things. They want to engage in readings and kind of develop stuff and Peter’s just so good at that. He helps a lot of people and he’s helped me a lot, so I feel great that I can cast him in this particular part. It’s going to be really fun. […] We forget how massive Game of Thrones was [and] he has millions of fans across the world.

And to you, he’s just your spooning partner.

Just my spooning friend. (Laughs.)

So production starts in the spring?

It’s coming together. It’s fantastic people. Alison Owen [Ghosts, Back To Black, Me Before You], and Deb Hayward, her partner [Bridget Jones’s Baby, Les Miserable] and obviously Alexander Payne. [The Holdovers, Sideways]. Our production company has generated this project, Portobello Electric, which is me and Jim Garavente [Game Night], who is just a fantastic producer. This is the perfect model for us in terms of Portobello because we want to build our own projects, and this is one we’ve spent quite a few years putting together and getting the script right and doing readings. And before anyone’s reading it, we’ve really been through it to try and get it to a really good spot. And of course, [as] we make it, it will hopefully evolve further… [And] the business has been so heavily impacted in recent years that I find it sometimes hard to be creative in that environment. But this is why we formed the production company: so that we could have the runway to build projects like Darlington, and we have quite a few others in the pipeline.

L.A. is home, but is it exciting to have a reason to come back to the U.K. for a bit?

I don’t need a reason to come back. I love it. But yeah, look, it’s called Darlington. It’s obviously playing into that whole tradition of English country house movies, but it’s not that. England is where I was born. I love it, and the crews are the best in the world, as everyone knows. There’s a level of craftsmanship and artistry that’s second to none in Britain. So that is a huge part of the appeal, and the fact that Alison and Deb are such accomplished U.K. producers with such extraordinary films under their belts… They really know how to put this stuff together in the U.K. So we’ve got all the right people to make something special, and it seems to be falling down in the right way.

This period now, where a cast is on board and the shoot’s coming up, but you’ve still got a few months of breathing space, what emotions come up for you?

Terror. (Laughs.) Also excitement. Terrifying excitement. Because I’m just watching movies. I’m watching all those great Hal Ashby movies again. I’m watching all the reference point films. I’m thinking about certain scenes. I’m doing storyboards for certain sequences. I’m thinking about, ‘How do I make the script better?’ I’m actually doing a reading of the script in a week with some other actor friends, just to hear it with all my actors lined up in mind and make whatever adjustments.

It’s a rare privilege to be able to tell original stories, particularly in this world. And I’m extremely grateful that we’ve spent the time to get to this place, and again. When me and Peter were making Hervé, we were told to give up by one mini studio head: “It’s a suicidal dwarf movie. It’s never going to get made.” I like confounding the naysayers. I like going, “Well, okay. We did it. And we’re really happy with it.” And Peter, by his own admission, gives one of the greatest performances he’s ever given. That’s really satisfying because everyone will doubt and say no and poo-poo the ideas, but just keep going with what you believe in. It’s kind of like Anvil. […] I keep playing the songs. There’s never been more hurdles and more reasons to not do this than there is now. You just have to use that to make you stronger and more determined.