Posted in: Exclusive, Interview, Movies, XYZ Films | Tagged: Angela Bettis, david arquette, exclusive, Ghosts of the Ozarks, interview, Jordan Long, Matt Glass, Tara Perry, Thomas Hobson, tim blake nelson

Ghosts of the Ozarks: Thomas Hobson on Embracing His Leading Role

Thomas Hobson is proud of the opportunity to lead the upcoming supernatural thriller Ghosts of the Ozarks from XYZ Films. It focuses on a post-Civil War Arkansas, where a young doctor (Hobson) is mysteriously summoned to a remote town in the Ozarks only to discover that the utopian paradise is filled with secrets and surrounded by a menacing, supernatural presence. I spoke to the actor about how he got originally involved in the project, filming in Arkansas and being one of the first productions greenlit following the pandemic shutdown.

"Four years ago, I met Jordan Long and Matt Glass, [both] who directed the movie, as well as so many other things in the project and made a short film version of it," Hobson said. "They asked me to be a part of it, and then I made it very clear that they were ever planning to make a full feature that the answer was 'Yes.' James is just instantly such a great character, even in an eight-minute short film that I was like, 'If this is ever a feature, it has to be me, and I'll do whatever it takes to make that happen.'" When he agreed to do the film, it was a dramatic deviation from his other projects like Nickelodeon's That Girl Lay Lay and IFC's Sherman's Showcase.

"It's probably the darkest thing that I've done," Hobson said. "I've been acting for a long time, but it's the first time in my career where I was number one on the call sheet. The responsibility of that was different, and I've never had that level before. I'm in almost every scene in the movie. For the month and a half that we were filming every single day, I was on set in period costumes in the middle of Arkansas in the summer, and all that that entails all the bugs humidity, and it was just wonderful. I really appreciated every moment. The difference was like the level of responsibility because I knew that my performance was a huge part of what would make the movie hopefully work." The actor found a lot of himself in his character James 'Doc' McCune in Ghosts of the Ozarks.

"I think the things that stuck out to me the most were: life is never linear, it's always a series of ups and downs, this peaks and valleys and I've lived a long enough life at this point," Hobson explained. "There's something to be said for a person who has lost so much, and James has lost so much at the top of this movie, but refuses to let go of the optimism that something better is coming. For a long time, that's of being an actor in this business. That has been my motivation. The idea that, like just around the next corner, is the great thing. The thing that I loved about James's story is what happens when you get that great thing, but it's not exactly what you thought it would be and what do you do with that? Do you lean into it, or do you rebel against it because you love this? You love the security; you love the joy. But It's not quite what they told you was going to be."

Hobson actually had the rare luxury of filming at the actual physical location where a project is set, in this case, Arkansas. "All things considered, it kind of turned into like a weird film summer camp," he said. "We were three months into COVID, and we were the second movie that SAG allowed to go into production. There were 40 of us who were around each other for two months straight, and we couldn't go to the store. We couldn't go to get food. We had to stay in this space for our own safety. It really did make us a family. Phil Morris, who plays my uncle, might as well be my real-life uncle at this point because I just adore him. We really were in the trenches in the heat of Arkansas summer in three layers of clothes, having a great time. I think we really did a good job, and hats off to all the executives and all of the higher-ups on the movie for just keeping us laughing and keeping a smiling given where the world was." While the actor remains grateful for current COVID protocols, he observed there are some things lost in the process.

"It was difficult in the beginning," Hobson said. "I'll be honest, I've been lucky that through since this movie's filmed, I have been lucky to keep working, and so I've almost gotten used to all of the protocols. I do think for me; sadly, there's an intimacy that's lost. So much of what I love about acting is the camaraderie. It's the sitting in each other's dressing rooms, the laughing at craft services, eating lunch together, just really becoming buddies with these people who are the only ones who really understand the unique experience that you're having. What COVID has done is it's sort of driven these dividers between us where we're only really allowed to interact during rehearsals, and while the cameras are rolling and in rehearsals, your mask is on. When the cameras are rolling, they come off, you film, they go right back on. I love that it keeps me safe. I love it, and It keeps me working, but I hope that there will come a day very soon when I can just play around with my actor buddies again. I miss that." Ghosts of the Ozarks, which also stars Tim Blake Nelson, David Arquette, Angela Bettis, and Tara Perry, comes out on demand and digital on February 3.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!