A powerful memoir by Michael Ausiello is the basis for SPOILER ALERT, which follows the relationship between Michael and Kit (Jim Parsons and Ben Aldridge), and the difficulties they face and transformations they undergo when confronted with a serious illness. Directed by Michael Showalter (THE BIG SICK), SPOILER ALERT is funny and moving. That's thanks in large part to the cast, which is led by Parsons and Aldridge, with Sally Field and Bill Irwin also playing key roles.
We talked to all four actors ahead of the movie's opening. Jim Parsons was quick to emphasize that despite the heaviness of parts of the story — and the fact that he was playing important moments in the life of Michael Ausiello, who also worked on the movie, the experience "was all positive, deeply so. And invigorating and energizing."
"Once we started making it," Parsons said, "and were really in the deep end of this story and the characters, it was always rewarding. But it definitely pulled and pushed us as performers in the same ways that it does for the viewer."
One thing that has come up as we've talked to actors in movies like DEVOTION and THE WOMAN KING is the weight of playing real people. Every actor has their own approach to the task.
Sally Field explained that "ss an actor, all you have to use is, as they say, the instrument, [your] own life, [your] own experience… you have to take that, yourself, and the text that you have in front of you, and then the working experience of the people you're lucky enough to work with" and then put it all together.
Watch our full video interview with the cast of SPOILER ALERT below:
SPOILER ALERT opens wide on September 9.
All images courtesy of Focus Features.