With cattle production devastated by ecological disasters, Jack (Ashley Zukerman) and his wife Layla (Talia Zucker) are conducting biotechnology experiments at their isolated property. While Layla longs for the return of their son from boarding school, Jack carries out research he hopes will save his family from financial ruin.
In Vitro is a meticulously written and brilliantly performed feature from Aussie directors Tom McKeith and Will Howarth (Beast, SFF 2016) takes unpredictable turns as gloomy skies gather and the couple’s relationship begins to strain. Strikingly filmed on the eerily dry Monaro Plains of NSW, In Vitro is claustrophobic, suspenseful and scarily believable.
With the film playing at this year’s Melbourne International Film Festival, Nick L’Barrow spoke to lead actor Ashley Zukerman in the lead up to the festival about finding the uncomfortable aspects of his character, his big breakthrough in the TV series Rush, and the resurgence of Australian genre films.
Ashley Zukerman: You’re the second interview I’ve done today who has a huge DVD library behind them! And I love it!
Nick: I’m such a big advocate for physical media. And it’s funny you mentioned them, because I did want to say that when I was about 12 or 13, Rush first came out, and we used to watch that religiously as a family. And we loved it so much that we bought, and still to this day, have the full series box set at my mum’s house!
Ashley Zukerman: Oh, wow. Thanks, man. That was like my first real thing where I got to learn and study. I had one other pretty great job. But Rush, I feel, is where I actually learned to do things, because that character grew up on the show, and I felt like I did as well.
Nick: That must’ve been such an interesting experience, growing up and into a character over time, which is a unique experience because of how TV is formatted. So, I’m curious to know, with In Vitro, does your process change when approaching a character for a film, as opposed to growing with one in a TV show like Rush?
Ashley Zukerman: I mean, it’s a great question, and something that constantly changes, I think. Now that I’ve been doing it for a while, the only thing I really know is how my process constantly changes.
If there’s one trajectory to it, it’s trying to be less controlled and more, just, looser. Learning how to thing about things and prepare, so that they can be loose. There is something I love about writing, and the writer’s process. I love seeing what they’re trying to do. Things always start there, and that gives me the first clues. I don’t have my own instinct to try and put anything on it too early.
I think in a feature film, it’s more of a closed circuit with where I can kind of go. I can see where they’re [the writers] are trying to go. In TV, what I try to kind of figure out is, what is the mistake the character will always be making? Because that’s what I love about TV, it’s these characters who continually make the same mistake over and over again that’ll never really become fully actualised.
I think that in a way, maybe this might be too broad, but TV may be more about character, and film may be more about story. But that’s broadly thinking.
Nick: It’s interesting that you feel like there is a looser approach, because with a story like In Vitro, there are so many elements that feel so meticulous and deliberate that lead directly to this tense feeling throughout the film. Was that meticulousness and tension there on the page when you first read the script?
Ashley Zukerman: When I first read the script, I don’t know if I loved the film. It was only much later that I actually started to understand what was actually going on for him. Like, I started asking the right questions about the character. But at first, it was just the film itself that I found stunning. It seemed to weave together issues of climate change, domestic control and violence and our response as humans. Our lack of connection with each other, trauma. It seemed to weave all these things into something very vivid, and that was the first thing that struck me.
It was only later that, and I think when you’re talking about the tension between them, I started to go, “What is actually going on for these characters?” And this idea that he can’t handle being left alone. He just wants to keep doing these things better, but it’s all in his own head. He’s not actually trying to connect. I think I started to understand how the relationship could work, and how sad and lonely that would be for Talia’s character.
Nick: Speaking about Talia [Zucker, actor and co-writer], and Tom [McKeith, writer] and Will [Howarth, writer], as the process in finding the characters and how their relationship was going to work, did you all create backstories together to give more substance to those nuanced moments in the film?
Ashley Zukerman: In the original script, there was actually a lot of scenes about flashbacks between what led them to where they are now. And those scenes between Jack and Layla were so helpful. It gave us a source for the control.
He’s [Jack] this vulnerable genius who no one is giving him the respect he knows he deserves. He keeps moving and isolating his family more and more. Then he starts down this rabbit hole, and he starts thinking that what he is doing is for the greater good. There’s a line in the Bible that is like, “To the pure, all things are pure.” And I think that is central in Jack. He thinks that everything he does is for the greater good, so everything he does is okay.
Nick: What sort of mannerisms and physicality did you develop to bring not just those feelings of a vunerable genius to life, but also the aspects of Jack that investigate the coercive control of Layla? Because I feel that these elements of Jack are always there, but the intensity of them is a slow burn reveal throughout the film.
Ashley Zukerman: Interesting. I don’t know how conscious they were. But I think what they probably were originally, and then what they manifested in to, as you described, we’re like all tweaks and thoughts that went through his mind.
“It’s happening again. She’s going to leave me again.” Because he truly doesn’t care about her, these are all feelings in him that are getting triggered slowly. The puppet strings of his own bullshit really pulling at him. He’s in constant conversation with himself, rather than with her. And I think that’s probably what manifested those.
Nick: Jack having those conversations within himself really comes through the eyes, I think. There is this consciously unconscious vibe to it. I also think how Jack talks is a big part of that too. I’m interested to find out how your pick a voice for a character, with things like tone and cadence?
Ashley Zukerman: Yeah, it’s interesting. I had a thought early on, and I talked to Will about it, because ultimately this is a story, at its bones, about domestic violence. It’s about control, and manipulation, and gaslighting. I think we’d be doing a disservice if we portrayed that character as just so ordinary.
In a way, we needed to find what he’s uncomfortable about. I didn’t want him to feel that connected to himself. So, I had this idea of more of a higher voice, like his range is a little more up there in his head. He’s a little hard to access. Something in his voice is not as honest. It’s not as clear as someone just coming straight at you.
Then I’d say the rest of it just comes from the writing, and the clarity of the writing. There are some projects where you read the script and work with a team that doesn’t mind improvising lines. And then you get something like this where it’s like, “No – this is very clearly the film, and these are the characters”.
Nick: As we start wrapping up, I’ve loved seeing how the Aussie genre films, like Talk to Me and In Vitro, are really putting niche Australian filmmakers on the map globally! As an actor, are you noticing this trend too, and what have been some of your Australian made highlights of the last few years?
Ashley Zukerman: I’m not sure if it’s necessarily a new thing, but I am noticing more and more conversations about it. I think maybe Australia is benefiting from the world of streaming and platforms opening up that open up broader content for people.
Like, the talent here is extraordinary. We use very few studios, we build our industry on working fast and hard and with the elements that are available to us. I think that gives Australian film and TV the kind of feel that we’re just very good at it! I think giving filmmakers an opportunity is great, and it’s been a great run.
I thought Late Night with the Devil was so unique and taking some big swings.
Thank you to Ashley for his time, and to Madman Films and NixCo PR for organising the chat. In Vitro is playing at the upcoming Melbourne International Film Festival, and will be released in Australian cinemas soon.
