CANNES, France (AP) 鈥� was flattered to be approached by Yorgos Lanthimos about starring in but he wasn鈥檛 sure which version of himself the director wanted.
Plemons, the protean 36-year-old character actor, has sometimes put on weight for roles. 鈥淭hose first weeks are glorious,鈥� he says. 鈥淎nd then it gets depressing very quickly.鈥�
Over the years, Plemons has lost weight for some parts and gained it back for others. It became easy to lose track, and directors kept preferring him on the larger side.
鈥淚 kind of kept getting parts for that size,鈥� Plemons said in an interview last month at the . 鈥淓ventually it was: I gotta get a handle on this. I鈥檝e got two young kids and I want to be able to run around with them.鈥�
鈥淎nd I was nervous that (Yorgos) was only interested in the bigger version of me,鈥� he adds. 鈥淚 was like: I hope he鈥檚 still OK with the fact that I don鈥檛 look like the guy he thought I looked like.鈥�
Who, exactly, Jesse Plemons is can seem elusive. Since his breakthrough on the series 鈥淔riday Night Lights,鈥� Plemons has evolved into one of film鈥檚 most talented shape-shifters. He's proven an uncommonly malleable actor, appearing as everything from the lethal creep of 鈥淏reaking Bad鈥� to the federal detective of He slides into grippingly contemporary films ( ) as smoothly as he does period pieces ( 鈥淭he Irishman,鈥� ). He鈥檚 less a chameleon than a singular presence that can be dialed to disturbing or sweet. Whether good or bad, Plemons鈥� characters tend to be sincerely themselves 鈥� a product, maybe, of the sensitivity with which he approaches each part.
鈥淚 try not to make too many judgments too quickly and try to circle the script and the part until I find some way in,鈥� Plemons says. 鈥淪omething that resonates and makes sense to me and that鈥檚 going to drag me along and not make it feel like work, make it feel like I鈥檓 just following some trail.鈥�
The darkly comic 鈥淜inds of Kindness,鈥� which opens in theaters Friday, is a supreme, fittingly disquieting showcase of Plemons鈥� wide-ranging abilities. After its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival last month, 鈥� the most significant individual award of his career. It won't be the last.
The film, a Searchlight Pictures release, is composed of three stories penned by Lanthimos and his oft-collaborator Efthimis Filippou. The triptych isn't narratively connected, but each is performed with the same company of actors, including Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe and Margaret Qualley. And each story takes unpredictable, parable-like paths to exploring themes of social conformity and control in relationships.
Plemons is central in the film's first two sections. In the first, he plays a man named Robert who lives in utter devotion to his boss (Dafoe), but their relationship is severed when the boss asks Robert drive his car into that of a stranger鈥檚. Cut loose, Robert is sent into a desperate tail spin.
In the second, Plemons plays a police officer named Daniel whose marine biologist wife (Stone) returns home after being stranded on desert island for months. He believes that she isn鈥檛 his real wife but a doppelg盲nger and tests her in increasingly sinister ways.
Those two characters 鈥� one a disquieting paranoid, the other a humble puppy dog 鈥� encapsulate something about Plemons as an actor. When he read the script, Plemons says, 鈥淚 thought it was brilliant but I couldn鈥檛 tell you why.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 like: When will anything like this come along again?鈥� he asks. 鈥淧robably never, so sign me up. Let鈥檚 see what happens.鈥�
Lanthimos, the filmmaker of and likes an extensive and playful rehearsal period. But that didn鈥檛 help Plemons鈥� initial befuddlement.
鈥淭hroughout the majority of the rehearsal process, I just felt completely lost and clueless, which in hindsight was like, 鈥榊eah, I guess that鈥檚 a part of it, too,鈥欌�� he says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 some submitting and giving in to the process.鈥�
Lanthimos has been a longtime admirer of Plemons.
鈥淲e talked about Jesse forever. I think we thought about it for a couple things but he wasn鈥檛 available,鈥� Lanthimos says, speaking alongside Stone. 鈥淏ut I always had him in mind because I think he鈥檚 just basically one of the greatest of his generation. There鈥檚 no question for me.鈥�
鈥淗e鈥檚 also a really nice and interesting person, which is always a bonus 鈥� when someone鈥檚 that talented but they鈥檙e also just lovely to be around,鈥� Stone adds.
Shortly after the premiere of 鈥淜inds of Kindness,鈥� the filmmaker announced that his next project, titled 鈥淏ugonia,鈥� will also star Plemons alongside Stone. 鈥淗e鈥檚 now part of the troop,鈥� says Lanthimos, proudly.
鈥淜inds of Kindness鈥� adds to what鈥檚 been a memorable year for Plemons. Earlier this year, his scene in Alex Garland鈥檚 鈥淐ivil War鈥� 鈥� in which he plays a jingoistic militant who chillingly asks 鈥淲hat kind of American are you?鈥� 鈥� was the most memorable ( ) moment from the movie.
鈥淚 just find people fascinating," he says. "I guess I鈥檓 trying to operate from a place of being curious and trying to figure out why. Because there is always some trail leading back to why. It鈥檚 never some mystery 鈥� rarely, maybe occasionally. But there鈥檚 always something. That鈥檚 what I find interesting and then you finish it and it hits you, all of that. That was definitely the case for 鈥楥ivil War.鈥欌��
Plemons, who grew up in Mart, Texas, has often been called on to play such menacing figures. But he鈥檚 found ways to cleverly play with and invert that reputation. In 鈥淕ame Night,鈥� Plemons played the foreboding neighbor next door whose deadpan interactions ("How can that be profitable for Frito Lay?") were the movie鈥檚 comic high point.
But asked if Plemons sometimes feels resistant to playing darker, demented characters, an interviewer hasn鈥檛 finished the question when he eagerly responds, 鈥淵es!鈥�
鈥淏ut also, like anyone I would think, you don鈥檛 want to be redundant,鈥� Plemons explains. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not like dark characters are all the same. But that鈥檚 what to me is eternally interesting and a gift about an actor. Yeah, I feel incredibly fortunate to be at a place where I鈥檓 able to be more selective. There鈥檚 a choose-your-own-adventure element. But there are times when, yeah, you just don鈥檛 really want to walk around in those shoes at this moment.鈥�
That may be especially since Plemons' life is otherwise fairly blissful. He and his wife, Kirsten Dunst, who met while shooting the second season of 鈥淔argo,鈥� have two young children. But Plemons isn鈥檛 necessarily shying away from anything, either.
鈥淚 have conflicted feelings about it because there鈥檚 part of me that really believes there鈥檚 a point to it, and some of positive that comes out of showing something like, someone like that,鈥� Plemons says of the 鈥淐ivil War鈥� character. 鈥淭hey exist. That鈥檚 one of the great possibilities in film to hold up a mirror and, without preaching, you鈥檙e forcing people to engage in a way where you鈥檙e hitting them first from a human level in a way that a lot of other mediums might not be able to do.鈥�
That kind of thoughtfulness is what's made Plemons so in demand as an actor. He's noticed the shift most in the last year or two. (In 2022, both he and Dunst were Oscar nominated for their supporting performances in Jane Campion's 鈥淧ower of the Dog.鈥�)
鈥淚t鈥檚 just trying to hold on and hone your time-management skills,鈥� says Plemons. "This experience, you realize you can do all the work you want but if you don鈥檛 settle into here and now and just play and go on a ride, then none of that matters."
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Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
