How much do I know and how much could I tell you are two very different things. I know a lot, but I can’t tell you anything. More than anything I trust the artistic direction to Luca and [novelist] André Aciman and to those guys who did such a good job handling it the first time around. The only thing I want to see is I want to see it happen. I want to do it again.
Actor Armie Hammer, on what he knows and doesn’t know about that upcoming ‘Call Me By Your Name sequel’ in the works.
Armie Hammer stars in the new movie ‘Call Me By Your Name’ and he’s opening up about it in Out Magazine’s November 2017 issue. Shot by fashion photographer Nino Muñoz, the American actor showcases a selection of easy-to-wear casual numbers, put together by stylist Grant Woolhead.
Armie Hammer’s latest film, ‘Call Me By Your Name’, which is already generating Oscar buzz, is unlike anything the actor has done in the past, which he admits in Out Magazine’s November issue scared him at first.
Working together for the first time on the sultry love story ‘Call Me By Your Name’, Armie Hammer and director Luca Guadagnino got along like peaches and cream. “I probably fell in love with Luca the same way Elio fell in love with [my character] Oliver. I looked at him with amazement”, Hammer revealed in the interview.
Guadagnino, who directed 2015’s ‘A Bigger Splash’, agreed, saying, “I fell in love with Armie when I saw him in ‘The Social Network’. And then I had the privilege of meeting him, and I fell in love again. And I’ve never recovered from falling in love with him”.
The mutual admiration and trust between director and actor was important on ‘Call Me By Your Name’, which Hammer said forced him outside of his comfort zone. Based on André Aciman’s 2007 novel of the same name, the film tells the story of a grad student Oliver (Hammer) who falls in love with his professor’s son Eli, played by Timotheé Chalamet, who lives at the cliff-side mansion on the Italian Riviera where Oliver is staying.
Guadagnino and Chalamet also found themselves on the same page creatively. For example, in one memorable scene from the novel, Chalamet’s character makes love to a pitted peach. Guadagnino had reservations about including the scene in his script: “I was struggling with the possibility that you can masturbate yourself with such a fruit”, he explained.
“So I grabbed a peach and I tried, and I have to say – it works”, he said, adding, “I went to Timothée, and said, ‘We shoot the scene, because I tried it and it worked’. And he said, “I tried too, and I already knew it worked”.
The anecdote is just one example of the close relationship both actors forged with their director. “I’ve never been so intimately involved with a director before”, Hammer admitted. “Luca was able to look at me and completely undress me. He knew every single one of my insecurities, every time I needed to be pushed, and when I needed to be protected”.
Known for his roles in action films like ‘The Man from U.N.C.L.E.’ and ‘The Lone Ranger’, Hammer has also had smaller roles in indies like ‘Nocturnal Animals’ and ‘The Social Network’. But with ‘Call Me By Your Name’, the actor felt as if Guadagnino pushed his boundaries to the next level.
The indie film, which received critical acclaim at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, made Hammer realize that the challenges he faced were a personal reward as well. “It seemed so subtle, so personal, and so real that I didn’t know if I could do that as an actor. I didn’t know if I had it in me to give such a tender performance. It scared me”, Hammer shares, adding that director Luca Guadagnino “assuaged all my apprehensions by helping me to realize that fear and desire are part and parcel”.
For Hammer, challenging himself with the part was ultimately a freeing experience. “So much of this movie is about stripping everything away and exposing yourself”, he explained. “I grew up in conservative white America, where you just don’t talk about yourself, your desires, wanting to express your sensuality – it’s taboo. To be fully immersed in Luca’s world was just an incredible gift”.
In the interview released on Wednesday, Hammer ads: I know that I will carry the experience of making this movie for the rest of my life. I don’t want to say movies can change the world, but if we can change one person’s perspective, we can change that person’s world”.
Photography: Nino Muñoz
Styling: Grant Woolhead
Market Editor: Michael Cook
Groomer: KC Fee at The Wall Group
Fashion Assistant: Luke Prusinski
‘Call Me by Your Name’ premiered at the Sundance Film Fesitival on January 22, 2017. The film will start a limited release in the United States on November 24, and will on general release on January 19.
Read more on Out Magazine‘s November 2017 issue.
Yakymour 