In Hollywood, dreams come true in the quirkiest ways at times. If anyone had told director Tony Kaye, during the fallout after the release of his feature film, “American History X,” that his upcoming film of 2024—”The Trainer”—would generate headlines in every industry publication and newspaper, he probably would have scoffed. It’s been 13 years since the director helmed a film, according to World of Reel. During that time, he stayed as far from filmmaking as possible.
“The Trainer” Honored by Rome Film Fest
The Rome Film Fest screened the movie on October 18, 2024. Participation in the festival resulted in the film gaining a nomination for Best Film in the category of Progressive Cinema. “The Trainer” debuts on November 7, 2024, in Russia, but it has already earned a rating of 8.0 out of 10.0 on the Internet Movie Database (IMDB).
Kaye Attracts a Star-Studded Cast
After two feature flops at the box office and earning a reputation as a “spectacular ass,” as he describes himself, Kaye became the director everyone wants to work with. “Everyone” refers to the star-studded cast of “The Trainer,” the cast list of which reads like an encyclopedia of film actors and Page Six celebrities. Authored by art dealer and sometimes actor Vito Schnabel, “The Trainer” attracted Beverly D’Angelo, Taylour Paige, Bella Thorne, Julia Fox, Steven Van Zandt, Stephen Dorff, John McEnroe, Lenny Kravitz, Gina Gershon, Coleen Camp, and Paris Hilton, reports Variety.
Kaye and Marlon Brando Develop New Acting Method
What attracted them besides a strong story and intriguing script? Kaye had returned to shooting commercials and music videos but pursued developing an alternative to method acting, which he calls the Melody Spotty Grass Acting Technique. In an interview with Screen Daily, he describes the new acting method as one that “sets out to question all forms of intellectualism within acting.” In development, since Kaye attended Marlon Brando’s 2001 acting workshop “Lying for a Living,” he worked with Brando to develop it.
The process requires emptying the mind after having attuned it to nature and its surroundings. Kaye says the actor starts by bending down to “listen to grass grow.” In the mind’s eye, the actor then imagines shapes, colors, and music relating to the scene before emptying his or her mind. From this state of nature, actors approach each scene, reacting to the other actors who don’t know what each other envisioned. Kaye calls it chaos, from which stems a precise structure and control.
Kaye and Schnabel Create Equal Partnership
“The Trainer” provided him with the ideal setting to fully introduce the new acting technique because he and Schnabel agreed to 50-50 creative control from the beginning. The story’s writer and star knew going into the project that Kaye wanted to use his and Brando’s new acting technique in the direction of the film. As those in the acting community learned of this, the ranks of stars excited by the opportunities afforded by progressive cinema lined up to take part and welcome Tony Kaye back to the director’s chair.
