Many will know her as the casting director for Marvel — she’s assembled every film in the MCU since 2008’s “Iron Man.” Her credits also include “Everything, Everywhere All at Once,” 2019’s “The Lion King” and “Chef.” Searchlight’s “Wild Horse Nine,” now in theaters, reunites her with “Seven Psychopaths” director and writer Martin McDonagh. The film stars John Malkovich as Chris and Sam Rockwell as Lee, who play CIA agents dispatched from Santiago to Easter Island by their bureau chief, MJ (Steve Buscemi). Among the Island’s iconic statues, and as the longtime partners wrestle with their dark pasts and present conspiracies, Chris’s newfound bond with a pair of rebellious students threatens to send everyone’s trust to this remote island paradise sideways.
Finn spoke with Variety to discuss her process for casting the “Wild Horse Nine,” why Chadwick Boseman’s audition still holds a special place in her heart and the satisfaction of casting Marvel films. Sam and Martin go back to “Seven Psychopaths,” and before that, Sam had done one of Martin’s plays. So it’s a mix of relationships and then curating and building the cast together, understanding the world, understanding Martin’s vision.
We were able to dive into Chilean history and the Chilean talent pool a few months before we started active casting. We’re going on two tracks: looking there and discovering new talent, and talking about every role, from the Steve Buscemi part and how every single one of them was its own journey to put the pieces together in a thoughtful and careful way for maximum impact. His entire body of work speaks to his talent and his history as an actor.
The founding of the Steppenwolf Theater Company speaks to his ethos as an actor, and his talent needs no explanation. However, I do think that this is a part that he was uniquely suited to play at this moment in his life and sometimes that just arrives. He’s always had an effortless style of acting, but the way that he’s able to move from one aspect of this character’s personality to another in a moment and show a full range of humanity, feels very special.
As much as we’ve seen from Malkovich. I don’t think we’ve seen this kind of performance from him before. It’s especially gratifying when a film and a performance can exceed our expectations.
There were qualities that John brought in moments that I could not have anticipated. But yes, knowing he had the humor, also the danger and the darkness. There’s so much regret in the story.
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