Stars The Weeknd, Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan, as well as filmmaker Trey Edward Shults, sat down with The Hollywood Reporter's Tiffany Taylor to talk all about their new film 'Hurry Up Tomorrow,' which is directed by Shults and co-written by Shults, Tesfaye and Reza Fahim. The Weeknd, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, opened up about the incident that inspired the feature film and his album of the same name. Plus, he and Shults revealed how they knew Ortega was the right actress to lead the film as "Annie." Ortega and Keoghan also shared what drew them to the project and made them prioritize it amid their busy schedules. 'Hurry Up Tomorrow' hits theaters May 16 and tickets are available now.
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00:00It's just a character piece and somebody breaking down.
00:03It's an event, isn't it?
00:04Yes, it is.
00:06Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan star alongside The Weeknd,
00:09whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, in his new film Hurry Up Tomorrow,
00:13a psychological thriller about an insomniac musician on the verge of a breakdown.
00:18Keoghan, Ortega, Tesfaye, and director Trey Edward Schultz
00:21spoke to The Hollywood Reporter all about the forthcoming film.
00:24The movie, which Tesfaye co-wrote, also marks his first lead role in a feature film.
00:28He has said that both the film and his album of the same name
00:31were inspired by an incident that occurred during one of his concerts in 2022.
00:35Take me back to that night and what happened and how it inspired this project.
00:39Well, I lost my voice, which, you know, is common for performers,
00:44but I found out that it wasn't really a physical injury.
00:47It was more mental.
00:49Went to the doctors, they're like, look, you're a little inflamed,
00:51but you can sing, you're fine.
00:54And so I think it was a moment where I had to sit down and figure out what was going on up there.
00:59And the only person I can think of while I was coming up with the idea was Trey.
01:06He had gone through something, not the same, but you'd gone through an injury as well, too,
01:10and you were able to show it in waves.
01:13And the way he had done it was so emotional and so powerful, and it affected me dearly.
01:17So, yeah, that's how it came to be.
01:22Schultz co-wrote the project with Tess Faye along with directing it,
01:25but even he has said that he has a hard time describing the film.
01:28How would you describe this film and the character that you play in it?
01:31I truly think that this film is a film that starts conversations,
01:35and it's incredibly important that it's subjective and people take, you know, whatever they want from it.
01:40I like to describe it as a feeling more than anything.
01:42I feel like the tone and environment, that's supposed to resonate with you more.
01:46It's less about the story that is so psychological and, you know, woven with so many thoughtful pieces and ideas,
01:53but really it's somebody breaking down.
01:54It's an event, isn't it?
01:55Yes, it is.
01:56Keoghan plays The Weeknd's manager, while Ortega portrays Annie, which is short for Anima,
02:01which is defined as the feminine part of a man's personality.
02:04Ortega has said of her character, quote,
02:06she's kind of able in a sense.
02:08How did you know Jenna was the right actress for this movie?
02:10I mean, right away.
02:11You pitched her.
02:12Yeah.
02:12I didn't know her work as well.
02:13He knew her.
02:13I was a fan of her work.
02:15I saw the work she does.
02:17She does incredible work with genre.
02:19In all the films that she's done, whether it's X or Scream,
02:22she's always kind of stood out for me as an incredible emotional performer.
02:26And, you know, she's doing a high-wire act in this film.
02:29I mean, the third act, it's literally she's carrying the film on her back.
02:32I don't think I've ever seen her do anything like this before.
02:34No.
02:35I think people would be really impressed by her performance.
02:37I've never seen her do a role like this, and I knew she was talented.
02:42Obviously, we all do.
02:43But I didn't quite know how talented she was until we were shooting together.
02:46And, yeah, like, it was up before.
02:48I knew how talented she was.
02:49She truly blew me away.
02:51And she, you know, the third act of this film,
02:54she kind of puts on her shoulders and wouldn't work without her.
02:56And, yeah.
02:57No, we were terrified, I think, before we had to shoot the third act.
03:00We were just kind of looking at each other.
03:02And we were like, I don't know if this is going to work.
03:03Yeah, absolutely.
03:04And she just blew it out of the park.
03:06Yeah.
03:06And she has incredible, incredible ideas.
03:09Very collaborative.
03:10Both Ortega and Keoghan are in-demand stars.
03:13Among their many recent projects,
03:15Ortega is currently working on an untitled J.J. Abrams film,
03:19while Keoghan is set to play Ringo Starr in the upcoming Beatles biopics.
03:23Your schedules have to be totally full,
03:25but why was this something that you wanted to prioritize
03:27and say yes to and make time for?
03:29It was unlike anything I had read or done before,
03:32which is very fascinating to me.
03:34I think I had really inspiring conversations with Trey and Abel
03:37about what they wanted to achieve.
03:39I knew the team behind it.
03:40Obviously, I respect Barry, Trey, Abel, Chase Irvin, the DP.
03:44It just felt like a very creative and challenging and exciting space to play in,
03:51and I wanted that experience.
03:52I mean, you know, as Jenison, you know,
03:57just to be part of that event and that experience and that challenge
04:00and, you know, to bring forward his vision,
04:03and a massive fan of everyone on board,
04:05sort of a no-brainer when you see it.
04:08And I was, you know, I felt like this one was going to be a spontaneous kind of thing
04:12where it's, you know, you can prep for it and everything,
04:15but, you know, what happens on the day is going to, you know,
04:18bring the instincts forward, and that's what I love to do.
04:21You know, this is all really intense,
04:23but I'm not trying to hurt you.
04:27You've said that the two of you are like family now.
04:29After working on this, do you have more projects in the works together,
04:32or do you want to do more things together?
04:34I definitely want to do more, yeah, that's for sure, yeah.
04:36I mean, this was the best collaboration I've ever been a part of.
04:42I mean, it's, I really felt like I made a new family member.
04:47I mean, we got really personal.
04:49We got deep with the material, and it was just a smooth process.
04:53I mean, the film is heavy.
04:55He created such a safe environment for me to just, you know, be vulnerable.
04:59Hurry Up Tomorrow hits theaters on May 16th.
05:02For more on the film, go to THR.com.
05:04For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Tiffany Taylor.