Ethan Hawke, Jim Gaffigan, Kyle MacLachlan, Eve Hewson, Hannah Gross, and Director Michael Almereyda walked the red carpet at the Telsa Film Premiere on Monday, January 27, 2020, at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. To take you behind-the-scenes, watch these five red carpet interviews filmed outside The Library Center Theatre before this highly anticipated movie.
Photo (C) Liz H Kelly 2020
Everyone made it very clear “this movie is not about the car”, and instead tells the story about the visionary scientist Nikola Tesla as a young man in New York City. Tesla (Ethan Hawke), believed in unlimited energy with George Westinghouse (Jim Gaffigan) and his Westinghouse’s protégé played by Vincent De Paul. These scientists competed with Thomas Edison played by Kyle MacLachlan. And Tesla would not have made it without the help of Anne Morgan (Eve Hewson).
ETHAN HAWKE (Nikola Tesla) took time to talk to all the reporters because he is so passionate about this project. During our interview, Ethan explained the how “Rules for a Knight” in Ethan’s book applied to his character Nikola Tesla the scientist in this film. When asked if he preferred New York or Los Angeles, you can guess his reply.
EVE HEWSON (Anne Morgan) was having fun with her co-stars (and is also in our Jim Gaffigan interview). Eve explained that she plays Anne Morgan, who is JP Morgan’s daughter. Her character raises money for Tesla, and then “tries” to be his girlfriend. Follow Eve @MemphisEveHewson. According to Wikipedia, Tesla received $150,000 (over $4.6 million in today’s dollars) from J Pierpont Morgan in return for 51% of any generated wireless patents.
JIM GAFFIGAN (George Westinghouse) reflected on playing a “very powerful man” and then broke into improv by making fun of our red microphone (red for “Red Carpet Report”). Inbetween laughs, Jim spoke about what it was like to be honored for his work at The Creative Coalition’s Spotlight Initiative Awards at Sundance. It’s an annual event that celebrates artists and arts education.
MICHAEL ALMEREYDA (Director and Writer) was happy to share the inspiration for the movie was a cartoonist named Alex Toth who was obsessed with the scientist Nikola Tesla. As a teen, Almereyda used to go Toth’s house to draw, chain smoke and talk about Tesla’s story.
KYLE MACLACHLAN (Thomas Edison) shared what it was like to play Thomas Edison, and that he loved doing the research for this role. MacLachlan added that while these men are heroes, they certainly are not perfect (and there was a lot of competition between these scientists). Kyle also spoke about how much he loves the enthusiasm for film at Sundance.
Many thanks to our fellow red carpet reporters at this premiere, including Brittani Warrick (Sundance Social Media Coordinator) and Click On This for letting us share parts of their interviews. And big shout out to Billy Holden, VP SAG-AFTRA Utah for being our Videographer.
Reflecting on the big picture, Director Michael Almereyda emphasized that this film is about “people and emotions…and it’s about how people connect and disconnect.” Look for the Tesla movie buzz online to find out when this film will hit theaters.
