Woody Harrelson was unable to join The Hollywood Reporter‘s chat at the Sundance Film Festival with Suncoast writer-director Laura Chinn and the actor’s co-stars Laura Linney and Ariel Martin. Despite this, Chinn and Linney revealed what Harrelson brought to his role.
In Suncoast, which is partly inspired by Chinn’s own experiences, Harrelson’s character Paul is an activist who advocates for Terri Schiavo’s right to live while in a vegetative state. He develops a bond with Doris (Nico Parker), a high schooler whose comatose brother is in the same facility as Schiavo.
Discussing the dynamic between the characters of Paul and Doris, Linney, who portrays Doris’ mother Kristine, commented, “The thing that’s also interesting is when you have conviction on opposite sides of an issue. The conviction is the same and the conviction can, if allowed, can connect people. But the viewpoint’s wildly different but it’s always so interesting to me how the convictions is very similar.”
The connection between Harrelson and Parker onscreen also extended offscreen. Chinn mentioned that Harrelson and Parker had a natural chemistry onscreen, partly due to Harrelson’s previous collaboration with Parker’s mother Thandiwe Newton in Solo.
“Woody and Nico were just darling together. That was the real, how safe he made her feel,” said Chinn. “He’s worked with her mother before so it was very… they felt like family. Listening to them and him guiding her and giving her tips — they were very, very, very sweet. That was my takeaway, I was just very grateful that her being so young and so new to all this, that he was there for her.”
Watch the full interview in the video above.