A world off kilter
Ted Geoghegan on casting, design and the supernatural in Brooklyn 45
By Jennie Kermode
Five people. One room. It’s late at night in Brooklyn, just after the end of the Second World War, and friends have gathered to comfort one of their number who has recently lost his wife, who shocks them when he says that he wants their help to hold a séance. Writer/director Ted Geoghegan is a little nervous about his new film, Brooklyn 45, because it’s not stuffed to the gills with supernatural shocks like some horror fans may be hoping; rather, its focus is on the psychological, and on the damage done by a conflict which led people to encounter situations they simply were not prepared for. It went down well at SXSW, however, and as it screened at the Overlook Film Festival, I asked him how he managed to assemble its impressive cast.
“I had written the role of Clive for Larry Fessenden,” he begins. “Larry’s one of my oldest friends here in New York, we only live a few blocks apart. He’s one of my one of my favourite carousing and drinking buddies, where we sit around and we bounce ideas off each other all day. I wanted to create another role that I felt Larry could excel in as an actor, because so often he’s given these tiny roles in genre films, he shows up and he gets killed, or he shows up and has one line and walks away – and he’s just such a phenomenal actor…
Add a comment