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Marc Senter has a natural gift for suspense, thrillers, and horror with his memorable turns in features like The Lost (2006), The Devil’s Carnival (2012), and Starry Eyes (2014). Before that, he’s been a regular on TV shows making guest appearances on NCIS, JAG, and The Young and the Restless. When the actor heard about Lucky McKee’s Old Man for RLJE Films and knowing who was involved, he knew he had to take that opportunity. The story follows a lost hiker Jake (Senter), who stumbles upon an erratic old man (Stephen Lang) living in the woods and not imagining the nightmare that awaited him. Senter spoke to Bleeding Cool about his involvement, inspiration, McKee, Lang, and more.
Bleeding Cool: What appealed to you about ‘Old Man?’
Senter: It was a play my friend Joel Veach wrote. After reading it, I got excited by the characters, possibilities and thought, “Oh, my God! I want to make this a movie. I was flipping through the pages of that play and thinking, “Man, this is such a cool character, and it would be such a blast to try to capture this.”
Can you kind of break down your chemistry with Stephen and how the cerebral chess match came off on screen?
Thanks so much for saying that. I appreciate that. It was amazing and a blast. We did a series of rehearsals before, which is always important, and he’s such a pro. It was laid out; we rehearsed, spent time together, took risks together, and had a great director allowing us to play, try, and explore.
Was there anything that helped inspire your performance as Joe in ‘Old Man’ from the stage or screen?
What comes to mind is, is I’ve worked with Eric and Susana Morris, who are some of the best teachers around. They’re wonderful teachers I studied with for a really long time from my time with them, other roles I’ve played, the preparations and work I’ve done, and the experience I had. It all adds to arriving here if that answers your question [laughs].
How do you describe the set that Lucky ran?
Lucky ran an amazing set, which was beautifully built by Lili Teplin, our production designer. Inspired by the paintings of Andrew Wyeth, they were looking at those. Lucky’s a pro, and he’s a serious guy, but he’s very nice. He knows what he wants, and I would say there is an amazing synergy between him, Stephen Lang, and me. We were ahead of schedule most of the time and never felt like we were slow, but just creatively fulfilling.
Was there a particular scene that was more difficult than the rest, given the psychological nature of the film?
Every day was a challenge, but a good challenge. Doing the work I was doing, being present, and working with Stephen. There’s a scene where my character is sitting at the table across from [his character] Old Man and talking about his past. That was a challenge because I frankly didn’t want to screw up. It was one of the most important scenes in the movie, especially for my character and what he reveals. I woke up that morning and was like, “Okay, you had your coffee, and what else do you need to do? You’ve done your preparations. No pressure. Don’t screw this up!” That was a challenging one.
Old Man, which also stars Patch Darragh and Liana Wright-Mark, is currently in theaters, on-demand, and digital.
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