Dermot Mulroney on the Pressures Men Face To Look a Certain Way in Hollywood
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He says other actors keep 'pushing the physique bar higher and higher'.
Dermot Mulroney, the Young Guns, My Best Friend’s Wedding, The Family Stone, and August: Osage County star, 59, is adding a slasher film to his resumé when he joins the cast of Scream VI (in theaters March 10). The blood-and-gore story moves to New York City when the four survivors of the Ghostface murders leave Woodsboro for the Big Apple, but it isn’t long before they, along with Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox), are once again fighting for their lives when a new killer emerges, and they turn to Detective Bailey (Mulroney) for assistance.
What can you tease about Scream VI?
We can talk about what kind of movie Scream VI is. A great murder mystery is a group of suspects maybe, like a Clue or Murder on the Orient Express, where you have your group. Imagine taking that idea and putting it into a huge metropolitan area instead of small towns. That’s the expansion concept here.
You play Detective Bailey. What was it about this policeman that intrigued you enough to take the role?
The thing that I liked best about being a policeman in Scream VI is that I could follow in the footsteps of the great David Arquette playing Dewey for so many beloved films of the franchise. To be genuine, it’s a great legacy to continue playing a cop in the Scream series. I was thrilled to be added to this franchise at this time, especially when the movies are taking a turn for the gorier, more thrilling action, and more intense emotional connections between the characters.
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Scream V wasn’t just a redo or a rehash or a reboot, it really changed the game. When I got this part, I watched all five of the films, and I recognized that Scream V really changed the game, especially the diversification in the cast. If you compare Scream to anything across the board, we’ve got them hands down on who the four leads are being played by. So, I was also joining a cast that had that appeal for me.
Courteney Cox is back and she’s an original from 1996. What conversations did you have about Scream?
It was so fun to talk to Courteney because I appeared with her on Friends. We together decided that the three episodes that I did were by far the most favorite of all the series, which seems weird that we’d then be in a movie together and get to talk about that. But it’s amazing. I was so proud of that designation, even if it was sort of self-ascribed.
So, to join up with Courteney’s character from Scream V who’s moved to New York, the throughline is that she’s a journalist there. She’d already left the small town behind. So, part of the story is it catches up to her.
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There are rumors online that you’re going to be Ghostface.
I do know that. But they have rumors of every single cast member being Ghostface. You’re not going to wear me down there. I’m now part of the mystery.
Melissa Barrera, who plays Sam Carpenter, has said that this is the goriest Scream yet. Would you say that Scream VI amps things up?
Without a doubt. You have to understand, of course, that I can’t speak to the scenes that I didn’t witness being shot, but they had really big plans. Melissa would know better there with Jenna [Ortega], Mason [Gooding] and Jasmin [Savoy Brown], because they have gone through that storyline together. In other words, I wasn’t even in the loop on some of those story parts. If Melissa’s saying there’s more bloody gore action in Scream VI, there is.
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What was it like working with co-directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett? Was it a first for you having two directors?
It’s wonderful. They worked together seamlessly as one, and truth be told, when the actors were receiving direction, you never knew who was going to come and give it to you. But you always knew that the direction coming after a take to adjust would be fantastic. They really dialed into the material, they love what they do and I learned a lot from them. This was, for me, one of those movies that I had just an inordinate amount of fun. Others will report to that, too. We just had a blast making Scream VI.
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Would you say the move to New York City gives it a whole fresh start, so there could be a Scream VII?
Oh, gosh, well you’re preaching to the choir there. You don’t have to sneak up behind me in a mask and surprise me with that idea. I would love that, of course. Who wouldn’t?
You’ve also done Westerns, rom-coms and now horror. Is the best part of your career that you’ve been able to do so many different types of things and haven’t been typecast?
Yes. That’s the part that I get the biggest kick out of. I always dreamed of doing this. I had that exact picture in my mind as a young actor, of being able to continue being an actor for decades and playing dozens and dozens of different types of characters. The whole thing is a dream come true.
When you take on a role like Nick in The Wedding Date, who’s this perfect man, is there added pressure because not only do you have to perform but you have to look a certain way?
Yeah, well even still, I’m a really active guy, athletic, but I’ve always felt like other actors kept pushing the physique bar higher and higher. Throughout the years that I worked, part of the assignment for my whole generation of actors was to be in great shape, whereas previous generations of actors, if you’re picturing guys from the ‘70s and earlier, that wasn’t part of the game. But it was always part of the game with the male, white actors of privilege who were waltzed into Hollywood in the ‘80s and early ‘90s.
The script for The Wedding Date literally said, “the guy strips off his shirt and his abs are blah, blah, blah.” For me, that was a tall assignment and I’m glad that it lives on on-screen and that ever since then, people think I’m some fitness model. Instead, I’m an active man of my age who tries to stay fit for the movies because they’ve always needed us to look so good. I tried to do my part. That’s all I’m trying to do.
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You are a classically trained cellist and you have played in scoring orchestras. You’ve done Star Trek films, and a Star Wars film, and then maybe it was typecasting in this instance, but you played a cello soloist in Mozart in the Jungle. How did you first get invited to this other side of your career?
It’s incredible that my love of music and my instrumental ability would become part of my filmology. I would never have guessed it. It’s so wonderful. I knew the producers personally, Jason Schwartzman and Roman Coppola, for Mozart in the Jungle so that was designed around that ability that I had, that they knew somebody that could really play strings.
There were a lot of other times I played with musicians. I’ve always been in bands. I also play guitar and mandolin. But when I got to be a regular player in a scoring orchestra, it was for Maestro Michael Giacchino, who’s the most wonderful American composer. His Oscar was for Up, and I probably played in his orchestra for more than 20 films. I have deep gratitude for him.
We were at a party at the premiere of Family Stone, for which he had written the most overwhelmingly emotional score. I was introduced to him by Tom Bezucha, the director. Tom said, “Dermot plays cello.” I said, “Michael, you should have me play in your orchestra.” Michael said, “You have to be able to sight read music and really play.” I said, “You should have me in your orchestra. I can do that.” I played for him for upwards of 10 or 15 years, and will again, it just hasn’t happened recently. I think the last one I played on was Incredibles 2, which was just mind-blowing to be in a scoring stage with the big band horns that filled the room. Incredible, incredible music and musicians.
I’m on a slight quest to bring awareness to the fact that films have never credited the musicians, and no one’s ever asked them to. No one has ever stood up to say, “If you’re crediting hundreds of compositors now for movies and you’re not telling people who plays the violin in your score, which is only about 120 people, something’s wrong.”
It’s always been off in the history of Hollywood. That’s a program that I’m on to bring awareness to that and to have filmmakers credit their orchestral players. They did it recently on A Man Named Otto, credited the entire orchestra. Marc Forster, director of A Man Called Otto, credited musicians so that was cool.
What gets you up in the morning?
Well, I have teenagers (with wife Prima Apollinaare), so I get them up and off to school. I spring out of bed every day. I can’t wait to go to work. I start another movie in a couple weeks. But what I mean is if I’m on a job, and even if it’s an early call, I’m always up and at ‘em. I just have that kind of personality. I love what I do so much, can’t you imagine how fun it is? Even now that I’ve been doing it this long, I still find it so exciting.
That is so great to hear because they say if you really like what you’re doing then it’s not work.
Yeah, but honestly, it doesn’t even count. That would be great if we were talking about a regular 9 to 5 job. There’s nobody that wouldn’t like this. I don’t know how else to put it. I don’t mean to show privilege. I’ve worked really hard. But it’s hard to make a pat on the back to a hard worker when it’s not that. It’s not work, but it’s film acting, it’s wonderful. I’m so blessed.
There’s that expression how luck is really preparation plus opportunity. Have you heard that?
I think it’s probably preparation plus let’s add some wholesome things here, plus good parenting, plus good teachers, in my case. What else makes good luck? Being prepared, being knowledgeable, good retention. Being able to learn is how you move on from mistakes. There are a couple things I didn’t get cast in in high school. I still remember those, the things that I wasn’t able to do.
