'Mountainhead' stars on the 'incredibly dangerous' mentality of their uber-rich characters
“Mountainhead” stars Jason Schwartzman, Cory Michael Smith and Ramy Youssef felt like they hit the jackpot as recruits for the first movie directed by “Succession” creator Jesse Armstrong.
After all, the HBO drama series, which centered on the children of media mogul Logan Roy fighting to take over his empire, earned 76 Emmy nominations throughout its four seasons.
“When Jesse Armstrong reaches out, (you say yes),” says Schwartzman, 44. “Being such a massive fan of ‘Succession’ and his point of view ... you would do it even if you maybe didn't have any knowledge of what it was.”
Youssef, 34, thought “Jesse Armstrong? I’m in. Tech bro, hell, yeah.” Smith, 38, counts “Succession” as “one of my favorite shows of all time. I watched that show salivating over what these other actors got to do, and this being an opportunity to work with him was just like no questions asked.”
But maybe you have questions, like what is “Mountainhead” about? The film, debuting May 31 (8 ET/PT on HBO and streaming on HBO Max), chronicles the weekend shenanigans of a (mostly) billionaire boys club gathered for poker at Hugo’s (Schwartzman) modest 21,000-square-foot estate, dubbed Mountainhead.
Hugo is the poorest of the four with a measly $521 million to his name. Venis (pronounced "Venice" and portrayed by Smith) is the richest with a $220 billion fortune amassed from his social media platform Traam, currently inundated with deepfakes so realistic they’re inciting international incidents of violence. He’s in dire need of Jeff’s (Youssef) AI which can flag fake content for users. Randall (played by Steve Carell) is eager for Venis and Jeff to partner because it will increase the likelihood Randall can upload his consciousness before cancer overtakes his body.
The movie filmed at breakneck speed over five weeks this spring in Park City, Utah.
“It was so accelerated,” Schwartzman says. “Part of being in the movie that was unspoken was like, ‘Are you prepared to just give it all you can and no matter what, just put it on the line?’ Doing that with these gentlemen, it was really inspiring and moving.”
The characters’ desires and delusions about the world and themselves make for an interesting dynamic.
“They respect each other, and they have an anti-respect for each other,” Schwartzman says. “And it's hard to kind of figure out what is what and who's feeling what, but it's almost like these four guys need each other.”
The film looks at those who “have incredible authority and power over all of our lives,” Smith says, asking, “What are they like behind the scenes? How much do they care? Are they nihilists and do they have any consideration for the well-being of all of us in the midst of political and economic turmoil around the world? I don't know.”
The tension of the film is ”incredibly different than ‘Succession,’” Youssef says. ”Fans of Jesse are going to be happy, but it's a different thing.”
Armstrong’s voice and style are apparent, and the characters “are powerful and deal with privilege and are rich,” Youssef says. But “we're not looking at nepo babies. We're looking at actually self-made guys who view themselves as underdogs in a world where actually they are in more control than they should be. And that kind of cognitive dissonance is incredibly dangerous.”
Youssef, born to Egyptian parents, says he crafted his role of Jeff as someone with similar origins who struck it rich.
“When you're after money, it is never enough,” he says. “Everyone comes to that realization that what is going to really give you that feeling of wealth is going to be having a rich personal life, and this character doesn't have that. In my own personal life, it was a quick realization that you get a few things that you're hoping to get, and then once you get them, you go, ‘OK, that's not really what I was after.’”
Smith, who grew up in a working-class family, wanted to be a theater actor. Being rich was not the goal.
“The thing that I really wanted when I decided to go to drama school and then moved to New York was to be able to support myself doing the thing that I loved,” he says. “And when I accomplished that, being able to do that, that was like a crazy thing for me.”
The experience of working on “Mountainhead” is its own fortune, one which Smith gets choked up reflecting on.
“Being invited onto this movie was so mind-blowing for me because ‘Succession’ is one of my favorite shows and getting a personal call from (Armstrong) offering me this job was just crazy, dreamy,” Smith says. “For the four actors and Jesse and everyone else to also just be really kind, supportive, wonderful people ... making friends with these people is beyond.”