Interview With Director Olmo Schnabel, Actor Darío Yazebek Bernal & EP Jeremy O'Harris for PET SHOP DAYS (2023) @ SXSW

Olmo Schnabel's directorial debut PET SHOP DAYS screened as a Festival Favorite at SXSW 2024. The film stars Jack Irv and Darío Yazebek Bernal, alongside Willem Dafoe, Peter Sarsgaard and more.

Impulsive black sheep Alejandro (Bernal) and pet store employee Jack (Irv) enter a whirlwind romance that sends them down the rabbit hole of depravity in Manhattan’s underworld.

In an interview at SXSW with director Olmo Schnabel, actor Darío Yazebek Bernal, EP Jeremy O'Harris, here is what they had to say:

Can you tell us a little bit about the film? Was it difficult to get off the ground?

OLMO: It was a collaboration among friends, and yes was a difficult movie to make. Obviously when you’re not part of the industry and you’re doing something that might seem challenging or on the periphery of what people will accept, there is a lot of trial and error. It was a kind of search party to find the right producing partner to help me get this movie made. It wasn’t until I met Francesco Melzi d’Eril that I found a producer who was very excited and motivated to put this film together. I think because he’s from another cultural background, he was willing to take some risks. Whereas if you go meet with an agency or head of a studio in the US, they have a mandate to fill that this film didn’t fit into. Someone like Francesco is willing to bet on young filmmakers, and to take a risk. With Francesco I met Jeremy who was very instrumental. He helped me meet other people who were super useful for getting this out into the world. It was important to create a dialogue and have the support system I needed, because it wasn’t easy.

JEREMY: Olmo had worked a long time and garnered a lot of financing before I got involved. It was a real mountain to climb getting the movie made. Francesco is a great champion of Italian cinema and independent cinema. He’s worked a lot with Luca Guadagnino. I think that in Francesco, Olmo found a real partner who could read the universe he was building.  

Can you tell us about the inspiration behind the story? Is it based on true events?

OLMO: Jack Irv, the lead in the movie who also co-wrote it, based it off a friendship he had with a friend of ours named Alejandro. In its core it’s based off a relationship he was very excited and surprised about. I believe it’s more of a fantasy of what they could do together than what they weren’t doing together. It’s a mixture between the attraction of a real relationship but also that kind of naïve childlike curiosity of what could happen if they went on this crazy adventure together. And Jack had that kind of spontaneous completely loose and free story that didn’t need to be hyper realistic. It was much more like if something was going to happen, then it’s destiny. Like if you’re going to win the lottery, you’re going to win it; I’m not going to explain to you how the ticket ended up in your hand. Similarly, these two characters literally bumped into each other on the street and this wild adventure ensues.

DARIO: I think the movie itself is told from Jack’s perspective, but it’s also a fantasy of what maybe Alejandro was living at home. I really like the aspect that it’s not set in stone what is happening internally with him. It’s a bit of a fantasy of what the fictional Jack has in his head about Alejandro’s life and what he’s going through and what he himself is living. I think it’s a very interesting movie that plays between reality and fantasy.

Can you tell me about your background and how you guys started working together?

OLMO: Dario and I have known each other for a very long time through our backgrounds. My father is close to his brother. And Jeremy the same way. We’re like-minded artists trying to get our stuff made so we’re building that support system and community. I’m very lucky to have people around who inspire me and to learn from. It’s great to have conversations with Jeremy because things come up and I’m not alone trying to justify or explain things. I’ll get ideas off things Jeremy or Dario will say. We’re not based in LA; we’re based in New York so it’s important for us to have a community that has longevity. Filmmakers of the past were part of communities and I think that’s changed with the industry.

JEREMY: I think what’s cool is that we all came together as friends. I met Francesco when I was in Venice in 2020. He and I became best friends within a weekend, after which he gave me the keys to his house in Tuscany. From there we’ve had a creative friendship. I met Dario in 2020 at a film festival too and we had the best time out together. We’ve stayed in touch since. And I have previously worked with Galen Core, producer, and writer on the film as well. He made a movie that I acted in called THE SWEET EAST (2023) that’s in theaters now. It became an easy thing where a web was created and Galen was like, “Olmo you should know Jeremy, etc.” It was very natural how it all came together and indicative of the type of work I want to do where you’re saying yes to your friends who have the craziest ideas.

How long did it take to get the movie made from writing the script to getting it made?

OLMO: One and a half years. I had spent so much time thinking about this story that when I finally had the opportunity to meet with people, there was a group of Europeans who believed in patronage. They’re much more used to that culture rather than a sort of formula. Instead of asking how much money they would make in an ROI, they believed in me and wanted to work with me, and it happened like that. I had dealt with so much rejection by then that by the time I had the opportunity I wasn’t nervous or pitching. I was talking about something I felt I really needed to do, which I think is what finally helped me get the financing together. That happened quickly once we started because there wasn’t a false beat in what I was saying. I wasn’t pitching or reading off a powerpoint presentation. I was telling them why it was important to make this movie and why I thought it was a good idea for them to get behind me.

Meanwhile, film is an industry. Did having some big names attached help get the support you needed?

OLMO: Of course, one hundred percent. You need to have a package. I went into those rooms knowing I had people attached to the film so that helped. Also, being enthusiastic about working with cast members like Louis Cancelmi, Maribel Verdu, Jordi Molla, Willem Dafoe and having Michel Franco and Jeremy O. Harris as an EP. Martin Scorsese is an EP for the film too, but he came in later after he saw it. He offered his help because he knows how difficult it is for young filmmakers to get their films out. Once it was presented and there was a dialogue that felt intimate, people were enthusiastic about being a part of it because they felt like it was a real tangible thing. It was never just a play to get people’s money and never talk to them again. It was more like- let’s build a relationship that can be the start of something beautiful, let’s work on our next movies together, help other filmmakers and use this as a building block to promote the web we have. Part of our value is that now we can produce a Jeremy O’Harris and we can work with Dario and Willem. There’s a network to be offered which is also why people got behind the film.

Dario, the character you play is very intense. Talk about worlds colliding. How do you feel about your character Alejandro?

DARIO: Yeah, Alejandro is a pretty intense character. From the first moment I read the script, I felt the freedom that he had, in a way to show his arc. I felt close to him, that I could express this thing I had stuck in the back of my head that I also had to let free. To me it was like an exploration of pain in the character and my own pain as well. Letting it go through me was quite liberating in a sense. I think for a lot of actors the process of choosing a character is about exploring. There is something that calls me when I read a script. It can be something very frivolous like- Oh I always wanted to ride a horse or travel somewhere, or something much deeper. In this case it was very deep; in terms of the life that Alejandro was living I was completely mesmerized by the freedom he had to just be what he wanted to be and to feel that violence, hate, pain, and that love also at the same time. Just living life through those lenses was very appealing. You start pulling the thread and more things come out and I was just trying to find that place where Alejandro lives inside myself.

OLMO: Dario talks about connecting with the character, but I don’t think we should understand that Dario is like Alejandro. I think what I loved about Alejandro for Dario was the challenge for him to be able to play someone he is nothing like. So even if he can identify with him or understand him, he’s nothing like him. I thought ‘what a great challenge’! I’m challenging myself; he’s challenging himself. When the stakes are like that it becomes art instead of a formula.

DARIO: I think as actors we need to be challenged. I think it happens a lot in Mexico and Spain and in the rest of Europe but here most people don’t trust you to do something that’s different to you. But that gets boring because then you just keep doing similar roles close to your personality and people think you’re supposed to be that person. I think in the US, from movies we see from the 1970s, that actors need to be challenged and given things to play with because at the end of the day that’s our job. Our craft comes from creating a character that is completely different to you. At the end of the day that’s where you find empathy. If you give most actors the challenge, they’re going to live up to it because it’s what we enjoy doing. To be able to show yourself and show you’re someone who can do these things is also very important. Maybe they will offer me a musical and even if I’m terrified of singing, I know that if I’m given that challenge and trust from a director, I’m going to give everything to become that singer in that musical and do the best I can and transmit that.

JEREMY: I’ve been such a fan of Dario’s for a while now. To see Dario in his first American movie it’s so exciting. I’ve been so happy to beat the drum about it because I think he’s the Mexican Monty Clift. The chance for more people to meet him in this surprising way and sit down and have a meeting with him and see how he could also play a doctor in the new version of Suddenly, Last Summer. It’s so fun for me.

OLMO: This role is very different from what Dario has been doing. It has opened a lot of doors and new relationships and I think it’s great that people can use this film as a tool from which to grow. That’s what was at stake for all of us. It’s great when there’s a desire behind it for everyone where people aren’t just showing up for a job.

DARIO: I think that’s the community you build. For me it’s very important to build a community where we all help each other grow. At the end of the day that’s the only thing that keeps you tied to this industry because it’s so huge and scary. It’s scary to think of coming into it on your own so I think having a community of people you trust who believe in you. And if you help each other grow there’s nothing better than that.

I felt a lot of anxiety in the film. Is this film a comment on our collective culture today, in terms of sexuality, economics, politics, etc?

DARIO: I think there’s this necessity to define today, to belong to something. And that’s very scary. That mixed with the fact that we all grew up in a world where everything was promised, everything was possible, and everything was going to be amazing. Then we grow up, become adults and everything dies, gaining a huge pessimism about the world and where everything is going. You get people shouting: “Define yourself! Sexuality! Work! What do you do? What do you give?” Things are going to the extreme. There are people all over Instagram at 6:00am posting their whole life. It’s crazy. What’s going on? We’re all different and that part inside you which is an individual and a person who sees, feels, and understands gets lost in it. It’s very difficult to come to terms in this world that is so extremely defined and ask for a definition of yourself that is also not human. It’s all about concepts and ideas and I think humanity is lost right now; there is a lot of anxiety. I see that a lot in Jack’s character. The world is asking him to be something, but he doesn’t even know where to begin because no one tells you where to start.

It’s a rite of passage story but also a cautionary tale. What for you is the film’s overall message?

OLMO: Culture and tradition give people stability. We are living in a world where people are processing much faster than they used to, and information is much more accessible. I think we’re becoming much more complicated people. We’re not being told anymore to be good at one thing, like playing the piano well or becoming a good lawyer. Now everyone, especially youth, have so many different things in their heads, that everyone is a creator and there’s this kind of this generic entrepreneurial rush. I think the movie speaks also to that moment in that time in a young person’s life which can go on for a long time. I hated my twenties. I learned a lot about myself then, but when life becomes real it’s very hard to understand why we’re here and what we’re going to do about it. And can you handle it? Some people just can’t.

JEREMY: One of the things I like most about this movie is that while it can speak to all those very present anxieties, you barely see phones in this movie. The first film I made was obsessed with phones. It was set in 2015. But this film does have this classic air to it. It has anxieties like Panic in the Park (1995) or The Living End (1992) or Mala Noche (1986). And it asks questions about how one enters society. Leaving the nest is a traumatic thing for every bird that does it. Getting pushed out of it or falling out of it and not knowing if you’re going to fly or crash is the biggest anxiety of life. I think this film is so much about the anxiety about what happens when you’re just on the edge of the nest. Will you fly or will you flounder? It makes me think a lot about these little birds that died when I was little.

How have audience reactions been and how can people see the film?

OLMO: Reactions have been positive and mixed. It depends. That’s why I’m happy to be here in Austin at SXSW because I think this is the perfect platform to present a film like this. We have people who are open and willing to be surprised. And it’s a young person’s film. For me it’s important for young people to see this movie because I’ve seen how they respond. I think anyone can watch it, but I think it can affect a young person the most. They can identify with what is happening and dream the fantasy, even though it’s scary. It allows you to kind of indulge in something, like wanting to know what is in that box in my house that I’m not allowed to open; I’m going to open it when no one else is around. And you do it because there’s that temptation. In terms of where you can see it, we’ll know what will happen. The most important thing is for the film to survive and exist in a library where whoever distributes it knows how to reach audiences and be in touch with the brand.

DARIO: It’s a movie we made reflecting on our own lives and experiences. It will be interesting to talk to young people who also might be experiencing something like this right now and to have those interactions. At the end of the day, that’s what movies are for. That’s what brought me into movies; the fact that I saw something that started making me think about things and took me somewhere else. There’s something there that’s my life and someone else’s. That connection makes us feel less alone. I think that’s very important right now. I think we need movies that have that sort of humanity to them that bring questions to the table. Everyone is maybe a bit scared doing what they want to do or how they see things so now is a good moment to have that conversation and find a movie that speaks to everybody.

It’s a brave film. There’s no hero in the film. Do you all love the antihero?

OLMO: I always loved the bad guys when I was growing up. I was more attracted to them because it felt like the forbidden fruit. As much as people don’t want to tell what they’re into, everyone has their dark secrets.

The film is very well acted. Can you talk about the scene with the pantyhose over your head?

DARIO: Yeah, that first scene was funny and done in only three shots. Also working with Maribel Verdu is such a generous actress. We all grew up watching her and admiring her.

OLMO: For Dario comes full circle. His brother Gael was working with her in Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001) and now he’s working with her twenty years later. And she still looks the same. The energy Dario exuded; he was confident that he had gotten that scene. The movie has a playfulness to it. People should stop taking themselves so seriously and be open to anything. I think everyone is so scared to be open. Just take it easy, sit in front of a movie and enjoy yourself. If you don’t like it, then go see another movie. Or don’t watch movies anymore but don’t just walk in somewhere with a preconceived notion of who you are.

Do you have any stories you want to share about the process of getting the film made?

OMLO: It was a tough movie to get made. Everyone has an opinion, everyone's an expert. Someone comes in from nowhere on something you’ve been working on forever and says, “I have notes”. And you look at them and say, “Wow, that’s what you got after two hours spent on what I’ve spent years on.” I had someone walk up to me at the end of the screening in Venice who said, “I must tell you something. You should take out the shot under the table. You don’t need it.” When she couldn’t give a reason why I said, “Okay, well you can make a movie that way but I’m keeping that shot. Thank you.” People are always going to find faults.

DARIO: I think what defines you as a filmmaker is the fact that you know what might make sense and what might not and filter those comments. At the end of the day, you must stay true to your vision. You must filter things because everyone has a different opinion.

JEREMY: For me, this film was a labor of love amongst friends. I hope it serves as an inspiration to a lot of young filmmakers out there to say yes to their friends, to say yes to figuring things out. No, you might not always have a Willem Dafoe, but you might have a Willem Donahue down the street who’s just as exciting who can be the center of your story. Say yes to the dress.

OLMO: It’s a beautiful thing. There’s so much more for us to do together. I want to support Dario and Jeremy. It’s the beginning of a beautiful friendship. I think we can all deal with anything now because we have each other. It’s not always going to be easy. I didn’t think it was going to happen but at least we pushed through with it and tried. Just trying and being willing to fall and trip. There’s no success without failure. And I am super thankful to SXSW for letting us show the film here. We haven’t had the opportunity to show the film in a festival like this in the US. The movie was made in the US and should have an audience here so we’re very excited about the screening and grateful.

DIRECTED BY | Olmo Schnabel

PRODUCED BY | Olmo Schnabel, Galen Core, Francesco Melzi d’Eril, Gabriele Moratti, Marie Savare de Laitre, Alex Coco

STARRING | Jack Irv, Dario Yazebek Bernal, Willem Dafoe, Peter Sarsgaard

SYNOPSIS:

In an act of desperation, impulsive black sheep Alejandro flees his home in Mexico. On the run from his unforgiving father, Alejandro finds himself in New York City where he meets Jack, a college age pet store employee with similar parental baggage. Together the two enter a whirlwind romance sending them down the rabbit hole of drugs and depravity in Manhattan’s underworld. When Alejandro’s past threatens to catch up with him, Jack is forced to choose between his family and a life on the run.

About Olmo Schnabel | Director, Writer, Producer

Olmo Schnabel is an American filmmaker. Schnabel first began his work in cinema on the set of 2018's AT ETERNITY'S GATE, and shortly thereafter, produced his first feature film GIANTS BEING LONELY alongside writer/director Grear Patterson. A moody, ethereal piece about high school students exploring rocky relationships, unrequited love, family tensions, and deep loneliness, the film premiered at the 2019 Venice International Film Festival and had the distinction of being the only American production accepted in the Orizzonti section of that year's edition. Schnabel's directorial debut PET SHOP DAYS, for which he also co-wrote and produced, held its World Premiere at the 2023 Venice International Film Festival. The film is an iridescent coming-of-age story that follows two young boys who engage in a whirlwind affair that sends them down a rabbit hole of vice. PET SHOP DAYS stars Jack Irv, Darío Yazbek Bernal, Willem Dafoe, and Peter Saarsgard, and is the first project produced under Schnabel and co-writer/producer Galen Core's banner TWIN. Schnabel maintains residence in New York City and Mexico City.

About Darío Yazbek Bernal | Cast

Darío Yazbek Bernal is an actor and producer, known for starring in the Netflix hit series, LA CASA DE LAS FLORES, and most recently can be seen in the Neon feature NEW ORDER for director Michel Franco. Darío will next be seen starring opposite Willem Dafoe for director Olmo Schnabel in the independent feature, PET SHOP DAYS. Forthcoming projects in which Darío also stars include NO VOY A PEDIRLE A NADIE QIE ME CREA for director Fernando Frias and GOOD SAVAGE for director Santiago Mohar Volkow. Currently, Darío can be seen as a series lead in the Apple series, NOW AND THEN, which is set in Miami. Other noteworthy credits include DANIEL AND ANA (2009) and LOS PAISAJES (2017). Darío was born and lives in Mexico City.

Interview by Vanessa K. McMahon