Original-Cin Q&A: Actor Aaron Abrams on the Perils of Toxic Parents in the Film Best Boy
By Bonnie Laufer
What would you do for a $100,000 inheritance? For the siblings at the centre of Jesse Noah Klein’s provocative new dark comedy Best Boy, the answer involves high-intensity bear walks, public shaming, and a lifetime of psychological baggage unpacked on a remote Quebec estate.
Anchoring this pressure-cooker environment is Aaron Abrams, who turns in a powerhouse performance as Lawrence, the oldest sibling desperate to please a ghost. It’s a role that is as hilarious as it is deeply unsettling.
Aaron Abrams (at left) and castmates in Best Boy.
We spoke with Abrams to look back on this incredibly unique indie shoot, collaborating with Caroline Dhavernas and Marc Bendavid who play his siblings, and why he thinks audiences will find this highly exaggerated family circus strangely relatable. Best Boy opens in theatres May 29.
ORIGINAL CIN: This film really puts the ‘dis’ in dysfunctional families. You play Lawrence, the eldest sibling of three competing to be the “best” of his siblings, an absurd tradition created by their deceased father. How juicy of a role was this for you? I can't imagine when you read the script you must have been like, ‘Oh, this is gonna be a good one.’
AARON ABRAMS: There's a bit of that, but ultimately, it's like the thing that got me rubbing my hands was being able was doing things to Caroline, who was attached and who I love so much, and would be great with this kind of over-the-top stuff. You want to trust who you're working with, and so that's what really got me rubbing my hands together. The rest of it is kind of daunting. You have to get work, and sometimes these indie movies shoot fast and you're not going to get multiple takes. You have to be on your game and open to the madness of this movie.
O-C: As I'm watching your character Lawrence, I couldn't stop thinking of your series, Children Ruin Everything. I guess in this film, in the eyes of their father, children kind of do ruin everything?
AA: I would disagree. I think the dad has ruined those children. I know it’s hard to relate exactly to these siblings trying to basically murder each other for inheritance, but they want to love each other, right? That's what is really happening underneath it all. It's just like all familial situations: ‘I love you, I want to love you, we just have to get past all this baggage, a lifetime of crap.’ That's the part of the script I felt was relatable. It's obviously done to an exaggerated degree, where there've been attempted murders in the past so of course it's hard to relate on that front, but at its core, it is about people trying to figure out how to love each other and get along.
O-C: But all jokes aside, this is a family who have been brought up in an extremely toxic environment, the dad pitted them against each other to become the “Best Boy.” There's even a daughter who was named Philip and so she feels that added pressure to keep up with her brothers.
AA: She was always treated as one of the boys. Even when the mother reads them the letter from their dad it starts off, ‘To my boys…’
O-C: There is no question that we are a product of our environment, and while this film shows this in an extremely exaggerated way, it’s hard to ignore how we were raised. What do you think about that?
AA: There's certainly a lot of toxic masculinity in this family. I love that the movie never really discusses why the sister is named Philip. You just get it, immediately that the dad wanted a boy, and was going to raise her as a boy, whether she liked it or not, and the mother (played by Lise Roy) was complicit as well. The fact that she keeps that name as an adult says a lot about her.
Click here to watch Bonnie’s interview with Lise Roy
I think it’s interesting to watch two different men, me and my brother played by Mark Bendavid, how they process the abuse they had when they were younger and how to be vulnerable in a space that doesn't feel safe. Mark is very closed off while my character explodes and those are the ways men do it when they're ill-equipped and not emotionally involved.
O-C: Working with Caroline Dhavernas and Marc Bendavid who play your siblings, is there special preparation that goes into something like this because they have such a toxic relationship?
AA: Well, even though we are pitted at each other, there is that underlying love for each other. You can prepare as much as you can, but then when you get there you have to let it go. With something like this, you can't plan very much. You just have to figure out what you want. Caroline, who is always amazing, wants what she wants and nails it every time. Also, it's an indie movie, so you have to deplete your reserves, you have to let it all out there and let the chips fall where they may.
O-C: The location was beautiful, a perfect setting for the film.
AA: Yes, it was spectacular. It was in the eastern townships of Quebec, and it really led to the storyline. It helped us while we were shooting. It felt like a little bit of a summer camp up there.
O-C: After each challenge in the competition, the two siblings who lose have to strip down and chant some ridiculous line about being losers. Talk about the ultimate shame. Their dad really did a number on them!
AA: That’s an understatement (laughs). The shame that he's put into losing and not being the best is taken to the extreme when one of us loses. I'm the one who embraces the games the most, and I think the games have beaten down Mark the most, whereas Caroline’s character is rebelling against the games, even though she's still playing them it’s almost to prove a point.
But that's a big part of the games is if you lose, you must be ashamed. You must feel great shame, and so it's, it's all about trying to change, or even doing whole games that are about trying to shame the other person. Jesse Klein, the writer and director, grew up with a lot of brothers, and so I'm sure some of it is a very exaggerated version of his upbringing.
Click here to watch Bonnie’s interview with Jesse Noah Klein
O-C: You mentioned earlier that your character explodes, he is truly the most toxic of the siblings. Does a role like this take a lot out of you?
AA: It’s invigorating if you do it opposite someone like Caroline. You'd think with something this taxing you'd be playing games during our off hours trying to deflate, but it wasn't like that at all. We were all trying to work on it, trying to talk about it, because we love what we do and also these things can kind of be very fulfilling. The first half of the movie there is a lot of simmering underneath, and then there's explosions that happen throughout, and so that can feel like kind of a relief. Certainly, you're tired by the end of the day, but it gives you a boost.
O-C: After making this film, what advice do you have for siblings that need to work things out?
AA: I’d say, watch this movie to see what you don’t want to do (laughs). Even if you don't have siblings, watch this movie and just love your life so that you don't have to do it either way. It's either a learning lesson or congratulations, you don't have to deal with this at all.