Original-Cin Q&A: John Magaro on Omaha, Darkness and Learning From Directors - Even Bad Ones
John Magaro (The Big Short, Carol) has built a reputation as one of the most versatile and captivating actors of his generation, often disappearing into roles that demand both quiet intensity and profound vulnerability. In his latest project, Omaha, he delivers a raw and emotionally demanding performance under the direction of newcomer Cole Webley.
In the film, Magaro plays Nick, a father struggling to keep his family together and safe while dealing with his own internal anxieties and the pressures of life.
Bonnie Laufer spoke to Magaro about the film and why he believes the real fun of acting lies within the drama.
Molly Wright, Rex, Wyatt Solis and John Magaro on a dubious road trip in Omaha
ORIGINAL-CIN: This is one intense role, John. I honestly don't know how you got through it, especially being a father. Was there any hesitation on your part when you first read the script?
JOHN MAGARO: Oh no. I guess I'm sick. (Laughs) I think, as an actor, part of the job is going to those places that are scary and that you might be afraid of. I don't know why anyone would want to do this job if you just wanted to sit around and do everything that's going to be rosy and easy. The drama is the fun part.
So, in fact, it was quite the opposite when I read this script. The screenwriter Robert Machoian had some films under his belt, but Cole Webley was an untested director. This was his directorial debut.
So in a lot of ways you're taking a leap of faith. But when I read that script, there was no hesitation. I was in right away. It spoke volumes to me and I was very moved.
O-C: How do you get yourself into his headspace? You're playing a guy who represents, sadly, many men and women at their deepest despair. He is a desperate man, and thank God you are not in this position. Did you speak with anybody who had been forced to give up their kids?
MAGARO: Oh, no. So I know you know this, but people reading this might not. The film is based on true events. There was basically a loophole in the law that happened in Nebraska in 2008 where parents were allowed to drop off their kids under these safe haven laws, but they didn't put an age limit. Typically, when you're a newborn, you can drop off a baby at a hospital or first responders station, and they put the child into foster care or the adoption system.
But this law in Nebraska didn't have an age, so people were dropping off teenagers.
Records are sealed, so it would have been really hard to find these people and talk to them.
So we didn't, we didn't do that.
O-C: I guess in retrospect, that's better, as I can imagine the guilt these people must be living with.
MAGARO: Where I grew up I knew guys like this, and like you just said we all know people like this, who hide their feelings, who will die on these hills of failing instead of asking for help. My dad was very much this way. I grew up around it. A lot of people I grew up with are still like this.
How did I get in the headspace? Part of the reason I was intrigued to do it, was really from that angle, the people that I know and the people that I have been around who are like that. Then what you do as an actor, you use your imagination and fill in the gaps. I'm not like that, but I honestly don't know what I would be like in that situation if I had lost my wife, my house was foreclosed and I was out of work and most importantly I had two kids.
I’ll tell you that I had struggled in the past with anxiety and depression that is thankfully treated now. But if I wasn't treating that, and I was in an episode I know how hard it is to function during that, so it's hard to say. You know, a lot is based on your own circumstances and how you choose to handle it.
O-C: Absolutely, but in this case you are playing a guy who is just so broken.
MAGARO: I don't think this guy in his heart is a bad guy. I think he just makes bad decisions.
Oddly enough because it is such a hard situation and it is such heavy material the first order between me and Cole (director) was keeping this guy as light as we possibly could and as likable as we possibly could, because he’s doing such a reprehensible thing.
So, in that kind of marching order I thought I had to essentially lighten things, especially with the kids around. There was no real opportunity to wallow in it, or let it affect me personally, unless the camera was rolling.
Otherwise, we had to keep it light and playful, and much like the dad trying to put on the show and keep his kids happy on the road trip, we had to keep these kids happy during these five weeks of shooting.
O-C: I wanted to ask you about the kids, they were outstanding. Tell me a little bit about your chemistry with them, communicating with them and making sure that they were comfortable with the material.
MAGARO: Cole got very lucky with the casting. He found two great kids who were two very different kids, at different ages. Molly Wright who plays Ella was about 10 when we shot the film.
Wyatt Solis, the little boy, was six at the time and was just a ball of wildness and energy and craziness. Me dealing with them, I think it helped being a dad. I was able to kind of put my dad hat on and be patient with them and tried to keep it fun for them.
I remember with Wyatt we went through a few scenes, and after that day was over he was like, “Are we done?” He didn't realize that we were going to be doing this for a month or so.
But what intrigued Cole about them was that they were both capable of just being kids and not being child actors. And that's what we needed. We needed them to feel real and authentic, but on top of that, also be able to access a place of trauma and deep emotion, and that's what they both had.
It also meant that a lot of the script had to kind of be thrown out and we relied on some good old improvisation. We had to have frameworks of scenes, but it was like both Cole and I were co-directing them. We knew where we had to get in the scene, and we would kind of draw it out in the playing of it.
It was a lot of me coaxing these things out of them and asking questions and letting them just be. They were both so talented but like any kids, you just have to kind of rein it in. You have to take that wild, honest energy and try and mold it into what you can. And they were both capable of doing that, and they both did a fantastic job.
O-C: When you look at your career so far and the amazing actors and directors you have worked with, it is quite an impressive roster. Directors that you've worked with, for example: Adam McKay, Todd Phillips, and Kelly Reichardt. What have you taken from them with each performance you do?
MAGARO: All three you just mentioned really all taught me something special. With Adam McKay, the art of improvisation, which was so vital in this film. From Todd Phillips, the joy of keeping a set fun and light and lively, and the playfulness of a set. Kelly, the quietness and the honesty in a performance. Letting the scene play with your eyes instead of in your language.
All those and every director you learn something from, even the bad ones (laughs). One of the good fortunes of this job is that you're constantly learning new things.
O-C: One of my favourite performances of yours is in the film, September 5. It was such an energetic performance and then you go and then you take on this role in Omaha. Was working on this more of a relief after doing something like September 5?
MAGARO: Oh, no, no. I mean, they're both hard in their own rights. They both had their own challenges, but that's the fun of it.
I don't want to disparage anyone because I might end up doing it one day, but for example doing a procedural episodic where you're doing kind of the same thing week after week. No shade, I totally respect it, and it's hard in its own way.
Right now, I love the change and I like going from something like September 5, which I shot right before I shot this, and then going to this world, and then going to the world of The Bride and getting to work with Maggie Gyllenhaal and that incredible cast. It's just fun to get to dabble in all different kinds of stuff.