Yahoo News After ‘Challengers,’ Cannes and the Chopard Trophy, Mike Faist Is Taking a Break
CANNES — It’s been a busy spring for Mike Faist. First came love, lust and tennis drama “Challengers,” costarring Zendaya and all the resulting hoopla from the film’s sexy scenes, followed by the Trophée Chopard and the Cannes red carpet.
Now the 32-year-old actor is taking a break.
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“I need to take time, some time, any time,” he says, coming down from the media frenzy.
Stepping into “Challengers” with Zendaya and Josh O’Connor put him not only in the center of an on-screen love triangle but also of the media frenzy surrounding the film.
“I wasn’t prepared,” he says. “It was something that was really daunting, and it terrified me at first, and then it was about letting that go and just kind of showing up utilizing it.
“I kind of had to face the music at some point and say, ‘All right, how do I engage with all of this attention? And how do I utilize it so I can get to the thing that actually matters most to me, which is the work itself?’ But it was daunting, terrifying, scary, because I’m not hiding behind the character at that point.”
He bonded with fellow Trophée Chopard winner Sophie Wilde on their fear of public speaking. “We’re terrified because we had to actually speak. We all have impostor syndrome is the reality of the situation. You kind of just start to question the validity of any of this. Like, ‘Why me?’ and it’s overwhelming.”
Faist recognizes the Trophée Chopard has gone to some stellar names: Gael Garcia Bernal, James McAvoy, John Boyega, Kingsley Ben-Adir, to name a few since its inception in 2001.
“The truth of the matter is, I feel very honored. And at the same time, it’s always an uncomfortable thing, walking a red carpet, having your picture taken,” he says. “It’s an honor to be here, and at the same time I can’t help but be like, ‘Oh my god, I just want to hide.’
“I think most actors are probably very shy — if you’re a good one. Putting yourself out there in that way is terrifying, and we all try to hide behind characters. That’s how we’re able to be our most vulnerable, is by clowning. By being able to put on a character, put on a performance, put on a different person’s skin, that’s how we’re able to express ourselves in our truest sense.
“It’s a mind trick,” he continues. “So getting on a red carpet, you’re actually not hiding behind a character. You’re just you, and that’s an awful feeling.”
Walking the Cannes red carpet, he also attended the screening of Francis Ford Coppola’s personal magnum opus “Megalopolis.”
“Francis Ford Coppola, Steven [Spielberg], Martin Scorsese — all those guys growing up in the ’70s directing and the actors that they used are major, major influences for me,” Faist says.
Notice that he’s on a first name basis with one on that list, specifically Spielberg, who he worked with in “West Side Story.”
Not just a first name basis, even a nickname. “I call him ‘kid,’ because when you’re on set with him, he’s just a child, he’s so youthful and has so much energy, and he genuinely loves this. And that energy is so infectious,” he says. That energy and enthusiasm has remained with Faist to this day. “He’s one of those examples that I’m like, ‘What would Steven do?’ in any situation.”
Those old school acting performances still resonate. He recently used James Dean in “Giant” to get into character for last year’s West End stage production of “Brokeback Mountain.”
“I felt very lost, and I wasn’t sure whether or not I was really able to do the play. I didn’t feel like I had a way in. Then I watched that movie, I watched his performance, and said, ‘OK, I think I have a way.’”
He reels them off: Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Robert De Niro and Al Pacino.
“They’re extremely informative in terms of feeding my own work and using it and taking it and scrambling it up a little bit and projecting it out there,” Faist says.
“Those are giants,” he adds. “I think it’s really easy to get swept up in a desire to be famous, but the reality is that none of those guys got into it for that reason; they got into it for the love of the craft and the work. If that remains your true north, that’s my goal.”
With the success of “Challengers,” there are projects brewing, scripts being read and roles being offered. But while Faist is riding the big media wave, he is cautious enough not to take what is being thrown his way.
“You can’t just say yes to everything,” he says. “I have to decide whether or not I’ve actually something to contribute.”
It’s a screenplay he has been working on since before “West Side Story,” but with that movie and all the ensuing work, the screenplay has been on the backburner. Still brewing, still stirring, and still adding little bits here and there. “It’s something I haven’t been able to let go of, which indicated that I need to see it through to its completion.”
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