Armie Hammer went on an "emotional journey" working with director Luca Guadagnino on ‘Call Me By Your Name’.
The 31-year-old actor plays the role of Oliver in the romantic coming-of-age drama and admitted the passion that Guadagnino showed on set and his openness to the cast’s ideas was a completely new experience for him.
Speaking to the New York Magazine, Hammer said: "I’ve never had such an emotional journey with a director. I’ve never even considered directors to be emotional people! I don’t even know if I’ve worked with a director who even cared if I was mad at them before. It was more like, ‘Shut up and stand on your mark and do your job.’ The feeling of operating from that place of passion is really contagious and soul-satiating. It’s the safest place I’ve ever been in my life – still to this day – when it comes to feeling complete empathy, complete understanding and complete love, no matter what.
"But then … he knows if you’re lying. He knows if you’re not being honest, whether in real life or in the performance and he will not back off.
"There are a lot of things about Oliver that resonated with me, and primarily it was that projection of ease and casualness and comfort that you might not actually be feeling all the time.
"My whole life, I’m bluffing my way through it all. And Luca was just like, ‘Nope, that doesn’t work around here’ – which was terrifying."
‘Call Me By Your Name’ – which is based on the novel of the same name – follows the story of a young Italian man named Elio, played by Timothée Chalamet, who meets Oliver after he visits the country to stay at his parents’ villa.
The pair then develop a passionate relationship, as they bond over their shared Jewish heritage and their sexuality.
Armie Hammer’s emotional journey on Call Me By Your Name
