“Most people in the industry talk about making films like this but they don’t do it,” said Michael Cuesta, the director of the upcoming political thriller “Kill the Messenger.” On Sept. 29, the man at the helm of this greatly anticipated movie sat down for a Q&A roundtable in downtown Boston as a part of the press junket for the film.
Michael Cuesta’s career in film took off with his directorial debut, a 2001 independent film titled “L.I.E.” The film was met with critical acclaim and led to Cuesta becoming a regular director on the HBO series, “Six Feet Under.” Interestingly enough, Michael Cuesta is perhaps better known for his work in television than the silver screen. Cuesta has directed episodes of the Showtime series “Dexter,” the HBO series “True Blood,” and the CBS dramas “Blue Bloods” and “Elementary.” Chief among his work in television however is “Homeland.” Cuesta directed the pilot episode of the Primetime Emmy and Golden Globe darling that runs on Showtime. Cuesta also serves as an executive producer of the political thriller. “I’ve always treated pilots like a mini movie. As far as how you tell the story, I find that a lot of TV is too obvious. And the things that feel too cliché and obvious, I try to strip away in television,” said Cuesta. Cuesta makes a living pushing the envelope and constantly delving into projects that investigate the harsh realities of the world around us. Whether it is CIA operations in the Middle East in “Homeland,” or government corruption in “Kill the Messenger,” Cuesta does not settle for easy topics.
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Written by Peter Landesman, who adapted the script from Nick Schou’s “Kill the Messenger” and Gary Webb’s own “Dark Alliance,” “Kill the Messenger” is an emotionally-charged thriller starring Jeremy Renner, Rosemarie DeWitt, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead. The film adds on an incredible supporting cast that includes Michael Sheen, Paz Vaga, Andy Garcia, and Ray Liotta. Set in the 1990's, the film traces the unbelievable true story of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Gary Webb of the San Jose Mercury News (Renner). Thanks to a tip from Coral Baca (Vaga), Webb becomes increasingly immersed in a potentially career-altering story. The story begins to weave a trail that leads to the CIA knowingly facilitating the cocaine epidemic in the United States by allowing cocaine to pass through U.S. borders from Latin America. Even more nefariously, the government is using the profits to fund contra rebels fighting in Nicaragua. Webb quickly becomes knee deep in a conspiracy that has the potential to threaten not only his professional career, but also his family and even his life. Webb then must decide: at what cost is he willing to expose the truth?
It is clear that at the heart of the movie is a spectacular supporting cast. With a story that does not have any glitzy CGI or massive stunts, much of the pressure falls squarely on the shoulders of the actors. “I’m lucky,” said Cuesta. “When you make a movie, you are as good as your cast. Luckily this movie was not that hard to cast. Each role is super important to Webb’s investigation and his journey. There were no cameos. Every character played an integral part in the journey of Webb and his investigation. All the actors knew that they were going to have their moment.”
Even though this movie is a political thriller, at its core, “Kill the Messenger” is a story about the familial support that can save so many people from the abyss. “His family was his rock. Gary loved them so much. So much of the story resonates back to the complexities of being a father and being on the road a lot, even though he was doing important work,” said Cuesta. Later in the story, as Gary’s world begins to crumble down around him, his family is lost along the way. “And I think that it was a huge part of his downfall. Without him losing his family, this wouldn’t have been the story that we told. He wouldn’t have fallen as far,” added Cuesta.
Given the nature of the film, Cuesta mentioned how the amount of research required to make the movie was quite exhaustive. “Most of the homework revolved around finding all of the newspaper articles about Gary. The ‘LA Times’ were the hardest to dig up. There were so many about Gary to sift through. Then I had to know him by talking to his wife. I got to know what he was like at home. Finding out about him as a beat writer, that was easy. But my job was to color his character with more human nuances and fallibilities,” said Cuesta.
Cuesta ended by posing some very incisive observations about the modern society that we live in. What he said is not comforting, but essential nonetheless. “You’re guilty before being proven innocent now,” said Cuesta. “There’s an outpouring of negativity. You can’t do anything in the public forum without it being torn apart. The story got lost. They made him the story.”
—Contributing writer Conor Bent can be reached at cbent@college.harvard.edu.
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