‘American Star’s’ Ian McShane on playing a mysterious hitman: ‘There’s a whole other world out there we don’t know about’
“American Star” is an introspective British thriller with Ian McShane in the lead role of Wilson, a mysterious hitman of few words. Filmed on location in Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands, the English actor revels in the fact that his character “goes there and disobeys his first rule, which is, do the job and leave.” But is Wilson a government operative, a black ops soldier, or something else entirely? “There’s a whole other world out there we don’t know about,” McShane theorizes. Watch our exclusive video interview above.
The actor discusses some of Wilson’s quirks, including taking down a flower painting at his hotel and seemingly always wearing black. “In these three days, you get a reflection of what his life is,” McShane says. “He’s missed out on a lot, as exemplified by the people he comes into contact with. I’m not saying he regrets it, but he thinks more about what he may have missed.” He calls Wilson a “practical guy” and adds, “I liked him a lot.”
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Speaking about the exotic location, McShane explains, “You can only get to that island by Easyjet or Ryanair, and it’s a four-hour trip from London. This island is much different than the others. It’s got this African feel to it by the palm trees and the wind.” Director Gonzalo López-Gallego fully captures the beauty and mystery of the island, with McShane confirming, “It’s very haunting driving around because it becomes part of the character.”
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As the plot moves along, Wilson grows closer to a young woman he’s supposed to be targeting, Gloria (Nora Arnezeder). But was there ever supposed to be a romantic spark between the two characters? Her role was originally written to be older, but when “the money came together” to make the movie in late 2021 and early 2022, that actress had already “fully committed” to something else, so the character was re-conceived to be about 15 years younger. “Maybe with the other actress there could have been a hint of the relationship of a nature,” he muses. “But this is a much different and complicated relationship.”
McShane readily admits he loves making independent movies like “American Star” because, “You have your own sort of rules to follow, in the sense that you don’t throw everything out there. You don’t hang it all out there for an audience to enjoy at that moment when they’re there. If they’re captivated by it, maybe they’ll think about it in three or four days.” He notes, “A film that stays with you a little is what I think you hope to achieve.”
When asked about where he thinks Wilson might be in five or 10 years in a potential sequel film, McShane counters, “Oh, I think maybe you do a prequel with some other younger actor playing Wilson. I don’t think there could be a sequel, because my attitude at the end is that that is the end. It’s the walk into something … with the idea that time passes and changes everything.”
Also in our exclusive video interview, McShane reflects on his Golden Globe-winning role of Al Swearengen on David Milch‘s “Deadwood” and how it came about at the “the golden age of television.” The HBO period Western “was about something that was bigger than the characters,” he recalls. “It was about America and what America was growing into.”
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