Yahoo Movies Death of a Unicorn's Will Poulter relished character with 'zero self-awareness'
The actor speaks to Yahoo UK about his surreal new film where he plays the spoilt son of Richard E. Grant.
With Death of a Unicorn, Will Poulter has become the latest in a long line of actors to recently play a privileged, wealthy man-child.
“It’s fun to play a character that you can offer up to the audience for the harshest of judgements,” he tells Yahoo UK. “Playing a character who has absolutely zero self-awareness, just taking a hand break off self-judgment, is really fun and really freeing.”
In the new movie, Poulter plays Shepherd Leopold, the son of a dying, corrupt pharmaceutical company boss, Odell Leopold, portrayed by Richard E Grant.
Death of a Unicorn begins with Odell inviting one of his key employees, Elliot, played by Paul Rudd, to his mansion in the wooded countryside, where Odell intends to ask Elliot to help manage his estate after he dies. However, everything goes wrong when Elliot, along with his daughter (Jenna Ortega), accidentally drives into a horned beast while on their journey. Chaos ensues.
In other words, it’s akin to The Menu and Saltburn in its portrayal of the rich, just with added surrealness — and a unicorn.
“There’s something unjust in the world and something gratifying about watching people who deserve their comeuppance, get it,” Poulter says. “Our writer-director Alex [Scherfman] often came up with a lot of creative wats for that to happen.
“We were also afforded the opportunity to really let loose on set and play and experiment and improvise, which Alex encouraged after we had got what was on the page, which was really funny. I’ve not read a script in my life that made me laugh as much.”
One of Poulter’s character’s funniest traits is that he’s constantly wearing high-waisted shorts, even while purporting to do business for his father’s company.
“I’m pleased to say that those [shorts] were not from my personal collection,” Poulter says. “I was very lucky to work with a costume designer who shared a vision for this lanky imbecile, and we found a costume that accentuated that and underscored what a buffoon he is.”
The Death of a Unicorn cast is completed by Téa Leoni (Madam Secretary), Anthony Carrigan (Barry), and Jessica Hynes (The Royle Family, W1A).
Death of a Unicorn premieres in UK cinemas Friday, April 4, and is in US cinemas now.
