(LOS ANGELES) — Rainn Wilson revealed how well he can act under pressure. While filming his new drama Blackbird last year, wildfires were closing in on his home in California, but he refused to let interfere with his acting.
Wilson recounted to ABC Audio what was going through his mind as the flames advanced toward his house.
“As we were shooting, I was 80% certain that my house was burning down in California,” the actor admitted. “I was literally getting updates on my phone, where I could see the fire going down my street!”
Despite Wilson’s growing anxiety while watching the fire close in on his home, he buckled down and smiled his way through filming a particularly hilarious scene with Kate Winslet.
“We had to shoot the scene, we were losing light,” the Emmy nominee detailed. “I couldn’t be like, ‘Guys. Can we not shoot the scene my house might be burning down?’ It was like ‘OK here we go!’”
Thankfully, his home was spared.
Blackbird follows a woman — played by Susan Sarandon — who has opted to end her life and hosts one final family reunion to say her goodbyes.
Wilson says the film is a must watch, describing, “There’s a lot of laughter to be had so I feel like it’s a necessary film to kind of just really experience the human condition.”
Director Roger Michelle told ABC Audio that the movie explores how humans instinctively fall back on humor even in the darkest of times, adding, “In these situations, people reach for their laughter and their humanity.”
He hearkened to a particular scene involving Sarandon, revealing, “When she is on her death bed, she makes a joke! She says ‘Don’t let me die with my mouth open!"”
Blackbird is available to watch in theaters and digitally rent on Amazon Prime.
By Megan Stone and Jason NathansonCopyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
