I said yesterday that I don’t like the look of The Son‘s Zen McGrath, the 20-year-old Australian actor who plays the son of Hugh Jackman and the grandson of Anthony Hopkins in Florian Zeller’s upcoming film (Sony Pictures Classics. 11.25.22).
“Baobob dylan to HE: “So you hate McGrath before you’ve even seen the movie? Or you hate the actor because he’s…acting?”
HE to Babobob dylan: “I took an instant dislike to the guy, and tough shit if you don’t like that.”
Bobby Peru: “When will you grow out of this juvenile bullshit and give films and characters fair shakes?”
HE to Peru: “You’ve never experienced an instant no-thanks to anyone in your life, simply because of how they look or because of some vibe they were putting out? No stranger has ever glanced at you and given you a dirty look? Peter Ustinov once said that Charles Laughton felt this way toward Laurence Olivier. It happens. It’s called instant animal dislike.
“There was a moment when I was 19 or 20 when I walked into a bar in rural New York State, and there was a guy sitting at the bar who was giving me a look that said “fuck you.” I hadn’t done or said a thing and he was almost ready to take a poke at me.
“Why should I have to make an extra effort to get to know Zen McGrath and discover things about his character that I might find acceptable or tolerable or likable? I’m not about to work with the guy at an office or on a movie — he’s a character in a film, and if he doesn’t rub me the right way (which is to say at least in a neutrally inoffensive way) that’s on him, not me. I’m just a face in the crowd. A face and a voice.
“There used to be actors who were hired and worked a lot by playing villains or shifty shitheads BECAUSE they rubbed or struck you as bad news. One look at these guys and you just KNEW they were trouble. That’s why Hollywood hired them time and again. Guys like Neville Brand, say. Every so often a bad or ornery guy would graduate into playing a good guy — Humphrey Bogart and Lee Marvin come to mind.
“Does McGrath have the potential to graduate in this fashion? Maybe…who knows? I wish him well in a general sense, but I really don’t like the vibe he’s putting out in The Son. And I don’t have to apologize to you or anyone else if I feel this way.
“There have been many, many actors in the past who hit it fairly big & even became movie stars because audiences instantly liked or trusted them or at least felt a certain familial kinship. McGrath is not part of this fraternity. In The Son he has a face that says “I am a sullen, scowling, pissed-off malcontent, and I’m going to turn this movie down a dark alley. If at all possible I’m going to infect you with the poison in my soul, and you are going to know what it feels like to be miserable and self-loathing…I’m going to bring you down, man.”
“I don’t care if McGrath’s character was blown off or rejected by Hugh Jackman’s character when young. That was a cruel and hurtful thing for Jackman to have done to the poor kid, agreed, but some people are narcissist shitheads, or they just aren’t cut out to be good or decent fathers. My dad was clever and witty and a hard worker in the office and amusing at parties, and a decent, honest, stand-up fellow character-wise. But he was also brusque and gruff and moody and dismissive when it came to me. I didn’t feel all that loved or supported by the guy (not to mention the alcoholic personality toxicity) but life is sometimes like that. You have to somehow make do and roll with the punches.
“Bottom line: I don’t owe Zen McGrath a damn thing, and if he rubs me the wrong way (as he most definitely has) that’s on him.
Has he inherited any of Jackman’s charm or accessibility? Vaguely but not really. Does he look like or resemble or behave like Hopkins? Or Dern for that matter? You know what he strikes me as? He strikes me as an Australian actor whom Florian Zeller decided to cast for some godforsaken reason…period.
“We all know that young actors are almost NEVER cast for their resemblances to actors playing their parents. Look at Kaitlyn Dever playing the Hobbit-sized, hazel-eyed daughter of George Clooney and Julia Roberts — zero family resemblance. They don’t even look like cousins.
Friendo who saw The Son in Toronto: “And you’re right about McGrath in The Son. He’s unwatchable and very annoying.”