Who doesn’t love a good break away from school? You go home an visit friends, enjoy family and get some r-and-r.
In “The Holdovers,” a break from school isn’t exactly that. Instead, the film’s about a few unlucky students left behind at boarding school with a grumpy professor. Oh the joy.
“The Holdovers” is about a group of kids stuck at boarding school during a holiday break. That stinks.
Dominic Sessa’s character, who plays Angus, is one of the unlucky ones.
Making matters worse, he’s left behind with his grumpy professor and the school’s head cook.
Golden Globe winner, Paul Giamatti, plays the crabby teacher and get this, the role was made especially for him by Alexander Payne, who also directed Paul in “Sideways.” Remember, he got an Oscar nod for that movie.
Paul Giamatti: “It was strangely flattering because it’s a really great part. You know, I wondered, like, ‘Do I like smell like fish? Do I have super sweaty palms?’ I think I know what he knew I was gonna be able to draw on, which was very, I mean, what a gift.”
Paul and his costar, Da’vine Joy Randolph, who plays the school chef, shared a few takeaways from their roles.
Paul Giamatti: “Deepening a realization of how much these people actually cared about the teaching, you know, to play the other side of it, particularly a guy like this, who’s built up this persona of, kind of, sarcasm and all this stuff and being super strict.”
Da’vine Joy Randolph: “You can sometimes get into, slide into this defect of like, this is your nine to five. It’s far too precious of a job to me for that to happen. I think why they say he’s an actor’s director is that he creates the circumstances for you to win and for you to succeed, and I’m so grateful for that because it reinstated in me that spark again.”
The flick also happens to be Dominic’s debut role.
Dominic Sessa: “I kind of just had to throw myself into it.”
The teen was auditioning for college programs, before landing the role.
Dominic Sessa: “I was in the midst of auditioning for drama programs in college, so, definitely help my applications getting into this gig.”
Copyright 2023 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.