Michael Shannon: Midnight Special was ‘easy’

Michael Shannon says playing a father in ‘Midnight Special’ was “pretty simple”.
The 41-year-old actor – who has children Sylvia and Marion with his partner Kate Arrington – had no trouble getting into his role as Roy in the sci-fi drama as he had just become a dad himself when he landed the gig.
Speaking to the Hey U Guys website, he said: “It was pretty simple [getting into character]. You look at Jaeden Liberher, who plays my son in the movie. It’s kind of hard not to fall for the guy.
“I’d just had my second child right before I started shooting the movie, like a week before shooting the movie, so I was feeling very paternal. But I don’t think my character Roy really knows exactly what’s going on. And I think it’s like Roy says in the movie, the only thing he knows he believes in is his son that’s the only thing he’s certain of.”
And, although he had a new bundle of joy to coo over, the Shannon admitted he didn’t have to think twice before taking on the lead as he had trust in director Jeff Nichols.
He explained: “Jeff takes a long time to write things. He spent years writing ‘Mud’ and he spent quite a long time writing this movie, so it’s not like a surprise, you know. You get plenty of time to think about it. I never really think about the final product, that’s really more a testament to Jeff than anything. All I know is I trust Jeff and when I eventually see the movie, I’ll be happy with it.”