#gary spargo

"And then there were times when I was walking around with my balls out because I'm stark bollo*ck naked so that was kind of yeah" - "that was a laugh" interjects Sophie - "that was a laugh" repeats Matthew, "for everyone else than for me. So that's good. Brings comedy to the set."

A rare interview with Matthew and Sophie (young and adorable) standing next to each other, with a very funny moment of them laughing at the fact Matthew was butt naked on set (the (in)famous fridge scene). This is beyond cute.

Link to fridge scene GIFs:

Here is the full footage of the red carpet interview (🔊 on):

Matthew also talks about working with director Scott Frank - a first time director with The Lookout but already an established and widely respected screenwriter who had worked with the great and good of the like of Spielberg. Department Q's creator, director and screen writer is noone else than Scott Frank!! His other credits include the amazing The Queen's Gambit, also for Netfilx - go to My Story for some more info about Scott Frank. Dep Q is going to be quality 💥

In the interview, Matthew also talks about his character Gary Spargo, a villain but a multi-dimensional one with an interesting back story.

The thing is, I don't remember that we learned much about Gary's background in the film so this backstory might well have been off script, but Matthew's acting really conveyed an intriguing depth about his character (also, I have always thought it fascinating that Gary was a wine drinker 🍷 given where the story was taking place, may be I am stereotyping).

And I love this quote from Scott Frank aboit casting Matthew:

"I met him and he had a spectacular energy to him. He was all over the room. He had a real danger to him, yet he was also funny and charming, which were two really important things to me."

I highly recommend The lookout, an underrated gem of a film noir (the 🎶 score is 👌🏼).

He looks like an angel - but is he? 

Matthew Goode as Gary Spargo in The Lookout

Goode Rewatch Week 12

8/10

Some good action and great acting.

The film focuses on Chris (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a bank cleaner who suffered major brain damage after a car accident. He is approached by Gary (Matthew Goode) to act as a lookout in a bank robbery.

The sheer amount of research done by Gordon-Levitt and Jeff Daniels to accurately portray characters with brain damage and blindness is very clear. Both convey the respective conditions well.

This was one of Matthew's first ventures as a villain and he pulled it off very well. Heck he got the role of Ozymandias/Adrian Weidt in Watchmen partly due to his performance here. He's very manipulative and exudes a kind of sleazy charm. And he has a very nice back!

Unfortunately there were some dull scenes. I also kept wondering how Chris was allowed to drive due to the severe neurological trauma.

Definitely worth a view though.

Matthew Goode and Scott Frank go back a long way

(🔊 on) Matthew Goode talks about his casting and audition with Scott Frank for the role of Gary Spargo in the Lookout (he made me come back seven times the båstård) and his process - he created a backstory for his character (no, I am not gonna share that with you, even Scott doesn't know). 😂 priceless.

Matthew has remained constant through the ages, not just his wonderful sense of humour but also his humility and self-deprecation: "I am never going to be allowed to be involved in this." Compare to Netflix Dept. Q quote of him saying “This is the second time that he’s given me a role I don’t think anybody else would’ve cast me in... In The Lookout, it was a Kansas criminal bank robber, which I don’t really scream. And in this, again, I wouldn’t have necessarily seen that in myself to play this kind of role.”

On why he cast Matthew in the Lookout, Sxott said

My casting director knew [Matthew Goode] and said he’s more like the guy in your movie than he is the guy in “Match Point.” And I went, “really?” And she said, “really.” I met him and he had a spectacular energy to him. He was all over the room. He had a real danger to him, yet he was also funny and charming, which were two really important things to me.

What is also obvious from the interview, these photos and the Netflix Tudum article, is that there is a lot of trust, respect and affection between Scott and Matthew. Combined to their incredible talent, this is is a recipe for accomplishing great things and I can't wait to see what they have created in Dept. Q.

I also love the dichotomy between Matthew's portrait (looking angelic, although how much he really is remains open to debate 😆) and the shot of Gary Spargo (there is a definite whiff of danger about that bad boy). A testament to how Matthew transforms for roles.

📷 The Lookout (2007) my edit

Portrait of Matthew at The Lookout press conference

Matthew Goode, Scott Frank and Joseph Gordon-Levitt behind the scenes filming The Lookout (my edit from blueray extras and production pic)

Matthew Goode, Sophie Dymoke and Scott Frank at The Lookout NY premiere (Mar 2007)

Some pictures via matthew-goode.net with thanks

🎞 Warren Etheredge's interview with director Scott Frank and actors Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Matthew Goode from The Lookout, FilmRap, Apr 2007

"I met him and he had a spectacular energy to him. He was all over the "I met him and he had a spectacular energy to him. He was all over the room. He had a real danger to him, yet he was also funny and charming, which were two really important things to me."

Scott Frank, director of The Lookout, on why he cast Matthew Goode as Gary Spargo, seemingly against type. I love this quote, so telling about the mercurial actor that Matthew is. He will always surprise you.

I thought I would do a Lookout edit today (an under-rated gem of a film noir, I love it so much) to celebrate the fact Scott and Matthew are being reunited in Department Q. This makes for a great team!

🎶 One Big Holiday by My Morning Jacket

📷 The Lookout (2008) my edit

📖 Quote from The Movable Fest interview with Scott Frank and Matthew Goode

I love this frame of Gary Spargo in The Lookout. He looks like a fallen angel.

Matthew Goode best baddie final poll 3/4

Gary Spargo

Very bad boy, the kind your mother might have warned you against. Dangerous and violent, robs banks, uses vulnerable people to get what he wants.

But he is hotter than the sun (can't remember who said that but it's great analogy) and he swaggers like Matthew Goode.