Taken from our Spring 2023 issue, order your copy here.
“Sorry, I’m logged in to my friend’s zoom,” Billy Bryk hastily imparts as Finn Wolfhard’s name flashes across my laptop screen. Granted, that was not the name I was expecting to be met with when joining our call. But, when I thought about it, the surprise quickly evaporated. After starring in Ghostbusters: Afterlife together, the pair find themselves basking in the release of Jesse Eisenberg’s link-up with A24, When You Finish Saving the World, and headed towards making their directorial debut together with the slasher-comedy, Hell of a Summer. As intrinsically linked as the two actors may be, it is clear that Billy Bryk is ready to mark 2023 as the year he steps into his own spotlight – one set ablaze with the promise that he is one of Hollywood’s most compelling newcomers. Following the release of When You Finish Saving the World, Bryk sits down with Erica Rana to discuss Jonah Hill’s influence on his career, the pride he took in starring in Jesse Eisenberg’s directorial debut, and the sheer delight he is taking in working on his own.
I want to get straight into it and start with what inspired you to pursue this career.
I was in school studying to be a director and I went to the premiere of Jonah Hill’s movie, Mid90s, at TIFF. We listened to him talk about his journey of becoming a filmmaker through acting. At the time I wasn’t enjoying school and it felt like trying to learn through acting was worth the change.
It clearly was, as you now have A24’s When You Finish Saving The World coming out! How was your time filming this?
It was so much fun! Everybody was so incredibly nice to me. Jesse [Eisenberg] is someone that I admired so much as an actor, and I thought the script he had written was so incredibly moving and funny and I really didn’t want to do a bad job. I think from the audition to the last day of shooting, my entire goal was not to mess up the movie for everybody as there were so many people involved that respected so much.
I can imagine, working alongside Julianne Moore must have been exciting?
Julianne Moore is maybe my favourite actor; I couldn’t believe that I got to work with her. She was just the most incredible, professional actor… But also so light and fun to hang out with on set. Finn [Wolfhard] told me that he was doing this movie with Jesse that was about this teenage kid and his mum and the first thing I said was, “Dude, what if Julianne Moore played your mum?” Of course, I was not the only person to have that thought. Flash forward a few months, and I’m doing this movie with her.