Yahoo Lifestyle Archie Madekwe Stars in Alex Russell’s Hotly Anticipated Sundance Debut, ‘Lurker’
Name: Archie Madekwe
Sundance project: Madekwe stars as a pop musician in “Lurker,” the feature directorial debut for “The Bear” and “Beef” writer Alex Russell.
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Notable past credits: Starred in Loewe’s 2024 pre-fall campaign; Apple TV+ series “See”; his past films include “Saltburn,” “Gran Turismo” and “Midsommar.”
“Today, I understand the beauty,” says Madekwe, seated at the top of a sunny Main Street in Park City, Utah. The British actor had flown in from London the day before, and arrived to tricky weather conditions. “I woke up today and I was like, ‘OK, this is magical.’ You just stroll down the road, watch films, you bump into friends. It’s like a film amusement park.”
Madekwe was at Sundance for the premiere of his film “Lurker,” and was making the festival rounds with his costars and director Alex Russell ahead of the debut.
“ It means the world to all of us, to be here lifting him up in this,” Madekwe says after a team lunch. “It was a job of a lifetime. It was really special. They come up every now and then, and this was one of them.”
Madekwe almost didn’t end up in “Lurker.” The actor had read the script pre-COVID-19, and originally auditioned for the role that went to his costar Théodore Pellerin. “It was one of those scripts that kind of floats around that everyone’s excited about,” Madekwe says. He sent in a tape and never heard back.
“Years go by, and I kind of heard that it was happening with somebody else,” he continues. “I was in New York and my agent called and was like, Alex Russell wants to meet you for ‘Lurker.'” Russell had gone back and watched Madekwe’s tape, this time with another character in mind. Shortly after, the director by chance spotted Madekwe at a coffee shop in L.A. “He lurked, and just watched me and my mannerisms, and me talking to [my friend]. He was like, ‘OK, I think you could play this part.'”
Madekwe praises Russell’s insider-approach — the writer-director got his star as a music journalist — to the script about a young retail worker in L.A. who gets enmeshed in the friend group of a pop musician.
”It’s a world that I knew; I understood the power dynamics of L.A. and the push and pull and the give or take of those social relationships,” says Madekwe, who portrays the emerging pop star, Oliver. “I was really intrigued by the dynamics of a young person finding their feet in fame at that time, and what it looks like to be a public facing, confident person when you’re actually having so many insecurities. Everybody else around you are pushing the things that feed the beast that becomes someone that people might label as not very nice.”
“It was way more of a challenge for me to play somebody that was outwardly confident,” he adds. “It’s so much nicer to play somebody that feels introverted or knows their struggle. Someone who’s presenting as powerful, it takes a second to readjust and find that. So I was excited for the challenge.”
The actor also took on a producer role for the film, helping to bring in castmates like Sunny Suljic, who Madekwe had costarred with in a music video for Zach Bryan. “Sometimes you’re just an actor for hire, and this was so much more,” Madekwe says. “I just loved being so involved, it was amazing.”
Madekwe is booked for his next project (but not able to share details), and is also starring in Amazon series “Haven,” out later this year, with Sophie Turner.
”It’s a very tense heist thriller,” he says of “Haven.” “It’s [about] somebody stuck in a very particular place in their lives trying to better themselves and who has just become swept up in something,” he adds. “I jumped in straight off the back of ‘Lurker.’ We wrapped and I haven’t seen a single thing, I haven’t spoken to anyone. So when that comes out it’ll be as fresh for me as it is for everyone else.”
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