Who among us could resist us a cute lovestruck neighbour with a Bluetooth speaker- boombox professing his infatuation for you by playing Lorde’s Supercut? Which is probably why we were all just a little bit taken with actor Dylan Arnold ‘s character as Theo in the psychological thriller series You. Before that, he starred in the romance-driven After franchise, as kind-hearted, preppy Noah, including its sequel, After We Collided – then followed up as the love cheat Cameron in Halloween (2018), and its sequel, Halloween Kills. He's already gone worldwide, but his latest projects, the new AppleTV+ drama miniseries, Lady in the Lake, and Christopher Nolan’s epic biopic of Robert Oppenheimer, prove it’s game on for this young talent who’s totally owning the screen.
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Let’s talk about your new project, the biographical thriller, Oppenheimer. You play Frank, the younger brother to Cillian Murphy’s J. Robert Oppenheimer, who was a key figure behind the Manhattan Project and the creation of the atomic bomb during World War II.
Can you tell us more about your character?
Frank had this intense curiosity about everything. About the world, about physics. Quite a bit of humour too but rather intense. He assisted his brother on the Manhattan Project by mapping out site plans and escape routes. In addition to his work as a physicist he was a university professor, and at one point a cattle rancher. He lived many lives! One fact I love about the real-life Frank Oppenheimer is that in his later years he went on and founded the Exploratorium in San Francisco. It’s this interactive science museum where people can come learn about physics free of charge. That was his mission. I had a wonderful time researching him.
How did you prepare for the role?
I did a lot of research. And worked on the script of course. But I really enjoyed diving into the research portion of it. It’s such a different world, it’s something so far from myself so I had fun to trying to get as close to it as I could. I mean, I’m not going to pretend like I know anything about nuclear physics, but it was fun to attempt to try to understand! There are a few documentaries about the Manhattan Project that I watched, a couple of which have interviews with Frank, when he’s much older, so that was a great resource. I also read the book American Prometheus by Kai Bird which is what the script is inspired by. And there’s this wonderful book called Something Wonderful Happens by K.C. Cole about Frank and his creation and evolution of the Exploratorium which also had some great details about his childhood. It’s always a challenge to portray someone who is alive or was alive. Because you don’t want to do an impression of that person. They were a living, breathing, complex individual so it’s impossible to entirely know someone like that. All you can do is get as close as you can to create a character within the confines of the story you’re trying to tell, and then do your interpretation of who that person was. I loved learning about Frank.
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Christopher Nolan directs on this movie, and he’s known for preferring practical effects over digital effects. Are we in for some amazing visual set pieces in this film?
I mean… I think with Chris you can always expect something visually spectacular. There was an ongoing joke about whether or not he would get his hands on a real nuclear bomb. Which, of course, he didn’t. But I’m sure he’s going to achieve the same effect with whatever he’s got up his sleeve. The movie is going to be beautiful that’s for sure. You have Hoyte van Hoytema behind the camera, and then we’re shooting out in the desert in New Mexico which has such a vast, beautiful landscape. He never seems to disappoint.
You’ve also wrapped filming on the Apple TV+ series Lady in the Lake, alongside Natalie Portman, which is an adaptation of Laura Lippman’s novel of the same name, set in 1960s Baltimore. Can you tell me about your character?
I play a character named Stephan Zawadzkie. He’s the owner of an exotic fish store and essentially, becomes the number one suspect of the disappearance and murder of an 11-year-old girl who was last seen in his shop. It’s an intense character and intense story for sure. I had such a wonderful time working with Alma Har’el who directed the series. And that whole crew was wonderful. Really special experience.
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Right Top and pants Kenzo, hat and scarf Cos, socks Prada, belt Isabel Marant
Are you a murder mystery or crime drama fan yourself - do you love solving the case?
I like murder mystery stuff more now, but I could not watch that stuff when I was a kid. I had way too active of an imagination for that.
And as a kid, you loved theatre, right?
I always loved performing and engaging in that sort of energetic and creative and imaginative space. I just loved getting lost in my imagination in that way. So, you can see how theatre naturally evolved from that…
Your relationship with acting must have changed as you’ve grown older. Can you pinpoint a project where you had a realisation that your connection to acting was going to another level? Or becoming more—for lack of a better word—serious?
That’s a good question. Thinking back there were probably a few moments, I’ve always been connected to acting from an early age. One moment that stands out to me was I was doing this play, An Enemy of the People, and I must have been like twelve at the time. There was this scene where I had to cry, and I was so committed to it. I hyped myself up before every performance. I remember I got really into the emotion of it all and that’s when I think I saw how deep it could go. And then down the road when I decided to go to college to study acting that’s probably when I became truly seriously about it as a career.
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Have you found yourself gathering some wisdom from the roll call of big names who you were around and are still working with, like Jamie Lee Curtis, Matt Damon and Robert Downey Jr.?
I think I’ve tried to gather wisdom from everyone I’ve had the opportunity to work with. There is this presence and command that people of their calibre have though. It’s a strength and commitment that is very inspiring, because at this point, they’ve all lost their anonymity. They’ve totally given themselves to this. In my opinion, the best people actively lift everyone else around them and that’s definitely the experience I’ve had with the likes of those guys. Plus, I’ve had the pleasure of just working with overall lovely people. Which I think might be the most important quality. Try to leave the excessive ego out of it and make the work enjoyable for everyone.
You’ve played complicated layered characters, from Theo in You to Cameron in the two Halloween movies. Do you those types of roles appeal the most, where you can really challenge yourself and help you grow as an actor?
Definitely. I’ve honestly really appreciated every job I’ve had. I think each one has offered me something unique. But when I get to push myself and learn something new and do something that’s going to ultimately take me out of my comfort zone, I think those are the moments I look forward to as an actor. When you’ve done so much work on a character already and yet there’s still more to uncover and explore. I love doing this and I hope to do it for a long time. So, the more I can push myself and grow the better off I think I’ll be.
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With the Halloween films, was it daunting to be a part of a franchise with such a rich history?
I don’t think it was daunting as much as it was exciting. The fans are so passionate so to get to enter a universe as iconic and rich as that was a once in a lifetime opportunity. I mean, forever I will get to say I got killed by Michael Myers. That’s pretty good.
From horror flicks to boyfriend roles, is there some underlying thing that you think drives you to take the kinds of projects that you do? Like, do you love being scared, or have you ever been that hopelessly lovesick neighbour with a boombox, in real life?!
To be completely honest, when I was first starting out, I’d audition for everything and for the most part, took whatever job I got. I wasn’t very picky. I just wanted to get out there and get the experience working professionally. Which I’m glad I did. As I work more and find my footing in this business, I think I have gained a little more stability to be selective with the projects that truly excite me. Which is a great feeling. With each project there’s usually something different that draws me to it. Either the character, or director, or cast, or writing, or all the above. Any chance I get to access a different part of myself and explore a character is thrilling to me.
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How did it feel playing a crush object and fan favourite in You? Have you ever had a funny experience with someone coming up to you in public?
I feel like people either loved my character or hated my character. Theo seemed to be very polarizing. Which, hey, I’m okay with that! For the most part people are fairly tame when they come up to me. It’s usually like “hey, you look like that one neighbor boy from You!” On occasion people can get very excited about it. Which is flattering but can be quite overwhelming at times.
You’re not returning for the fourth season of that twisty thriller series. So, what do you think Theo will be doing with his life now then?
Oof. Poor Theo. I don’t know, I hope he’s doing well though. I think he’ll have a hard time trusting women in the future that’s for sure. Hopefully he finds a nice loving partner that doesn’t try to kill him.
Haha! And what about you, what would you like to try next, the dream role - and are you interested in writing / directing your own movies some day?
I would love to direct. And write. I really enjoy story telling in general so that’s something I’d be interested in down the road. I’m really inspired by music so when I listen to a song I love, I always think about how it would play in a movie and what interesting visuals could be pared with it to tell a story. So, I definitely feel like that sort of thing is in my future. I don’t know about a dream role; I feel like that’s a question I’m always asked that I never have a specific answer for. I just want to keep exploring different characters, telling different stories. I think when my ‘dream role’ comes up I’ll probably know it but for now I’m just open to whatever comes next.
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Right Top Kenzo
Obviously, I have to ask why you’re not currently on Instagram, as your bio says…?
I think I just feel more at peace when I’m not on it. I notice how much of my mental capacity is taken up when I use it regularly, and how much harder it is to be present. Even when my phone is off there’s still this thought of “oh, I wonder what’s going on on there?” so I think taking space altogether just puts me at ease a little more. It’s funny, when I first got Instagram 10 years ago there were like four filters and people just posted whatever they wanted. No one was as concerned with what was being put out there. It just had more personality. See that was fun to me! Now everyone just seems so concerned with the image of it all. It’s so curated. People representing their lives in this very specific way that just doesn’t feel genuine, and often isn’t. I get a lot of messages telling me to post things- it just feels so odd to go through the thought process of what I want to put out there. And once I put it out there it no longer belongs to me, it’s public domain. I may decide one day that I want to engage more with the platform but for now, I’m happy having my privacy and being a distant observer.
Ok, so I’ll be cheeky and ask, what’s one thing about you that nobody knows that will surprise us?
If nobody knows, why would I tell you? Buy me dinner first and we’ll see.
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Discover the full story in our upcoming SS23 WILDSIDE Issue
Interview by Kate Lawson
Photography by Emilia Staugaard
Fashion by Jensen Edmondson
Fashion editor Caroline Orrico
Casting by Imagemachine Cs
Grooming by Sonia Lee at Exclusive Artists
Photographer’s assistants Kevin Ipalari
