And so I did a lot of research,” Elrod said. “I really wanted to try my hardest to represent the, you know, the sex industry and the community in a way that I felt like was honorable. I’m just presenting a character, and let’s explore this character together,” Baker said.Īnother complicated character in the film is Mikey Saber’s wife, a former porn star herself, played by actress Bree Elrod. “ ‘Well, what’s the takeaway here? Your last film was about hidden homelessness, what are you trying to teach us about now?’ And I’m just like, I’m not. He says he’s presenting a character study and he’s not out to teach a lesson – even though he finds people often search for those, including his last film, “The Florida Project”. In “Red Rocket”, Baker says he wants audiences to have those same questions. “I was entertained, I was hanging - when I was hanging out with them, I was laughing and I was part of that conversation and then I would go home and be like, ‘what was I just partaking in?’” Baker said. He remembers interviewing adult film actors and not feeling sure whether they were the heroes of their own stories. We laugh both with and at the main character Mikey Saber, played by former MTV VJ Simon Rex, as he navigates his reintegration into his hometown.īaker says the idea stemmed from a project he and co-writer Chris Bergoch began over a decade ago. “There’s this dark, looming sad history of that area, I think in many ways complemented what was going on with the personal stories in the film,” Baker said.īut “Red Rocket” is also deeply funny. “Red Rocket” includes nods to some of the darker moments in the area’s history – including the 1947 Texas City explosions that killed close to 600 people. Because everybody I met in Texas, I love.” It’s about… treating my characters with dignity and loving my characters. “So when I’m in Texas making this film, it’s about finding the human connection. “If a filmmaker approached me and said, ‘I want to make a film about your life and your – perhaps even cast you to play a character in which, you know, has similar parallel experiences…’ I would like that filmmaker to do it in the most respectful and responsible way possible,” Baker said. Though “Red Rocket” is by no means a bright and glossy tourist ad for the Gulf Coast, Baker says it’s the opinion of the locals that means more to him than critics or even the average moviegoer. Like, as long as - whatever is right for the film.” “This film cost a quarter of the budget of my last film. And I’m like, ‘nah, you know, that’s not really me,'” Baker said. “They say in Hollywood, you just got to keep increasing your budgets and getting bigger and bigger and try to get those A-listers so you can get that Oscar. He compared the experience to a return to student filmmaking and says it taught him something about his own filmmaking goals. “So a few different things I was able to kind of just, ‘man, I’d say like this.’”īaker shot “Red Rocket” during the pandemic with a small crew fueled by a lot of pizza. “He’d be like, ‘well, what would you say, how would you say it?’” Rodriguez said. “I did scaffolds and I did installation in the refineries.”īaker has worked with non-actors as collaborators in previous productions including “Tangerine” and “The Florida Project”. “Before jumped into the Sean Baker film, I was a refinery worker,” Rodriguez said. Oil refineries provide the backdrop and locals, including first-time actress Brittney Rodriguez, help make up the cast. The film is set in Texas City but was also shot around Galveston and Beaumont. “Red Rocket” opens in theaters on Friday, December 10 and starts showing in Texas on December 17. He settled on the Gulf Coast after a visit to the area. “It happens to be that adult film stars, if you look at the demographic breakdown, they come primarily from Ohio, Texas or Florida,” Baker said. Filmmaker Sean Baker says when he decided to make a feature about someone from the adult film industry, Texas quickly rose to the top of the list of potential locations.
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