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Phoebe Dynevor 'refused to break character' while facing cops during Inheritance shoot, nearly got arrested: Neil Burger
Inheritance director Neil Burger talks to HT about his latest release, and how Phoebe Dynevor refusing to break character almost cost her.
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Filmmaker Neil Burger's new release, Inheritance, is an experiment in cinematography. The feature film has been completely shot on an iPhone, largely in real locations, often in real time while intermingling with the crowd. The brave 'guerrilla-filming' style was as much a demand of the times (the movie was filmed during Covid-19) as a bonus for the genre (it is a fast-paced urban thriller). Ahead of the film's release, director Neil Burger sat with HT to discuss the filming and more.
On filming in India
Inheritance focusses on a young woman (played by Phoebe Dynevor) drawn into an international conspiracy after discovering her father is a spy. Apart from New York, Seoul and Cairo, the film was also shot in parts of New Delhi. Talking about the filming that took place in early 2022, Neil said, “We filmed in Delhi in some of the more crowded places and markets. And the shots were planned in a way that we had very few crew members. We'd arrive on location, shoot as quickly as we could, and then disperse. The other people in the location wouldn't know we were filming a movie, and that was our intention. It allowed us to film rather quickly and keep the natural ambience of the place.”
How Phoebe refused to break character
There were times, the director added, when onlookers would wander into the frame unknowingly, or even interact with the actors. Since there was no elaborate camera crew, most were unaware that a film was being shot. That made the shoot trickier, but Neil said the crew soldiered on. "The actors were instructed to improvise if someone entered the frame or interacted with them unknowingly. And Phoebe did that a few times when someone stopped her to ask for something or tried to sell her something. She didn't break character," he added.
But Phoebe's penchant for not breaking character almost got her into trouble during the New York schedule of the shoot. Neil recalled, "In New York, we were filming a scene where her character steals a bottle from a store and then drinks out on the street. While we were filming it, two cops approached her and asked her why she was drinking in public. They didn't know it was a shoot. Phoebe refused to break character and refused to give her ID. The situation was escalating when I stepped in and told the officers this was a film."
Also starring Rhys Ifans, Ciara Baxendale, and Kersti Bryan, Inheritance was released in the US in January this year and made its way to the Indian audiences on May 23. It is streaming on Lionsgate Play.
