Steve Buscemi talks about the movie on Rapa Nui: "Everything turned out very overwhelming; it was like being on another planet"

Steve Buscemi talks about the movie in Rapa Nui: "Everything turned out very overwhelming; it was like being on another planet" The renowned actor takes one of the central roles in Wild Horse Nine, the acclaimed film shot in our country and which will arrive in national cinemas on November 5th. In an interview with Culto, he and actress Parker Posey share details of the filming and dissect the keys to the story. "I think Martin McDonagh approaches the subject with a lot of cunning and, at the same time, with a lot of sensitivity," Buscemi indicates. Steve Buscemi and director Martin McDonagh have been good friends for four years. Both attended the Venice Festival to present their new films and connected from the creative and personal sides, having the appetite to find the right project to work on together. The actor of films like Street Dogs (1992) and Fargo (1996) never imagined that this unwritten agreement would cause him to travel to Rapa Nui in early 2025 and to encounter a natural setting that makes him smile just by remembering it. "Everything turned out so overwhelming that sometimes I forget the concrete details, but I have the general feeling of: Wow! It's as if I was on another planet," Buscemi says to Culto via video call from Venice, the city that hosted the world premiere of Wild Horse Nine, the feature film that unites him with McDonagh for the first time and will debut in Chilean cinemas on November 5th. Written and directed by the director of Three Billboards by a Crime (2017), the film centers on Chris (John Malkovich) and Lee (Sam Rockwell), a duo of old friends who, as CIA agents, have played a determining role in important episodes of international politics in recent years and travel to the island in 1973 during Salvador Allende's term. Both must answer to MJ (Steve Buscemi), the head of the intelligence mission in Santiago and the one in charge of making the US government's plan of that time executed as planned. A scheme that could be disturbed both by Chris's erratic behavior and by the duo's encounter with two young students named Mónica (Mariana Di Girolamo) and Alicia (Ailín Salas). "I think John's character is at a stage in his life where he reflects on his past, but the fact that those reflections can come to light keeps my character very worried," the actor indicates. "There is a lot at stake, and that is another element of the film that, in my opinion, makes it so entertaining," he points out. Buscemi precisely understands the exercise proposed by the author of The Spirits of Island (2022): situating the action in a very specific historical context and speaking about the documented role of the CIA in the overthrow of Allende, but always focusing on regret and the epilogue of life (of one of the protagonists), aspiring to weave a work that is as emotional as it is funny. "I think this film is very unique because, in the end, it is a story about a relationship, set in the context of a terrible historical moment when the United States and the CIA were involved. I think Martin approaches the subject with a lot of cunning and, at the same time, with a lot of sensitivity," Buscemi affirms. "I found it a very interesting way to approach it: it is not so much about telling what happened there, but about narrating the story of these two friends and work colleagues in the framework of a truly horrific historical moment, especially in the case of Chile," he maintains. If in 2025 he mentioned to Culto that Rapa Nui seemed to him "an incredible, magical, and wonderful place," he now expands on the time spent on the island. "Beyond what is already known –the moai and seeing them at sunrise or sunset– there were the animals: the horses, the dogs, the cows, and observing how they interacted with each other," he explains. And he deepens: "We were staying in a place where sometimes the horses would simply approach the back of where we were staying. I looked at them and then the dogs came and licked their heels, as if to say: come on, boys, you are not allowed here, move on. And it was very fun to see that; how the animals are so integrated and venerated on that island. It was really special." McDonagh made sure that the entire cast traveled to the island, no matter how many scenes they had there. This included actress Parker Posey, who portrays Lee's wife. In dialogue with Culto, he recounts pleasant memories of his time in Chile, stating that he brought his camera and "every photo I took turned out to be magical; they looked like covers of rock records." "On the first day I got out of the car to see the horses and took some beautiful photos that I found so moving. There were two horses that brought their noses closer to each other, forming a kind of heart in the air. Moreover, they reflected in a puddle below. When they looked at you, you felt like you were sharing a moment with beings," he details, before concluding: "It is something very pure." According to his distributor in Chile, Wild Horse Nine will be shown in Rapa Hui during the second week of November. Thus, a year and a half after the end of filming, everything will return to where it began. COMMENTS To comment on this article you must be a subscriber. Latest Most read 1. 3. 5. Some read, others inform. Take this unique offer. Digital Plan+$4,120 per month, from here until the end of the year SUBSCRIBE