Being the month of horror and scary stuff (as well as the month when I have extremely steady work), it’s fitting that a new horror series by Guillermo del Toro is being released. Take a closer look into the Cabinet of Curiosities as it opens up tomorrow, but before that, how about a little chat with one of the actors from one of the episodes? Which one? Why, Jonathan Neil Alexander who started his acting career at a young age and has done so well even working with some cool powerhouse directors just this year, such as Keith Thomas, Emily Cohn, and Steve Wright. He’s doing pretty well being a judge for TIFF and working on a Hallmark movie, but we’re here to talk about his part in the episode Pickman’s Model which will be the 4th episode of this first season of Cabinet of Curiosities. So without further ado, let’s check the cabinet for some answers. Beware the horrors that may or not be in this interview.
HNMAG: So you have a role in the upcoming series Cabinet of Curiosities. Who are you in it?
Jonathan Neil Alexander: I play Doyle, he’s an art student in a fictional university called Miskatonic University. It’s all based on a story by H.P. Lovecraft, and Doyle is one of the students there.
HNMAG: And what happens to Doyle?
Jonathan Neil Alexander: How it’s structured, it stars Crispin Glover and Ben Barnes. Myself, Seamus Patterson, Tom Nyhuus, are kind of a clique of New England art students. Ben Barnes plays Thurber and you kind of watch the episode through his eyes, Crispin Glover’s character comes into the episode and we are all kind of jarred by what we see from him. In terms of what happens to Doyle, he’s a point in this clique of friends.
HNMAG: And they all somehow come together through an interesting experience.
Jonathan Neil Alexander: Yup.
HNMAG: And have you ever found yourself in a predicament like Doyle’s?
Jonathan Neil Alexander: I would say, yeah. I think a lot of people have in some way. I think Doyle’s experience is relatively similar for some of the other characters as well but there’s kind of a distant observant nature he has to him. I think when something comes into someone’s life, it’s jarring to them, it’s natural for people to tense up and judge it a bit or be critical about what they’re witnessing.
HNMAG: And what’s the layout for the show? Will you be in more episodes in the future?
Jonathan Neil Alexander: It’s an anthology series, eight episodes. Different cast, different director, different story for each of the episodes. They’re releasing October 25th, and doing two episodes per evening over the course of four days. It’s like kind of an event.
HNMAG: What was it like working on this particular episode?
Jonathan Neil Alexander: It was incredible. Keith Thomas was the director and he’s an actor’s dream to work with. He’s so willing to share ideas and talk about the story for as long as anyone needs to. He’s all about getting everyone on the same page and he’s such a creative.
HNMAG: Have you done any horror roles before?
Jonathan Neil Alexander: I haven’t actually done any horror. This is my first horror experience and it’s like the circumstances that Doyle’s in weren’t horrible. (laughs) But the rest of the episode, I know because I’ve seen some stuff. I was able to remain pretty unscathed by the work.
HNMAG: Do you hope to do more horror roles?
Jonathan Neil Alexander: Yeah, I think it’s a fascinating genre. I also love the way that Guillermo del Toro does stuff with so much nuance. There’s so much that goes into his stories and the way that he tells them. He’s a profound auteur for a storyteller. When horror is involved with all those other dynamics, it becomes a really beautiful jaw-dropping medium. I would absolutely do it!
HNMAG: What kind of roles are your favourites?
Jonathan Neil Alexander: Right now all I care about is having the next job that I do very differently from the last one I did. (laughs) Because that’s what’s really exciting to me. I think I’ll have a full career out of it, and if I can have range and keep everything fresh, then I’ll always be hopping into a different idea and story world.
HNMAG: You said you admire Guillermo del Toro’s work. What do you think of this in particular?
Jonathan Neil Alexander: He’s a powerhouse creatively, he had a huge involvement in organizing these separate worlds for Cabinet of Curiosities. Working alongside some incredible screenwriters, but also curating it in full himself. It’s an incredible and massive undertaking to do that. Also his focus on detail, and that’s really what makes his work so special. He’s able to capture a big picture and provide a perspective to a story.
HNMAG: And if he made more content, would you want to be involved in it?
Jonathan Neil Alexander: I would do anything he asked me to.
HNMAG: What can audiences REALLY expect from Cabinet of Curiosities?
Jonathan Neil Alexander: I’m in the same position as the audience, I have NO IDEA what these other stories look like. I’m actually very excited to see the other stories, I have a soft spot for Pickman’s Model, the episode that I was in. But I’m sure it will be an entirely exciting series from start to finish.
I’m sure we could all agree with Jonathan’s perspective on the series. Let’s all watch it with him as it officially starts releasing on Netflix as of tomorrow.