Director Luca Guadagnino “immediately” envisaged Hollywood star Timothee Chalamet in the title role of upcoming cannibal love story Bones And All when reading the script.
The filmmaker, 51, directed Chalamet previously in the 2017 film Call Me By Your Name which earned him an Oscar nomination for best actor.
In his latest film, Chalamet stars as a young cannibal named Lee in the coming-of-age romance opposite Taylor Russell who plays Maren as they travel across America.
Arriving at the film’s premiere at the BFI London Film Festival on Saturday, Guadagnino told the PA news agency: “It was a magnificent script from David Kajganich, he sent me the script and I could not stop reading it.
“It was so good and of course the privilege of working with these amazing casts starting from Timothee that I immediately saw in the character of Lee when I was reading it.
.@RealChalamet discusses collaborating with Luca Guadagnino. 'It’s good. I hope this is one of many, the first was like a wonderful dessert and this is like a flamethrower and then we will see what’s next'. pic.twitter.com/XK0RLRzQUb
— BFI (@BFI) October 8, 2022
“When you do a movie you always want to make sure you do something that is unique and that is told through a texture that is unique and to be able to do this fable with people like Timothee, Taylor, Mark (Rylance) and the rest of the amazing cast with the text of David Kajganich was a privilege.”
Speaking about having shot the film in Ohio in the US, he added: “I have been going to the US for the past 25 years so I knew it very well but I didn’t know very well the mid-west.
“To discover the sheer beauty of the people and the places and their very specific way of being there was quite a revelation for me.”
The film, based on the novel by Camille DeAngelis, also stars Sir Mark Rylance.
Chalamet, donning a white suit with matching white boots at the premiere, said: “I wanted to work with Luca again and something about an on the road movies like Badlands, Bonnie And Clyde or movies with not a higher ethical purpose necessarily but that nonetheless like a TV show like Breaking Bad, endears you to the characters, that was interesting to wrestle with.
“I also wanted to get back into the indie sort of setting.”
Chalamet recently starred in Warner Bros sci-fi Dune, adapted from Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel of the same name, featuring a star-studded cast including Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson and Oscar Isaac.
Florence Pugh and Lea Seydoux were said to have joined the ensemble for Dune: Part Two which will arrive in cinemas in October 2023.
Speaking about the sequel, Chalamet added: “It’s going great. She (Florence) looked amazing here yesterday.
“I think she has already wrapped … she did an incredible job and to be working with Zendaya and Florence, what a treat. It’s been incredible.”
Bones And All will be released in UK cinemas on November 25.