In Self/less, director Tarsem Singh explores the consequences of taking one life so that someone else can live forever. Billionaire businessman Damian Hale (Academy Award winner Ben Kingsley) is a powerful force — a corporate genius who runs things from his NYC seat of power. When he receives a terminal cancer diagnosis, Hale is determined to access a radical medical procedure, “shedding,” that will give him the chance to beat his destiny. The twist? His consciousness will be transplanted into the body of another person (played by Ryan Reynolds), in theory, an artificially grown human designed for this purpose. The truth, however, is a bit more complicated.
Screenwriters (and brothers) David and Alex Pastor find that their creative process can be motivated by what keeps them awake at night. “I feel that everybody can relate to ‘I wish I had more time,’” says David. “We wanted to write about a powerful character who has everything, but whose body is failing him and who then finds that his money might be able to buy him a new life. And although the key to this new life is a revolutionary new technology, we decided we would not get bogged down in technicalities and would keep our story as more of a fable than anything else. It was the moral consequences that interested us.”
Alex remembers, “The more we discussed this, the more I was excited about the way someone could ‘buy time,’ since sometimes people who have more money can get away with things that the rest of us mortals can’t. The science fiction that David and I like to write explores moral and ethical issues; for Self/less, we looked at the fantasy that technology could free us from our own death, and what the non-monetary price paid would be. These ideas tied in to universal themes.”
David notes, “Death is something we all have in common; it’s the big question mark at the end of the road we share. Are we ever ready for that?”
Alex responds, “I don’t think we ever are ready to die because it’s in our genes to fight for survival, to keep moving, and to keep living as long as we can.”
Director Singh found the Pastors’ script to be “20 minutes into the future, so I didn’t even see it as sci-fi, really. But it definitely was a thriller, with action, and I had been looking for all that to do in a movie.”
He continues, “Would any of us want to live forever with an aging body, holding a catheter, or would we want another option? With everything that you can buy now on the black market — a harvested liver and much more — that discussion is going to happen. “Our minds can live a lot longer than what our physical bodies have evolved to live, but what can we do about that? Had Einstein or Steve Jobs lived a little longer, they could have done a lot more for humanity.”
Reynolds adds, “I think every viewer gets drawn in when a wish-fulfillment aspect is a key part of a movie. Extending life, cheating death — if and when the right resources are poured in, this kind of science doesn’t seem that far off. “I love playing characters who are given specific moral choices, and the character of Damian is particularly interesting because he is morally flexible. The audience will themselves wonder, ‘Would I do that?’ Self/less is very thought-provoking.”
Approached by the filmmakers to play Hale in his original form, Kingsley quickly honed in on the character’s contradictions. “I think that Damian has always had a magnificent ego. He is highly creative and imaginative. He may not have long to live, yet he will every day have his hands manicured, have a massage, have his beard trimmed by his barber, go to his tailor, and remain in denial: ‘I’m not dying.’ I had to display his vulnerabilities so the audience will say, ‘He’s just like my uncle,’ or ‘That’s my Dad.’”
Self/less is available beginning Nov. 10 on Video On Demand. Check your cable system for availability.
© 2013 Shedding Productions, LLC. Kingsley Credit: Alan Markfield; Reynolds Credit: Hilary Bronwyn Gayle
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