Boyd Holbrook On Becoming Johnny Cash In “A Complete Unknown”

Photo: Scott McDermott 

BY LAURA SCHREFFLER

PHOTOGRAPHY SCOTT MCDERMOTT

STYLING ERIN MCSHERRY

GROOMING MELISSA DEZARTE

SHOT ON LOCATION AT BEAUTY & ESSEX, NEW YORK

I’m not quite sure how we got here, but Boyd Holbrook has just shared that he’s had not one extraterrestrial encounter, but three.

We’re meant to be talking about the 43-year-old actor’s latest role, playing Johnny Cash in James Mangold’s upcoming Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown. And we have done that — but we’ve also gone down a rabbit hole, talking about vortexes, electromagnetic fields, and close encounters of the third kind.

“I have three of them on camera; I’ve seen three UAPs,” he confesses. “When we were living in Los Angeles [while I was working on a project], I got this tic tac-looking thing on camera, 30,000 feet in the air, for a good minute. I have no idea what it is — for all I know it could be a weather balloon — but everyone I’ve showed it to doesn’t think so.”

Holbrook started our Zoom justifiably looking a little sleepy — his wife, Tatiana, had just given birth to their second child, a daughter, two days prior, affording, no doubt, a few sleepless nights for both, but he perks up as we continue to talk about the unknown. Because I’m clueless, he schools me on the definition of UAP (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena or Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena) at length, nerding out just a little on a subject that seems to be very close to his heart. I must be wearing an expression of suspended disbelief, because he then says, “This is all factual stuff. The government is proving this now; there was talk about it at Congress yesterday. I’m not sounding like a lunatic; I just love the science behind things. I’m totally that guy, the guy who’s into ancient aliens, times a thousand. I love ancient history.”

And history in general, it would appear, given that the reason for our chat is that Holbrook is taking on the late, great Johnny Cash, one of the most iconic artists of all time, with more than 90 million records sold worldwide, whose sound spanned country, rock and roll, rockabilly, blues, folk, and gospel, and earned him places in the Country Music, Rock and Roll, and Gospel Music Halls of Fame. When the opportunity to play the Man in Black was presented to him by director and frequent collaborator James Mangold, in the end, he thought the opportunity — much like the aliens — was too out of this world to turn down.

“I probably wouldn’t have done this if it hadn’t been Jim who asked,” he admits. “He’s already made a movie about Johnny’s life [2005’s Academy Award nominee Walk the Line], so I felt like it was something I should explore. And I didn’t really know anything about the relationship between Bob and Johnny; I got to see all those letters they had written to one another back and forth, which is kind of like these two rascals talking to one another over airplane sickness bags. You know, just talking about something that only they can really understand.”

Photo Credit: Scott McDermott

A Complete Unknown, which will be released on Christmas day, revolves around 19-year-old Dylan’s (played by Timothée Chalamet) arrival in New York in the early 1960s, and how, with just his guitar and his talent, he was destined to change the course of American music forever. The film, which is based on the 2015 book Dylan Goes Electric! by Elijah Wald, focuses on the controversy surrounding his switch to electrically amplified instrumentation, and simultaneously, does a deep dive into the intimate relationships he made with fellow artists and producers during his rise to fame. This includes interludes with Pete Seeger (Edward Norton), Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro), Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy), Mavis Staples (Laura Kariuki), Sylvie Russo (Elle Fanning), and, of course, Cash.
The relationship between the two artists is one that Mangold should and did explore. After meeting in the mid-1960s and becoming neighbors in the late 1960s in Woodstock, New York (ironically, an area of which Holbrook happens to call home himself), they formed a friendship that would last for over 40 years. Cash nurtured Dylan as an artist, coaching him on what was acceptable in country music (though he himself ignored this); the two also collaborated, albeit only once, on Dylan’s landmark record Nashville Skyline, for the duet “Girl from the North Country”; Cash also wrote the album’s Grammy-winning liner notes.

And although he and Chalamet have just worked together for the first time, Holbrook’s respect for his co-star runs deep. “There’s nothing more special than seeing Timmy’s performance; I mean, he’s incredible in this film. This is his film, at the end of the day. We all had a lot of amazing stuff to do and be a part of, but watching him play these songs, live with harmonica, is wild. I only worked with him during the festival scene, but he had to do everything live like that, 12 to 15 songs. It’s crazy.”

By that token, Holbrook knew that if he himself was going to truly embody a musician of such greatness, it, too, had to be done right. It couldn’t be a caricature, he couldn’t phone it in. So, he hired a voice coach and practiced the guitar every day for five months. “Maybe not a lot of actors want to admit this, but there’s at least an element of mimicking when you’re playing someone who actually lived, an embodying of the essence of someone, and that’s an amazing little journey in itself. I did not sing or play the guitar before this process. Every day, I took two hours, trying to figure out how to do this.”

It was challenging, admittedly. “I can play the guitar now, but it was so hard to play the guitar and sing at the same time. I had to, so slowly, go through and start to build up.”

Photo Credit: Searchlight Pictures

Photo Credit: Searchlight Pictures

I’m surprised Holbrook hasn’t had any experience as a singer in the past, because he certainly has the moody look of one down pat (including the spikes of blonde hair tufting up that suggest he may have just gotten out of bed — very rock and roll — which is probably why his name has been heavily suggested in the past to play Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain). “I mean, come on, who doesn’t love to sing in the shower? Who doesn’t think they’re great in the shower? Like, man, I hit those high notes like Adele just now. But the reality is different. I had to rehearse with people a lot more talented than me. And there’s a hollowing out of the voice that I had to do; Cash had such a deep register. I had to work to open up my body and become more.”

Holbrook is a method actor, and he really worked at both understanding and becoming Cash. Even today, though he’s wearing a simple black Ducati T-shirt, he still seems to be embodying the Man in Black [a nickname Cash earned for his distinctive on-stage costumes]. Admittedly, standing on stage, playing his music, it was hard not to become Cash. “I was definitely channeling him, trying to hit his attitude. And I know it sounds kind of mystical, but for those fragment amounts of time when you’re really focusing on that — when you’ve listened to 1,000 hours of his music, you know how he speaks and his cadence, his accent, when you’ve gotten to know his sense of humor, his background, all of these little things — it can really be tunnel vision. You can only see certain things; you don’t really notice your peripheral vision. And then, you get daydreaming about him and you’re having conversations with him, but you’re having conversations with yourself.”

Interestingly, this tactic was something Holbrook employed to get into Cash’s head. To become Johnny, he journalled as Johnny. “It’s a good way to personalize and really feel attached,” he notes. “I mean, I think Hunter S. Thompson even taught himself to write that way, by just typing out other people’s novels.”
Or by holding their guitars, as it were. He smiles and shows me a beauty that he “borrowed” from set. “It’s a 1967 Guild, I think. I think ‘somebody’ forgot to give it back.”

Photo Credit: Scott McDermott

I MEAN THIS EXTREMELY SERIOUSLY,  but if you haven’t seen Boyd Holbrook do Fire Marshall Bill, you haven’t seen anything yet.

After swearing me to secrecy, Holbrook gives his best In Living Color era-Jim Carrey, and he is legitimately laugh-out-loud funny. I’m not quite sure if he’s trying out a bit or not (though if he is, I’m happy to ship this one) as he embarks on what is both a thrilling and terrifying new adventure: stand-up comedy. And he owes it all (or some of it, at least) to The Morning Show.

In the fourth season of the hit AppleTV+ series that offers an inside look at the lives of those who work on a morning news show, newbie Holbrook will join existing cast members Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Marion Cotillard, Billy Crudup, and Greta Lee as Brodie, a popular and provocative podcaster and talk show host.

The overall experience was overwhelmingly positive, so much so that Holbrook can’t help but to sing praises for the show and its cast. Of Aniston, he declares, “She’s the perfect dose. She’s really funny, she’s chill, really welcoming, and super normal. In fact, being on the show was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had.”

Photo Credit: Scott McDermott

As it was playing Brodie, it seems, who he refers to as “a mish-mash of podcaster, breakaway news anchor, and media personality who gets to say what I want and how I want.” The “how I want” of it all is particularly interesting, in that Holbrook was allowed to go rogue, off-the-cuff — stand-up, essentially. Which inspired him to want to do it for real.

“Having a podcast would be amazing; I’d love to go on and hang out, chit chat, cut it up with somebody. But stand-up? That’s the real deal. There’s an art to that. I’ve just realized it, so I’m getting ready for it. I thought about taking some courses at the Upright Citizens Brigade, or The Second City in Brooklyn. I mean, it’s just another kind of performance, right? You have to know the rules of the game and then you can play it. I might bomb, but I’m definitely going to try.”

He says his first gig is going to happen in Brooklyn in just a few months, and weirdly, he isn’t terrified. If anything, it’s excitement that’s fueling him. “After having a little taste of it, I was like, so this is it. Let me get this right: you have to just observe something in life and give your point of view about it. OK, I get that.”

Holbrook’s refusal to share his set has less to do with secrecy and more to do with making sure he gets it right. He’s not there yet. But at least he has the belief in himself that he can and will do this. And so, the world will see a man who’s mostly been known thus far for playing either serious roles or serious villains in projects like The Bikeriders, Indiana Jones, Logan, Narcos, In the Shadow of the Moon, Jane Got a Gun, Hatfields & McCoys, Behind the Candelabra, FX’s Justified: City Primeval, and The Sandman, in a whole new light.

He thinks he’s funny, and that’s the most important thing. “It’s a weird thing to admit that I am, and there might be some people in my life who would be like, ‘I don’t know about that,’ but I do love being around people and making them laugh,” he admits. “And basically, that’s how my acting career started in the first place — how I could mimic Johnny Cash, for example. It started by me doing Jim Carrey and Jamie Foxx skits in my living room, doing Fire Marshall Bill for my mom and dad.”

Holbrook, who was born and raised in Prestonburg, Kentucky, admits that there wasn’t much to feed his early interests in acting — not even a theater in his hometown — but his dream exceeded the limitations of where he was raised.

Photo Credit: Scott McDermott

“I think about this all the time. Growing up, I don’t think my family could really see a future in acting; I come from a really small town in Kentucky. But they let me be me — they let a kid be a kid, and that’s all they could really do. That’s the best thing you can do for a kid: don’t shush them. I wasn’t shushed; I was able to daydream.”

Holbrook knows he’s living his dream, and he swears he’s never taken it for granted. He’s unlike the typical Hollywood star in that he really does seem amazingly down to earth, especially for someone who has so much faith in the unknown. He seems deeply connected to nature; feet firmly planted on the ground. (Outside of his belief in aliens, that is).

“I’m happiest when I’m walking in the creek. If only I lived in a warmer climate, I would be outside 23 hours a day. And that’s really my life; I’m a pretty quiet, simple person,” he admits. “I love my family, I have quite a few hobbies, I have my friends. And that’s all I need right now. I’ve been loud — and I still like to get loud, don’t get me wrong — but these days, I live a pretty chill lifestyle. Because to be honest, when you’re traveling around like I did — and I did the math — for 13 years, 10 months a year, on the road doing films and TV with maybe just a couple of months off — when I’m not working, I really need to relax. Get in the woods somewhere, build a fire, and chill.”

I get it — even if he won’t get it (the time off, that is) for the imminent future. In addition to his press tour for A Complete Unknown, The Morning Show will make its rounds shortly, as will the second season of The Sandman. In the Netflix fantasy drama series based on the 1989-1996 comic book published by DC Comics, The Sandman tells the story of Dream/Morpheus, the titular Sandman (played by Tom Sturridge). Holbrook will reprise his role as Corinthian, a nightmare who escaped the Dreaming (which, for those not in the know, is a second dimension).

Photo Credit: Scott McDermott

But to Holbrook, that’s even more of a reason to take full advantage of those elusive moments of peace and quiet. Being in a good headspace is essential to being in the right mindset for success. “I think that life can just eat you up if you don’t watch where you’re going. And I’ve clawed and scratched my way here, there’s no doubt about it. It’s easy to get swallowed up by life — your own problems, your own issues, and your own hurdles — and I try to be mindful of that. Instead of auditioning for everything, I’m just trying to get my mind right to keep developing, and keep trying to get better. I’m never going to stop being humble, you know? The good will come, as will the bad. I’m just trying to keep a constant, steady pace and try to surround myself with really good, smart people, and really push the questions of depth rather than some surface caricature silly stuff.”

Instead, he seeks out variety and substance. “If a character had a particular voice or sound, I would almost prefer that. When you change things up, it keeps you interested and curious. It’s like playing elite level make-believe. Think of it like mask work at drama school: when you put on a mask, you go, shit man, I can do a bunch of different stuff now that I didn’t feel comfortable doing as me. I really look for that. I want to have diversity and range — because that’s what acting is all about, getting to know somebody else’s perspective. I want to see what’s happening on the other side.

“Also,” he continues, “I think it’s actually harder just to be you, and not trying to be something for anybody else, harder to be ‘what you see is what you get.’ But then, I don’t know everything. I’m definitely a work in progress. The good news is that I’m very adaptable to change, and I want to learn to get better as a person. I want to do better and do good things. And so now, I’m going to bring it back to Johnny Cash. That guy was uncompromising in his voice. He’s something to aspire to.”

But perhaps Cash has made more of an impact on him than he realizes — because although Holbrook is still finding his way, he most definitely is ready to embrace that Man in Black spirit.

Photo Credit: Scott McDermott