A buzzed-about romance ignited by its young, photogenic lovers, “Marked Men: Rule + Shaw” is fired by young adult author Jay Crownover’s 2012 bestseller “Rule.”
“Marked Men” unfolds amid the class distinctions between gritty tattoo artist Rule Archer (Chase Stokes) and upper-class, pre-med student Shaw Landon (Sydney Taylor). Nick Cassavetes, whose “The Notebook” is the gold standard for this kind of intensely felt affair, directs.
“You know how you have the angel on one shoulder?” Stokes, 32, asked in a Zoom interview, “Rule is like my devil on my shoulder. He’s a tortured soul who carries a lot of weight and responsibility for the passing of his brother.
“He’s never really let that go away and I don’t think he’s ever wanted to allow himself to be happy again.
“So allowing myself to fall into those depths and then work with somebody like Syd, who graciously was pulling the character back out and allowing him to see the light again, was challenging. But a lot of fun.”
As he films his fifth and final season of the hit Netflix teen series “Outer Banks,” Stokes saluted Cassavetes. “Nick is the best in this genre but on top of his accolades and films, he’s an incredible person. He made this feel like a story that resonated in my heart, a beautiful way of navigating that space.”
While Jay Crownover has her legions of fans, a book is a different world when adapted for the screen. “You can’t get too married to the idea of a book. Reading,” Stokes noted, “you have so much more room to grow. So much more time to play with.
“In a book you get a little bit more grace. There’s a true reality when you’re reading those pages; you create a whole world in your head. And everybody gets their own interpretation of it.
“In a film, we’re limited in how much time we have. You can’t always check all the boxes of what you would like to have.
“So we were very lucky that Jay had her fingers in the honeypot with this film and was very involved with the script. When she saw the final product, she was very happy.
“Whenever you get, directly from the author, that type of feedback, that’s the win. To take something from somebody and then give it back and see them satisfied with what we’ve done? That is a true joy.”
“Marked Men: Rule + Shaw” is in theaters Wednesday
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2025-01-20 23:58:46
