'At the Gates' Exclusive Interview: Noah Wyle

Moviefone speaks with Noah Wyle about 'At the Gates.' "It was a classic page turner. I didn't know where it was going and then it just stayed consistent."

Noah Wyle in a scene from 'At The Gates,' written, directed, and produced by Augustus Meleo Bernstein. Copyright: Beacon Pictures 2022.

Opening in theaters in Los Angeles on November 3rd and New York theaters on November 10th is the new thriller ‘At the Gates,’ which was written and directed by first time feature filmmaker Augustus Meleo Bernstein, and stars Miranda Otto (‘The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King’) and Noah Wyle (‘A Few Good Men’).

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Noah Wyle about his work on ‘At the Gates,’ his first reaction to the screenplay, collaborating with director Augustus Meleo Bernstein, the rehearsal process, his character’s marriage, working with Miranda Otto and the rest of the cast, the benefits of shooting on one set, and making a movie with an important message, as well as looking back at his work on the classic ‘A Few Good Men’ and his best Jack Nicholson story.

Noah Wyle in a scene from 'At The Gates,' written, directed, and produced by Augustus Meleo Bernstein. Copyright: Beacon Pictures 2022.

Moviefone: To begin with, what was your first reaction to Augustus Meleo Bernstein’s screenplay and what were some of the themes that you were excited to explore as an actor?

Noah Wyle: Well, it was a classic page turner. I didn't know where it was going or where these characters were coming from for the longest time. I thought, "Oh, I hope this doesn't fall apart or crash like some sad souffle in the end because he's setting a really wonderful table here." Then it just stayed consistent all the way throughout. I thought, "Well, very sophisticated script. I wonder if he's as good of a filmmaker as his script needs the film to be." When I met him, I was so impressed by his thoughtfulness, his attention to detail, and his filmic nature. Very quickly I realized he was somebody I could put all my trust into and have a lovely collaborative experience with.

MF: I understand that Augustus arranged a rehearsal period for the actors before shooting and that some of the improvisations from those rehearsals ended up in the final film. What was it like for you to work in that way?

NW: Well, rehearsal is usually the first thing that gets cut for budgetary purposes. So just to get a rehearsal day was a luxury that is very rarely afforded, and it's such a necessity. If you really want to do good work, you must rehearse. So, it's such shortsighted thinking to think that that's a place to save (money) because ultimately, you're going to ask all these questions on set and these are all going to be time-consuming questions, and you're going to watch your day go down the drain, and you're going to really wish you had worked this stuff out prior. So, Augustus either intuitively knew that or just thought because the script was written with sparsity, we needed to flesh these characters out with three-dimensionality, and these relationships needed to have history and weight to them, where I haven't written it, but we need to feel it. So those improvisations were great to get at the essence of what the scenes were about from Peter's perspective, and from his wife's perspective. How we would deal with this if this were attacking our life. So, it was very one-to-one work, right? Because you're going on an instinctual level and then Augie recorded it. So, a lot of those things that came up that were visceral reactions for both Miranda and I and became text in the dialogue that we played. So, it felt very organic to work that way, and it was a seamless way to create that three-dimensionality. So, I thought it was great.

(L to R) Noah Wyle and director/writer/producer Augustus Meleo Bernstein on the set of 'At The Gates.' Copyright Beacon Pictures 2022.

MF: What was your experience like working with director Augustus Meleo Bernstein and as an actor, what are you looking for from a director on set?

NW: He's a rare breed. It's very rare that you meet a writer/director who's also an excellent communicator and can tell you the picture that they see so clearly in their head in words that are playable as an actor. If they are good at articulating it, then they're usually very dictatorial about getting exactly what they want. Augustus was just the opposite. He was really collegiate and collaborative, and wanted to hear all of our ideas, and gave us the illusion that he was looking around for the best idea when in fact he was looking around for different pieces to be utilized in his overall idea, which just denotes a lot more experience than he's had and makes them that much more impressive. Specificity is the key for me. There was a moment early in the process where we went in to shoot some still photographs to have around the house as set dressing, some family photos, and the way that Augustus directed us to pose for those photos that were going to be basically props were so specific. I thought, "This guy, I can trust this guy. He's not going to let one moment go by. He's not going to miss an opportunity to find drama if he wants these pictures to have a certain look and feel so that if the camera goes past them, we'll get it." I love that.

MF: Can you talk about Peter and Marianne’s marriage, and what it was like working on that relationship with Miranda Otto?

NW: Well, I backed into Peter. It was interesting. I've done a couple of interviews with Ezekiel Pacheco. We've talked about his character and my character. It's for the first time I'm able to see the cross trajectories of our arcs in terms of testosterone and machismo. His character is coming into his own as a man and being increasingly assertive and taking more of a stake of ownership and authorship to his destiny as the movie goes on. Whereas we watch Peter do the exact opposite. He is feeling like he's losing credibility, he's losing relevance, he's losing power, and he's losing control. He's on the reactive side of circumstances completely and is trying to get ahead of the narrative. These two men meet at this really critical juncture, and it fuels these scenes and these dynamics because you're watching a culture clash. They're from totally different lives that have nothing to do with each other, nothing in common, and must find out some commonality. I found that exciting. So, to answer your question, Peter's fear and Peter's cowardice were two very defining characteristics, two aspects that you never want to show your wife. So that is where it starts. It starts with knowing that everything I say is going to be a lie because I can't tell you the truth about how I feel because you're not strong enough to handle my truth. Then she's coming at it from the exact same standpoint, and intimate scenes become power plays always because everybody's got a secret that they're not willing to share. That makes these scenes really loaded, fun, multi-leveled and engaging.

Related Article: Teresa Palmer and Miranda Otto Talk New Hulu Series 'The Clearing'

(L to R) Miranda Otto and Noah Wyle in a scene from 'At The Gates,' Written, Directed, and produced by Augustus Meleo Bernstein. Copyright: Beacon Pictures 2022.

MF: Can you talk about the mistrust that builds between Peter and Nico, and what it was like for you working with young actor Ezekiel Pacheco?

NW: Well, this film really plays with perception. On the surface, you're looking at the classic affluent American family, mother, father, son, daughter, beautiful house, and beautiful life. Then as the film progresses, you peak and you peel away at that veneer and realize, "Oh no, there's all sorts of pathology going on here, and these people aren't connecting at all. What I'm looking at is people that are projecting an image of what they wish were true that is really not quite tied to reality." Similarly, you get the same parallel storyline on Nico's side where you look at a mother and son domestic workers, and immediately you want to ascribe all sorts of superficial judgments to that relationship and to those people. As the film progresses, you realize, "Oh no, these people were fleeing absolute terror. They're incredibly intelligent, they're incredibly forward thinking and ambitious," and all those things that you wouldn't necessarily see at a first glance. So, my hope is that people come away from watching the movie and going, "Wow. When I think about the immigration issue and concept, I think of it as a very black and white issue, and now I'm being faced with all sorts of gradations of gray and complexity that I never would've thought about."

MF: As an actor, is it nice being in a project that is entertaining but also has an important mention about the world we live in?

NW: It's especially gratifying when it's a bit of a Trojan horse where you don't really see it coming. You bought a ticket for one movie, and you get a little bit extra, and it doesn't feel polemical or like a diatribe. There's no real political message that's being shoved down your throat. It's very presentational, but you come away with a little bit of an education you didn't get before because you thought you were just going to be seeing a thriller.

Noah Wyle, Vanessa Benavente, Ezekiel Pacheco, Sadie Stanley and Miranda Otto on the set of 'At The Gates,' written, directed, and produced by Augustus Meleo Bernstein.

(L to R) Noah Wyle, Vanessa Benavente, Ezekiel Pacheco, Sadie Stanley and Miranda Otto on the set of 'At The Gates,' written, directed, and produced by Augustus Meleo Bernstein. Copyright: Beacon Pictures 2022.

MF: Because all the characters are forced to live under one roof during the movie, there is a feeling of claustrophobia that sets in. Since you were shooting on primarily one set, did that sense of claustrophobia become real for you as an actor?

NW: Totally. Well, this film was made for under a million dollars, which you don't really want to call attention to because the film stands alone without having to bear in mind that it was made from very little money. But I do think it's important to recognize that this was out of necessity. It found its style and its tone. I remember seeing ‘La La Land’ and thinking, "I don't like it very much." Then I found out what it was made for, and I had to grade it on a whole other criterion because if it had been made for a hundred million dollars, it's not a great Hollywood musical, but knowing what it was made for, it's an incredibly impressive piece of work. Similarly, here where there's a lot of stuff on the screen in this movie that is cool, and it's even cooler to know how it was made by very young people with very little money who just had a clear idea of what they wanted to accomplish. To answer your question about the house, yes, it's very claustrophobic because we couldn't get any of the rooms that we were shooting in dirty. So, we all had to wear booties on our feet, and we couldn't go in certain places because the house was a character and the house needed to be always in pristine shape. So, you always felt like you were limited to a chair that you were sitting in when you weren't working, and then you were limited to your play space when you were working and then back to your chair when you weren't working. So, it did feel very claustrophobic.

Noah Wyle in director Rob Reiner's 'A Few Good Men.' Photo: Columbia Pictures.

MF: Finally, last year marked the 30th anniversary of ‘A Few Good Men,’ which was one of your first feature films. What are your memories of working on that movie and being a part of that film’s legacy?

NW: Only positive. I've become good friends subsequently with Kevin Pollak, and we did remark with each other that it's been 30 years since we played those courtroom scenes, and that movie still holds up great. So, a friend of mine watched it on an airplane recently and said they still enjoyed it all the way through. That was one of the great jobs for me because I was such a relative newcomer on a very impressive cast list. I was driving the Jeep with Tom Cruise, Demi Moore and Kevin Pollak, and there's Kevin Bacon and Jack Nicholson. I mean, everybody's in that movie. I just wanted to come in and not make anybody notice that I was there. I just wanted to come in, do my job, and have them just be part of the fabric. It was good. I was happy on that one.

MF: Were you ever on set at the same time as Jack Nicholson? Do you have a good Nicholson story?

NW: The only time I was ever on set with Jack Nicholson, he walked past me, and I don't think he would mind me sharing this anecdote. All I ever heard him say out loud was, "Anybody mind if I have a left-handed cigarette?" He then lit up a joint right there on the soundstage. This is in 1992, back when you weren't allowed to smoke joints anywhere in California, let alone on a soundstage. I remember just going like, "Oh, you can do that?"

Jack Nicholson in director Rob Reiner's 'A Few Good Men.' Photo: Columbia Pictures.

At the Gates

"Where do you go when no place is safe"

R1 hr 37 minNov 3rd, 2023

Showtimes & Tickets

Watch At the Gates Online

What is the plot of ‘At the Gates’?

Ana (Vanessa Benavente), a housekeeper from El Salvador, brings her teenage son Nico (Ezekiel Pacheco) to help her clean an affluent family's Los Angeles home. But after being told by her employers, Marianne (Miranda Otto) and Peter Barris (Noah Wyle), that immigration officers are searching for her, she accepts the invitation to shelter in their house until the crisis blows over. As days go by and the interactions between the two families become increasingly tense, Nico begins to question their hosts' true intentions.

Who is in the cast of ‘At the Gates’?

Ezekiel Pacheco ('Grey's Anatomy') as Nico Ibarra
Vanessa Benavente ('The Chosen') as Ana Ibarra
Miranda Otto ('War of the Worlds') as Marianne Barris
Noah Wyle ('Donnie Darko') as Peter Barris
Sadie Stanley ('Somewhere in Queens') as Lauren Barris
Jack Eyman ('Asteroid City') as Oliver Barris

(L to R) Noah Wyle, Sadie Stanley and Jake Eyman in a scene from 'At The Gates,' written, directed, and produced by Augustus Meleo Bernstein. Copyright: Beacon Pictures 2022.