Boyd Holbrook on Crafting his Roles for The Sandman and Vengeance

We were joined by Boyd Holbrook in a new Q&A about his role as the Corinthian in Netflix’s The Sandman & Focus Features’ Vengeance directed by BJ Novak. Speaking about the Corinthian and the universe of The Sandman, Boyd mentioned how time influenced his character’s sophistication, intellect, and speech, and how he had a built in humor from having lived so long. He credits the clever writing to how his character creates a sense of urgency in the story but also emphasized how his character’s signature glasses had a big impact in how he was perceived. To him, it was like wearing a mask but it allowed his acting to flow during rehearsals and wearing it became second nature by the time they started shooting.

Boyd credits his acting coach with helping to bring perspective & something he’s never thought of to all his projects. He records his sessions with Terry Knickerbocker and listens to them on his earphones, with Terry acting as a library of plays, projects, and other actors to draw from, both as a friend and mentor.

In comparing his performance in Vengeance to the Sandman, while both characters needed to exude a certain kind of charm, it was a relief for Boyd to switch to playing such a big hearted person. For Vengeance, Boyd also worked with a voice coach as a sounding board. While he acknowledges that he has to own the final performance, Boyd said it was also essential to be supported and get fantastic notes. These were the fundamentals that he can go back on again and again. While shooting the film, he found that a West Texas accent didn’t lend itself to comedy and talks about his journey of learning how some things will “fail out” during the process. Working with BJ, he needed to differentiate being aware that something is supposed to be funny on the page from finding what’s genuine in the scene.

Watch the full conversation below.

Q&A with actor Boyd Holbrook on his roles in The Sandman and Vengeance. Moderated by Mara Webster, In Creative Company.

The Sandman - Upon escaping after decades of imprisonment by a mortal wizard, Dream, the personification of dreams, sets about to reclaim his lost equipment.

Vengeance - A writer from New York City attempts to solve the murder of a girl he hooked up with and travels down south to investigate the circumstances of her death and discover what happened to her.