‘Opus’ director on casting Ayo Edebiri as a foil to John Malkovich: ‘She could do anything. She could play Thor.’

Opus tells the story of Ariel Ecton, a budding writer played by Ayo Edebiri who’s one of a handful of journalists selected to visit the compound of an enigmatic pop star (John Malkovich) to celebrate his return to music after a 30-year disappearance.

Malkovich’s character, Alfred Moretti, isn’t a direct parody of any pop star — he’s like Madonna meets David Bowie meets Willy Wonka. His devoted followers live with him on a compound, and the longer Ariel spends with him, the more the fandom begins to feel like a cult.

Mark Anthony Green, a former style columnist for GQ, wrote and directed the film. His work at the magazine bred a fascination with celebrity tribalism and the ways people obsess over their favorite musicians and actors, which he drew upon when making Opus.

Green spoke with Yahoo Entertainment after the film’s premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January. Opus opens in theaters on March 14.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Where did this idea come from, and how did you come to believe that this idea was a movie?

I like the way you phrased that, because there’s a thing I want to say about the world — I wanted us to interrogate this pandemic of tribalism that is in every country and all over the world and in every facet, not just entertainment. There were a bunch of different worlds that I wanted to explore visually. I just started writing, and six years later, I’m here talking with Kelsey.

Pop-star horror is popular right now, which is, of course, a result of what we value as a culture. But this movie is so different from recent releases like Smile 2 and Trap, because instead of being about the terror of being a pop star, it’s about the terror of being obsessed with a pop star. Is there a reason you chose the other perspective?

It’s funny — as a filmmaker, you’re supposed to say, “Oh, I don’t want to be talked about in the context of other films.” But I love Smile 2! That opening sequence is sick. The cool thing about art is that you can have a similar thesis statement as other artists, because as artists, we’re just sitting in our little caves and observing the world. Then we artistically render something and show it to people. I feel weirdly honored when people are like, “You’re doing something this other movie did, but you did it differently.” I love Blink Twice and Midsommar [and other films Opus has been compared to] because they’re all so different, but the similarities are speaking to each other.

Fictional pop star Alfred Moretti, played by John Malkovich, performs for a group of journalists in Opus. (Anna Kooris/A24/Courtesy Everett Collection)

You’ve got one of the biggest movie stars in the world, John Malkovich, in your film playing this eccentric pop star. How did you know he was the right fit?

I didn’t know at first, but I believed in him. Through us crafting the character and working together, we met a bunch. I was emailing him at all hours of the night because he’s never just sitting somewhere. He’s never just in Los Angeles waiting on an email. He’s in Austria doing a play. He’s just off being John Malkovich, but he’s fearless. One of the things I demanded was that the first thing he had to do was record the songs. I wanted him in there being Moretti. He had to sing them, and they had to be great. We had Nile Rodgers and The-Dream — you could make an objective argument that those are two of the best songwriters in the history of humanity. The facts are there, which is insane. [Malkovich] needed to bring a certain gravitas and presence to star and to work with them to justify all that talent being in the room. And he did — it felt like, “Holy shit, we’re in the room with Moretti!” I’m 36 and hopefully I have a lot of life left to live, but ... working with him as closely and intimately as we did has been one of the honors of my life.

How did you know Ayo Edebiri had to be your star?

First of all, if you can put Ayo Edebri in a film, you put Ayo Edebri in a film. I think she could do anything. She could play Thor. I would watch that! No disrespect to Chris Hemsworth, but if they’re ever redoing Thor, I’m all in on Ayo. She’s one of the greats. When you look at how long her career is going to be, you know this is just the beginning, which is so exciting. I think she has such great instincts. She has this massive capacity to be in the moment, and I think as a fan and a human who loves film, getting to watch her is one of the best things we’ve got going.

Another star of the film, in my opinion, is Level, the cult that Ayo’s character uncovers. How’d you come up with it?

I did a ton of research! That gets kind of weird, because you realize some of these religions have bad practices, which Level does too, but some of them have good principles! With some, you can just feel the manipulation. Then some have very popular, common beliefs. Research was probably my least favorite part of this whole process, but it was really necessary. I wrote this 300-page bible, The Meditations of Level, and when I had done that I had to put it down for a few weeks then go back and read it. I felt like I knew what the religion was about — the pros, the cons, the way it could be exploited, the way it started and the good in it. That’s what it’s like developing a character — you want to have a well that you can pull from so when you’re asked what something looks like, you have an answer. I guess the best way to approach a film is to do as much psycho work on the front end as possible so those decisions come very quickly when you’re in production.

Would you ever release that book and just not tell anyone that it’s part of the movie?

I would feel so bad if something bad happened!

Opus opens in theaters on March 14.