Shamier Anderson Didn’t Speak To Co-Star Trevante Rhodes At All While Filming ‘Bruiser’: ‘I Still Don’t Really Know Who The Guy Is’

etcanada.com:

Shamier Anderson is known for going to inordinate lengths to prepare for his movie roles, from embedding himself in street gangs to sleeping in the desert. “My preparation process is always rooted in anxiety and not wanting to f**k it up,” the Scarborough-born actor tells ET Canada. “It’s like studying for an exam, you know what I mean?” For his new family drama “Bruiser”, he did everything he could to get into the mindset of his character Malcolm, a car-salesman stepdad caught in a complicated relationship with his 14-year-old son Darious, played by Jalyn Hall, and his biological father Porter, played by Trevante Rhodes. READ MORE: The Next Generation Of Black Canadian Talent Celebrated At The First-Ever Legacy Awards “I went to a car dealership every day and sold cars as Malcolm, as a car salesman,” Anderson shares. “I shaved my head bald because stress [causes] hair loss.

I felt like Malcolm probably lost a lot of hair because he’s always stressed.” What’s more, Anderson didn’t speak a word to co-star Rhodes during the filming process.

Save for some ornery lines when they had scenes together, they didn’t speak on set, during breaks or even after shoots. Since his character was meant to be at odds with Rhodes’, Anderson felt the best way to make the tension feel authentic was for there to be, well, actual tension between them. “I actually didn’t speak to Trevante Rhodes, who played Porter,” Anderson shares. “I didn’t talk to him on set, I didn’t talk to him off set, I didn’t get to know him.

We met quickly at a rehearsal but I didn’t really want to rehearse. “It’s not necessarily because I wanted to be defiant but more so so I could keep the tension alive.