While some that work in the entertainment industry stay in certain lanes,Fisher Stevenshas spent his career driving down a different path. Whether it be acting, directing, producing, making documentaries, or even his stage work, Stevens has spent the past four decades jumping from project to project without missing a beat. With his newest project, the moviePalmer, now streaming on AppleTV+, I recently landed an extended interview with Stevens.
If you haven’tseen the trailers, the film starsJustin Timberlakeas Eddie Palmer, a former high-school football star and ex-convict who finds himself living with the grandmother (June Squibb) who raised him while haunted by his past glory days in high school. While attempting to rebuild his life, his grandmother’s neighbor (Juno Temple)goes on an prolonged bender which causes Palmer to help out with her gender non-conforming son Sam (Ryder Allen). As time passes, Palmer is drawn into Sam’s world and an inspiring and unexpected journey unfolds.
During the wide-ranging interview, Stevens talked about the challenges of makingPalmer, how and when he found out Timberlake would be in the movie, how he knew that Ryder Allen was the one to play Sam, how he wanted to take what he learned making docs and put it into his fictional work, how it’s a story of hope and people that come together, and more. In addition, he talked about producingTiger Kingand how that project happened, how he ended up making documentaries, the way he got cast inSuccessionand how filming has been going on Season 3, how he’s currently filming a doc on The Lincoln Project, and so much more.
Check out what he had to say in the player above and below is the list of everything we talked about followed by the official synopsis forPalmer.
Fisher Stevens:
Here’s the official synopsis forPalmer:
Former high-school football star Eddie Palmer (Justin Timberlake) went from hometown hero to convicted felon, earning himself twelve years in a state penitentiary. He returns home to Louisiana, where he moves back in with Vivian (June Squibb), the grandmother who raised him. While trying to keep his head down and rebuild a quiet life for himself, Palmer is haunted by memories of his glory days and the suspicious eyes of his small town community. Things become more complicated when Vivian’s hard-living neighbor Shelly (Juno Temple) disappears on a prolonged bender, leaving her precocious and unique 7-year-old son Sam (Ryder Allen), often the target of bullying, in Palmer’s reluctant care. In time, Palmer is drawn into a more hopeful world as he forges a connection with Sam through their shared experience of being made to feel different by those around them. Life improves for Palmer, and a romance develops between him and Sam’s teacher Maggie (Alisha Wainwright). An inspiring and unexpected journey unfolds for the three of them, but soon Palmer’s past threatens to tear apart this new life.
