Don't Look Up star Mark Rylance, who played tech billionaire Peter Isherwell in the movie, talks about how the character compares to Elon Musk.
Mark Rylance compares his Don't Look Up character Peter Isherwell to Elon Musk. The 2021 Netflix film by Adam McKay chronicles two scientists' attempt to convince humanity an Earth-destroying comet is on the way. Don't Look Up boasts an impressive ensemble cast including Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, and Meryl Streep. Rylance's Peter is a tech billionaire who winds up playing a major role in the outcome of the movie.
With his company, BASH Cellular, Peter convinces Streep's president Janie Orlean to mine the comet for valuable rare-earth elements. Ultimately, BASH's attempt to break up the comet and save Earth fails. The bulk of the film's characters die after sharing one last meal together. However, Peter, Janie, and select others board a spaceship to safety before the world is destroyed. In one of Don't Look Up's memorable credits scenes, those on the sleeper vehicle wake up thousands of years later to find they've arrived on a new planet. However, Janie is almost immediately killed by a mysterious creature, in a reference to Peter's earlier prediction that a Bronteroc would be involved in her death.
In an interview with The New York Times, Rylance references "implosive" and "explosive" characters. He also comments on where Don't Look Up's Peter falls by mentioning Musk:
I suppose the role in “Don’t Look Up” could have been either of those things. He might have been a much more expressive character like Elon Musk. But in the conversations with Adam, we were interested in his inability to communicate. There’s some kind of barrier between that kind of person and a true, intimate, satisfying connection with other human beings — or plants, animals, anything on the planet. He just didn’t know how to do that.
It's not too surprising to hear Rylance mention Musk when discussing Peter. Since the movie's release, the Don't Look Up character has been compared to several real-life tech moguls, including Musk, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg. However, Rylance doesn't seem to channel one over the others with his performance. Instead, he creates a unique character completely unconcerned even as the world is poised for destruction. It's a decision that works well, with Peter's eerie calm making Don't Look Up's final moments more impactful.
As Rylance mentions, Peter's inability to communicate is a big part of his characterization and behavior in the film. He comes across as robotic at times, far more at home with machines and technology than with people. This is shown most plainly when he's unable to reassure the other Don't Look Up characters as the comet approaches. In fact, he appears to have no real interest in comforting them, which highlights the lack of connection with other people that Rylance references in his comments. All told, Peter is one of Don't Look Up's more interesting characters, and comparisons to real-life figures like Musk are inevitable.
More: Don't Look Up True Story: Why It's Not Just About Climate Panic
Source: The New York Times
