Director Drake Doremus Talks Equals and Rom Coms

Director Drake Doremus recently sat down for an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in anticipation of the release of his film Equals, starring Kristen Stewart and Nicholas Hoult. Here's what he had to say:

What was the inspiration for Equals?

I had this basic concept: As we evolve away from human contact through social media and online dating, is love necessary for human being to function and progress as a race?

How did you go about casting the film?

I kidnapped them and forced them to do the movie. They are actually not onscreen under their own will. [Laughs] I had actually met Nick through mutual friends and immediately wanted to find something for him. You know, you meet actors through generals and you never end up doing anything together and Nick was the first exception to this. When we started to build the character of Silas, I told [screenwriter] Nathan [Parker] that he was this guy. We wrote the part for him.

Equals and Yorgos Lanthimos' The Lobster, which are both in theaters now after having made the festival rounds, both center on relationships in oppressive future societies that lack emotion. Why do you think we are seeing films like these now?

I think it is a topic that is of concern for some people, I know it is for me. I can see myself making more films that focus on human beings and how we date and find each other and fall in love and how constant the turnover is, like how you can just move and keep swiping. It's just crazy to think about how quickly it is all changing. Like in five, six years what kind of algorithms will humans have come up with to try and define how you find something.

What are you reading right now?

I am reading a lot of self-help books. No, just kidding. [Laughs] I am always reading love stories.

Are you a fan of rom-coms?

Sometimes, yeah. I love Four Weddings and a Funeral and When Harry Met Sally. I'll watch [When Harry Met Sally] on any plane because it's the perfect amount of — my soul gets filled up but it's also light so I can sit back and relax and eat my loaf of bread on the plane to wherever I am going.