Jesse Armstrong, the man whose pen brought alive Succession over four smash-hit seasons, makes his feature film directorial debut with Mountainhead. In it, four billionaire friends get together on holiday, but soon find their questionable equations unravel even as an international crisis rolls out in the backdrop.

Mountainhead, that streams on JioHotstar from May 31, stars an A-list cast of Steve Carrell, Jason Schwartzman, Cory Michael Smith and Ramy Youssef. Recently, t2 had the opportunity to virtually chat with Cory Michael Smith and Ramy Youssef about their film. Excerpts.

Mountainhead is such a telling tale of the times we live in. How did you react when you were first told about this story?

Ramy Youssef: The moment I heard the name ‘Jesse Armstrong’, I got into it. I knew that a script written by him would be something that would talk about something. It was not going to be one that was going to make people suddenly start loving billionaires or something.... I knew he was going to get under it and open up a different door to a conversation that we are all trying to have. That felt really exciting to do with this team. And then I heard that Steve (Carrell), Jason (Schwartzman) and Cory (Michael Smith) were on it and I was really excited.
Cory Michael Smith: There wasn’t a script available when I was brought on to this, so it (the reason to sign on) was Jesse. Succession is one of my all-time favourite series and Jesse is an astonishing writer of both story and dialogue. Tonally, the way that he can make you laugh and make people seem despicable and then make you love them and feel terrible for them.... he is a master at his craft and to work with him was a dream. And then when I read the script, I was like: ‘Oh, this is going to be nasty!’

What surprised you the most about your respective characters?

Cory: That he (Venis) is so rich, richer than everybody. That is an utterly insane position to be in and I was fascinated by the despicable behaviour that is seemingly allowed because of that, publicly and privately. That is terrifying, but as an actor, delicious to play.
Ramy: I was very excited to play something different from the roles that I have got to play so far. I am always looking for the chance to tap into a different energy. And this dude (Jeff), when I read him I was like: ‘Okay, he is an a**hole for sure, but he is also really conflicted and troubled.’ But we don’t know if he is actually going to listen to his conscience... I liked that wrestling match... it felt like a cool thing to do in this kind of a world.

What went into understanding the psychology of these men who are super rich and are driven by their wealth as a form of power?

Cory: That is the great thing about a really good script.. if you give into it, you find most of the answers there. For me, a lot of it was not about playing it like he is wealthy... it was about playing it from this ambition and this hunger that I think a lot of wealthy people have... they don’t really check in with the fact all the time that they are wealthy. Obviously these characters flaunt their net worth, but to me, that is almost an insecurity because I don’t think that any money is enough for them. They are driven by a hole in them that they will never be able to fill... and so, somehow, there is a lack, even in the abundance. That is what I focused on in building the character.

You always think that there is a brand of confidence that comes in with wealth and attractiveness. I am fascinated about observing how those things exercise themselves in real life. Being in New York, you see a lot of both, and as someone who grew up with not much money, I have always been fascinated about living in this city and being exposed to it.
Ramy: (to Cory) So you just grew up with the ‘attractive’ bucket? I have seen young Cory... he was not great! (Laughs)

You shot Mountainhead in a very isolated region of Utah. How did being in that environment help you get into the mindset of your characters?

Cory: I love being in a place that is a bit quiet or isolated when filming because you really do just focus on the work. As a cast, that kind of environment helped us to get to know each other. The isolation helped the reality of these four ‘man babies’ who have to be in an environment where they are just with their emotions and they can sit and talk about their net worth or their technology as much as they want. But, at the end of the day, they are just four dudes who have no idea how to deal with the way they feel. I think that is why the film gets into so much chaos. The isolation was really great for me.
Ramy: When you can go off somewhere and fall into a project for a period of time, it is a satisfying way to work. For me, specifically working with this group and having this small chamber cast was really ideal.

What was the experience like of being directed by Jesse Armstrong in his debut? What kind of expectations did you go in with, especially with the Succession tag attached to him?

Cory: He was so great at it. He surrounds himself with people he has been working with for a long time. There was a whole brain trust that supported him and his creative endeavour. Jesse’s instincts were always so clear, his ability to communicate what he wanted and needed was very clear. He is always the most brilliant person in any room, and that is a lovely quality to have in a director.
Ramy: Yes, there was a lot of trust. We always trusted what he was doing. You always want a director who knows how to make sure that everything in the script is also happening on camera when we film it. In this film, we always felt that way.

The film plays with dread and absurdity. How much of that tension did you find funny while filming and how much felt too real?

Ramy: You just appreciate the cadence and the specificity of the writing. So it does feel funny between takes or whatever. But a lot of the work involved us looking at footage of things happening in the world and looking at news headlines that don’t feel too far off from the real news headlines.
That was pretty dreadful, and also familiar to the real-world tension that I feel every day, seeing headlines that are absolutely devastating... and then walking around a society that is not always so directly dealing with the headlines. We all feel that cognitive dissonance in our lives and this project put that dissonance on display.
Cory: We are living at a time where there is constant exposure to people in power. There are cameras constantly on them. They are often in public speaking, maybe more than they should be. And it is incredibly revealing how inept so many powerful people are. And when dealing with tools that are as powerful as AI, it can be alarming. So living in an environment where we are portraying these people who have an extraordinary amount of power and are behaving this way is disturbing. And the humour cuts into that.

You churned out this film in a month, which is incredible, and that must have been, as you said, because of the camaraderie you shared on set. As collaborators, is it is always necessary for you to hit it off with the people you work with or is that disposable and perhaps only a nice bonus to have?

Cory: I don’t think it is a necessity but it certainly is nice. Especially in the environment of this film where these guys are playing out questionable friendships. It was nice to spend so much time together — just the four of us — every day. We had this immediate chemistry and ability to feel like there was history and just an aliveness between all of us. That grew richer day by day and week by week.

Any quirky or fun behind-the-scenes stories to share?

Cory: One of my favourite days that we spent together was going up Snowbird mountain. It is there even in the trailer, where you see the four guys scaling the mountain, baring our chests and writing our net worth (that of their characters) on our chests. When we were on the mountain, there was a pretty hellish wind that was blowing snow into our faces and down into our snow suits, which was pretty brutal.

Towards the end of the day, they needed these long shots of us celebrating at the top of the mountain. But there was so much snow drift being blown into our faces and we were all screaming for our lives because it was really painful. And because Rami and Steve had these beards, they looked like these icy snowmen! Rami, maybe, had the hardest time.