Actor Nicholas Braun knew from the moment he received the script for the unique mystery-comedy The Sheep Detectives (in theatres everywhere this weekend), he would never get another chance like this again.
The Sheep Detectives a fantastic family friendly film, a mainstream comedy, and an in-depth, detail oriented murder mystery all rolled into one. Based on the novel Three Bags Full from German novelist Leonie Swann, The Sheep Detectives takes viewers of all ages to the sleepy hamlet of Denbrook, a place where not much ever happens save for a modest cultural heritage celebration (with a lot of pride shown for Return to Oz, which was filmed nearby) and life moves at a slower pace. The sleepy town is rocked by the murder of shepherd George Hardy (played by Hugh Jackman), and despite him being a gruff personality with a handful of enemies around town, no one knows why anyone would want him dead. Could it be the jealous innkeeper (Hong Chau), the rival shepherd next door (Tosin Cole), the town butcher (Conleth Hill), the recently returned and never-before-mentioned estranged daughter (Molly Gordon), or maybe even a suspicious priest (Kobna Holdbrook-Smith)?
That’s where Braun, most widely known for his role as Cousin Greg on the hit series Succession, comes in. He plays Officer Tim Derry, the overworked and solitary cop keeping the quiet streets of Denbrook safe. While he gets some support from a keen, rookie journalist from out of town (Nicholas Galitzine), most of the clues and hints Tim finds come courtesy of George Hardy’s former flock.
The sheep, who converse with each other when humans aren’t around, were read detective novels and mystery stories by George every night before bedtime. Led by the strong willed and intelligent Lily (voiced by Julia Louis-Dreyfus), tough talking loner ram Sebastian (Bryan Cranston), and Mopple (Chris O’Dowd), a soulful sheep with a memory like a steel trap, they band together to help Tim bring the culprit to justice.
“I didn’t know the book ahead of time, and I have 100% never read a script like this,” Braun said while on a recent trip to Toronto to promote the unique film. “The concept was so amazing. And you read it and just wonder, ‘how’s this going to work? What’s the tone? What’s the genre?,’ but somehow it’s fine. You’re dealing with murder and someone dying in a kids movie, and somehow it’s still fine. It’s a it’s a mystery, but it’s also dealing with these sort of deeper themes. And there’s also funny, zany kind of moments too, and somehow it all fits in. And so it’s pretty, pretty impressive. When I was reading it, I was like, ‘I’ll never be setting anything like this again in my life, and I really need to do this.’”
“And I haven’t really done a family film like this in a while. I mean, maybe since Sky High and my early Disney stuff, so it was also nice to get back to this. But this the kind of thing where it’s like, unless there’s a sequel, I’m not gonna get this exact chance again to do this. It’s the best, because you think of things like Toy Story, where these things we don’t think are talking to each other actually have inner lives, or a movies like Zootopia, but there’s something about this being the live action mix that I don’t think we’ve seen in a while. So yeah, it feels really special to be a part of.”
Making a film that has such an odd hook and a broad sort of audience appeal required everyone involved with The Sheep Detectives to band together under a unified tone, something Braun says director Kyle Balda was able to achieve well through production design and visual sensibilities.
“I think it was a fine line,” Braun says describing the film’s tone. “I mean, the look of the film, the costumes, the production design, set dressing, and everything else, is colourful and kind of over the top. It’s definitely not present day feeling. It’s like a timeless feeling, almost fantastical thing other than one scene where a lot of the characters have to gather around a phone for a conference call, and that’s the most obviously contemporary thing. But otherwise, it takes place in the countryside and there’s something just so colourful and kind of storybook like that.”
“Going in, I feel like we knew the look and feel of the movie. And, you know, there’s talking sheep, and you know that part of the movie is going to be silly over the top. Unreal, completely unreal, obviously. So then we know how we’re going to look in comparison. I’m gonna wear this kind of goofy police outfit, and everyone’s gonna look a little bit over the top. Emma Thompson’s outfit in particular is, so, so over the top. But if we can make the performances and what we’re dealing with dramatic and grounded and real, and make sure everything in the story really matters, then we can make the murder mystery and all of it work. So it felt like like we let the look of it and the production design of it lead in that respect, and then we just made sure we, as actors, didn’t go too big with the comedy. I don’t think any of us wanted to go over the top because it was up to us to keep the film grounded somewhat, right? Everyone felt like we were in the same movie and we all knew what was going to work for this story and these settings. Like, you can get away with a funny expression or something, but you don’t have to go crazy because the premise is over the top as it is. You don’t have to go much further. And all the actors are really good, and nobody was trying to do too much, or go with like a crazy accent or something. So I think we found we struck the right balance.”
During many interviews, the character of Tim has been described as bumbling and inept, but a closer reading of The Sheep Detectives shows something else: someone who’s trying to do good things as the only major law enforcement authority in a town that has been rocked by a scandal. Tim isn’t so much bumbling as he is overwhelmed. And when I bring this up to Braun, he wholeheartedly agrees with that assessment.
“Yeah, I don’t love that either,” he says when asked about how people have perceived the character so far. “I don’t love bumbling characters, really. I think you’re right. He’s overwhelmed. He’s underestimated, not respected. No one really believes in him. I think it was important to for my arc to begin with that feeling, and then over the course of the movie, with the help of these sheep, he starts to feel more in control and authoritative. He gains that confidence, gains their respect. But I agree, and I think he is a good cop. I think he wants to do the job well. I think he comes from a family of police officers, and he has this legacy to live up to. He lives maybe in the shadow of of those people. I felt like he has to realize that Tim isn’t like his dad, and play into that kind of energy. And so he comes out of his shell over the course of the movie, and I think really takes on the role. But you know, and not to get political or anything, but I think anyone who signs up to be a police officer, probably wants to do something good and right. At least that’s the way it starts. They want to uphold the law, help the community, and I think that’s Tim. He means well, but it’s tough to do, especially when you don’t have much help around you to do that job. It’s tough to do a good job when you think nobody cares about you and nobody respects you.”
One of the best parts of taking on the role of lead human detective in The Sheep Detectives was the ability to take part in the kind of scenes that actors dream of: getting the honour of delivering the big climactic speech where the killer is unmasked in front of all the potential suspects. It’s a scene that’s always satisfying for audiences, but the kind of grand showmanship that actors revel in.
“It is the biggest gift for an actor,” Braun says about his big scene. “When I was reading it, I was so excited that he gets to be the one to do that, and just the way it was written and laid out. And it’s also exactly where you hope his arc goes, and he’s there with the sheep by his side, sort of giving him like the thumbs up, the encouragement, it’s a beautiful moment. It’s also written so well, because I didn’t know until I read it who the real killer was, and so I thought it was, I thought it was done so well.”
“And I was looking forward to that day to shoot it. It actually took two days. I think it was like 15 pages of dialogue, and it’s one of those scenes where – by design – everyone in the cast has to be there for the reveal. But, you know, the other actors were so giving. Most of them don’t have a line and they’re just there to react, or they have a couple of quick things to say, but, you have people like Emma Thompson, Hong Chau, and everyone else who was there, giving me their performance on the other side of the camera for two days straight. And those are the moments on a set where you definitely get that team player sort of vibe from everyone. It was one of my favourite scenes to ever shoot.”
The Sheep Detectives is now playing in theatres everywhere.
