More than 30 years ago, Nick Stahl became a hot ticket in Hollywood. After his breakout role opposite Mel Gibson in 1993’s The Man Without a Face (Gibson’s first as a director), he went on to star in such memorable films as The Thin Red Line and In the Bedroom), HBO’s Carnivàle, and 2003’s Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, playing the adult John Connor in the popular film franchise. Recently, Stahl was seen in TV’s Fear the Walking Dead and Knights of the Zodiac alongside Famke Janssen.
With What You Wish For, Stahl adds another complex role to his already diverse roster. This crafty noir-inspired culinary thriller was written and directed by Nicholas Tomnay (The Perfect Host). Stahl plays Ryan, a chef in flux dealing with gambling problems and plenty of anxiety. When he flees to a Latin American villa to visit his friend, Jack (Brian Groh), he winds up assuming his pal’s identity. Perhaps he’s now in the clear? Not so fast. Jack’s lavish lifestyle comes at a cost and suddenly, Ryan is thrust into his friend’s truly bizarre ways of making a living.
Filled with twists, some dark humor, and loaded with suspense, What You Wish For is sure to engage audiences as much as it surprises them. In this exclusive MovieWeb interview, Nick Stahl and Nicholas Tomnay dive into the heart of the tale and remain tight-lipped about the film’s big reveal. Stahl even opens up about working on Terminator 3, with Mel Gibson, his personal life, and why he had to take a five-year break from Hollywood at one point. Dive into the video or read excerpts from the interview below.
Nick Stahl on Taking on Darker, Complex Roles
What You Wish For (2023)
Mired in gambling debts and miserable in his life, a chef assumes the identity of an old culinary friend who’s a private chef for the wealthy. As the motives of his mysterious clients become clear, he desperately tries to find a way out.
- Release Date
- May 31, 2024
- Director
- Nicholas Tomnay
- Cast
- Nick Stahl , Tamsin Topolski , Penelope Mitchell
- Runtime
- 1h 41m
- Writers
- Nicholas Tomnay
- Studio(s)
- Freestyle Picture Company
- Distributor(s)
- Magnet Releasing
There were a few behind-the-scenes pivots that had to be made in What You Wish For before things got rolling. Apparently, a principal cast member dropped out days before production. Add to that the lack of hot water in a tropical setting and Nick Stahl sharing lodging with a two-foot-long iguana as a roommate, and the biggest wish was for levity. The cast and crew got that in time, and Stahl turns in a revealing performance in Ryan, yet another complex, perhaps darker role. When asked what intrigues him the most about playing complex characters — John Connor, Jason Riley, Ben Hawkins — he said:
“Those are kind of just the roles that come my way, to be honest with you. It’s kind of been like that since I was a kid. When I was younger, there was this teen movie craze from the ’90s… but they didn’t really cast me in those very often. I got the kind of heavier dramas. In the case of this movie, I immediately liked the character. I thought he was really relatable. I could feel Ryan’s struggle right away. I definitely thought I had a lot to bring to the role, to be honest. But it was all there, sort of, on the page when I read it.”
In What You Wish For, Ryan must cook an epic, multi-course, very important dinner for a group of wealthy individuals. Nothing can go wrong. At this point, Ryan realizes how his friend, Jack, sold his soul to maintain his lifestyle. Ryan could bolt, of course. But with a bevy of thugs watching his every move, he could easily be killed. The film also stars Tamsin Topolski, Randy Vasquez, Penelope Mitchell, and Juan Carlos Messier.
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The Unique Connection to Hitchcock in What You Wish For
“I’m a film fan first, before a filmmaker,” Nicholas Tomnay told us in regard to his creative inspirations. “For this film, the major influence was Rope by Alfred Hitchcock. Because you’re fully aware of what’s going on the whole way, and the suspense operates in a way that you’re like, ‘Are they going to get it? Is Jimmy Stewart going to find out what’s going on? So, I was thinking about that film a lot — that style of that film… [it] has a similar kind of feeling maybe… I aspire to that kind of aesthetic.”
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As Ryan preps the grand meal under immense pressure, he’s constantly having to butt up against Tamsin Topolski’s Imogene, the ominous ringleader of the “secret” dinner. It’s a curious cat-and-mouse affair and Stahl is spot on throughout. Tensions rise, of course, and danger and death are close by.
“I hope that [audiences] can enjoy the story and lose themselves in it in a way,” Tomnay said. “I was so awed by [Stahl] in American Dream, and I had this immediate sense that he was the guy… My hope is… that audiences go on a journey with Nick. And there are some ideas in the movie about where we are now, you know, in America and the West. And if you want to look for those, they’re there.”
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Nick Stahl on Taking a Break From Hollywood and Returning
Nick Stahl has spoken openly about past drug and alcohol dependency. “I never had a brake pedal,” he told The Hollywood Reporter back in 2021, referring to a series of events that began when he first consumed alcohol at the age of 13, culminating in the ways he attempted to control his alcohol use in his 20s. He went into rehab in 2007 and after another stint several years later, things kept heading south. Substance abuse mounted and finally, in 2012, Stahl decided to take a break from Hollywood completely.
“I discovered that I didn’t really have a life outside of film, you know, and I’ve been doing it since I was young,” he said of that time period. “It really took up, I would say, a disproportionate amount of my life — my focus, my self-worth, things like that. And so it wasn’t intentional necessarily, but when I stepped away for about five years, I discovered that I needed some other things in my life.”
“I came back to acting because the truth is I really missed it when I wasn’t doing it,” he added. Stahl continued:
“And when I came back, I found that I just had a lot more appreciation for the work.
I think I work harder at it now. I think I enjoy it more
. A lot of that has to do with balance, you know? You’re going to be better at something when you work at it, for the most part. So, that was definitely necessary for me to step away. I just think I have a newfound appreciation for it these days.”
What You Wish For opens in theaters May 31. Watch the trailer below.
