Actor Dermot Mulroney says he’s learned two things about film: Rom-coms and Westerns have long shelf lives.
Mulroney should know, having starred in “The Wedding Date,” “My Best Friend’s Wedding” and “Young Guns.”
Now he’s starring in the Western “Long Shadows,” which premieres at the Arizona International Film Festival this weekend in Tucson.
The event, which runs through April 13, features a “Long Shadows” panel discussion at 3 p.m. Saturday, April 5, via Zoom and Facebook; and the premiere at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 6, at the Fox Tucson Theatre.
Shot entirely at Old Tucson Studios over 20 days, “Long Shadows” is set in the 1880s American West during turbulence brought on by turn-of-the-century revolutionary innovations. A young man, the survivor of a horrific tragedy as a child, must choose between vengeance and the love of a young woman.
Mulroney plays Dallas Garrett, a former outlaw gunslinger with the wisdom of regret, who mentors a young man trying to find his way in the world.
“I play this old, out-of-the-game gunslinger who’s trying to spread his knowledge and trying not to be pulled back into it,” Mulroney said. “That’s just part of the storylines.”
William Shockley (best known for his role in “Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman”) makes his directorial debut in the film, which also stars Jacqueline Bisset (“Bullitt”) and Dominic Monaghan (“The Lord of the Rings,” “Lost”).
“We have a bunch of actors coming in — pretty much all of the producers, executive producers, a lot of the crew,” Shockley said about the premiere. Mulroney cannot attend. “It’ll be a great reunion.”
Shockley has been traveling to Tucson for 15 years, filming movies like “Ambush at Dark Canyon” and “Hot Bath an’ a Stiff Drink,” and Randy Houser’s music videos.
“I knew the location. I knew the gorgeous sets, the interiors that we could build out. I knew the surrounding area, like Gates Pass, which is in the movie,” said Shockley, who praised the city of Tucson and Visit Tucson.
“There’s a great crew base in Tucson, so you don’t have to drag people in. You drag in your actors, but the crew is there, so that makes it easy.”
“Long Shadows” was a team effort, with Shockley, actor/writer Grainger Hines and actor/writer Shelley Reid collaborating on “Long Shadows.”
“When Grainger calls, I pick up — and I’m attentive,” Shockley said with a laugh.
“I did a film with Grainger 13 years ago. He’s a brilliant actor. Anyway, he sent me the script, and I read it immediately. About 90 minutes later, I called him back and said, ‘This is incredible.’”
Reid wrote the first draft, then Hines, and Shockley tweaked and revised the script.
Shockley’s partners at Tiki Tāne Pictures — Allen Gilmer, Riki Rushing and Tom Brady — agreed on the film’s viability.
“One day, Allen said, ‘Let’s make this, so we all went to Tucson,’” he recalled. “We scouted and we were off to the races.”
Shockley described his vision for the movie, a departure from the “typical” Western.
“I didn’t want it to be a ‘dirt’ Western,” he said. “I wanted to be sumptuous and gorgeous and layered and textured in the costume and production design worlds.
“I wanted the score to feel like a big studio movie, an orchestral-type score; not with banjos and guitars. My inspiration, cinematically, was ‘Jane Eyre’ with Michael Fassbender. It’s one of my favorite movies. We studied a lot of those types of British dramas to figure out the beauty to bring into the movie.”
Shockley said the cast was notable, too.
“Dermot Mulroney is an iconic, fabulous American actor, beloved by the American audience and probably internationally,” he said.
“Then Jacqueline Bisset is an iconic film star beloved by those who have seen her brilliant films. Then Dominic Monaghan was such a cool choice. He’s such a great actor.”
Zooming from the set of “Chicago Fire,” Mulroney said he was thrilled to revisit the Western genre.
“My favorite way of shooting is on horseback,” he said.
“I really got good on the set of ‘Young Guns,’ but I was riding my whole life. My father grew up in Iowa, and we used to go every summer to my (family’s) farm in Iowa. We would round up the cows every afternoon. It was our favorite thing. I trained with Kiefer Sutherland and Casey Siemaszko (of ‘Young Guns’) in Los Angeles before we went to Santa Fe. We call came up to the task on that one.”
Mulroney said “Young Guns” — a 1988 film that also starred Emilio Estevez, Lou Diamond Phillips and Charlie Sheen — was a turning point for Westerns.
“‘Young Guns’ was such a cultural mash-up to what they called ‘Brat Packers’ into a classic movie form,” Mulroney said.
“They made so much fun of us. They were saying, ‘A ‘Pretty Boy Western’ is coming out soon.’ And guess what happened? When ‘Young Guns’ came out, they immediately shut the ‘F’ up. There was no arguing with the fact that Christopher Cain made a real, authentic Great Western and we’re all so super proud of it.”
Mulroney is also proud of other pieces in his cinematic past.
“I’m just impressed how that movie (‘My Best Friend’s Wedding’)—and I have to put ‘The Wedding Date’ in there, too — grow on the vine.
“‘My Best Friend’s Wedding,’ I’ve probably spoken about it every day for 30 years. I would argue that Westerns and rom-coms are the most impactful and have the longest shelf life, for sure.”
The Arizona International Film Festival
runs through April 13, at various locations around Tucson. A “Long Shadows” panel discussion is set for 3 p.m. Saturday, April 5, via Zoom and Facebook; and the premiere at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 6, at the Fox Tucson Theatre. For more information, visit filmfestivalarizona.com or tikitane.com.
