The Hollywood Handle got the opportunity to chat with September 5 stars, John Magaro and Leonie Benesch, who play Geoffrey Mason and Marianne Gebhardt, respectively. We spoke about what goes into playing a non-fictional role compared to a fictional one, John’s small role in Spielberg’s Munich, and how John got hired on the upcoming film, The Bride.
Christopher Mills (THH): You play Geoffrey Mason, who is based on a real person, and he takes control of that ABC control room. And I wanted to ask, what research did you do to prepare yourself for this role?
John Magaro: I had access to the real Geoff Mason, who’s still with us. So we talked a lot, had a lot of phone calls, zoom conversations, just hearing his memories from the day, hearing what he went through, hear his thoughts, and it became clear he mainly was just doing his job. Yeah. He didn’t know, they didn’t know this was uncharted territory for them. They didn’t know what they were getting into course. They were just trying to do the best they could with very limited information and, and an unawareness that they were changing news media forever on that day.
Beyond that, it was getting into control rooms. So I spent about two months shadowing directors and producers of CBS sports, learning how to call a show, learning what it means to be a director and a producer in that situation, and trying to get it to as close as real as possible.
Christopher Mills (THH): And Leonie on the other hand, the character you play, is not based on an exact real person, but there was a translator. There were translators present. So how did you prepare for this role compared to, you know, say John, who played someone that did exist?
Leonie Benesch: Well, so John did a lot of real work, whereas I barely did anything. I spoke with translators. Well, a translator in Berlin to gain an understanding of what that profession means, how she goes about it. I had loads of questions and then I actually just went down a rabbit hole of research on what happened that day and all the impact it had because I didn’t know a lot of it, but yeah, I didn’t go to control room.
Christopher Mills (THH): There’s a line that your character says at the start of the film where she says that she’s not her parent. Yeah. How do you think that line kind of like sets this ripple effect throughout the film for how everyone acts towards the situation?
Leonie Benesch: Well, I think Marianne, I think it’s a very clever feat for Tim and Moritz to put her in there as sort of the face of maybe the, you know, the spirit under which these Olympics were held by Germany, because it does, she does represent a particular kind of generation that wanted to acknowledge what happened and still move past it. I think it’s fascinating that these games were part of the reason why so many people could watch this live was because Germany actually put up this huge apparatus because they wanted to broadcast to the world. “Look at us, we’re not, not fascists anymore.”
What we get in the character of Marianne is someone who captures that a little bit for us. She’s an outsider, so that’s always a lovely thing for an audience to latch onto. It’s like, okay, I’m the outsider with someone.
Christopher Mills (THH): For John, you were actually in Spielberg’s Munich, which is –
John Magaro: (laughs) I wasn’t in it.
Christopher Mills (THH): You’re an extra, but technically you’re still in the film somewhere. Did that somehow factor in you wanting to be in this?
Leonie Benesch: Are you actually in it?
John Magaro: Can you see me? Yes, you can see me.
Christopher Mills (THH)and Leonie Benesch: It counts, it counts.
John Magaro: No, that didn’t. In fact, I tried to block that experience out from my psyche and then Tim sends me the script and it floods all back to me (laughs). That wasn’t it but it was important to do that. I think every actor should spend some time being a background artist. You learn a lot. Gives you respect and you know, in this particular case for September 5, our background artists were with us the whole time.
They were part of the cast. They were part of the ensemble and they were just as present, as focused as all the principals were, unlike me, who had to walk across the street and basically just not trip. That was my job in Munich.
Christopher Mills (THH): You and Peter also have worked in another film since this being The Bride, how was it getting to work with him on September 5 and also that film?
John Magaro: Awful, terrible man. I mean, he was nice enough to have his wife ask me to do The Bride. Very different film. I’m excited for people to see it. It’s truly insane. But, I owe him 20% of my income because he basically got me that job.
It’s so wild. I’m really excited to see it. I’ve seen a couple clips and I’ve heard Peter talk about it quite a bit, but it’s really approaching quickly. You know, it’s only half a year before it comes around.
September 5 is out now in theatres.
