Last year Johnny Berchtold starred in The Passenger, one of the best films of 2023. Sadly, due to its release at the beginning of the SAG-AFTRA strike, The Passenger arrived on digital with little fanfare. Thankfully, you can never keep a good film down and audiences have been slowly discovering it for themselves. As word of mouth continues to grow, the film is becoming more popular everyday.
In The Passenger, Johnny Berchtold plays Randy, a young fast-food employee who, after witnessing a tragedy, is taken hostage by the perpetrator, his work colleague, Benson (Kyle Gallner). As the two go on the road trip from Hell, they begin to realise they have more in common than they first thought. Directed by Carter Smith, The Passenger is a strangely uplifting movie despite its dark beginnings and is definitely worth seeking out if you haven’t already seen it. After having spoken to Kyle Gallner about playing Benson, THN spoke with Johnny Berchtold. Our in-depth interview talked about his experience playing Randy, working alongside Kyle Gallner, his hopes for The Passenger, and his not so secret horror dreams.
Originally we would have been discussing The Passenger ahead of release, but the strikes began just beforehand. However, it’s quite nice to do it now that audiences have properly had a chance to watch it.
I’m really grateful that people are watching it, and there’s new audiences finding it now too. Nobody wanted to strike, but we had to strike. It was almost like a funny thing where I was like, “oh finally, this goal of mine, of being in a Blumhouse movie with these people and I can’t talk about it” was such a tease, but we had to do what we had to do, and that’s why I’m extra grateful that people are talking about it now.
You mentioned getting to tick off a Blumhouse film, but what was it about this film in particular, and Randy, that made you want to get involved and play him?
It almost felt like a different type of film that Blumhouse would normally produce, and that was super interesting to me since I’m such a Blumouse fan. When I read the script, it just felt different. Randy was a character I’ve always wanted to play; the unextraordinary person who gets thrown into an extraordinary situation. He was such a sweet boy, and I wanted to protect him. Then finding out that Kyle [Gallner] was going to be playing Benson, I was like, “oh my god. Well, please I need to do this movie.”
I had been auditioning for Blumhouse movies and I auditioned for this block of films that MGM+ was producing. This one was the last one in their slate, and when I read it I was “I’m going to do everything in my power to give my best performance in the audition and anything I can do to help manifest that I get to be a part of it.”
As a character, Randy is very introverted. He has a very particular way of moving, or not moving, as is more often the case. He is very rigid and stilted. Is that harder to do as an actor than a character that can’t sit still?
I feel like sometimes when it seems like we’re doing less, maybe it’s harder than you would think. Suddenly you have to play so much on your face, or every move has to be considered. Randy’s the type of person who decided at a very young age he’s just going to sit in the background and not say anything. Suddenly he has the spotlight pointed right at him in the most excruciating way and what happens to a person like that who is thrown into a situation like that?
I also think opposite Kyle’s Benson, who has such an interesting physicality, it just helped me. Working opposite Kyle was a dream in so many ways, it was an education. It was an opportunity to find things in myself that were reactionary to his performance. That’s what a lot of Randy is, seeing what’s happening around him and now he’s forced along this ride. He has to shake that stiltedness if he wants to break free of the current situation, and also the situation that is his life. It was really interesting to play. I almost wanted to have this blank canvas of a character that you can paint yourself on and paint the colours in as the movie goes on. He’s so still and so quiet in the beginning especially, you just want to shake them, be like, “hey say something. It’s okay to say something.”
Working opposite Kyle, I was literally along for the ride. Not only in the film, and in the story sense, but like me as an actor opposite Kyle I was just along for the ride. I just allowed whatever was going to happen to happen, and that was some of the most fun.
During our interview with Kyle, he mentioned how your openness as an actor allowed him to access parts of Benson that he perhaps might not have with someone else. Things got pretty intense at times right, and you got quite hands on with one another…
He was handsy alright (laughs). But we talked about that. When we officially met in person, we were just talking about the story and characters. There was this moment where we’re talking about how interesting the dynamic was, and you could sort of feel the vibe between us, like our levels going in sync. We looked at each other and said, “do you just want to commit to the physicality of it?” So we decided early to just go for it, in the safest way possible, but we were both consenting in this dynamic. I was like, “yeah put your hands on me. Do what you need to do. It’ll only help me I think in this particular project, so yeah, rough me up Kyle.”
There is a really interesting interplay between Benson and Randy. For me, I think Benson sees Randy as a younger version of himself, one he wants to stop following in his footsteps. Then, there are a lot of fans shipping the pair, what’s your interpretation of them?
100%, and look, I support the ship’s. Absolutely I think Benson totally sees a lot of himself in Randy, and I don’t think Randy understands what that is yet, because he hasn’t allowed himself to have life experiences, or explore himself in any way. I think Benson picks up on that vibe in him – and obviously Benson goes about this all in the wrong ways. Then there’s like the point of no return where it’s, “okay, well, we’re doing this. I’m going to do what I can to make sure you don’t end up in turmoil, like I am,” and I think Randy starts to pick up on that throughout the film.
In a really sick terrible way, I think Randy realises this needed to happen for him to break free of himself. Obviously, there’s other ways in which that could have happened. But this is the one way that happens in the film. I think Randy starts to pick up on the unspoken reasons as to why Benson is doing what he’s doing for him, and I think in turn he starts to realise the similarities between each other. Once he starts to put the puzzle pieces together about maybe what could have happened in Benson’s past, just like off the cuff things that he says that resonate with him, were really interesting to explore.
And it all starts because of a mouldy burger...
So mouldy, so gross. I have a really sensitive gag reflex, like big time, and it’s really brutal. But especially when I have to eat on camera, because suddenly I’m overthinking eating. Then you give me a mouldy ass burger…there’s so much footage of that moment of that scene because even though it’s supposed to be gross, I was gagging so hard, in a way that I don’t think Randy would have. It was just like an old congealed McDonald’s burger that’s been painted to look really bad, but that was enough for me to be like, “this is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, hands down.” So nasty.
I hadn’t thought of that. Randy is meant to be this very emotionless character, so he can’t really react to what he’s doing.
He gets great news in the beginning, that his boss is going to put in a good word for him. He doesn’t know how to take that. He doesn’t know how to let himself have that. He’s extremely non-reactionary at the start of the film and that was something I wanted to play with. So by the end, when he finally does something, it’s such a breath of fresh air. It’s such a release, and for the audience to be like, “oh thank God you did something.” Part of that was making sure that I didn’t expose too much of Randy’s inner workings too early on the film. He just does what he’s told, “okay now you stand here,” and he does, “you eat this,” and he does, “here’s some good news” and he says, “okay”; here’s bad news and says, “okay.”
As brutal as those first fifteen-twenty minutes are, after that The Passenger does become a little warmer. It has a lot more humour than most will be expecting. Given the heaviness of the shooting, to then go to these lighter scenes must have been an emotional rollercoaster for you as actors?
I think it’s so necessary too in terms of the pacing of the film. Because the movie has that extremely violent, dark start, you need a little bit of levity there. Shooting those scenes…sometimes you’ll read something and you think of it a certain way and then you’re doing it. You’re like this is actually so funny, and it’s that dry type of humour that I think you get when you put two opposite characters in the same space. There’s just a natural comedy that comes from that because they’re so completely opposite that that dynamic just automatically exists. There’s so much misunderstanding and miscommunication between them that is really funny to me. But yeah, it was nice to have those moments because then, the next scene is punching Randy in the stomach and choking him out.
Or Benson laughing as Randy opens up about the worst thing that has ever happened to him – that’s brutal!
Such an asshole. That moment too was super surprising, because I don’t think Benson is scripted to laugh as much as he did, or at all. I remember because that was one of my audition scenes. Inevitably you always end up putting a little more pressure on those audition scenes when you finally get to shoot them, because it’s “this scene that helped me get to this point. I better do a good job.” I put a lot of pressure on myself in general and I was getting really frustrated with myself, with this monologue, and then all of a sudden Kyle is laughing at me.
It was making me mad in a way that was like, “let me just get through this monologue, stop laughing,” But I was allowing myself to get mad as if I was Randy. Then I was able to realise after a couple of takes, this is the meat and potatoes of this dynamic here. As soon as I realised that I was able to get rid of that pressure and it was all because of Kyle’s performance, and his care towards me that I was able to shed that and just do the scene, and let myself get mad at him for laughing at me.
You had Carter Smith as director. He’s an incredible photographer, but also a filmmaker who makes some messed up horror movies like Swallowed and The Ruins, but The Passenger is very different to his other stuff. How is he as a collaborator?
I remember watching The Ruins as a kid and being completely obsessed. That was one of those films that I saw at a very young age and so I’ve been a fan of his for a long time. Swallowed is incredible! He’s a photographer as well so he cares about the craft. He cares about the frame, and the feeling that you get from the frame. I think he imbues so much of that artistry into the film.
He’s the coolest guy. In talking to him you wouldn’t expect that he would create something so horrifying and so grotesque, which I sort of love. Like now, we just send each other crazy things that we see, especially during the Halloween season. He gave me a video tour of the haunted house he was building at his place and I was very thankful for that. He Is a fan through and through of the genre on so many different levels. On a visual level, on an emotional level. You always want someone… if they’re going to make a film like this… you want them to be a fan of that space and he is and he just comes up with the coolest ideas. It was just a dream to work with him. It was just the best of both worlds with Kyle, Blumhouse, and Carter.
I also loved how much trust they – Blumhouse – put into Carter. I think they wanted him to do a different movie originally and he was, “what if I present to you this script, I have ideas,” and they just let him fly. I am so grateful to Blumhouse for that because he really showcased so many interesting ideas and crafts with it. He’s the coolest, I love him so much. I just think let Carter have the reins always. Give him the trust, give him the resources. We need more Carter Smith movies. So much of the movie takes place in the car, and he found such interesting ways to shoot all of those scenes that felt different, that showcase those two characters and they’re fully fleshed-out, fully realised beings and personas that I think someone like Carter is able to do to such a great degree.
After spending so much time with Benson and Randy, comes the introduction of a third character, Miss Beard, played by Liza Weil. How did the dynamic shift on set, going from two to three?
Liza brought so much warmth to the film, and the set, and the dynamic that was so needed by the time we got to those scenes. I love Liza with all my heart. I think she is such an incredible human being; she’s so caring and giving, and that alone was such a welcome vibe.
I met Liza about ten years ago when I was a background extra on the pilot of How To Get Away With Murder. There was a moment when we were positioned together on a staircase. Her and the main cast were coming down the staircase, and I was also there on the staircase walking down. Right before a take I remember she turned to me and she goes, “I’m so sorry to ask you this. Would you mind if I used your shoulder to help put on my shoe?” and I was, “oh my God, absolutely you can use my shoulder whenever you want.” And so that was the first thing I said to her when I saw her on the set and she actually remembered that interaction. It was just the perfect way to get things going on our set, because immediately there was like a fun connection.
She’s so cool, but it was such a welcome energy and it shows in the movie. You’re almost blindsided when you meet her because I think you’re expecting this one thing through the whole film. Then when you finally do and she hugs Randy right off the bat – which is something the audience wants to do the whole time – she just gives such an incredible performance. I just remember sitting there watching her. There’s that moment when she’s talking about how she was afraid of how the events might have affected Randy. I just remember sitting watching thinking, “‘I’m having an out-of-body experience right now.” It was just such a joy to watch.
I know you’re a big horror fan, so there has to be some dream projects you’d love to be cast in?
I want to be covered in blood, always. As a die-hard horror fan since I can remember, one of my dreams is to just be part of a horror franchise that raised me. I want to be a part of those IPs. I want to be a part of those worlds. I know them like the back of my hand, as many of us do, and I want to bring whatever interesting things I can to it. That opportunity would mean the world to me. First of all, my house is decorated for Halloween year-round, I basically just have horror art all over from these franchises that I love and it would just be so cool. It would be the coolest thing in the world.
So who would you most like to get killed by?
Oh my God…all of them!
What are your hopes for The Passenger going forward?
I hope that as many people see it as possible. Just seeing the fan art and the reactions have been so wonderful that I just hope it finds more people that want to find it. There are movies that come into my life that I say, “I’m so happy that I found this film. It feels like it was made for me. This is a movie I have a connection with,” and I want that for people with The Passenger.
I think always as an actor, I want to do movies that resonate with people. It’s a gross, grimy film, but that has a heart to it. I think a lot of people have been resonating with it in interesting ways, and I just hope it finds more of those people. I’ve been so grateful to all the people who have watched it so far and have said things. I hope it gets Kyle more amazing roles, and I hope it gets Carter more amazing movies, and I just hope it gets these really talented people recognition.
Catch Johnny Berchtold in The Passenger which is out on Digital HD now.
