Rooks: Actor Spotlight on Devon Stanley and John Prud’homme

Every week, we're featuring interviews with the cast and crew of Rooks. This week's spotlight is on actors Devon Stanley and John Prud’homme.

Devon Stanley portrays Alex

John Prud'homme portrays Michael

When not making movies, Devon is an English teacher, so he’s always been passionate about storytelling. Says Devon, “Film, specifically, has always been one of my favorite mediums to tell stories in. Getting to create some of these stories, rather that just consume them, was an offer that I couldn't pass up.” In fairness, Devon’s role was one well suited to him for a number of reasons, including that he had teaching experience: “My character was the dad of the group, so getting into character was easy. All I had to do was channel my teaching persona.”

Devon and director Robert Maynard have been friends for years, and have often consulted with each other about various writing projects. This was Devon’s first opportunity to work with Robert on a film for more than a day or two, which was exciting to both of them.

John, as avid Accented Films fans will know, has also shared a close relationship with Robert, having acted in the lead role of Tom in 2020’s Crossing. He shared, “I knew acting in Rooks would be an enjoyable experience. Honestly, I felt like I could be myself in a way because [my character] Michael and I have a similar sense of humor and way of interacting with others.”

Both actors agreed that the set, though busy, was fun to be on, and thankfully so, because they were both there almost every shoot day! Devon recalled, “The cast and crew were great! I was already friends with a few of them and I made a lot of new friends along the way. We bonded through the stress of filming and I think that those bonds will last a very long time.”

Without revealing too much, they discussed their favorite moments from production. John says he enjoyed the moments where his character Michael uses his ability, “… because they involved a lot of special effects creativity.” John and special effects supervisor Ramon Antonio developed a friendship simply because of how often their paths crossed during production. Devon said his favorite moments from production were the action sequences. “I liked throwing [redacted], being thrown by [redacted], and punching open a [redacted].” Powerful stuff.

When not on set or at work, Devon is a gamer and enjoys working out, while John enjoys running and spending quality time with friends. He also occasionally brews beer, and his personal brand "Homme Brewing" appears briefly in Rooks​.

Devon identifies Christopher Nolan as his favorite director, adding “I'm sure that his penchant for postmodern, non-linear storytelling greatly affected the script of our film.” Asked about his favorite film, he answered, “What a mean question… there are too many good ones. Maybe Inception? Scott Pilgrim vs. The World? Eighth Grade? I'm going to need a higher word cap to fully answer this question.”

John meanwhile says he has no favorite movie, “… but I do love the original Star Wars movies. Exciting story, remarkable cast, exceptional score.” He also says he has no favorite actor, “but I like Tom Hanks.”

See Devon as Alex and John as Michael in Rooks, premiering at The Strand in Dover, NH, on December 17. On Amazon Instant Video December 23.

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