Break follows Eli, who is in his early twenties juggling two jobs to try and help take care of his sister and mother. Eli is struggling with his place in the world and unexpectedly finds a safe haven when he steps into a Detroit pool hall. However, as he gets deeper into the world of Detroit Pool, he discovers his absent father was once a legend in the very pool hall that he now frequents.

The pool hall comes alive in Break, becoming a world and a character in its own right. Darren Weiss brings a vulnerability to his role of Eli as he struggles to find his place in the world and grapples with the connection he has discovered to his father. Will Wernick helmed the project, bringing intimacy and pathos to the story that offers audiences a peak into the world of billiards and pool halls that many haven’t experienced. Break includes a stacked cast with Victor Rasuk (Lords of Dogtown) and Patricia Belcher (Bones).

Screen Rant interviewed Break star Dareen Weiss. He discussed how he related to his character, Eli, and discovering an entirely new world in pool halls. He also shared what he learned from working with Jeff Kober (best known for The Walking Dead and Sons of Anarchy) while praising the chemistry of the entire cast.

Break Opens An Often Closed Door: “Pool Halls Are A Different World”

Weiss shared insight into his character Eli and the world of billiards in the pool hall in which he finds refuge. While Eli is lost in the beginning of the movie finding a connection with the game of pool and the people in the pool hall opens up his world and life. Weiss hoped that one of the takeaways for audiences is they aren’t alone and can find their place just as Eli did at the pool hall.

Darren Weiss: Eli gave me an opportunity to play a character that sort of is dealing with a lot of things. He has the weight of the world on his shoulders, he has things going on at home. It’s not until he comes upon this pool hall where there’s a place of misfit toys sort of like himself, where he sort of feels like he can be who he is. It’s through these misfit toys at the pool hall that have experienced the same things that he experienced to show him that it’s okay. What I loved is just the world of a pool hall and people don’t know pool halls are a different world. What goes on in a pool hall and then what goes on in the rest of the world, it’s like two different worlds.

You see Eli become who he is in a place where the viewer would least expect it. That’s what gravitated me towards the role. I dealt with a lot of similar issues that Eli dealt with growing up just in terms of identity and being uncomfortable in my own skin at times. So I just want people to know, that watch this film, that they’re not alone and maybe if they were feeling the same type of thing. I think in Break there’s a character that everyone can relate to, which I really loved about the story and the script.

You made a great point actually about the pool hall. I feel like the pool hall in this film feels like a character itself. Can you talk to me about how that added element kind of added to the film?

Darren Weiss: The Pool Hall is totally a character and I think when people think pool hall, I think they have a lot of different thoughts. I was shooting in a pool hall and we had a lot of locals that played in the pool hall. I practiced in a pool hall for a few months before the movie. You sort of become a family when you’re in this pool hall that you spend a lot of time in. It’s interesting, without it being said, the regulars that come to the pool hall, they sort of have your back.

When I was training in a pool hall in the valley in LA before it started, and then we shot the interior pool scenes in Englewood and there was a lot of regulars and they’re just like, Listen man, you’re part of the family. You’re part of this community now we got your back. They take you in and it was just such a comforting feeling. It’s so genuine. I think a lot of times when people think pool halls, they think dark and gambling and maybe motorcycle guys. Yes, that’s all true, but peel back some layers and really find out there’s some really just good quality people that coexist in these pool halls. It was such an eyeopener for me.

You mentioned the pool hall in Inglewood. Was that the one here on La Brea or Manchester?

Darren Weiss: Manchester. Sportsman’s Billiards Club. Yeah, it was awesome. Leslie Sportsman, who’s the owner, she was like the real life Hattie. Hattie in the movie pretty much portrays the woman that owns the pool hall in real life. It was awesome to talk to her and we played a game of pool. She’s just such good people and it was really cool. We got to throw some of the local pool hall goers into the movie as extras or I played against a few of them in a few scenes and they absolutely loved it. So it was so cool to bring the film world into the pool hall world and to been accepted.

Darren Weiss Praises The Cast Of Break: “Everyone Had Such Good Chemistry”

Weiss became a skilled billiards player being taught by some of the top professionals in the sport. He revealed that Ladin, one of his coaches, was so impressed he wanted Weiss to continue his training and enter billiards tournaments. He also praised the cast and the organic chemistry they brought into the different relationship dynamics of Break.

Darren Weiss: I got to tell you, leading up to the filming, I worked with two coaches, Steve Sherman and Spencer Ladin. Spencer Ladin is like this 21-year-old top 50 in the world’s thick player. We worked about three hours a day, three days a week for three months. I got pretty good. My pool coach had told me, unless he’s blowing smoke, he’s like, Listen, you’ve learned more in one month than most of my students learn in a year. He’s like, I’d love to continue training with you and take you to some tournaments.

I thought he was kidding, but I got really comfortable with the pool queue in my hand. It’s funny, I played pool left-handed, and I didn’t even know that I played pool left handed. The first day I was taking lessons, the pool coach was like, do you do everything left handed? I’m like, I don’t do anything left handed. I thought it was the weirdest question. He’s like, No, you play pool. That was news to me.

There’s some really interesting relationships that Eli has in this film. One is with his ride or die Cheese played by Caleb Emery. That relationship feels so lived in. Can you talk about creating that chemistry and dynamic with Caleb for their relationship?

Darren Weiss: It’s so funny. Caleb and I became really, really close friends and we talk almost every day. One of our producers, Bo Youngblood, shout out Bo Youngblood, John Ierardi, Will Wernick the director. It takes a total village to make a movie and I couldn’t have done it without any of them. Bo had known Caleb from a former project and she’s like, I think he’d be great for Cheese. He’s like, Oh, he’s perfect. So we met the first time at Barney’s Beanery and we hit it off llike we were friends like he was part of my friend group in high school. That chemistry was instant.

We started hanging out a little bit and we had a really great time on the shoot. It’s too bad because Caleb lived in LA for 10 years and he was moving to South Carolina just after we shot the movie and we became really close. It’s too bad that he moved because he’d be one of my close friends in LA. But yeah, that chemistry, it’s funny that chemistry between Caleb I think, and also Victor Rasuk who played Draper.

I knew Victor for about a year. It’s funny, we play in this pickup basketball game together at our friend Danny A’s house, who’s a director producer, and I don’t really watch much TV. It’s so funny, we were playing for about a year and we became really close and I didn’t know who he was. One day he invited me to his premier if his Netflix show that he played the lead in. He’s like, Yo, do you want to come to my premier tonight? And I’m like, premiere for what? He’s like a TV show I’m working on. I’m like, are you in production? What do you do? He’s like, No, bro, I’m the lead. And then I looked him up and he was in Lords of Dogtown with Heath Ledger and Emile Hirsch. He was in How to Make It In America, which has a cult following.

We were really close for a year and he tells people he’s like, Him and I became such good friends and boys because he had no idea who he was and we were just kicking it on the basketball court. Still the fact that we got Victor to come do a project like this, and this was a role he hadn’t played before. Draper is my favorite character in the film. Having that chemistry where you know someone before a movie, it just makes it so much more comforting. And a guy like Victor who’s been in the business for 20 plus years, some actors don’t like feedback.

I like feedback. If there’s something I can do to help my scene partner to make my performance better, I’m all for it. And Victor would be like, Yo, bro, try this. We had that relationship beforehand where it was all good. Wendy Braun, who played my mom, I had worked on another movie with her about seven years ago, so I knew her. So it’s big when you’re comfortable with a lot of the cast and you’re not meeting them first day on set and it’s like, Okay, let’s go do the scene. So I think bringing that chemistry into the film, I think you could definitely see it and it’s natural.

Another relationship that Eli has in this film is with Millie, played by Braedyn Bruner. She’s phenomenal in this film. Can you talk about working with her? Both the characters have their guard up a little bit as they’re courting each other, but they’re both bonded by their fathers that are connected to the town. So can you talk about working with her and the characters dynamic between Millie and Eli?

Darren Weiss: Yeah, Braedyn was so perfect for the role and I think she just auditioned and she had the best audition out of hundreds of people that auditioned for Millie. There were so many good performances, but she just stood out. She was so grounded and real and just you could feel the connection. She’s going to be a force to be reckoned with. She’s going to work for a long time. I think what made it so great is she just understood the character. She didn’t try to do too much. Eli’s such a reserved character and he never really shows his feelings and her character brings it out of him.

She does such a good job of in the subtlest of ways doing that in her performance. You can really see that and I really think on screen, the chemistry was there. She was fantastic. Iit was just so easy to work with her. We did a couple chemistry reads together before she got the part and then we had met in LA probably like a week before. We hung out once or twice, just went over lines and really easy to work with. Very sweet, just an amazing person overall. It makes it fun when they want to try things or they want to give a good performance. It’s not like, all right, let’s move on. Everyone was like that on this cast. It was a really great cast.

Cast by Jeff Gafner and every person, it just fit like a glove. Obviously you have Jeff Kober who’s an absolute legend who played Jimmy the Hand. I’m sure you were going to bring him up. He’s an Emmy winner and he’s been working for 40-50 years. He’s a guy that was on Walking Dead and Sons of Anarchy. To work with him, it was really special because we had met the first day on set. I hadn’t met him before and he’s just the kindest, gentlest human. I would ask him for advice and I feel like to this day, and I can pick up the phone and I say, Jeff, I have a question about an audition or a character, or even if I just have a question about life.

He’s been through a lot and he’s just an amazing human. It’s so funny, he said to me, he’s like, I want to try some things on camera, but I’m not going to tell you what I’m going to do. I want your natural reaction. He’s like, I might try to rough you up a little bit. And I said, Please, whatever you’ve got to do, do it. He was great. So the whole cast, I was just so happy. Everyone had such good chemistry and it really helps when everyone sort of enjoys their character in the script.

Darren Weiss Brings “Truthfulness And Vulnerability” To Break

Weiss broke down Eli’s evolution over the course of the movie and how finding a home in the pool hall changes his understanding and perception of himself. He also shared how this experience impacted his own outlook on life, especially after being so engrossed in the pool hall culture.

Darren Weiss: I think what Eli learns about himself through pool and just being in that environment is you just got to be who you are in this world. I think everyone’s dealing with something behind closed doors. It’s how we deal with our insecurities and go about life. It’s okay to ask your friends or for advice or help. I think Eli gathered that he was sort of lost in the beginning. He comes upon this pool hall and he sort of feels like it’s a place of home for him the first time in his life through Draper and Hattie and Millie and Suzen Baraka who played the bartender.

You see when he gets comfortable, and what I learned through Eli is Eli gets comfortable in a place where he would least expect it. That opened my eyes as just a normal human being. So the possibilities of, I know you’ve heard this quote a million times, never judge a book by its cover. Not that I do, but I’m so much more open and I’m accepting to everyone. But Eli sort of taught me that you never know where help or friendship or support can come from. So don’t ever close your eyes to anything because Eli walks into a pool hall in the inner city of Detroit and all of a sudden we see life in him. It’s like where can that be for Darren in real life?

What did you want to bring to the role of Eli that wasn’t on the page?

Darren Weiss: Vulnerability. A lot of depth and just being true to the character, but not trying to do too much. I think a lot of his actions or what you see in his eyes or how people are talking to him more, more so than his dialogue shows who he is. I wanted to really be able to show the struggle of Eli without having to talk about it, if that makes sense.

Just see his struggle, his triumph, the process through his actions, through his body language, through how people talk to him, how people perceive him. When he goes to the frat party in the beginning and it’s like, Oh, he’s cool now because he won a pool game, but he was still reserved. He didn’t think he was like the sh-t all of a sudden, but you see a little bit of comfort set in there when she hugs him. So I wanted to just bring truthfulness and vulnerability to that.

About Break

Eli learns that his absent father was a Detroit pool hall legend. He journeys into the scene, and must confront the realities and danger of the game – and himself.