The crime thriller Inherit the Viper, director Anthony Jerjen’s feature debut, tells the escalating tale of the Riley family, two brothers and a sister whose opioid operation is starting to spiral out of control. Starring Josh Hartnett, Margarita Levieva, and Owen Teague as the Rileys, the film, which is set to release on January 10, also garners strength off of its depiction of choice and consequence. Screen Rant recently had the opportunity to speak with young star Owen Teague to discuss his connections with the upcoming film, as well as his aspirations in filmmaking.
Your filmography thus far has shown a strong preference to darker characters and projects. What was it about Boots that made this film strike your interest?
Owen Teague: Boots was someone who I didn’t ever really think I’d get to play. The original idea for the character – as described by the script – was like an overweight kid with blond hair, shaved sides, and you know, a lot of chains. Some of [that] ended up in the film and some of that didn’t because I couldn’t do that in the time that we had. But I had never gotten the chance to play someone like that, with that kind of style and way of thinking and energy. So it was a fun new kind of thing. Also, I really liked what the story was about and thought it was important to tell.
I really liked your character’s specific position because he seemed to be at a make-or-break point: he could’ve made the decision to go forward with the drug operation or he could not. It was a very important time in his life.
Owen Teague: Exactly. And that kind of became the core of it for me: his obsession with the lifestyle that he saw as his family’s. I forget who I was talking to about it, but this idea was tossed around that Boots’ [perception] of the drug dealing was his world’s equivalent of being a rock star, or someone massively famous. At the end of the film, you see what that does to him, so that was a cool transformation to get to play.
The small-town USA aspect of the film was interesting because drug dealing is usually associated with urban areas, but here, you see why there’s a major appeal in suburban areas as well.
Owen Teague: Yeah, that’s really where so much of this opioid crisis is taking place: in these small, rural towns in America, where it’s just a bunch of people who have been injured, or laid off. It’s terrible. And I hadn’t seen a movie about that, so that was part of the draw for this one.
What is interesting about the Riley family is that they, or at least Josh Harnett’s character, believe that their drug operation is something that can be stopped at any point, alluding to a position of choice or power over the matter. Why do you think it’s important to tell stories about criminals where their acts are defined by choice, rather than necessity?
Owen Teague: I think there’s this line of thinking where “this is the only way we can make a living.” For Boots, at least, it was that: this is what we do and this is the only thing that life has to offer for me. And I think it’s important to see characters looking at the moral implications of what they’re doing and for us to, in turn, look at these issues through that lens. Because so often, it’s portrayed as a financial thing, or whatever. But that’s the difference between Josh’s character [Kip] and Boots: Kip sees that there are other options, which is what he’s trying to impart on Boots the whole time. And Boots doesn’t think that he has a choice. I don’t know if that answers your question?
No, it does, and it also touches on how mature a hierarchy there is with the family.
Owen Teague: Yeah, and Kip is so much more mature than Boots.
Can you touch on your experience with Anthony? This was, as I just said, a very mature debut for him. How collaborative was the set?
Owen Teague: Anthony was really, amazingly good at directing this movie. One of the things that he’s talked about a lot was seeing this issue from a perspective that was a little bit removed, because he’s from Europe. So there was this outside perspective that was really cool to have as our leader; there was almost this objectiveness.
He was great. We shot this on location in Alabama and we were immersed in this world for a month, or however long we were there. I think being there and being in it helped the process a lot, and that’s how [Anthony] operated. I loved working with him.
You’ve said yourself in the past that you’d like to write and direct your own films as well. Did working with a first-time director add or detract anything from your dream of doing it for yourself?
Owen Teague: I mean, it always adds, I think. You always learn things and you see people do things. The same goes for acting: the more time you spend working, the more you kind of figure out and want to do it. At least, that’s been my experience. So yeah, it absolutely adds to wanting to do that for myself. But that’s kind of a fantasy at this point, but hopefully in the future.
Are you getting any idea of what kind of stories you’d want to tell?
Owen Teague: So I grew up in Florida, and while it wasn’t anything like what’s depicted in Inherit the Viper, there are a few parallels and I took a lot of Boots’ ways from people I knew back home. The kind of stories that I have been interested in have been those that deal with the weird things of growing up in places like that and knowing people with substance abuse issues, or mental health issues. I think that’s part of the reason I gravitate towards films like Inherit the Viper: I saw a lot of that back home.
You ended the decade with taking part in and closing out one of the most successful horror franchises in history with IT. And in the coming decade, you’ll be officially moving behind the “child actor” phase of your career, so what are you looking forward to most in the 2020s?
Owen Teague: [chuckles] That’s a tough question. Just working. That’s all it really is. I’m excited for what I’m doing right now, which is The Stand, another Stephen King project, and it’s been fun to find my own interests in this world and learn about what I’m doing. How I’ve gone about doing things has changed in the last couple years as well, in terms of how I approach the work. But every time you work on something, you make a little family, and I really enjoy that. You form this really tight-knit group shooting this intense thing and you sort of bond over that. That’s been nice and I’m looking forward to more of that.
Inherit the Viper will be in select theaters, as well as available on demand and digital January 10.
