Interview (Part 4): Stefan Jaworski

My interview with 2021 Black List writers for his script Mercury.

Stefan Jaworski wrote the original screenplay “Mercury” which landed on the 2021 Black List. Recently, I had the opportunity to chat with Stefan about his creative background, his script, the craft of screenwriting, and what making the annual Black List has meant to him.

Today in Part 4 of a 6-part series to run each day through Sunday, Stefan discusses ways in which he subverts expectations in his screenplay Mercury.

Scott: You got a beginning, middle, and end to that back‑story because he does tell her, this Laura woman. He conveys a little bit more of the back‑story. Then later on conveys the whole thing. It is like a three‑act structure in terms of that dark tragedy in his past.

Stefan: To me, it’s always a matter of looking at those moments where that exposition is given and always asking, “Is this moment true to character?” We’ve all seen these movies where people suddenly stop and just blurt out a painful back‑story out of nowhere and for no reason. The whole story stops, when that happens, and worse… it violates character. Always ask, “If someone tells someone a painful story, why does he or she do so at this point?”

Is it because he has reached a certain level of vulnerability? Is it because he wants something from her? There is always a change in dynamics, somehow. When and how to peel the layers of your character is one of the most interesting aspects in writing thrillers like these. If you don’t get that right, or at least aspire to, then why bother? [laughs] Then it’s just one big car chase, and no one cares if they’re not emotionally invested.

Scott: Exactly. That’s what you’ve effectively not done. It’s not just a car chase.

Let’s talk about Laura. I guess you can call her a femme fatale? Would you think of her like that?

Stefan: Yup.

Scott: I’m struck by this idea that you had when you said, “I really wanted to switch genres” because it’s a very sweet movie, actually, until things get rock‑and‑rolling. He meet this girl by a dating app. They go out and have this lovely little picnic together. She’s cute and charming. Then like “Parasite” ‑‑ that movie changed genres ‑‑ you do change genres pretty significantly there.

Could you talk to me about this Laura character, where she came in in the creative process for you?

Stefan: She was always there.

Scott: Always there.

Stefan: Again, I think it’s the wonderful Craig Mazin in his and John August’s “Scriptnotes” podcast, who said at some point: Never look at the central character, look at the central relationship. The central relationship between the hero and the antagonist of the movie defines the thematic axis and tension and ultimate resolution, so to explore your hero fully, you need an antagonist who challenges whoever he is and needs to become.

In Mercury, there are goons, gangsters, violent men, but Laura is the antagonist of the movie if you look at it from a thematic standpoint. You look what is the opposite of what the main character needs. She’s a woman manipulating emotions, because he’s a victim to his emotions, and he gets played by her because of it. It is very film noir if you look at it from that perspective. Sort of a modern film noir.

Scott: Like neo‑noir. He has been played. In fact, even in the script and scene description, just so you make this point, you put it in caps. “He’s been played. Doesn’t yet know why, but he’s sure to find out with renewed energy and focus.”

Stefan: Ha. I do stuff like that in the descriptions sometimes and it’s totally cheating. It’s totally what people will say, “Don’t write like that. You can’t film that.” I understand but humbly disagree, To me, what you’re trying to create in your script is the most precise and powerful reading experience for your readers. Who — in the best of worlds — will channel those emotions and create a film that will have your audience ultimately feeling the same thing.

Sometimes you need to emphasize an emotion on the page, and sometimes — like the line you single out here — it might be too much, but it’s a tool in the belt to sometimes use if you really need to bring home a story point or an important emotional beat.

Scott: You’re probably familiar with this. These people say, “You can’t write these unfilmables.” Anything that an actor can or…I think that’s bullshit, because as a student of screenplays, writers have been doing this for years. It’s not a novel, you can’t go on for pages and pages, but you can comment from time to time. You can even drop into a character’s internal dialogue.

I didn’t have a problem with that line, because you’re basically saying to us, “All right, now there’s a big shift.” It wouldn’t have worked if you didn’t believe that he was emotionally invested in it, and you do believe that he is emotionally invested.

Stefan: Thank you, I appreciate that. That’s the hope and the ambition. Laura is, of course, an enigma, since so much of the movie is about Michael trying to figure out who this woman really is, to find her and stop her. Having this character who is essentially cold‑bloodedly there to play him any way she needs him, to meet her own ends.

Another thing in constructing Laura… was to look at Michael’s core emotional need. What Michael needs is to let go of his own romantic dreams of being a savior of someone, a white knight to someone. That’s what Laura sees in him and plays in him, and I was infatuated with this idea of playing with the male-savior-and-damsel-in-distress movie cliché and turning it on its head. Take that trope, make us root for it, and then smack Michael in the face with it.

That’s part of the construct of Mercury. It doesn’t just twist the plot, OR the genre. It twists and subverts your genre-and-gender expectations. Hopefully. If it works. But at least that was the ambition.

Scott: You’re subverting expectations. It’s like you’re playing, here’s the trope white knight. Oh, this guy got played.

There’s another character, but someone fun to write. This Burke character, who has got this very interesting worldview and he’s loquacious. He’s quite verbal.

Maybe you could describe this guy has this beautiful place up in the Hollywood Hills. How did this Burke character come into being and how did you find this guy’s voice?

Stefan: He grew from the first iteration of the story. The first draft was even more contained around the three main characters, Michael, Laura and Jason, where Jason was the sole villain and the primary physical threat and Burke was only hinted at.

The idea of evolving Burke came through conversations with Adam and Kendrick, and with Ace Entertainment, who have optioned the script at this point. We all felt that the story could benefit from having a stronger master-villain. His language grew mostly from his strong confidence, and then a desire to give him a tone that felt equally entertaining and threatening.

Scott: Well, it’s a castable role for an actor to chew on that dialogue. Reminded me a bit, “The Big Lebowski” where the dude gets up to the house with Jackie Treehorn. I was wondering if this is a bit of an homage to…

Stefan: It’s not deliberate, but Burke is probably also a product the old rule that the less screen time a character has, the clearer and sharper you have to draw them.

Tomorrow in Part 5, Stefan discusses his approach to writing chases in an action film.

For Part 1 of the interview, go here.

Part 2, here.

Part 3, here.

Stefan is repped by Lit Entertainment Group.

For my interviews with dozens of other Black List writers, go here.