Actor Cameron Monaghan chatted about starring as Special Agent Finley Sterling in the new film “Paradise Highway,” which was written and directed by Anna Gutto.
It will be available on Digital, On Demand, and in select theaters on July 29, 2022, via Lionsgate. “Doing ‘Paradise Highway’ was incredible,” he said. “This is a very special story, and it’s a special script.”
“I was excited to be a part of the character [Special Agent Finley Sterling], so I really appreciated the opportunity,” he said. “It’s by a first-time director and writer named Anna Gutto. It was a really incredible opportunity to be a part of her debut feature. She is very good, and I think she will go on to do some really incredible things so I feel honored to have worked with her.”
“What I liked about my character is that he comes from a background that is different from my own,” he said. “He is Ivy League educated, comes from wealth, and he is a law enforcement agent. I haven’t had any personal experience in any of these things. I do have an experience with his ambition and wanting to make a difference to succeed in his field. There are things about Finley that I very much understood.”
Aside from Cameron Monaghan, the movie stars Juliette Binoche, Frank Grillo, Hala Finley, Veronica Ferres, Christiane Seidel, and Morgan Freeman. “My character has a dynamic in his relationship with Morgan Freeman’s character, who is a former FBI agent, who has been working for 50 years in this field. That dynamic was fun to explore with Mr. Morgan Freeman.”
Synopsis of ‘Paradise Highway’
Oscar winners Juliette Binoche and Morgan Freeman lead this thriller set in the trucking industry and its seamy underbelly of human trafficking.
When her brother’s life is threatened, Sally (Juliette Binoche), a truck driver, reluctantly agrees to smuggle illicit cargo: a girl named Leila (Hala Finley).
As Sally and Leila begin a danger-fraught journey across state lines, a dogged FBI operative (Morgan Freeman) sets out on their trail, determined to do whatever it takes to terminate a human-trafficking operation — and bring Sally and Leila to safety.
Monaghan remarked about “Paradise Highway,” “It’s a beautiful story about a very dark subject matter. It’s a roller coaster ride of thrills and the character dynamics of the story. I hope that viewers are left with something that is human and personal.”
‘Shameless’
He acknowledged that the show “Shameless” was 11 years of his life. “It was amazing to work on something as an actor in such a long form,” he said. “Very few actors get the opportunity to explore and develop a character over 11 years of storytelling. That was an honor, and a challenge, and everything in between.”
‘Gotham’
For Monaghan, doing “Gotham” was “great.” “To be able to touch the character in the mythos of the Joker is pretty incredible. I grew up as an avid comic book reader, and Batman and the Joker were always some of my favorite stories,” he said.
“To be able to play this character and to explore it in a new context with its own unique backstory was amazing. It was a lot of fun to be able to do,” he added.
‘Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order’
He also played Cal Kestis in the action-adventure game “Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.” “That was an interesting project,” he admitted. “The technology it has is a weird and amazing thing. It has grown and developed so much over the years. I very much like that character on top of it. Overall, it’s an amazing and unique experience.”
Monaghan listed Cate Blanchett, Julie Delpy, Gary Oldman, and Daniel Day-Lewis as his dream acting partners in the entertainment business.
Success
He defined the word success as “doing things that you feel genuinely intrigued and activated by.”
