Rory Culkin Says He Went Back To His Feelings As 'A Little Kid' For 'Gabriel' [EXCLUSIVE VIDEO]

In an exclusive interview, Rory Culkin told Uinterview that he pulled from emotional experiences he had as a child for his starring role in Lou Howe’s Gabriel.

Gabriel premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on Thursday, April 17, and marks Howe’s first feature film as a writer and director. Culkin plays the titular Gabriel, a man recently released from a mental institution, whose struggle with mental illness grows more challenging and obvious as he journeys to find his first love, hoping that it will somehow pull him together.

Culkin revealed to Uinterview that he prepared for the role by speaking directly with people who suffer from mental illness, but also found a way to connect directly to those emotions by taking removing his inhibitions.

“[We] met with a few people that, you know, [struggle] with mental illness…hearing stories, first hand accounts. And, also, you know, we’re all filtering out certain emotions, so it’s just about removing the filter and, you know, going back to how I felt when I was a little kid,” Culkin said.

Gabriel was shot on a tight schedule, which Howe revealed added urgency to both his writing and directing, especially when it came to the last scene of the film, admitting, “we ended up having to reschedule and shoot that… with very little time to prepare on the day. And it’s this sort of emotional climax of the movie, so that was definitely a challenge.”

Culkin agreed that the rushed last scene was the most challenging to shoot, but also added that it worked in his favor.

“I think I agree with him. It’s the last scene, because, you know, like he said, we had to reschedule. And so it was all very sudden, and now we’re doing the final scene, but I think not being ready added to it. I’m not ready to let go of any of this. I’m not ready to do this. Oh my God. And it sort of helped a lot,” Culkin told Uinterview.

– Olivia Truffaut-Wong

More on Tribeca:

_{> Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Derek Luke And Katie Nehra Talk About The Differences Between Men And Women, 'Alex of Venice' [EXCLUSIVE VIDEO]}

_{> Chris Messina Opens Up About His Directorial Debut 'Alex of Venice' [EXCLUSIVE VIDEO INTERVIEW]}

_{> Aaron Sorkin Apologizes For 'The Newsroom' During Tribeca Film Festival 'Tribeca Talks'}

_{> Patrick Stewart Got Emotional Leaving 'Match' Set [EXCLUSIVE VIDEO]}