“Rich Families Are Just Really Horny and Love Incest”: Lukas Gage On Starring In The Strange, Stylish Family Satire Rosebush Pruning

He’s famous as a resort heartthrob and a companion robot, yet West Coast native Lukas Gage dreams of portraying just “a normal guy”. In Rosebush Pruning, though, the actor still embraces the opposite: chaos and couture, in a family with far too much money and nowhere near enough emotional stability.

You might know him best from that awkward Zoom audition for Tristram Shapeero, but in the years since pandemic virality shot Lukas Gage to stardom, his “tiny apartment” has afforded a layered portfolio encompassing the absurdly comedic and downright horrific. Between his racy breakout as Dillon, a service worker at The White Lotus, and the troubled Tyler, enemy of Nate Jacobs in Euphoria, the actor has flashed his talent from the get-go. Effortlessly steering darkness and discomfort, he shines in Companion and Smile 2. Recently appearing in the rom-coms People We Meet on Vacation and Voicemails for Isabelle, Gage stays booked and busy. He’s even penned his own memoir, I Wrote This For Attention, in the short time Hollywood has finally begun to embrace him.

Now streaming exclusively on MUBI, Gage finds himself at the centre of a different kind of madness in Karim Aïnouz's Rosebush Pruning. Premiering at the Berlin International Film Festival before arriving in cinemas this summer, his latest feature is an emotionally volatile – and beautifully dressed – depiction of extraordinary wealth under the blistering Spanish sun of Catalonia. In the toxic ways this privileged ensemble of characters perceives such notions, a rich white American family seeks love and validation through one another at the expense of individual security and sanctity. Beneath the pristine designer wardrobes, Gesaffelstein needle drops, and a colour palette inspired by Spanish painter Joaquín Sorolla, Aïnouz constructs an increasingly unhinged portrait of domesticity through states of transformation. 

No spoilers, but Gage’s heightened performance as spoilt brat brother Robert is paramount to screenwriter – and Yorgos Lanthimos collaborator – Efthimis Filippou’s unfolding satire of dysfunction. Threatening to sever the ties that bind this family with a thorn in their side, Gage joins Callum Turner, Riley Keough, Jamie Bell, Tracy Letts, Elle Fanning and Pamela Anderson in an instinctive exploration of characters exposing the rot beneath perfectly cultivated petals. Finding humour even in disturbing corners, Robert’s reopening of old wounds is a riveting display of the extravagant, operatic kind. One moment he’s pleasuring himself, the next he’s plotting to eradicate his bloodline.

In conversation with Man About Town, Gage trims back the spectacle of “eat the rich” media to discuss carefully constructing buried tension and trauma.

Rosebush Pruning is loosely based on Marco Bellocchio’s 1965 satirical drama Fists in the Pocket. Did Karim Aïnouz instruct you to watch the film? How much freedom did he give you to help shape Robert?

No, but I had watched it and loved the film. I think Karim did not want us trying to recreate it. Robert has elements of a few members of the original piece but is so specific and strange that I tried not to overexplain him to myself.

Karim is one of the most playful people I have ever met, which I loved. He has such a strong point of view, but he also lets you fuck around. We were able to try things, and sometimes the thing that felt the weirdest ended up being the thing we kept. I never felt like I had to protect myself or make Robert justifiable.

Robert is such a captivating and, at times, comedic character. What is it about Efthimis Filippou’s script that grabbed you?

I love characters where you genuinely don’t know what they’re going to do next. Robert is impulsive and unpredictable. There was something really freeing about that. We’re both pretty obsessive. If I’m into something, I’m fucking into it. But I don’t think I’m nearly as comfortable with chaos as Robert is. I try to avoid it or deflect; he welcomes it. He doesn’t behave the way a normal person would, which is a dream for an actor.

I think the trick is not trying to be funny. The funniest people aren’t trying to be funny. Robert takes himself very seriously, which makes some of the things he does funny. Then you have to be willing to let the scene get uncomfortable without trying to save it or hit what you think will get a reaction. The set itself felt much less dramatic, and that’s a lot due to Karim’s playfulness and openness.

Fashion is such a crucial element to the story and Bina Daigeler’s costumes are so striking. How did you find stepping into Robert’s Versace-oriented world?

The clothes did a lot of the acting for me. Robert really cares about how he’s perceived, and you understand that immediately when you see what he’s wearing. Bina helped me find his unique style, his love for Donatella and Dries Van Noten. She gifted me the Versace, but I dream of that Dries Van Noten outfit. I loved how specific everything was. There was definitely a moment where I looked at myself and thought, “Oh, okay. This is who this guy is.” I love the line where he says he’s willing to live anywhere in the world if there’s a Dover Street Market in it.

His love for Pet Shop Boys’ “Paninaro” is also prominent; I consider it Robert’s theme song. What would yours be?

Probably “Twiggy” by Remi Wolf because I can’t stop listening to that song, or something by Cailin Russo too.

The film’s cast is incredible… I read there was a two-week rehearsal period in advance of shooting. What was the atmosphere like on set with such a talented ensemble?

It was pretty surreal; everyone brought something completely different. The rehearsal period was really helpful because by the time we started shooting, we weren’t strangers anymore. We already had this weird little family dynamic, which is important because the movie asks you to believe these people can be total freaks and have this history with one another. 

Spain was incredible, truly my favourite country ever. I rode horses, ATV’s, and went to all these quaint towns in my rental car along the coast. We hung out and ate so much food, walked around, and rehearsed. It was nice because we weren’t constantly talking about the movie. I think you need to actually like each other a bit before you can convincingly love/hate each other on camera.

There’s a very intense moment where Robert, in black tights, slices his thigh and goes full blood kink on his raging brother Jack. How did you and your on-screen sibling Jamie Bell prepare for such a scene?

Jamie is such a good actor because he is so smart and so present. We talked about what was actually happening underneath the scene, rather than just trying to make it “intense.” Once you know what the characters want from each other, you don’t really have to manufacture it.

What’s your take on the “eat the rich” trend of twisted family dynamics and homoerotic, psychosexual incest plots in film and TV? I have to, of course, mention The White Lotus Season 3.

I mean, apparently rich families are just really horny and love incest. There’s something inherently interesting about people who have everything materially and have the most corrupt moral compass. I think audiences like watching rich people implode because it’s a little comforting knowing that money doesn’t fix everything.

Sometimes your first instinct is to make something more understandable or more palatable, and I think this movie taught me to resist that, to trust the weirdness. If something feels a little uncomfortable, that might actually be the interesting part.

Did exploring wealth, power and family in such an extreme way leave you thinking differently about those themes after filming?

I think it made me think more about how much family can influence the way you see yourself. Money and status complicate that, but underneath all of it, these people still just want love and approval from each other.

[Rosebush Pruning] is so bizarre and weird, and I mean that as a compliment. It’s beautiful and funny and uncomfortable, and you don’t really know where it’s going. I think those are the movies that stick with you.

After Rosebush Pruning, would you say you gravitate more towards projects that provoke discomfort, embarrassment and laughter?

Definitely all. I like things that make me feel something before I even completely understand why. I’m also really interested in, for the first time in my life, playing a normal guy who has a normal day and makes normal choices. I still have not done that yet!

I want to keep surprising myself. I don’t really have a list of genres I need to check off; I just want to work with filmmakers who have a really strong voice and aren’t afraid to make something that might not be for everyone. I still want to do another comedy, try a musical, do more horror, and get cast in a period piece! I’m excited about Samo Lives and Overcompensating season 2. They’re obviously pretty different from each other, which is fun!

How do you feel about Euphoria ending? Have you watched Season 3?

Even though it was a small role, Euphoria changed my life, so it’s weird to think about it actually ending. I watched Season 3, and I really liked it.

Why should people see Rosebush Pruning?

After Berlinale, it was really cool seeing people have such completely different reactions to it. Some people laughed at things I didn’t expect them to laugh at, and some people were horrified by things I thought were hilarious. That’s what this movie is about: a wild ride. I hope people get on board and want to watch something unlike anything they have ever seen before.

Rosebush Pruning is streaming on MUBI now.