Théodore Pellerin on Lurker and the Dark Side of Fan Culture

What’s the difference between love and obsession? That’s the question asked in Lurker, the directorial debut of The Bear and Beef writer-producer Alex Russell. But for 28-year-old actor Théodore Pellerin, the unsettling psychological thriller – in which a fan whisked up in the world of a fast-rising popstar acts increasingly out of turn – was an exercise in “the need to end the fear of being rejected”.

Lurker is the latest in a series of tricky, multifaceted performances from the Québécois performer, following lead roles in Sophie Dupuis’ Solo, in which he plays a drag queen entangled in a complicated romance, and Pauline Loquès’ Nino, about a young man diagnosed with throat cancer on the eve of his 29th birthday. He emerged as a singular presence in bit-part roles for the likes of Joel Edgerton (Boy Erased) and Xavier Dolan (It’s Only the End of the World), but is now stepping into the spotlight with the likes of Lurker and a plum role in Disney’s Becoming Karl Lagerfeld, as French dandy and fashion muse Jacques de Bascher. It’s the complexity of characters that attracts Pellerin.

Embedded in LA culture, Lurker follows 20-something loner Matthew (Pellerin), who works at a hipster clothing store popular with celebrity shoppers, which leads to his chance meeting with up-and-coming pop star Oliver (Saltburn’s Archie Madekwe). Strategically feigning nonchalance, Matthew attracts the musician and infiltrates his inner circle, establishing a creative partnership with the mononymous singer. Like everyone else in his entourage, Matthew wants to bask in Oliver’s starry glow, but nobody wants it as badly as he does.

“Matthew is very much adapting in real time, he’s trying to figure out which character is the best to portray,” says Pellerin, pondering his character’s motivation before the film’s premiere at the London Film Festival. “The film is [Matthew] going through an education of how to act, how to be and how to save himself in social situations.” Pellerin is at the heart of Lurker’s most explosive moments, bringing thrilling unpredictability to Matthew, whose every smile conceals scheming intent.

The splintering of self examined in the film is a reflection of today’s celebrity culture as epitomised by LA, a virtual third lead character in the film. Two years before filming Lurker, the team shot a teaser where Pellerin was able to get a taste of the city. He quickly realised LA life isn’t for him. “I love the rain and I can’t do sun,” laughs the actor, who was handed a camcorder to film at parties across town as part of his research. “I’m a vampire. It’s also not good for me. Why would you want to live in a town where everybody’s trying to do the same thing?”

Watching behind-the-scenes videos of musicians backstage, he observed the dichotomy of the “friend-slash-colleague – is it a friend circle or is it a work circle?” It’s a dynamic you’d think he might be familiar with as an actor himself, but Pellerin isn’t so sure. “I tend to run away from relationships with people,” he offers, confessing he has a more isolated experience when it comes to work friends. “I love people, but I don’t make friends easily. I’m just not able to play the social game. When my agents want me to do a general meeting where you sit down with a producer or director, I think it [does] a disservice to all of us, because I’m really bad at it.”

That leads us to discuss his charismatic co-star, Madekwe, with whom he builds a relationship on camera through a series of increasingly intense scenes. “I think after two or three weeks I felt very, very close to him,” he says. “It’s not always the case, but Archie, like Oliver, in a less toxic way, is very lovable, very charismatic; he makes everyone feel seen and heard.” The bond between Matthew and Oliver spins out of control as Pellerin’s character fights to defend his turf, the fallout bleeding into every aspect of their lives. “I’ve been in some relationships like that when I was [a teenager],” Pellerin reflects. “You become friends with someone and it’s like, ‘Oh my God, they’re so charming. Then [suddenly] you’re not friends with them anymore. It’s toxic.”

Having embodied this shapeshifting, obsessive character for around six weeks, toying with Matthew’s darker sides, the shoot left its mark on Pellerin. He shares that it took a while “to stop being anxious” when filming wrapped. “I’m becoming more porous as I get a bit older with movies,” he muses. “If you’re in every single scene of the movie, you’re spending more time as a character than as yourself.” There’s a meta quality to Pellerin taking some time to shake off a character who is, in turn, navigating which role to embody. One of the biggest challenges of Lurker was leaving it behind, “the themes of the film and the lens that you’ve had to apply fading away. It takes time.”

Lurker is out in UK cinemas now.