Matthew Goode prepared to play The Offer's Robert Evans by having conversations with himself as the Hollywood icon

Los Angeles Times

The British actor was stunned when he was offered The Godfather making-of series' key role of the late Paramount Studios chief, especially since he auditioned for another role. So to prepare, Goode -- who had to travel from Britain to Budapest to obtain a visa to work in Los Angeles amid the pandemic -- went down a YouTube wormhole of Robert Evans interviews, but he opted not to rewatch The Kid Stays in the Picture because it features a much older Evans. Goode also prepared by talking to himself as Evans. “I don’t do Method, but I do during rehearsals, so I spent a lot of time in my role, sometimes having amusing conversations with myself as Robert. I’d be sitting there,” Goode tells the Los Angeles Times, before leading into character, “a libation in my hand and from sheer boredom, ‘I don’t agree with the casting, man,’” he says, in Evans’ voice. “‘You don’t know me’ (in Goode’s voice) ‘and that’s exactly my point’ (back to Evans). Who the hell are you?’”