CS Video: Love & Mercy Stars John Cusack, Paul Dano and Elizabeth Banks

Although the music of The Beach Boys has, in the four decades since their debut, become an essential part of American culture, many people aren’t aware of the troubled road traveled by frontman Brian Wilson. In the new film, Love & Mercy, director Bill Pohlad (best known for producing films like Brokeback Mountain, Into the Wild, and 12 Years a Slave) takes a unique approach to Wilson’s story, casting both Paul Dano and John Cusack as the artist. Cutting back and forth between two different time periods, Pohlad manages to create a singular portrait of Wilson, delivering the most innovative musician biopic this side of Todd Haynes’ I’m Not There.

ComingSoon.net sat down with Cusack, Dano and Elizabeth Banks, who plays Wilson’s second wife, Melinda. It’s through her eyes that the Cusack-led half of Wilson’s life unfolds on the screen. In the player below, you can check out insight from all three stars, including discussion of the incredible fact that Dano and Cusack didn’t connect with one another until after Dano had nearly finished filming!

Love & Mercy is produced by John Wells and Claire Rudnick Polstein through their John Wells Productions and by Pohlad through his River Road Entertainment. The film hits theaters in a limited release this Friday, June 5.