The list of ideas like that goes on and on. Maybe you can put your hand in their mouths?" That's a messed up idea, and its discomfiting. Malgo said the day before, "We need something weird. The blood smearing - I'm not sure that was is in the script, or the bit involving Shepherd putting his fingers in the mouths of his wives. Did you have any input about these scenes? The film shows one bizarre ritual of blood-smearing and other unusual moments that are quite powerful. Shepherd is very comfortable with being worshipped. I don't get "worship," but it is sometimes strange when people who don't know me come up and say, "I love you so much." It makes me slightly uncomfortable. Have you had any strange fan responses from women, or even men, who "worship" you? But so much of that - if it works - is movie magic. You need to believe that you have that control, and really understand the story you are in and where your character comes from. I don't think you can perform that control as an actor. I don't know that's something I can play. In an ideal scenario, that's what we wanted to achieve - you feel that control. You seem to excel at playing men who are charismatic and creepy. I had to worry about the psyche of this character and make him look elevated and mysterious. Even when he makes the most horrible decision, he believes he did the right thing for his "daughters." The Jesus-like reference, I felt in good hands with the director and the cinematographer, and I wouldn't have to worry about that aspect of his character. I think he constantly thinks he's doing the right thing for his flock. It was understanding why he's doing something and why he believes he's doing the right thing. How did you process those ideas in creating the character of Shepherd? He abuses or casts out anyone who defies him. There is, obviously, a toxic masculinity at work in "The Other Lamb." Shepherd has his followers bathe him, sleep with him, and more. He's not succeeding in being a good father. I didn't want to play him as a "bad guy," although he is a terrible man. For me, playing a character so dark and manipulative, it was important to understand where it started for him. But as time goes on and the group grows, it becomes almost impossible for him to keep things the way they are, stay in the center of their lives, keep them away from the outside world, and be self-sufficient. They found it under the wings of my character, Shepherd, who wanted to be a good father and a good husband. It started because a lot of these women were looking for family and support, something they all were missing in their personal lives. The ideological way that it started and slowly built over the course of two decades is very different from the mechanics of the cult it turned into. I think that when the film starts, the cult we follow is on its decline. What observations do you have about cults in general, and Shepherd and "The Flock" in particular? It is disturbing to see people exert power over the blindly faithful. The Dutch actor spoke with Salon about his penchant for playing such charismatic yet problematic men, as well as his thoughts on cults and his career. And Shepherd is violent towards anyone who defies him. Sarah (Denise Gough), who is Shepherd's "cursed wife," is an outcast who likens him to the sun - bright and glorious until it burns you. But not everyone is enamored with this cult leader. There is also an intense sequence that involves him ritually smearing blood on his followers' cheeks as they encircle him. Huisman makes Shepherd equally seductive and sinister, as when he caresses a lock of Selah's hair, or sensually places two of his fingers in a woman's mouth. As Shepherd exerts his patriarchy over the women, situations arise that challenge everyone and don't necessarily go well for some. He also is forced by the police to relocate from his compound, which prompts "The Flock," as the group is known, to embark on an arduous trek. He expresses his affection for the pure (i.e., virginal) Selah (Raffey Cassidy), but she slowly comes to question both the rules and this man she blindly trusts. "The Other Lamb" generates its tension as Shepherd endures various power shifts. (It's all women, save Shepherd as someone observes wryly, "You can only have one ram in a flock.") In the moody and atmospheric new horror-drama, "The Other Lamb," available April 3 on demand, Michiel Huisman ("Game of Thrones," "The Haunting fo Hill House") plays Shepherd, a messiah-like character, complete with skirted robes and Jesus-like hair, who presides over a group of about two dozen women in the remote countryside.
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