When dealing with an ensemble feature – in particular a collection of short stories structured into a feature film – there’s a whole host of talent involved, and in the case of The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, the new film by the Coen brothers, well, that much is a given.

We were therefore happy to speak to pretty much anyone, but you can imagine our excitement when we were granted the opportunity to meet the eponymous sort-of-lead himself, played by Coen’s regular Tim Blake Nelson. He was paired with British actor Harry Melling, who starred in a seperate segment. We also chatted to Bill Heck and Zoe Kazan, who paired up in one of the best of the tales within this wonderful piece of cinema.

Blake Nelson begins by discussing how he was first made aware of this project back in 2002, and his continuing friendship and collaborations with the Coens. Given Liam Neeson’s recent comments about being recognised by a horse on this set, we ask the actors if they’ve ever been in a similar position.

Kazan goes on to discuss the attraction to a genre movie of this nature, and the benefits to having films be made for Netflix, and subsequently much more accessible to a wider audience. Finally we ask her about Wildlife, which she co-penned with her husband, and director, Paul Dano – also out in cinemas soon.

Watch the full interviews below:

Synopsis

An anthology of six short films that take place in 19th-century post-Civil War era during the settling of the Old West.

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs launches on Netflix on November 16th.