The Founder tells the story of Ray Kroc, the McDonalds brothers and the idea that changed the way we eat forever. Director John Lee Hancock has assembled a fine cast to tell the story of the souring of the American Dream. Michael Keaton plays Ray Kroc, and when we spoke to him he had his own views about the Kardashian effect, and the current state of the American Dream. Hancock also had his reasons for wanting to fill his historical drama with genuine human drama, and this is evident in his casting of actors John Carroll Lynch, Nick Offerman and B. J. Novak.
Offerman and Lynch play the McDonalds brothers (Dick and Mac), while Novak is on the other side of the moral line as Harry J. Sonneborn, an adviser to Ray Kroc. James Kleinmann sat down with the actors, and talked about the overarching theme of how The Founder is about two sides of the American Dream. Offerman said,
“It was very gratifying to play these hard working brothers in an old-fashioned ‘America’ sense…They had dreams, but they were all realistic dreams. What Ray Kroc ending up doing with their idea, they could never have fathomed. I feel like the brothers represent the old-fashioned American ideal of a community of people who work hard and…if they succeed it’s because their work has integrity, and they have the welfare of other people in mind. That sets up what Ray Kroc is willing to discard in order to achieve his greedy dream.”
This plays nicely with the dual nature of the idealism and the ruthlessness necessary to endure that is at the heart of the film. Take a look at the full interview below,
The Founder in out in UK cinemas on the 17th of February.
John Carroll Lynch, Nick Offerman & B. J. Novak – The Founder Interview
