The Outfit (2022)

The Outfit

FilmNation Entertainment

Focus Features

Release date: 03/18/2022

Social Media

#TheOutfit

Directed by

Graham Moore

Written by

Graham Moore, Johnathan McClain

Produced by

Scoop Wasserstein, Amy Jackson, Ben Browning

Starring

Mark Rylance as Leonard

Zoey Deutch as Mable

Johnny Flynn as Francis

Dylan O'Brien as Richie

Nikki Amuka-Bird as Violet

Simon Russell Beale

Cinematography

Dick Pope

Edited by

William Goldenberg

Music by

Alexandre Desplat

Alan Mehdizadeh discusses his character "Monk" in 'The Outfit'

"Monk is part of Roy's gang.  He has been Roy's head bodyguard and his most trusted servant for many years. He came into the organization quite young and worked his way up. He looks after Roy. I don't think there's anyone else that Roy would trust with his life as much as Monk.  Not even Ritchie. He's there day and night, to do whatever Roy needs in terms of the gang.  

Roy, Ritchie, Monk, and Francis have been around each other for many years." 

Dylan O’Brien discusses his character "Richie" in 'The Outfit'

"I play Richie. He's Roy's son.  Richie comes from a privileged upbringing.  He's sort of the number 2 behind his Pops. He's probably a little protected. He's a gangster by the way. 

Richie and Leonard have a pretty good relationship until we dive into the story that we see in the film.  Leonard owns Leonard Shop. It is sort of a drop zone for us, and we kind of use it as we will for the business. Richie likes Leonard...I think he gets a kick out of him.  I think he always tries to like get him to talk. He thinks he's got a funny accent.  He's probably the only person with any kind of accent he's ever even known in his life.  It's a different time. The 1950's in Chicago.  I don't know what Leonard thinks of Richie.

Richie and Francis have a complicated relationship. He has had to endure life under his father's microscope.  He desperately seeks his father's approval.

Mabel is the cute girl from the shop. Ritchie likes Mabel.

The costumes in this film are absolutely a part of the fabric of the film.  A huge piece.   You sort of see everybody's character in their fabric. We all sort of have a mask. Not everyone is totally what they seem to be."

Co-Writer/Director Graham Moore discusses 'The Outfit'

"The outfit is about an English tailor. He used to cut in London.  After a personal tragedy, he ended up in Chicago in the 1950s.  He's opened up a little corner tailor shop. The only folks who can afford the fine clothes are a family of vicious gangsters.  So The Outfit is about this tailor and his increasing involvement in the lives of the gangsters. 

When we first started writing the script, something we were always fascinated by was the psychology of people who spend their entire lives perfecting the art of something so esoteric that most people cannot even tell their experts at it.  Someone like Leonard (Mark Rylance) is such an expert at what he does.  He makes these beautiful things, and no one even the people he makes them for don't even totally realize why they're so good.  He's that good. There's a certain loneliness to that.  There's something about the psychology of someone who devotes his life to something that is esoteric and that specific. To be one of the best in the world at this extremely specific thing is such a fascinating psychology to me.   I think that's what initially drew me to the story in the first place. 

Jonathan and I just kept asking ourselves what's the story here?  We want to build around this character, and that's when, after years of exploration, we were reading this one book about the history of Savile row. We found this single sentence that mentioned that the first bug in the history of the FBI, the first bug in FBI history, was planted in a tailor shop in Chicago, Illinois, in 1956 and we instantly looked at each other and we said 'Oh, well that's a movie.'"

Johnny Flynn discusses his character "Francis" in 'The Outfit'

"Francis works for Roy (Simon Russell Beale).  He's not an actual member of the family. He's the only kind of gangster mobster you meet who's not in the family. He's worked his way up. He's kind of brilliant foot soldier. He's taken 6 bullets fairly recently for Roy.   He's kind of like a number 3, underneath Ritchie (Dylan O'Brien).

Roy is the head of the family. They're not a huge operation.  They have their turf.  They want to take over more territory.   He's potentially like the son that Roy wished he had. He's much more practical and ruthless than his actual son Richie.  

Francis and Richie have a strange relationship. They're just very different personalities."

Simon Russell Beale discusses his character "Roy" in 'The Outfit'

"Roy is the head of a gang in Chicago in the 1950s. He runs the gang.  He's trying to sort of secure his position in the neighborhood. 

Leonard and Roy have one of those odd but close relationships. Roy is one of Leonard's clients. Roy likes a nice suit.  Leonard is a good tailor.  He is trained in London.  I think he trusts Leonard. Leonard seems honest.  He makes a beautiful suit. He's quiet. He's doesn't want anything to do with the work that Roy does. 

Roy has a son who I think he loves very much. I think he would love it if Richie could somehow take on the mantle he's created."

Zoey Deutch discusses her character "Mable" in 'The Outfit'

"Mabel and Leonard is very much a father/daughter relationship.  They've both experienced immense loss in their lives. They both look out for each other.  Mabel wants to leave Chicago because it represents all of her trauma.

Mabel doesn't have much. The money that she does make she's putting away to get out of Chicago."