“If an animal around here gets hurt like I did, they’ll get put down.” That key line from “The Rider” didn’t come from the mind of the film’s writer-director, Chloé Zhao. It came from her star, Brady Jandreau, whom she worked with to weave one of the most personal tales of the year — and a movie that was the surprise winner of the Gotham Award as the year’s best independent film, beating out contenders that included “The Favourite,” “If Beale Street Could Talk” and “First Reformed.”
After meeting Jandreau during the filming of her first movie, “Songs My Brother Taught Me,” Zhao knew she wanted to make her next project about him, but didn’t know what the storyline would be.
Then an unexpected tragedy provided the inspiration. A few months after Jandreau’s career as a rodeo star was cut short by a fall from his horse and severe head trauma, Zhao and a small crew of five set up in South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Reservation to shoot a drama about a rodeo cowboy who must find a new identity after a similar accident.
“I would say that about 65 percent of the story is Brady’s real life, but even the 35 percent that is fiction had a lot of input from Brady, too,” Zhao said. “As we were shooting, we were following the natural pattern of his life, training horses and other jobs around the reservation. And as we’d go over the script, Brady would change some of the lines to make them like how he would say them.”
There is a separation, though, between the real Brady and the Brady of “The Rider.” The character is a quiet, almost brooding figure, gazing out into the colorful Dakota dusk as he tries to figure out how to move forward after his body has betrayed him. Zhao said that the real Brady had his own period of introspection and reevaluation after his injury, but he’s far more lighthearted than his character, always with a quick smile and a good joke to get the crew laughing.
“He’s very religious,” she said. “For him, there’s a given purpose for everything. For a horse, it’s to run. For a cowboy, it’s to ride. To transition away from being the cowboy that he’s wanted to be all his life was a big process for him. And I still talk with him after we shot the movie. He’s a father now, and it’s been so inspirational watching him find himself again after that accident.”
To read more of the Oscars Nomination Preview issue, click here.
2019 Oscar Contenders, From Rami Malek to Spike Lee to Glenn Close (Exclusive Photos)
Actor Rami Malek, "Bohemian Rhapsody"
Photographed by Shayan Asgharnia for TheWrap
Actor Rami Malek, "Bohemian Rhapsody"
Photographed by Shayan Asgharnia for TheWrap
Actress Yalitza Aparicio, "Roma"
Photographed by Irvin Rivera for TheWrap
Stylist: Monica Cargile
Hair: Matilde Campos
Makeup: Brandy Allen
Actress Yalitza Aparicio, "Roma"
Photographed by Irvin Rivera for TheWrap
Stylist: Monica Cargile
Hair: Matilde Campos
Makeup: Brandy Allen
Actor Willem Dafoe, "At Eternity's Gate"
Photographed by Shayan Asgharnia for TheWrap
Actor Willem Dafoe, "At Eternity's Gate"
Photographed by Shayan Asgharnia for TheWrap
Actress KiKi Layne and director Barry Jenkins, "If Beale Street Could Talk"
Photographed by Matt Sayles for TheWrap
Actor John David Washington and director Spike Lee, "BlacKkKlansman"
Photographed by Matt Sayles for TheWrap
Director Spike Lee, "BlacKkKlansman"
Photographed by Matt Sayles for TheWrap
Chadwick Boseman and Michael B. Jordan, "Black Panther"
Photographed by Matt Sayles for TheWrap
Chadwick Boseman and Michael B. Jordan, "Black Panther"
Photographed by Matt Sayles for TheWrap
Actress Glenn Close, "The Wife"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap
Rami Malek, "Bohemian Rhapsody"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap
John David Washington, Spike Lee and Adam Driver, "Blackkklansman"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap
Alfonso Cuarón, "Roma"
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Actresses Marina de Tavira and Yalitza Aparicio, "Roma"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap
Writer-director Barry Jenkins, "If Beale Street Could Talk"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap
Actress Regina King, "If Beale Street Could Talk"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap
Actor-writer-director Bradley Cooper and actor Sam Elliott, "A Star is Born"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap
Actress Olivia Colman, "The Favourite"
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Actors Richard E. Grant and Melissa McCarthy, "Can You Ever Forgive Me?"
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Director Peter Farrelly, stars Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali and Linda Cardellini, "Greenbook"
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Actor Mahershala Ali, "Green Book"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap
Songwriter Diane Warren, “RBG”
Photographed by Marissa Mooney for TheWrap
Composer Nicholas Britell, “If Beale Street Could Talk,
Photographed by Irvin Rivera for TheWrap
Director Spike Lee, "BlacKkKlansman"
Photographed by Megan Mack for TheWrap
Actress Yalitza Aparicio, "Roma"
Photographed by Megan Mack for TheWrap
Marina de Tavira, "Roma"
Photographed by Megan Mack for TheWrap
Songwriter Scott Wittman, "Mary Poppins Returns
Photographed by Marissa Mooney for TheWrap
Composer-songwriter Marc Shaiman, "Mary Poppins Returns"
Photographed by Marissa Mooney for TheWrap
Songwriter Sounwave, "Black Panther"
Photographed by Marissa Mooney for TheWrap
Songwriters Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman, "Mary Poppins Returns"
Photographed by Marissa Mooney for TheWrap
Director Yorgos Lanthimos, "The Favourite"
Photographed by Elisabeth Caren for TheWrap
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Willem Dafoe, Marhershala Ali, Regina King and more are nominees for this Sunday’s ceremony
