Quick summary
- Martin McDonagh called Sam Rockwell “one of the best actors of his generation, if not the best” on Friday, 13 November 2026.
- He spoke at the first Vanity Fair Screening Room at LACMA in Los Angeles, after a screening of Wild Horse Nine.
- McDonagh said he keeps returning to male friendships because they can be as sensitive and sad as any other relationship.
- Casting director Sarah Finn told Daily Actor how she built the ensemble around Rockwell, John Malkovich and Steve Buscemi.
Martin McDonagh has described Sam Rockwell as possibly the finest actor of his generation, using a Vanity Fair panel in Los Angeles to explain why the pair’s collaboration works. The director made the remark on Friday, 13 November 2026, according to Vanity Fair, after an exclusive screening of his new dark comedy Wild Horse Nine.
What McDonagh said about Sam Rockwell
Vanity Fair reports that McDonagh called Rockwell “always surprising, always dangerous, always sensitive, always smart”. He added that there is a danger to the actor that is “lovely to write for”, and that hearing Rockwell’s voice in his head helps him shape characters who surprise the audience.
The praise carries weight because the two have a history. Rockwell was already attached to the film before the rest of the cast came together, according to Daily Actor, which also notes that casting director Sarah Finn previously worked with McDonagh on Seven Psychopaths and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. For more on the awards conversation, see our earlier piece, Sam Rockwell Oscar Chance for Martin McDonagh’s Wild Horse Nine.
Why male friendships keep appearing in his films
The panel was moderated by Vanity Fair’s Senior Hollywood Correspondent Rebecca Ford and also featured John Malkovich and Mariana di Girolamo. Asked about the male relationships in his work, McDonagh said he likes digging into a sensitivity that American films tend not to explore.
“It’s not just a buddy film, and it’s not a romance, and it’s not just about cool CIA guys,” he said, according to Vanity Fair. He argued that men’s friendships can be “sensitive and sad and happy and all the things that a female relationship can be”, which is why he keeps coming back to them.
Malkovich on working with Rockwell
Malkovich, who plays CIA agent Chris opposite Rockwell’s Lee, said he had worked with Rockwell once before, on The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. He compared Rockwell to an expert trainer at SeaWorld who can coax the whales and dolphins into showing their tricks. He also called him a devoted student of film and theatre, hardworking and “an ideal colleague”.
Vanity Fair describes the film as following two CIA agents who helped plan the overthrow of the Chilean government in 1973 and had a hand in other historic moments. Daily Actor adds that their boss, played by Buscemi, sends them to Easter Island, where their shared past keeps catching up with them.
A Chilean debut in English
Di Girolamo, a Chilean actress, is making her English-language debut in the film. She said it was a real challenge to perform in English for the first time. She prepared with a coach and rehearsed with Malkovich, Rockwell, Parker Posey and Ailin Salas in a public theatre in New York, where she first heard the script read aloud.
She told the audience she knew the period of Chilean history well, but had never seen it approached with such dark humour. She laughed at the material and felt empathy for CIA agents who, in her words, committed horrific things. That mix is the tightrope Finn describes: actors who can make audiences laugh at a character, then feel for them.
What happens next
The Screening Room is a new Vanity Fair series pairing the year’s films with panels and conversations. After Los Angeles, it moves to New York, with events at the Cherry Lane Theatre from 4 to 6 December. The LACMA venue, the Steve Tisch Theater, is not yet open to the public, according to Vanity Fair.
For the full ensemble, read our guide to the Wild Horse Nine cast and story, or Rockwell’s own view in Sam Rockwell on Wild Horse Nine and McDonagh’s Looser Style. Everything we publish on the director is on the Martin McDonagh tag page, and more film coverage sits in Movies.
Frequently asked questions
What did Martin McDonagh say about Sam Rockwell?
He called Rockwell “one of the best actors of his generation, if not the best”, praising him as surprising, dangerous, sensitive and smart. He said the actor’s voice helps him write.
Where was the panel held?
It took place at the inaugural Vanity Fair Screening Room at LACMA in Los Angeles on Friday, 13 November 2026, following a screening of Wild Horse Nine.
Who stars in Wild Horse Nine?
John Malkovich, Sam Rockwell and Steve Buscemi star, with Mariana di Girolamo in her English-language debut. Parker Posey and Ailin Salas are also in the cast, according to the sources above.
