John Malkovich reflects on the limits of friendship in ‘Wild Horse Nine’

(From left) Steve Buscemi, John Malkovich, Mariana di Girolamo, Martin McDonagh, and Parker Posey attend the Los Angeles special screening of ‘Wild Horse Nine’ at Linwood Dunn Theater in Los Angeles November 2, 2026. — Monica Schipper/Getty Images/AFP pic

First Published: Sunday, 08 Nov 2026 9:54 AM MYT

LOS ANGELES, Nov 8 — US actor John Malkovich has close, longtime friends, but unlike his character Chris in the new dark comedy Wild Horse Nine, he thinks there are limits on what one can ask them to do.

Directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Martin McDonagh, the movie follows two CIA spies in the lead-up to the US-backed 1973 coup in Chile.

As the spies — played by 72-year-old Malkovich and Oscar winner Sam Rockwell — visit Easter Island against a tense sociopolitical backdrop, veteran agent Chris asks his partner to end his life as he knows his days are numbered.

“I think asking a friend to take your life is about as big an ask as one can make,” Malkovich told a news conference in Los Angeles this week.

“I wouldn’t do it,” he added, laughing.

Malkovich described the rapport between the characters: “They argue about odd things... whether they should kill people while they’re eating, or how gay is cheese in various countries.”

John Malkovich attends Searchlight Pictures’ ‘Wild Horse Nine’ New York Screening at Whitby Hotel in New York City November 4, 2026. — Theo Wargo/Getty Images/AFP pic

The actor, who has been nominated for an Academy Award twice but never won, has generated significant Oscar buzz for his performance in Wild Horse Nine, especially after winning the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at this year’s Venice Film Festival.

Malkovich said he was drawn to the project by McDonagh’s script.

“He’s a terrific writer of dialogue,” Malkovich said.

“He’s a terrific writer of writing about men, I think, and their various complications... their relationships with themselves and with other men, their need for other men in their lives and their rejection of that need.”

McDonagh, a playwright and director, has been nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the Oscars three times, most recently for 2022’s The Banshees of Inisherin.

Steve Buscemi, who plays the CIA’s Latin American bureau chief in Wild Horse Nine, said the film hinges on the characters, rather than the plot.

“The story really is the relationships and what these characters have to do, what they ask of each other, how they relate to each other,” he told the news conference. — AFP