1 of 3 | Left to right, Rami Malek, Colin Hanks and John Slattery star in “Nuremberg,” now in playing in theaters. Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics
Mad Men and Avengers alum John Slattery says Nuremberg — his fact-based, post-World War II legal drama about those seeking justice in the face of abject cruelty — is a story that people can learn from and relate to in 2025.
“How more relevant could this movie be? I think the timing of it is sort of remarkable, given what’s occurring in the world. I think that’s one of the reasons that Jamie Vanderbilt wanted to tell it. I know it is,” Slattery, 63, told UPI in a recent Zoom interview.
“Despite the fact that he’d been working on it and trying to get it made for a long time, it’s maybe a sad relevance. It is. Or a coincidence that it’s coming into the world at this particular time. But, I think people will, obviously, see the parallels.”
In theaters now, writer-director Vanderbilt’s adaptation of Jack El-Hai’s book, The Nazi and the Psychiatrist, follows Robert Jackson (Michael Shannon,) the chief U.S. prosecutor charged with trying the surviving members of the Nazi regime responsible for the Holocaust.
Rami Malek plays U.S. Army psychiatrist Douglas Kelley, who must determine whether former Reichsmarschall Herman Göring (Russell Crowe) is competent to stand trial.
Slattery plays U.S. Army Colonel Burton C. Andrus, the commandant of Nuremberg Prison where Göring and the other defendants were held while they awaited trial.
“I read the script and then I read the book on which the script was based and then I read the book that the character I played wrote,” Slattery recalled.
“It wasn’t hard to see how important it was to them for this trial to take place and how important it was to do it well and to not make any mistakes and to show the world what had occurred.”
He emphasized that the prosecutors had to put their personal feelings aside, so that they could treat the defendants fairly and humanely.
This was not an opportunity the Nazis afforded their millions of victims, most of whom were Jewish.
“It was a difficult assignment to say the least,” Slattery said of those involved in the trial. “It was an interesting challenge to tell that story in a responsible but, ultimately, entertaining way.”
Slattery said there was so much information about Andrus available that he had to “pick and choose” what to incorporate into his performance.
“The movie’s not about my character, so I you just had to find the things that stuck out that would make it so that you contribute to telling the story, primarily,” he said.
“But, also, it’s entertainment. You want to make the character stand out in a way that isn’t interfering with the telling of the story, but, also, is contributing to the dynamics. So, you talk to the director and you come up with ideas and ways of doing things, and you make adjustments. This is what sort of evolved,” Slattery added.
“We couldn’t take everything that the guy did, because, again, there’s limited screen time and you’re there to help tell the story.”
The actor described Vanderbilt — who also wrote White House Down, Scream VI and two Murder Mystery movies — as a “great collaborator and a great guy.”
“Fun to be with and funny as hell,” he said. “I couldn’t ask for a better experience.”
