'Metal Lords' turns three actors into true metalheads

“Metal Lords” is a teen music drama and comedy about two students who form a metal band in order to win their school’s battle of the bands. Photo illustration by DANIEL PEARSON, Photo Editor

The art of the headbang is a skill that every metalhead must possess.

Amid the raging drums, the shredding guitar and loud screams, metalheads know it’s essential to put all your energy into violently thrashing your head back and forth to truly connect with the energy of the music. In order for actor Isis Hainsworth to embody a true metalhead for the new film “Metal Lords,” she received advice on the headbang from metal musician Tom Morello. 

“My one resounding note from (Morello) was, ‘Your neck should be hurting! Your whole body should be aching! Just go harder and harder!’” Hainsworth told The Panther. “I couldn’t headbang to save myself, but I think I can headbang better now than I could then.”

With plenty of time to rest any sore muscles, Hainsworth — along with music supervisor Morello, co-stars Jaeden Martell and Adrian Greensmith and writer-producer D.B. Weiss — sat down with several college publications from around the country March 28 to discuss the filming of “Metal Lords.”

The Netflix film is set to debut April 8 and revolves around high-school outcasts Kevin (Martell) and Hunter (Greensmith), who form a metal band with the goal of winning their school’s battle of the bands competition to be worshipped among their peers. In search of a bassist, the two stumble across Emily (Hainsworth), a cello player who can shred just the same; however, Hunter isn’t so welcoming. 

The cast and crew of “Metal Lords” sat down at a virtual college roundtable March 28 to discuss their filming experience, from bloody drums to the proper headbanging technique. Photo courtesy of Netflix

“One of the things that surprised me was the incredible professionalism of the young actors, two of whom had never played a musical instrument,” Morello told The Panther. “The key was not just getting the performances to look convincing. The key was to bring out the essence of heavy metal in these kids who had never tasted that barbaric metal blood.”

In order to evoke the proper spirit of metal in the performance scenes, Morello sent the cast a photographic mood board to look at between takes. The images included: Metallica singer James Hetfield bellowing into a microphone, an angry jaguar snarling and a man at a St. Patrick’s Day afterparty who smashed a bottle over his head.  

“I told them, ‘Let this be your guide,’” Morello said at the event. “‘Have the next two takes embody a performance that feels like a triangulation between the spirit of these three photographs.’ Then we were on the right track. That’s when the metal really started kicking in.”

Weiss holds a special resonance to high school films and metal music in particular. With experience as a producer on the HBO series “Game Of Thrones,” Weiss stepped away from the big-budget fantasy genre to combine his two loves in “Metal Lords.”

When asked about the best part of working on a smaller production, Weiss joked there were no horses galloping at him, an experience he endured on a previous set. He later told The Panther the best part was having the ability to focus more on the actors. 

“The more things that are happening in the scene … the more of an emotional removal (for me on set),” Weiss told The Panther. “In every scene we were shooting, we were seeing the scene happen in front of us in a way that bears a lot of relationship to what ends up in the movie. It’s a much more contained environment, and you get to focus more on people when there are fewer of them.”

While the smaller cast was a bonus to Weiss, he still had his fair share of challenges. The entirety of the filming took place during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in October 2020. This made it more difficult for the cast members to mesh and develop a camaraderie off-set. 

“It was hard to hang out a ton,” Greensmith told The Panther. “There were a few walks. I made (Hainsworth and Martell) dinner one night, and it went terribly. But we made the most with what we had. (Hainsworth and Martell) are two very lovely people.”

The three actors all come from varying levels of acting experience. Martell holds credits in over 20 films including “It” and “St. Vincent.” Hainsworth has been featured in films such as “Emma” and theater performances such as “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Greensmith, who holds a background in theater, said this was his first time on a film set. 

“I had no idea what to expect (going on set the first time); you really just (act) over and over again with different coverage,” Greensmith said to the audience of college journalists. “You’re out of control as to what reaction shot they’re going to use, unlike in theater when you’re in complete control of responding genuinely in the moment. It was very new with a lot of room to play, but it also feels slightly out of your hands, which is a stressful thing to grapple with.”  

For Martell, there were difficult aspects of filming, such as learning to play the drums and trying to nail down the comedy, but he said the most difficult aspect was playing a character with such a strong transformative arc. 

“With (Kevin), he really has this arc, and I don’t even know if I did it justice,” Martell said at the event. “It was difficult to play someone who has a very clear, distinct change … and to show the process of him learning how to believe in himself. With everything else, it's always a challenge, but that's what makes it worth doing — learning and growing.”

Martell added that performing the concert scenes and playing in front of a crowd was one of the most satisfying things he’s ever done. 

“To be that physically into something … I had bruises on my legs and cuts on my hand,” Martell said at the roundtable. “My snare drums were covered in blood, and I felt so invigorated and exhausted. Because there was a whole crowd and so much pressure on our musical performances, it was a huge challenge, but it also felt good to overcome. I had never done anything like that.”

“Metal Lords” will be available for streaming via Netflix April 8.