Sundance 2025: ‘Touch Me’ Star Lou Taylor Pucci Discusses His Crazy Character Creation [VIDEO]

In Addison Heimann’s deliciously insane second feature, Touch Me, Lou Taylor Pucci plays Brian, a buff, tracksuit wearing extraterrestrial-ish being, who has the power to alleviate anxiety with a simple touch. Besties Joey (Olivia Taylor Dudley) and Craig (Jordan Gavaris) both become enamored with Brian and fall under his spell. And he romances each one–but his endgame might be slightly more nefarious than they know.

This wild and bloody thriller is an homage to Japanese cinema of the 60s/70s and deftly blends authentic drama, hilarious comedy and sci-fi thrills.

Pucci does a keen balance with Brian, creating a non-human character we can relate to, are repelled by, and totally fall for. He masterfully blends pathos and camp for a uniquely rich performance.

Born in NJ, Pucci began acting onstage at the age of 10 in a production of Oliver! Two years later he was understudying on Broadway. His first film, Rebecca Miller’s Personal Velocity: Three Portrait,  premiered at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. His breakthrough role came in 2005 with Thumbsucker winning him a Special Jury Prize at Sundance as well as the Silver Bear for Best Actor at the Berlin Film Festival. In 2009, three of his films screened at Sundance, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, The Informers and The Answer Man.

His TV work includes, the miniseries Empire Falls opposite Paul Newman (2005), American Horror Story: 1984 (2019) as well as episodes of Girls, You, Younger, Shameless and, recently, co-starring in Apple TV+’s Physical (2021-23) opposite Rose Byrne.

Other notable films: The Chumscrubber (2005), Fast Food Nation (2006), Southland Tales (2006), Explicit Ills (2008), Carriers (2009), Brotherhood (2010), The Music Never Stopped (2011), Jack and Diane (2012), The Story of Luke (2012) and Evil Dead (2013).

Next month, Pucci can also be seen opposite James Norton and Griffin Dunne in Noah Pritzker’s moving meditation on family, relationships and heartache, Ex-Husbands.

He’s currently filming The Avalanche, written and directed by Johnny Coffeen.

Touch Me brings him back to Sundance where the film will World Premiere on January 28, 2025.

Tickets: https://festival.sundance.org/tickets/

The Contending has the pleasure of a Zoom-chat with Pucci about Touch Me and his career.