Two Sins & One Goodbye
Some roles wrap when the camera cuts. Others linger in your bloodstream.
**WHEN THE STORM ARRIVES**
Liam wasn’t just a character. He was a storm that rolled in right after I walked out of one of the most mentally draining chapters of my life. Two days after leaving a job that had drained me mentally, emotionally, and physically, I found myself at a callback in Boston. And on top of that weight — I was also dealing with the crushing reality that my father had just been diagnosed with an incurable form of cancer. Everything felt like it was falling apart.
Then, I got the email. I was cast. And the clock started ticking.
**MEETING TAKAYA**
From the start, director Takaya Kawasaki had a precise vision. At my callback, he told me something that grabbed me: *Liam isn’t real.* He’s a fracture — a manifestation of trauma. William’s split psyche. The Tyler Durden of this film. That single sentence reoriented my entire approach. I knew this wasn’t just another role. This was a psychological puzzle.
Takaya’s direction was sharp and purposeful. He didn’t want a caricature or a cliché. He had me run the sides several times, each take with new instructions, new colors, new dangers. It felt like he wasn’t just casting me — he was trying to unlock something with me. I remember leaving the room feeling both drained and electric. “He gets it,” I thought. The following day, I got the confirmation: I was Liam.
Takaya Kawasaki is a director of rare resolve. He’s navigating retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye condition, yet he never once used it as an excuse. He came to Boston from Japan to pursue his dream of filmmaking. English isn’t his first language. His eyesight is compromised. And still, he crafted a film of visual depth, emotional subtlety, and psychological weight. That kind of dedication humbles you. His presence on set, always focused and unwavering, made you want to rise to his level. His vision — both artistic and literal — is something I’ll never forget. He gave everything to this film. And that inspired me to do the same.
All photos by Mompoint Photography, https://mompoint-photography.webnode.page
**MY APPROACH**
We had three months to prepare — and that preparation became more than a process. It became a ritual. A discipline. We rehearsed multiple times, and even conducted a full test shoot — something I’d never done before in film, but something I now wish every project included. That alone opened new doors into the character’s physicality, cadence, and psyche.
I dove back into techniques I hadn’t visited in a long while. I layered methods — starting with Warner Loughlin’s timeline memory-building, then adding in animal work, psychological gestures from Chekhov, and emotional recall. I even leaned into Meisner’s truth-in-the-moment approach to let go during performance. I stacked the deck with every tool I had.
It was a return to roots, and a step into new terrain. Through this fusion of old and new, I found my way to Liam. The umbilical cord between us formed somewhere in the space between imagined memories and method instinct — almost like a timeline where I cherry-picked my own game highlights, then watched them play back in high-definition inside my nervous system. I decided Liam was a grey fox: rare, mythical, cunning. He doesn’t attack without watching first. That led to a slinking physicality — head down, eyes up. Movements deliberate. Almost predatory, but never rushed.
I found the voice too. Lower register. Smooth. Calculated. I kept his tone seductive, even gentle, but always on the verge of menace with the occasional breaks. Liam manipulates. He doesn’t yell. He doesn't need to.
William has asthma. Liam smokes around him. A detail Takaya shared. I ran with it. It’s not in the script, but I made it a character tic. Every scene, Liam offers William a cigarette. A passive threat. A power move. A twisted show of “care.”
I created memory timelines. Ages 5, 10, 15, 16, 18, 20s, 30s. I recorded 30+ voice journals as Liam. Dozens more for Ryan, my other character in this film. I kept a diary, handwritten, in Liam’s voice. I used it all to build a memory bank — so vivid I could feel the heat of each trauma. When you create “fake” memories with that kind of precision, they hit you like real ones. You cry, you shiver, you break — and it all reads on camera.
All photos by Mompoint Photography, https://mompoint-photography.webnode.page
**DOUBLE CASTING**
For the first time in my film career, I’m double-cast. Not only do I play Liam — the ghostly antagonist and fractured mirror of William — I’ll also be voicing Ryan in post-production. Ryan is William’s boss at the station, a character who only exists through voiceover. This brings me back to my voiceover roots, but with a twist — the challenge now is to make sure no one suspects it’s the same actor behind both roles.
Ryan is completely different. He’s older — about 50 — with a thick Boston accent and the kind of gravel in his voice that only comes from decades of chain-smoking and barking orders in a newsroom. He’s seen it all. Think a cross between J. Jonah Jameson — Peter Parker’s blustery boss at the Daily Bugle — and a grizzled Boston sports radio host who’s been yelling into a mic since the '90s. Something like that...
Since I’ll be recording Ryan’s scenes in post, I’m spending time now experimenting with pitch, cadence, rhythm — diving deep into his vocal wear and blue-collar grit. The goal is for Liam and Ryan to sound like they live in different worlds. It’s a puzzle I’m enjoying solving. And when the film’s finished, if no one realizes it’s me doing both — then I’ll know I nailed it. And I’m glad this was the project to do it.
**BUILDING THE BROTHERHOOD**
Liam was created by William to survive abuse. In my imagined origin, Liam was born after William’s first beating by their father at age six. From there, I built an entire brotherhood: secret hiding spots, favorite toys, games they played to distract from the chaos. Liam was the protector, the older brother — even if he was imaginary.
He took the hits. He carried the rage. He did the things William couldn’t. Including sabotaging their father’s car. A murder veiled as mercy. In Liam’s eyes, he’s not the villain. He’s the solution.
That complexity shaped every beat. I created a gesture: two fingers together — a silent “trigger” motion. It became Liam’s emblem. A metaphor. *Two Sins*. Two fingers. Two minds. It even influenced how Chris (William) and I played our dynamic — mirroring each other’s subtle moves. Subliminal symmetry.
All photos by Mompoint Photography, https://mompoint-photography.webnode.page
THE SHOOT: SWEAT, SUN, AND SPONTANEITY
We shot through heat waves, location changes, and even a car accident (Takaya was thankfully okay). 100-degree days didn’t stop anyone — the cast and crew powered through like warriors. Everyone brought their A-game when it counted. Even when things shifted, we adapted. That kind of passion? You can’t fake it. It lives in the frame.
I found myself improvising lines during our pier and bar scenes — drawing from the environment around me, using the Boston skyline as metaphor. The sea became a reflection of William’s collapse… and Liam’s rise. Was I saving him? Or dragging him deeper? Maybe both. That ambiguity was key. That tension? That’s where the magic lives.
All photos by Mompoint Photography, https://mompoint-photography.webnode.page
WRAPPING UP
When it was time to wrap, I found it hard to smile for a group photo. Not because I wasn’t proud — but because I was grieving. It felt like a funeral for Liam. I’d spent months building this life. Now I had to let him go.
I don’t know if I’ll ever play another role like this again. I only know I’m glad it came when it did — when I had the experience, pain, and perspective to play him honestly. Five years ago? I wouldn’t have had the range. Or the scars. But now? I do. And I poured it all in.
THANK YOU
To Takaya Kawasaki — your story inspired me. Your strength reminded me that art doesn’t wait for the perfect moment. You taught me that even when vision fades, clarity of purpose can light the whole damn room. Thank you for trusting me with Liam.
To Chris Heuisler — thank you for being the best “brother“ I could ask for in this project. The brotherhood wasn’t fake — we built something real every take and behind every scene.
To Shana Figueroa — thank you for your hospitality, your steady hand, and for keeping the engine running. You moved mountains behind the scenes to keep this project on track.
To Adrian Mompoint — thank you for capturing many incredible behind-the-scenes moments throughout the shoot. Your eye told its own story.
To our cast & crew — thank you for showing up, for sweating through the long days, for rolling with the chaos. Thank you for caring — that alone separates good films from great ones. Special thanks to:
🎬 THE SINNERS BEHIND THE FILM
Crew
🎬 Takaya Kawasaki – Director
🧠 Shana Figueroa – Producer / AD
🎥 Asma Khoshmehr – DP
📝 (April) Ziyue Ma – Line Producer / Script Sup
🎨 Christina Yijia Ren – Production Designer
📷 Adrian Mompoint – BTS Photographer
🎬 Jonathan Turner (JT) – 1 AC
🎥 Louisa Fong – Cam Op / DIT
🎨 Roland Triozzi (RJ) – Art PA
🎨 Tala Bayou – Art PA
🎨 Danny Diaz – Art PA
💡 Jenn Babick – Gaffer
⚙️ Barbara Wheeler – Key Grip
⚙️ Daniel Abreu – G&E Swing
🎧 Shadrack Akoi – Boom Op / G&E
🎧 Cameron Hunt – Sound
👗 Jen Greeke – Costume Design
💄 Arianna DePalma – Costumes / HMU
Cast
Chris Heuisler – William
Emily Kokidko – Luna
Francisco Marquez – Liam / Ryan (VO)
Nora Fazliu – Avery
Andrea Lyman – Dr. Jones
CLOSING
And now, I say goodbye to Liam —
Not with silence, but with this:
A FINAL POEM
Some roles you play.
Others play you.
They crawl into your voice,
Set up camp behind your eyes,
And leave smoke trails in your chest.
Liam wasn’t mine.
He used me.
To speak. To haunt. To burn.
And I let him.
Now the lights are down.
The camera’s gone.
And I’m driving home with silence in the passenger seat,
a cigarette ghost in the air,
and fragments of Liam flickering in the rearview.
Some characters fade.
Others stay lit, somewhere deep, like an ember.
This one smolders.
Until the next story finds me,
—Francisco Marquez
