Alex Pettyferstars as Dwight Tufford inThe Infernal Machine, a criminal who draws inspiration for a heinous crime from the work of Bruce Cogburn (Guy Pearce), the reclusive author of the titular novel. Throughout the film, Cogburn receives letters from an obsessed fan of his novel, and in pursuit of uncovering who is sending the letters, he and Tufford cross paths. Sometimes with Tufford constrained while others, we see him in muchmore dangerous circumstances.
“My first day was the day that I go to Bruce’s house,” explained Pettyfer, “And I enter his house… and there’s a very intense scene between Bruce and I when we meet in person. That was my first day of filming. When you’re interacting in a way with Guy — who as a young actor who has inspired to work in film like Guy, and do great film — to be holding your idol in a scene intensely as we are, there’s a juxtaposition of, ‘How did I end up here?’ It’s quite surreal, but then you kind of have to snap back into the fact that you’re doing the work and kind of be present with that.”
Starring alongside Pettyfer and Pearce inThe Infernal Machineare Alice Eve, Jeremy Davies, and more. It’s written and directed by Andrew Hunt and is available in select theaters and on digital as of June 19, 2025.
Alex Pettyfer as Dwight Tufford in The Infernal Machine
Pettyfer delivers a cold-hearted criminal who iss estranged from humanity, a character with a “blankness,” as he described existed in the thread between those he researched for his role, executed with detail right down to the way they speak slower in confinement, “because they want time to interact with someone, because they don’t interact. So, those 15 minutes of fame that they get by having an interview, which they probably are only allowed one or two, they try to prolong that because the rest of their life, they’re in a shoebox.”
“I have to give credit to Andrew,” said Pettyfer, “99% of it was on the page. It’s kind that he says that," referring to howin a previous interview, Hunt lauded his ability to bring so many layers to his performance, “but he’s a great writer and a great director. And you know, I don’t enjoy researching these kinds of people, and I rarely play them. I have an empathy that I find it near impossible to kind of sympathize with or relate to someone like this. So, the process of preparing for the film was very difficult because I can’t sit there and watch countless hours of interviews of these horrific events. For me, I go back to the source material, which is the words in the script, and I kind of work on the physicality. Dwight is very restrained in his environment… in the scenes that I am contained, the only thing I could work with was the voice and this pattern that I saw in the very small clips that I watched of individuals that had done terrible acts of violence, this tone and inflection that they all had which kind of thread through all these individuals. After watching those, I kind of sat there, read the dialogue, and tried to have that rhythm… and I approached Andrew and said, ‘This is what I’m thinking. Would you ever be open for that?’ and I spoke to Guy about it, and they both received it positively.”
Related:Guy Pearce on The Infernal Machine, Character Inspiration, and Working with Alex Pettyfer
The World of The Infernal Machine
“It has kind of set a world here that is challenging the subconscious and makes you think a lot,” said Pettyfer on what he’s excited for audiences to see from the film, with the addition of notinghow great Pearce’s performance is. He continued, “I love movies that you’re sitting and thinking while watching… someone very kindly referenced it to an homage ofMemento. We’re a very different movie, but that era of films where you’re constantly thinking is something that I love.”
“When we look at a piece of art, whether that’s film, whether it’s a sculpture or a painting, we can have a thought process towards that piece of art that can either inspire or not. If I go to a museum, you and I can see the Mona Lisa, you can take an Instagram photo and move on, and I can be moved by the painting, you know, we all have our own interpretation of what art is. But when art makes you think and challenges your judgment, your morals, how you see the world, then you are doing something where you are affecting the emotion of the audience. I know I had that experience making the film and reading the script, and I hope audiences also have that kind of experience as well while watching the film,” Pettyfer added.
