Exclusive Interview: Beulah Koale Chats Dual, Working with Riley Stearns, and Stepping Outside His Comfort Zone

New Zealand actor Beulah Koale is a gifted storyteller who has brought dynamic characters to life in projects including Hawaii Five-0, Shadow in the Cloud, and The Panthers. As a storyteller, it’s always been his mission to push himself outside of his comfort zone, which has led him to his latest film: Dual.

Upon receiving a terminal diagnosis, Sarah (Karen Gillan) opts for a cloning procedure to ease her loss on her friends and family. When she makes a sudden and miraculous recovery, her attempts to have her clone decommissioned fail and lead to a court—mandated duel to the death. Now she has one year to train her body and mind for the fight of her life. Beulah shines as Sarah’s husband Peter who is caught in the middle.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Beulah about the film.

PC: Tell us about Dual and your character in the film
Beulah: Dual is a film set in the distant future where if you’re about to die or terminally ill, you have the option of making a clone of yourself to replace you when you pass for your family. In the unlikely event that you don’t pass away, you and your clone have to fight to the death. Whoever wins gets to live out the rest of their life as that person, which is scary. I’m glad it’s a movie. I play Peter, who is the husband of Karen Gillan’s character. I get to hang out with both Sarahs, who she plays.

PC: What was it about this particular character and script that attracted you to this project?
Beulah: First of all, just working with Riley [Stearns]. I watched The Art of Self-Defense, and I knew instantly that I wanted to work with Riley because of the way that he creates art, the way he shoots, and his style.

I’d never done sci-fi or comedy before. It’s something that I was very scared of, but I enjoyed that challenge. I have a rule for myself that if I’m scared of something, it means I have to run towards it and figure it out. This was one of those cases.

PC: Your character is caught in a really interesting predicament with Sarah and her clone. How did you and Karen approach that dynamic?
Beulah: Karen did all the heavy lifting. She played two different characters and had to learn double the lines. We’d be at dinner and Karen would be learning her lines while we were having our meal. It was cool to watch her work. I don’t know if it was challenging. If anything, it was more fun. I got to act with two different characters played by the same person. It was a cool thing to put in my brain and figure out. I always look at acting as problem-solving. It was a cool puzzle to try and figure out. I love acting, so to get to do twice the work I was like, “Heck yeah.”

PC: You’ve also talked in the past about how Riley as a writer and director challenged you all to step outside of your comfort zone. What was that collaboration like? What did you learn about your craft being a part of this project?
Beulah: I learned that I have a lot of tricks that I hide behind. Riley exposed all of them—not in a mean way. Riley is one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. But it was like standing in front of a really nice Gordon Ramsey who tells you, “Hey, buddy, the stuff that you’ve done on other films and TV shows doesn’t work here. You have to be open and vulnerable. You can’t just say the words.” I grew up doing theater. My theater director always told me, “Just let the words do the work.” Riley brought it back to the raw essence of acting. I felt safe in knowing that I wasn’t the only one facing that problem. It was a great problem to have, and now I have another tool to enter into my bags of tricks.

PC: One of the things that I love about art is its ability to provoke conversations. This film poses the question: If this technology existed, would you clone yourself? What is your take?

Beulah: I probably wouldn’t. I’m glad this is a film. I bet you there are a bunch of people out there that would. It would be a little scary knowing that there’s another me out there. So I probably wouldn’t. I don’t know if my wife could handle two of me. I’m crazy enough. [laughs] We’re out here in 2022 figuring out how to 3D-print organs. I feel like we’re not too far from this future.

PC: The film has made its way around the festival circuit and it’s been incredibly well received. What do you think is resonating most with audiences? What do you hope they take away?
Beulah: Like we were talking about before, it’s art. The great thing about art is that it provokes whatever it provokes inside of you. Whatever that is for each individual is correct. I feel those are the types of projects I like best and the reason why I choose to work with directors like Riley. I see a person who wants to put their story out there and be unapologetically themselves. This film is all Riley Stearns, from the dialogue to the costumes to the props. The thing about art is you can put yourself into something and people can take from it whatever they want. It’s cool to be part of projects where individuals are brave enough to be themselves.

PC: Besides Dual, where can fans see you next?
Beulah: I’ve got a film coming out with Taika Waititi called Next Goal Wins starring Michael Fassbender. That was another challenge. It was a comedy.

To keep up with Beulah, follow him on Twitter and Instagram. Dual is in select theaters now.