André Holland and Gemma Chan Had Instant Chemistry Making The Actor (Exclusive)

André Holland and Gemma Chan were the perfect pair for The Actor.

At the film’s New York City premiere on Monday, March 10, the costars praised each other and working together on the thriller, directed by Duke Johnson, co-produced by Suits alum Abigail Spencer and executive produced by Ryan Gosling. Chan, 42, tells PEOPLE working with Holland, 45, was “an absolute dream.”

“It’s part of the reason why I signed up to do the movie,” the Crazy Rich Asians actress adds.

Holland, a “big fan” of Chan’s work, also jumped at the opportunity to work with the star. They hit it off from “day one,” he says, and the immediate chemistry didn’t come as a surprise.

“How could you not have chemistry with somebody so extraordinary?” the Moonlight actor continues. “She’s gorgeous and talented and funny and charming and everything, so we had a blast.”

André Holland as Paul Cole and Gemma Chan as Edna in ‘The Actor’.

NEON

The Actor, based on Donald E. Westlake’s posthumous 2010 novel Memory, sees Holland portray Paul Cole, an actor with no memory of his identity who wakes up in 1950s Ohio.

Told from Paul’s amnesiac perspective, the movie adopts a dream-like state where faces recur as different characters. Throughout the film, the only person who Paul can recognize is Chan’s infatuated Edna, whom he meets in a small theater.

For the Eternals actress, the “special” relationship between Paul and Edna becomes the “heart of the movie.”

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Duke Johnson, Gemma Chan and André Holland at a Cinema Society screening of ‘The Actor’ in New York City.

David Benthal/BFA.com

Johnson, 45, who makes his solo feature directorial debut with The Actor, has nothing but praise for his two leads. He tells PEOPLE their acting prowess cultivated an environment where he could “experiment and play with” their surrounding elements.

“It was a masterclass because they’re masters,” he says of Chan and Holland. “This was my first live-action feature working with actors, and the presence that they create on set, the sense of peace and calm, [it creates] space for creativity.”

The Actor is in theaters now.