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FIRST TAKE Screen icon Sophia Loren returns to cinema in The Life Ahead, directed by her son Edoardo Ponti Rounding up the runners and riders in the International and Documentary races Andy Samberg shares his film and television favorites
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ON THE COVER How Emerald Fennell and Carey Mulligan put a sting in the tail of their popbubblegum vengeance thriller Promising Young Woman
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THE DIALOGUE: ACTORS Riz Ahmed Delroy Lindo Daniel Kaluuya Tahar Rahim Yahya Abdul-Mateen II
COU RT ESY OF N E TF L IX
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An Icon Returns
COU RT ESY OF N E TF L IX
Sophia Loren’s first feature film in more than a decade turns Romain Gary’s Madame Rosa into an Italian woman rehabilitated by her love for a Senegalese Muslim orphan boy in The Life Ahead, directed by Loren’s son, Edoardo Ponti BY JOE UTICHI
6
D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
PHOTOGRAPH BY
Greta De Lazzaris
SPECIAL BOND Loren as Madame Rosa with Iosif Diego Pirvu as Iosif in The Life Ahead.
named Momo. A Holocaust survivor and
dream about wonderful stories in my life.
former prostitute, Madame Rosa’s well
Finding the things that I never saw and
of emotion is deep, but her patience is
never did live, because my early life was
not to be tested, and though she and
marked by war. My childhood was a very
Momo start off at odds, their relation-
difficult thing to live; very difficult.
ship becomes transformational for the pair of them. Sitting together in the family home in
Was acting an escape, then, from that life?
Geneva, Loren and Ponti reflect not only
Loren: It wasn’t an escape, but at the
on their collaboration for The Life Ahead,
moment, I felt like it was an escape. It
and the deft way Ponti’s reimagining
was something I wanted to do badly,
of the setting offers a window on the
because then I would be surrounded by
migrant crisis raging in Southern Italy,
wonderful people and wonderful things
but also on Loren’s legacy, and their
in my life, which I never had because
entire history together, as mother and
of the war. My family was a wonderful
son, actress and director.
family, and they loved us a lot, me and my sister, but it was a very difficult life
Sophia, your career started when
during the war.
you were just 15. What did acting mean to you back then?
What you subsequently found was
Sophia Loren: In my life at the time,
a career path that you, still today,
there was nothing better to think about
express so much love for. Would you
It took her son, Edoardo, to coax her
Loren. Ponti’s adaptation relocates the
than what I was living with my mother
say that you found your calling?
back to the screen this season for
novel to Bari, not far from Naples in
and my sister. But when I met this friend
Loren: Acting was what I was able to do,
The Life Ahead, a new adaptation of
Southern Italy where Loren grew up, and
of mine, Vittorio De Sica, on set, that
I was going to do, I really was dreaming
Romain Gary’s The Life Before Us, and
reimagines the book’s central character
was what really inflamed my wanting
to do. If you dream about something,
toward a performance that is sure to
Madame Rosa as a Neapolitan woman
to be an actress. Wanting to just follow
maybe sometimes you think you won’t
remind everyone of the power of Sophia
who meets a Senegalese orphan boy
the desire to be able to be on a set and
get it, but it’s always in your mind. There
8
D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
COU RT ESY OF N E T FL I X
IT HAS BEEN 11 YEARS SINCE SOPHIA LOREN, the great Italian star and one of the only surviving icons of Hollywood’s Golden Age, last graced the screen. And longer still since she last took a leading role. After her Oscarwinning heyday in the ’50s and ’60s, Loren turned to the only passion that could match her love for cinema—motherhood—and focused her attention on raising first her two sons, Carlo, a classical music conductor, and Edoardo Ponti, a filmmaker, and then her grandchildren. The actress, whose co-stars have included Cary Grant, Clark Cable and Marcello Mastroianni, to name only a few, had never retired, and her love for performance never dimmed; simply, her priorities changed.
P RO DU C E D BY
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BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
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K E LV I N T R A H A N
“A TOWERING PIECE OF MOVIEMAKING.” – D E A D L I N E
FAMILY AFFAIR Loren discusses shooting on the set of The Life Ahead with her director son, Ponti.
was never a day I didn’t want to be on
And it still is because it’s something that
that way, and around our dinner table
the screen, didn’t want to be an actress,
comes from inside; it grows within you
we talked more about stories and craft
and didn’t want to be with the people
each time you have a new opportunity,
than about Hollywood. We didn’t talk
that would talk to you about the para-
and new things to explore.
MY MOTHER’S SO PASSIONATE ABOUT HER WORK, TRULY. SHE APPROACHES EVERY MOVIE LIKE IT WAS HER VERY FIRST. THERE’S NOT ONE JADED BONE IN HER BODY.”
about the celebrity trappings, say, of
—EDOARDO PONTI
he was around eight years old, he
this kind of success that my parents
the picture. Life on set was something I
Edoardo, you grew up with two of
never had before.
Italy’s most iconic figures of cinema;
Edoardo Ponti: My mother’s so
your father was the renowned
passionate about her work, truly. She
producer Carlo Ponti. Was there a
approaches every movie like it was her
moment when you came to realize
very first. There’s not one jaded bone in
that your mother and father were
her body. Not one moment where she
these beloved characters, or did
doesn’t tackle a scene with the same
that happen gradually?
excitement as if it was the first time she
Ponti: When you’re born into this reality,
acted. And I think that’s why people
you never really don’t realize it, but you
connect so deeply with her work. She
grow into it. There’s a slow understand-
doesn’t take shortcuts. She handles the
ing of what it is that you’re living, or what
scene with the same depth, enthusiasm
your family’s living. Both my mother and
and passion as if it were her first time,
my father have contributed greatly to
I remember being four years old, and
despite the fact that it’s 71 years that
an industry, and for us it happened to
as he was playing on his piano I was on
she’s been doing this.
be the industry of filmmaking. But it’s
the ground, using his music to score my
Loren: Each time is the first time…
interesting, because my parents never
little Lego figurines. I remember I would
Something new that is happening inside
brought the spotlight of their success
walk into my room, and if I didn’t like the
of you with every character. That was
into our home. It was never about that
lighting scheme, I would change it to suit
the big thing that opened my eyes to
glamor. It was never about Hollywood, or
the atmosphere. So, it’s never not been
being an actress, was being involved
dinner parties, or premieres. It was never
this for me. It’s always been this.
with so many characters. So many won-
about those things.
derful worlds to live in. It was paradise.
10
D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
So, we lived quite sheltered lives in
had. Even though I realized quite early on that my parents were successful in this craft, the repercussions of knowing that weren’t really about the glamor but rather the craft of storytelling. Was that where your interest in filmmaking came from? Ponti: It was, but it was also always there. My brother is an orchestra conductor and a concert pianist. When would practice piano in the living room.
At five or six, we got our first video player; not VHS but Betamax. I would
COU RT ESY OF N E T FL I X
dise you might live while you’re doing
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FROM THE
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BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE “ IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN ‘ THE DISSIDENT,’ I HOPE THAT YOU WILL”
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THE WASHINGTON POST
T H E U N TO L D S TO RY O F T H E M U R D E R T H AT S H O O K T H E W O R L D
LA DOLCE VITA Left: Loren as Madame Rosa, with Ibrahima Gueye as Momo; above, with Abril Zamora as Lola.
watch endless movies. The same movie
I always knew could be very special.
version of Sophia Loren than they’re
years with this person and then remind
10 times over. You can’t manufacture
You start there; you start from what
used to. But a more authentic version.
her of certain things, because I know her
a passion like this; you either have the
makes you comfortable as a filmmaker.
Loren: Do you want to change that
so well.
passion or you don’t. And if you have the
And what made me comfortable was
answer?
passion, then you’re willing to commit
working with this amazing actress—this
Ponti: No, I don’t want to change it
when my mother’s upset, and wherever
your entire life to it without thinking
amazing woman—who happens to be
[laughs].
she is, whether she’s at a table or in her
about a plan B. Plan A is the one, and
my mother. We always had a shorthand.
then if it doesn’t happen, then… well, it’s
And from the very beginning of my life,
Sophia, I saw you looking suspi-
she’s ranting and she’s tidying up at the
a disaster [laughs].
we’ve also had a chemistry because
ciously at him.
same time. These are the things that
Loren: I knew it and I felt it with Edoardo
we’re so similar in our passions. We have
Loren: I was waiting for the end of it
maybe in a scene I’ll suggest her to do.
from very early on. We would be watch-
a connection.
[laughs]. No, but of course, he’s my son.
Because I know this is something she
I’ve known him since he was born.
actually does… And she’s embarrassed
So, it was very natural for me to
bedroom, she will start tidying up. So,
the story, and how the scene was edited,
combine my passion for telling stories
Ponti: Since before I was born.
now I’ve said that.
and what he’d change about it, what
with this rapport I have with my mother.
Loren: Even before he was born. It’s
Loren: I feel completely nude [laughs].
he didn’t like. He always had something
And, especially with The Life Ahead, this
something I always look for, because
Edoardo knows everything about me, so
that was wrong to talk about, and he
desire I have to present my mother in
it’s like being at home. You can be open
even when he sees me dressed up, he
knew he was the only one who could
the way that I know her… As Sophia,
to what you have inside, you don’t have
sees right through it, you know?
fix it.
as mamma, in her most authentic, her
to hide anymore. You can be who you
Ponti: The x-ray.
most stripped down, and in a way, her
are. With him, I’m always what I am and
Loren: It’s an x-ray, yes. I live always with
most exposed.
what I can be, and so this gives me a
this x-ray turned on me.
strength in what I’m playing that I could
Ponti: But how wonderful it is, for a direc-
The Life Ahead is not the first time you’ve worked together. Was that
I love doing that with her, because of
always destined?
the iconography associated to Sophia
never have if I was directed by some-
tor and for an actor, to have this kind of
Ponti: When you’re a director, you draw
Loren. I love to disrupt that. To surround
body that doesn’t know me so well.
relationship, because then you can bring
from what you know, and from what you
her with these wonderful characters.
Ponti: What’s also wonderful is that
those things to the screen. Usually, when
love, and obviously in my home I had
To have her speak Neapolitan in the
our life together… I’m 47, so it has been
a director really starts to get to know an
one of the greatest actors of all time.
deepest sense of what that means. And
a 47-year study of a person that, when
actor well, the movie is over. Here, we
And I knew my mother, I knew how to
I think people respond to it because
we work together, I can take a treasure
start with that. So, we can really start
speak with her. We have a rapport that
they’re presented with a different
trove of the experiences over those 47
working like that from day one.
12
D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
COU RT ESY OF N E TF L IX
ing television and he’d be talking about
Very specific things, like, for example,
Momo] is a wonderful boy who gave me the time and was open and willing to find this relationship inside of him. And it was wonderful to see him experience the making of the film, because he really came to know himself, I think, during the shooting. He’s had a tough life, and he was really in a corner, but now he asks, “What will I do tomorrow?” Tomorrow didn’t have meaning for him before. Now, it can be anything. Ponti: I think the reason my mother can speak the way she does about Ibra is because she recognizes her own story in elements of his life. When she was growing up, tomorrow meant nothing. She was raised in an era when there was no tomorrow; you had to fight for today. And when she says that Momo was in a corner, she understands what this means in a way that I cannot, because IN THE FRAME Ponti and his mother Loren prepare an outdoor scene.
she felt it too at his age. It was so beautiful to watch these two people who are so far apart in terms of generation find this thing that unites them.
We all deserve to have our tomorLoren: It’s true. I had that too when I was
could be done through me as Madame
mother, of course, didn’t go through
row, and I think what makes it so
working with De Sica. He was a wonder-
Rosa, and with Edoardo directing. It was
the Holocaust, but she experienced
universal is that it is not only Madame
ful director who had this kind of manner
a wonderful feeling.
the Second World War. She tasted
Rosa who’s helping and saving Momo,
what it was to be under the bombs,
but it’s Momo who’s helping and saving
talking about the scene that you had to
A moment of revelation?
the hunger, seeing dead bodies in the
Madame Rosa. It is a true exchange
do, and he, too, could really see through
Loren: Yes, and there are not many
streets. All these are things that will
of sensibilities, of strength, of courage,
you. But not in a manner of being very
writers that write like Romain Gary.
mark you forever, especially when you
because these two people are both
strong and forceful about it, because he
Ponti: There are certain characters that
see them at such a young age. I felt
survivors, so they help each other.
wanted to find a free way to talk about
hit a frequency that aligns itself with my
my mother would be not just the best,
That’s really what makes it so special.
performance, and so it became simple
mother’s. So, when I started reading this
but the only person to play this role.
And they both teach each other about
and easy.
character, her voice came in immediately.
love. They both teach each other about
For most directors, they don’t want to
You changed the setting of the
strength. They both bring the other to
Does that push you further in a
hear an actor’s voice in their head when
novel from Paris to Bari, in southern
the place where they need to be.
performance?
they’re reading, when they’re writing,
Italy. It seems to fit so well, because
Loren: Working with him was simplicity
Loren: No, it’s not even a question of
because then they might not get them.
the notion of Madame Rosa being
itself. It was my idea that we should all
being pushed further; it’s a question of
But in this case, when I was hearing my
this woman with just a tremendous
live together during the filming, so we
feeling that you have it inside, and then
mother’s voice, I thought, Well, at least I
well of love, but also a certain sense
did, and Ibra and his family became
you can just do it and be happy about
know I can get her on the phone. I mean,
of a formidable nature, feels like a
part of our own family. And this feeling
it. It is something that should come
it was no guarantee she would do the
very Italian thing.
of family and watching him experience
naturally. Otherwise, people can see that
movie, because Sophia Loren didn’t build
Ponti: What’s amazing about Italian
this work that he had never done before,
you’re faking.
her success by saying yes to everybody
culture is that love is not something
it was really wonderful. And it was a
that called. But I knew at least I could get
you switch on or off. You should not be
wonderful school for him, but for me as
her attention.
commended for loving somebody; love
well. He was great company for me.
Madame Rosa was a character you’d yearned to play for years.
With Madame Rosa, there was no
is as important as breathing. You don’t
Loren: Oh, right away, as soon as I read
question in my mind. This sense of a
pat yourself on the back for it. And this
I hope it won’t be another 10 years
the book. It comes from inside you too,
character that was full of contradic-
is very much true of Madame Rosa. She
before your next film.
this feeling of wanting to be the charac-
tions. She’s soft, but tough. She’s
loves as naturally as she breathes. It’s
Loren: No, 20 years [laughs]. I don’t
ter you’re reading, and it’s not something
dramatic, but funny. There’s something
not about sentimentality, because she
know. It depends on life.
you can force. It had been a while where
very poetic about these contradictions,
can be brutal with Momo, the boy in
I had not worked on films. And when
and they not only reminded me of my
the story. But behind her roughness—
You really need to talk to the man
Edoardo gave me the book to read, right
mother and my mother’s voice, but
behind her irreverence—there is true,
next to you.
away I realized I was already filming it
also of my grandmother, my mother’s
true love.
Loren: Yeah, maybe. I’m too accus-
without filming it. It wasn’t as simple as
mother. Like Madame Rosa, both
Loren: It was wonderful to find that
tomed to him.
reading the book. I was imagining what
of them had lived through war. My
with Momo. Ibrahima Gueye [who plays
Ponti: She needs somebody new [laughs]. ★
14
D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
COU RT ESY OF N ET FLI X
when it came to talking about acting, to
CHARTED TERRITORY At press time, here is how Gold Derby’s experts ranked the Oscar chances in the Lead and Supporting Actor races. Get up-todate rankings and make your own predictions at GoldDerby.com
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
’20s Trailblazer
How the makeup and hair designers of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom helped Viola Davis disappear into a real-life legend ON MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM, hair and makeup designers Mia Neal and Sergio Lopez-Rivera worked to transform Viola Davis into the titular Georgia singer, known as the “Mother of the Blues”. To capture the essence of the only real person depicted in Pulitzer Prize winner August Wilson’s 10-play Century Cycle, they turned to a limited set of period photographs, before digging into her psychology, and the sociopolitical context of her times. “We’re talking about a Black woman in the 1920s who was gay,” Lopez-Rivera notes. “What was her level of freedom, in terms of women’s rights? As an AfricanAmerican woman, what [materials were] available to her?” Defying the Black beauty standards of her time, Rainey wore a wig built from horsehair while on stage, which proved a challenge to recreate. “I sourced horse mane from Europe, had it flown in, and it was covered in manure and lice eggs,” Neal recalls. “This was the first time that I had to build a wig with gloves on.” For his part, LopezRivera channeled the sweaty greasepaint look that Rainey wore like armor, giving Davis gold teeth, pencil-thin, drawn-on eyebrows, and dark circles around the eyes. “It was really important to her that none of us were trying to make her look pretty, and I felt so free, creatively, which is such a rarity in this business,” the makeup designer says. “To know that you are not having to be careful of the vanity of the actor playing this character.” —Matt Grobar
SPLITTING THE ATOM
and other destinations. To carry the
Radioactive’s production designer tracks the fallout of Marie Curie’s discoveries
would work with a brilliant team
ODDS
1
Chadwick Boseman Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
82/25
2
Anthony Hopkins The Father
4/1
3
Riz Ahmed Sound of Metal
9/2
4
Delroy Lindo Da 5 Bloods
5/1
5
Gary Oldman Mank
6/1
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
ODDS
1
Leslie Odom Jr. One Night in Miami
18/5
2
Sacha Baron Cohen The Trial of the Chicago 7
5/1
3
Paul Raci Sound of Metal
13/2
4
Daniel Kaluuya Judas and the Black Messiah
23/2
5
Mark Rylance The Trial of the Chicago 7
13/1
viewer through time and space, Carlin of Hungarian artists, transforming sections of Budapest and Spain to achieve a diverse assortment of looks.
On Radioactive, production designer
story of Marie Curie (Rosamund
“It’s a fairly niche project, so we had to
Michael Carlin created a sense of
Pike), the pioneering scientist who
be inventive to pull it off,” the designer
enormous scope with a relatively
changed the world with her discovery
notes. “It was half creative and half
modest budget, recreating period
of radioactivity. Intercut with episodes
logistics. But the main rationale
environments from five countries, for
from Curie’s life were scenes that
was just incredibly inventive use of
a story spanning more than a century.
spoke to the consequences of her
The drama tells the remarkable true
work, staged at Hiroshima, Chernobyl
locations, and manipulation of existing GLOW UP Rosamund Pike stars as Marie locations.” —Matt Grobar Curie in Radioactive.
16
D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
F O R
Y O U R
C O N S I D E R A T I O N
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM - POLAND ALEC UTGOFF IN
“Profoundly cinematic... exerts its own hypnotic power.”
“A magical film... A tour-de-force... of brilliant cinematography.”
– Anna Smith, DEADLINE
– Deborah Young, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
A film by MAŁGORZATA SZUMOWSKA & MICHAŁ ENGLERT /$9$ ),/06 $1' 0$7&+ )$&725< 352'8&7,216 ,1 &2352'8&7,21 :,7+ .,12 ¤:,$7 0$=29,$ :$56$: ),/0 )81' ', )$&725< %$<(5,6&+(5 581')81. ,1 &223(5$7,21 :,7+ $57( ),/0 :,7+ 7+( 6833257 2) / &2 ),1$1&(' %< 32/,6+ ),/0 ,167,787( ),/0 81' 0(',(167,)781* 15: '(876&+(5 ),/0) 5)(5)21'6 0(',(1%2$5' %(5/,1 %5$1'(1%85* *(50$1 32/,6+ ),/0 )81' &,1(&2352 $:$5' )($785,1* $/(& 87*2)) 0$-$ 267$6=(:6.$ $*$7$ .8/(6=$ :(521,.$ 526$7, .$7$5=<1$ ),*85$ 8.$6= 6,0/$7 $1'5=(- &+<5$ .5=<6=72) &=(&=27 &,1(0$72*5$3+< 0,&+$ (1*/(57 36& (',7,1* -$526 $: .$0, 6., 360 $*$7$ &,(51,$. 352'8&7,21 '(6,*1 -$*1$ -$1,&.$ &$67,1* 0$*'$/(1$ 6=:$5&%$57 6281' .$&3(5 +$%,6,$. 036( 0$5&,1 .$6, 6., 036( 0$5&,1 -$&+<5$ &26780( '(6,*1 .$7$5=<1$ /(:, 6.$ 0$.( 83 :$/'(0$5 32.5206., *(50$1 /,1( 352'8&(5 67()$$1 6&+,('(5 352'8&7,21 0$1$*(5 '$*0$5$ %$*1(&.$ &2 352'8&(56 $11$ 63,6= 720$6= .$5&=(:6., 0$5&,1 3,$6(&., -}'5=(- 6$%/, 6., 5$)$ *2/,6 &200,66,21,1* (',7256 &$5/26 *(67(1+$8(5 (%5) &251(/,$ $&.(56 (%5) 021,.$ /2%.2:,&= (%5/$57() %,5*,7 .g03(5 ($57() 352'8&(56 $*1,(6=.$ :$6,$. 0$5,86= : 2'$56., 9,2/$ )²*(1 0,&+$(/ :(%(5 0$ *25=$7$ 6=802:6.$ 0,&+$ (1*/(57 :5,77(1 %< 0,&+$ (1*/(57 0$ *25=$7$ 6=802:6.$ ',5(&7(' %< 0$ *25=$7$ 6=802:6.$ &2 ',5(&7(' %< 0,&+$ (1*/(57
ANOTHER ROUND
NEVER GONNA SNOW AGAIN
CHARLATAN
Windows on the World HOW THE INTERNATIONAL FILM LANDSCAPE IS SHAPING UP IN A DIFFICULT YEAR BY NANCY TARTAGLIONE
The drama from Thomas Vinterberg, a previous Oscar nominee for 2012’s The Hunt, recently swept the European Film Awards after taking prizes in San Sebastián, London and elsewhere, and has been a box
with as much heat on it as Parasite
and Suriname (Wiren). Also, some
office smash at home where it is the
year on recent record for myriad
had at this time last year. But there
are upping their participation after
biggest movie of the year. Samuel
reasons, the International Feature
is a promising field. The full list of
having put forth titles in just a few
Goldwyn released it in theaters and
Film Oscar race is not immune to
eligible films has not yet officially
previous years, including Paraguay
digitally in the U.S. in December.
the impact of Covid. Along with the
been made available—it’s our under-
(Killing The Dead), Ivory Coast (Night
The story of four weary high school
Academy of Motion Picture Arts
standing that rather than release a
of the Kings), Kenya (The Letter) and
teachers who test the theory that a
and Sciences tweaking submis-
submission list as would normally be
Guatemala (La Llorona).
constant level of modest inebriation
sion deadlines, many films vying
the case during the fall, the Acad-
for recognition in the International
emy has opted to wait until all films
nificant presence including Brazil’s
experiment takes them on a journey
Feature category have experienced
are fully vetted. That’s believed to be
Babenco: Tell Me When I Die, Chile’s
of self-discovery with both tragic
a lack of physical festival exposure
a means to avoid having to change
The Mole Agent, Romania’s Collec-
and uplifting consequences.
and the customary resultant buzz,
things around should a submission
tive, Luxembourg’s River Tales and
as so many events were canceled or
not fully meet the official criteria.
Italy’s Notturno from Gianfranco
names vying for a run in the Inter-
Rosi. The latter is an interesting
national Feature category this year
In what has been the strangest
moved online throughout the past
Last year, Nigeria’s Lionheart
Also, documentaries have a sig-
opens our minds to the world, their
There are some other familiar
nine months. In several cases, films
was ultimately ruled out because
choice by the Italian committee
including Agnieszka Holland with
selected by their respective coun-
of its use of English, and the same
which had stoked the ire of previous
Charlatan from the Czech Repub-
tries actually debuted way back in
phenomenon has come to pass with
Oscar winner Paolo Sorrentino when
lic. Holland has been nominated
the 2019 festival season.
Canada’s official entry this year,
it selected Rosi’s documentary Fire
twice before, with 1985’s Angry
Funny Boy. The Academy is expected
at Sea as the country’s representa-
Harvest and 2011’s In Darkness—and
esting time for non-English language
This comes at a particularly inter-
to release a full official roster in the
tive in 2016. Sorrentino at the time
with Charlatan she brings to three
movies, given the incredible 2019 run
coming weeks.
lamented the fact that Italy could
the number of different countries
have split the Documentary and
she has repped. Set against the
of Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite. After be-
Some trends are notable this
ginning its career in Cannes, it went
year out of Africa and South
International Feature categories
backdrop of the 1950s, biographi-
on not only to scoop the Interna-
America. A handful of countries
across two films.
cal drama Charlatan premiered in
tional Feature trophy, but also Best
have put forth submissions for the
Director and Best Film — the latter a
first time ever, including Lesotho
titles that have already made a
on healer Jan Mikolášek who cured
first for a foreign-language movie.
(This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrec-
splash with some awards bodies is
hundreds of people using his plant-
tion), Sudan (You Will Die at Twenty)
Denmark’s Another Round (Druk).
based remedies. ★
For the moment, there is no film
18
D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
Among the more high-profile
Berlin earlier this year and centers
LA LLORONA
NIGHT OF THE KINGS
Films getting their launch at Ven-
THE MOLE AGENT
Kong crime drama Better Days from
The 1970s-set film about maneuvering tive and lifetime Academy members
ice, 2020’s first major international
Derek Tsang; Albania’s Open Door
inside the Korean Central Intelligence
who have viewed each of the five
festival of the pandemic era, include
by Florenc Papas; India’s Jallikattu
Agency is the top grossing movie of
nominated films.
Poland’s Never Gonna Snow Again
by Lijo Jose Pellissery; and Bulgaria’s
2020 in the market with over $37M.
and Greece’s Apples. The former
The Father by Kristina Grozeva and
Woo Min-ho directs.
is the surreal story of a Russian-
Petar Valchanov.
speaking immigrant who becomes
The deadline for entries this year
Given the Covid impact on movie theaters, the Academy this year is allowing submissions that
Also worth keeping an eye on are
was December 1, while preliminary
had a previously planned theatrical
a guru-like figure in a wealthy gated
Naomi Kawase’s Japanese title True
voting in the category will begin on
release, but which have initially been
community. It hails from filmmak-
Mothers, which was stamped with
February 1 and end February 5. The
made available through a “reputable
ing duo Małgorzata Szumowska and
the Cannes 2020 label; Austrian
shortlist—again comprised of 10 films
commercial streaming distribu-
Michał Englert.
drama What We Wanted by Ulrike
as was the case last year when it was
tion service, or video on demand.”
Kofler; Quo Vadis, Aida? a war drama
upped from nine for the first time—will This required filmmakers to submit
section in Venice. Christos Nikou’s
Apples opened the Horizons
from Bosnia and Herzegovina’s
be announced on February 9, along
documentation of government-
exceedingly timely comedy/drama,
Jasmila Zbanic that bowed in Ven-
with shortlists in other categories.
mandated cinema closure dates,
set against the backdrop of a pan-
ice; Georgia’s Beginning from Dea
demic, went on to play Telluride, as
Kulumbegashvili, which also has the
Feature Film Preliminary Voting Com-
and streaming distribution or VOD
well as Toronto, and has the blessing
Cannes 2020 label; Russian master
mittee will view the eligible submis-
agreements.
of Cate Blanchett who is an execu-
Andrei Konchalovsky’s Venice entry
sions in the category and vote by
tive producer on the pic.
Dear Comrades!; Sweden’s Charter
secret ballot. The group’s top seven
festival’s online/virtual platform
Holdovers from festival play in
During Phase I, the International
previously planned theatrical release
Participation in an impacted
by Amanda Kernell; Switzerland’s
choices will then be augmented by
does not affect a film’s eligibility for
2019 that show potential include
My Little Sister from duo Stéphanie
three additional selections voted by
awards consideration, provided the
Filippo Meneghetti’s Two of Us from
Chuat and Véronique Reymond; and
the Academy’s International Fea-
festival has a transactional pay wall
France; Romania’s Collective from
Iran’s Sun Children directed by Majid
ture Film Executive Committee. The
or password-protected entry.
Alexander Nanau; Mexico’s I’m No
Majidi, repping the country for the
International Feature Film Nominating
Longer Here by Fernando Frías; Jayro
sixth time.
Committee must view the 10 shortlist- cordance with national and local
Bustamente’s Guatamalan entry La
ed films and vote by secret ballot to
specified guidelines and criteria,
Llorona; Bhutan’s family drama A Yak
interest in Korean political thriller
determine the category’s five nomi-
and on a date to be determined by
In The Classroom from Pawo Choyn-
The Man Standing Next which is fol-
nees. Final voting for the International
the Academy, this exemption will no
ing Dorji; multi award-winning Hong
lowing in some sizeable footsteps.
Feature Film award is restricted to ac-
longer apply. ★
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D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
Further, there is likely to be keen
When theaters reopen in ac-
F O R
Y O U R
C O N S I D E R A T I O N
B E S T I N T E R N AT I O N A L F E AT U R E F R A N C E O F F I C I A L E N T R Y 9 3 R D A C A D E M Y AWA R D S ®
“‘TWO OF US’ IS A FEATURE DEBUT THAT’S TOLD WITH A VETERAN’S TOUCH, and it’s all too easy to appreciate why France selected Menenghetti’s moving tearjerker as its Oscar ® submission this year.” INDIEWIRE
“QUIETLY GROUNDBREAKING. Entirely unique and uniquely vital.” VARIETY
“CAPTIVATING. BOLDLY ORIGINAL. Driven by a powerhouse, impassioned performance from Barbara Sukowa.” THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
“YOUNG LOVERS MOVE OVER — Barbara Sukowa and Martine Chevallier bring to life an unforgettable lesbian couple. Meneghetti’s incredibly deft feature debut is cause for celebration.” SCREEN INTERNATIONAL
OFFICIAL SELECTION
OFFICIAL SELECTION
TORONTO
NEW DIRECTORS/ NEW FILMS
INT’L FILM FESTIVAL 2019
2020
BARBARA SU KOWA
MA RTIN E C HEVA L L IER
L ÉA DR U C K E R
T WO O F U S A F I L M BY F I L I P P O M E N E G H E T T I
The Art of Craft The United States vs. Billie Holiday costume designer sculpts his own version of the iconic blues singer BY MATT GROBAR IL LUSTRATI ON BY PAU L KENG
The pictured gown, made from crêpe black silk, silk chiffon and bugle beads, was worn for a comeback performance at Carnegie Hall.
For The United States vs. Billie Holiday, Paolo Nieddu crafted period-accurate looks for Holiday (Andra Day), showcasing the “Black glamour and excellence” she represented.
This look was inspired by the work of Adrian, the iconic costumer behind The Wizard of Oz.
His first step was to create a timeline of historical images, charting her style trajectory from 1947 to 1959.
It was sewn by hand by Old Hollywood cutter/fitter John Hale, who worked on the iconic Some Like It Hot.
His lookbook featured materials from the Library of Congress, as well as Pinterest, Instagram and eBay.
Nieddu collaborated with the “timeless, elegant” House of Prada on nine other looks for Holiday.
NUMBERED The United Stars vs. Billie Holiday
Nieddu and his team
60 fresh orchids were
3,200 background
had only 8 weeks
always on hand to
actors featured, all
of prep before
decorate Day’s hair.
of them dressed in
starting the shoot.
Andra Day had 75
Around 250 costumes
8 to 10 House of
costumes. 25 were
were made
Prada artists worked
created from scratch;
for the production’s
with Nieddu on 6 of
the rest were vintage.
99 principals.
Day’s gowns.
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D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
COURTESY OF AP IMAGES/HULU
period attire.
F
O
R
Y
O
U
R
C
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE ALEXANDER NANAU
O
N
S
I
D
E
R
A
T
I
O
N
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE
ROMANIA OFFICIAL ENTRY 93RD ACADEMY AWARDS®
“THE BEST DOCUMENTARY OF THE YEAR. A FULL-ON MASTERPIECE.”
“STAGGERING.
THE ARC OF THE MORAL UNIVERSE MAY BEND TOWARD JUSTICE. BUT AS ‘COLLECTIVE’ LAYS OUT WITH ANGUISHED DETAIL AND A PROFOUND, MOVING SENSE OF DECENCY, IT TAKES STUBBORN, ANGRY PEOPLE — JOURNALISTS, POLITICIANS, ARTISTS, ACTIVISTS — TO HAMMER AT THAT ARC UNTIL IT STARTS BENDING, MAYBE, IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.”
“EVERY NOW AND THEN A DOCUMENTARY DOESN’T JUST OPEN YOUR EYES BUT TEARS YOU APART. THIS IS TRULY A DOCUMENTARY FOR OUR TIMES.”
(OUT OF FOUR)
★★★★
“GRIPPING, INCISIVE AND SHOCKINGLY POWERFUL, ‘COLLECTIVE’ IS EASILY THE DOCUMENTARY OF THE YEAR.” “ONE OF THE GREATEST MOVIES ABOUT JOURNALISM EVER MADE.”
(OUT OF FIVE)
★★★★★ “SEARING.”
COLLECTIVE A FILM BY
ALEXANDER NANAU
WHEN GOVERNMENT FAILS, WE ALL PAY THE PRICE
Fresh Face BY N A D IA N EO PHYTOU
WHO Helena Zengel Age: 12
After winning the German Film Award for Best Leading Actress with 2019’s
With no formal training, Zengel took on her
WHEN & WHERE
System Crasher, Helena Zengel made her American film debut alongside Tom
first acting gig at age five, in the TV series
Having recently signed
Hanks in News of the World. To star opposite Hanks, who plays Captain Jefferson
Spreewaldkrimi. Her mother got her into an
to CAA, Zengel will
Kidd, a war veteran widower traveling town-to-town reading the news for
agency and she started booking small parts
no doubt have more
audiences, Zengel auditioned for director Paul Greengrass, with her mom as
on TV movies and shows. When director Nora
projects lined up. For
stand-in. “We did the scene where I bite Tom Hanks’ hand. I was pretty nervous,
Fingscheidt was looking to cast the lead role
now, she’s already
but it was really fun, and cute also, for my mom to do it with me.” Fun—and a
of Benni in her debut feature film, she chose
learned the art of
bit of a formality, really. Director Paul Greengrass had already been impressed
Zengel out of the 150 or so children who
evading the press, and
with Zengel in System Crasher. He cast her in News of the World as Johanna
auditioned. “What I just love about seeing me
can’t say what she’s
Leonberger, the young girl Kidd vows to return to her biological family, after she
[in a film] is that you are able to learn more
working on next. But she
was raised by the Kiowa tribe for most of her life. Zengel needed to brush up
about what you might have done wrong, or
wants to keep acting
on her English—“There was no other way because there were very little people
what you did great,” she says. That film went
for as long as she can.
speaking German on set”—and learn the Kiowa language and culture, too. The
on to win the Silver Bear and ensured Zengel’s
“It’s just so relieving. You
50-odd-day shoot made many demands on the young actress, including extreme
status as a breakout star, leading to her role
can totally lose all your
weather conditions, but Zengel was a trooper. “Sure, sometimes it was tough,”
on News of the World. “Acting is actually
thoughts and you can
she says, “but every day was a new, great day. I just love being on set.” Working
normal for me,” she says. “I never had acting
just let it go and just do
with Hanks was fun, too. “He was so nice,” and “just terrific” she says, adding, “I
classes or anything, so it’s just something
what you want to, and
was surprised that he could sleep really everywhere.”
natural I like to do.”
do what you love.” ★
WHAT
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D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
WHY
COU RT ESY OF U N IV E RSA L P ICTU RES
Hometown: Berlin
COLLECTIVE
TIME
CRIP CAMP
In Real Life
that many campers went on to seed the disability rights movement that
AS NARRATIVE FICTION STRUGGLED AGAINST THE PANDEMIC, NON-FICTION RODE HIGH BY MATT CAREY
took off in the late 1970s. “I think this really is one of the great civil rights stories in American history, and it’s been very overlooked
filmmaker Ava DuVernay during a No-
creating fantasy sequences imagin-
for a long time,” Newnham says.
documentary race in recent years,
vember Q&A. “I just said, ‘I am going
ing his death.
LeBrecht, who was born with spina
winning best feature in both 2020
to try to translate that cinematically,
and 2018. But this year it could be
what hope looks like.’”
Netflix has dominated the Oscar
“We’ll just kill dad over and over
bifida and attended Camp Jened
again and he’ll come back to life and
as a teenager, adds, “There were a
Amazon’s other major hope-
we can do it until he really dies for
number of people at the camp who
ful, All In: The Fight for Democracy,
real,” Johnson says of her concept.
really provided this sense that, ‘Oh
and produced by Amazon in partner-
places the spotlight on systemic
“That’s what I said to my dad, and he
my gosh, we can fight back. There are
ship with Concordia Studio, enters
racism as manifested in the denial
thought that was hilarious and it was
rights to be fought for.’”
Oscar season as a favorite, having
of voting rights to people of color.
like, ‘Okay, we’re doing this.’”
won prizes from the New York and LA
The film, directed by Liz Garbus and
Amazon Studios’ Time to shine. Time, directed by Garrett Bradley
In a year that will shatter records
Crip Camp comes from Higher Ground Productions, the company
film critics organizations, and nomi-
Lisa Cortés, features former Geor-
for eligible documentaries, Netflix
formed by former President Barack
nations from early awards shows,
gia gubernatorial candidate Stacey
also contends with Disclosure, from
Obama and Michelle Obama that
including the Critics’ Choice Docu-
Abrams, who is credited with turning
director Sam Feder, and The Social
has a distribution deal with Netflix.
mentary Awards.
Georgia blue in the 2020 presidential
Dilemma from director Jeff Orlowski—
Their debut film, American Factory,
election through her voter registra-
a documentary mixed with scripted
won the Oscar for Best Documentary
tion campaign.
elements that argue social media
Feature last year.
Bradley’s film tells the story of Fox Rich, a mother of six who fought tirelessly for the release of her husband
Netflix, naturally, won’t cede the
is damaging our politics, our social
Best Documentary contest to Ama-
prison for armed robbery. It’s a case
zon without a fight. The streamer
study in the pernicious effect of
has once again fielded a formidable
with Crip Camp, directed by Nicole
Crip Camp, but also gave love to Gar-
mass incarceration, and particularly
slate, including Dick Johnson Is Dead,
Newnham and Jim LeBrecht. It’s built
rett Bradley’s Time and to another
timely, given a societal reckoning with
winner of best film at the Critics’
around archival footage from 1971 of
documentary, Collective, directed
systemic racial injustice.
Choice Documentary Awards. The
a summer camp in upstate New York
by Romanian filmmaker Alexander
documentary is a poignant and
that gave young people with disabili-
Nanau. The latter film, from Magnolia
husband] said to me, ‘Our story is
surprisingly funny effort by director
ties the opportunity to explore their
Pictures and Participant Media, won
the story of 2.3 million other Ameri-
Kirsten Johnson, about coming to
identities in an atmosphere of inclu-
the best documentary prize from
can families and we feel that our
terms with her aging father’s mental
siveness and respect. Camp Jened
the Boston Society of Film Critics, in
story can offer hope,’” Bradley told
and physical decline. She does so by
was such a life-changing experience
addition to awards from several Euro-
“Fox said to me and Robert [Fox’s
26
D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
fabric and our mental health.
In a list of his personal favorite
who was sentenced to 60 years in
Netflix makes a further Oscar bid
fiction and non-fiction films of the year, President Obama highlighted
THE DISSIDENT
and snorting as she raises a passel of
people in Puerto Rico to not be seen
piglets on a farm in Norway. Support-
as victims but as leaders, as global
ing roles are played by cows and a
leaders, in a way that I think colo-
remarkably agile one-legged chicken.
nized people very rarely get to be.”
Actor and animal rights advocate Joaquin Phoenix executive produced
two films in contention: The Way I
the film, which has earned accolades
See It, about former White House
around the world, including a nomina-
photographer Pete Souza, and John
tion for best film by the International
Lewis: Good Trouble, about the late
Documentary Association.
Congressman and Civil Rights move-
Neon, which factored in the Oscar race last year with Honeyland, also
76 DAYS
pean festivals. Collective, about a tragic nightclub fire in Bucharest, Romania in 2015 and its aftermath, highlights the work
Director Dawn Porter boasts
ment hero. MLK/FBI, directed by Sam Pollard,
competes with The Painter and the
uses recently declassified files and
Thief, winner of a special jury award
restored archival footage to expose
for Creative Storytelling at Sundance.
the FBI’s campaign under J. Edgar
Benjamin Ree’s film begins with the
Hoover to vilify Martin Luther King
theft of canvases painted by artist
Jr. Pollard is co-director of another
Barbora Kysilkova, which were swiped
contender, Mr. Soul!, a film about the
Salman, also takes center stage in
from a gallery in Oslo. Kysilkova later
pioneering TV host Ellis Haizlip, co-
two documentaries contending for
met one of the pilferers, Karl-Bertil
directed by Haizlip’s niece, Melissa.
Oscar recognition.
Nordland, forming an unexpected
The Dissident, directed by Oscar-
bond with him.
to Oscar attention include The
of intrepid reporters who exposed
winner Bryan Fogel (Icarus), unspools
the government corruption and gross
like a thriller, drawing on extraordinary
and emotions,” Ree says of the artist.
Dweck and Gregory Kershaw, a lov-
mismanagement that cost the lives
footage and documents gathered by
“She was really attracted to the sad-
ing portrait of men and their dogs
of dozens of burn victims. The film
Turkish authorities who investigated
ness and darkness of Bertil, but she
who search for the elusive fungi in
underscores the importance of jour-
Khashoggi’s 2018 killing.
finds the beauty in that. And I think
Northern Italy, and Maite Alberdi’s
that’s what makes her extraordinary.”
The Mole Agent, a ‘documentary noir’
tary, Kingdom of Silence, directed by
Among other documentaries vying
about a private eye who enlists an el-
nalism in a democratic society—not just in Romania, but here too. “We can only watch [the reaction]
Showtime’s Khashoggi documen-
“She’s really observant of people
Other films with a strong claim Truffle Hunters, directed by Michael
Rick Rowley, features Pulitzer Prize-
for attention are two that take on the
derly man named Sergio to infiltrate
and in a way be happy that people
winning author Lawrence Wright,
legacy of colonialism in the Caribbean.
a Chilean retirement home.
get inspired by the film,” Nanau ob-
who in addition serves as an execu-
Cuba is the focus of Hubert Sauper’s
serves, “and it helps them reflect on
tive producer.
Epicentro, winner of the Grand Jury
world,” Alberdi notes with great
their own societies.”
Prize for World Documentary at Sun-
amusement. “But for me he was a
life,” says Wright, who befriended
dance. Cecilia Aldarondo’s Landfall,
gentleman that I realized was good
A Thousand Cuts, the film directed by
Khashoggi in the wake of 9/11. “He
meanwhile, centers on Puerto Rico,
for the film.”
Ramona Diaz on Philippine anchor/
had an entree into the world of
the U.S. territory saddled for years by
reporter Maria Ressa, CEO of the
Al-Qaeda and into the Saudi Royal
a debt crisis and then decimated by
strong case for inclusion on the
news website Rappler that has at-
family. And he lived in the West and
Hurricane Maria in 2017. The director
Oscar doc shortlist, to be revealed
tempted to hold President Rodrigo
he began to be the person who knew
finds nobility among islanders who
February 9. Among them are Softie,
Duterte to account.
everything. He was really the spider in
banded together to save themselves in Mayor, City Hall, Welcome to Chech-
the web.”
the wake of neglect from the U.S. and
A journalist is likewise the hero of
Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the columnist for the Washing-
“I knew that Jamal lived a perilous
“Sergio was the worst spy in the
There is not a single word of
corruption by island officials.
nya, Boys State and 76 Days. And that’s just for starters. The
ton Post who was brutally slain in
dialogue in one of the strongest
the Saudi consulate in Istanbul,
contenders this Oscar season, Victor
case study of communities caring for
of many fictional films in 2020, but
Turkey, allegedly at the behest of
Kossakovsky’s Gunda from Neon. It
one another when their institutions
the documentary race is still setting
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin
stars the eponymous sow, grunting
fail them,” Aldarondo says. “I wanted
records for contenders. ★
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“There’s a really quite instructive
Many more films can make a
pandemic postponed the release
On My Screen: Andy Samberg
With pandemic metaphor movie Palm Springs, and a secret love of Kidz Bop, the SNL mainstay reveals his film and TV favorites BY STEV IE WONG
Andy Samberg’s quirky time-loop rom-com genre mashup Palm Springs became a representation of everyone’s emotional isolation, and a blueprint for us to find our redemptive souls in the process. “All of a sudden, it morphed from this movie that blended genres and was really fun conceptually for us,” Samberg says, “to people saying this movie is boiling down what we’re all going through.” It’s no wonder really that Palm Springs has been lauded as the comedy of the year. With that success, and then the return of his Golden Globe-winning performance in Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Samberg has much to celebrate. Here, he picks out some onscreen favorites, from his early days experimenting with The Lonely Island, to working on Saturday Night Live, with guilty pleasures and life lessons along the way.
MY FIRST FILM LESSON Probably during film school at NYU, I was struck by how few people actually made stuff and finished it. When I left school and linked up with Akiva [Schaffer] and Jorma [Taccone]— together we are The Lonely Island—we moved to LA and just made things. It sounds so simple, but there were three of us to help motivate one another. The best part about making a ton of things is you can get a lot of bad habits and ideas out of your system and see what works. A lot of people wait for permission to make something, and the truth is you really don’t need it.
THE BEST ADVICE I EVER RECEIVED I was an assistant at the late Gary Goldberg’s Ubu Productions (Family Ties, Spin City), and one of the pieces of advice he gave me was, “Always bet on yourself. If you know you’re going to do the work and you believe in what you’re doing, just get it made.” And I really took that to heart.
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THE FILMS THAT MAKE ME CRY The last one that made me cry really hard was Portrait of a Lady on Fire. The ending of that movie, even thinking about it now I get teary. That ending is a real gut punch. All those Daniel Day-Lewis movies from the ’90s. Pretty much every single Daniel Day-Lewis movie from the ’90s makes me cry. Oh and every Hallmark Christmas movie that came out this year.
MY MOST TORTURED CO-STAR Probably Bill Hader because we kept asking him to be in the digital shorts, and they would shoot until five in the morning. He’d be so bummed. He’d be like, “I love that you guys put me in these, but I don’t want to do it anymore. Do we really need to shoot this many scenes for a laser cat?” In his defense, he had a kid, so I get it.
N EO N/ M EGA AG E N CY/ EV E RE T T CO LL ECT I ON /A P I M AG ES
THE PART I ALWAYS WANTED I remember I read the script for The Social Network, and it wasn’t like anyone ever asked if I wanted to audition or anything. I just had heard that it had been written. I was like, “I would do anything to be any of these parts.” They were like, “It’s cast. It’s Jesse [Eisenberg] and Justin [Timberlake].” I was like, “Oh yeah. That makes sense.” It always struck me from the first page that there was a different kind of writing that exists and that was the first time I was seeing it for real.
WITH THE WORLD COMING TO A TOTAL STANDSTILL IN THE PANDEMIC,
MY TOUGHEST ROLE Probably just making it through SNL. The schedule is so gruelling and mentally also gruelling. I say that while also acknowledging that it was everything I had ever wanted to happen in my life. It was my childhood dream. You read about how it’s hard, you still just want it. If you love SNL, you love it. That’s it. It’s where you want to be. I felt like I was just young enough to be OK with how hard it was. We were on such an opposite schedule from the rest of the world. I would just stay up all night and sleep all day, every Saturday get completely trashed, and then start over again.
THE MOST FUN I’VE HAD ON SET It was doing Scott Aukerman’s Comedy Bang! Bang!. Basically, it’s four comedy people and all they want to do is do comedy stuff. You show up, and there’s no goal other than goofiness. They just hand you bit after bit after bit, and they’re all funny. You just sit there and rattle off weird, surreal bits, and laugh. Then they go, “Great. Now we’re going to edit it.” Anytime you’re working on something that makes you laugh while you’re shooting, that’s usually a good sign.
MY MOST QUOTED ROLE For a while, it was just, “Dick in a Box.” A lot of, “I’m on a boat.” Now, with Brooklyn Nine-Nine, a lot of, “Cool, cool, cool, cool”, which I’ve also noticed that people say for real now. It’s really neat, because it came out of a take that me and Terry [Crews] did, where we were just improvising. He was like, “Right, right, right.” I’m like, “Cool, cool, cool, cool.” Then, the writers just kept popping it in, and it became a thing for Jake. For “Dick in a Box”, people didn’t even know my name. They just knew I was the guy with Justin Timberlake. If you make songs, people just say the song stuff. It’s a lot easier to make something a little hooky when you’re actually writing hooks.
MY GUILTY PLEASURE This is slightly humiliating. I’ve started listening to Kidz Bop versions of music with my daughter. A few times, I found myself being like, “This kind of slaps.” My daughter loves that song “Sunflower” by Swae Lee and Post [Malone]. There’s some pretty uncool stuff said in it, so I’ll turn up Kidz Bop and really bump it. I wonder, is there going to be a Kidz Bop version of “WAP”? AKA Wet Astute Penguin. THE CHARACTER THAT’S MOST LIKE ME Probably Jake Peralta on Brooklyn Nine-Nine. I’ve been shooting the show for so many years, it’s inevitable that things about you start to permeate the character. A lot of his mannerisms are my own. I’ve shot 150-something episodes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, so I think there’s a little bit of all of the cast in all of those characters.
WHO’D PLAY ME IN MY BIOPIC It’s got to be Meryl Streep, right? If you’re going to do it, go for the best. I would be so amped to see her take.
D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
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PH OTO G R A PH Y BY VIO LE TA S O FIA
EMERALD FENNELL’s directorial debut PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN could have easily been your classic revenge fantasy thriller, with its tale of Cassie, a grief-stricken, silently enraged woman on a mission to expose every last sexual predator in town. Only it’s so much more. Styled like an entrancing ’90s romcom, it wrongfoots the viewer at every turn with its fluffy-sweatered, heart-printed world, punctuated by cupcakes and pop songs. With CAREY MULLIGAN’s blood-curdlingly underplayed performance as Cassie, Fennell leads us down a deceptively pretty garden path to the real truth about sexual assault and society’s turning of the other cheek, on a journey so twisty we never see its end coming. ANTONIA BLYTH meets Fennell and Mulligan to find out how they disguised a truly thought-provoking shocker as a pretty pink love story.
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ACT I
“W
e’ve both gone completely potty,” Emerald Fennell says, as she fires off a text to Carey
Mulligan during our Zoom meeting. It’s a GIF of an awkwardly dancing Theresa May, ex-UK Prime Minister. Deadline's photographer has asked the pair to dance to capture some fun pictures, and this GIF is Fennell's impression of the results. “I was like, I don’t know fucking how,” Mulligan explains. “So, we did the macarena.” “There’s an order to it. You can understand it,” Fennell deadpans. Both their faces twitch with suppressed laughter. This is the sort of punch-drunk sisterhood that comes from either years of friendship or a very intense mutual experience—in this case, the latter, and the making of perhaps one of the most arresting and clever films ever to address sexual harassment and its consequences. Promising Young Woman, written and directed by Fennell, follows Mulligan as Cassie, a med school dropout who spends her evenings in bars, faking the kind of lost-my-phone level of drunkenness predators can’t resist. The so-called ‘nice guys’ who offer to help her back to their place and then make a move on her semi-conscious body are petrified when she then suddenly reveals herself to be stone-cold sober, bolting upright with a testicle-shriveling “What are you doing?” D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
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Where a lesser film would have made that the DAMN THE MAN
Top to bottom: Carey Mulligan as Cassie; administering treatment to one of her troubled patients, posing as a bachelor party stripper; Cassie and Ryan, played by Bo Burnham, turn a pharmacy into a dance floor and rock out to the pop stylings of Paris Hilton.
whole story, Fennell instead weaves an extraordinary exposé of our gray areas, our silent collusions and the darkest corners of human behavior, feeding it to us with a deceptively candy-flavored coating of nostalgic pop tunes, clean-cut Americana and pastel nail polish. Writer and showrunner of Killing Eve’s Season 2, a series that twice earned her an Emmy nomination, Fennell is also known for her front-of-camera work as Camilla Parker Bowles in The Crown. She brewed up Promising Young Woman almost wholesale, coughing it up “like a hairball”, she says. “It probably came out because it’s something that I find incredibly troubling and I wanted to talk about.” And the story was this: Cassie’s nocturnal activities are a symptom of terrible grief. Her childhood friend and fellow med student Nina has committed suicide after being raped at a college party. And the perpetrators remain untouched, enjoying ‘good boy’ lives of privilege, thanks to an unscrupulous lawyer hired by rich parents, shallow friends, and a college dean who looked the other way. Cassie cannot and will not ever let this go. As Fennell cooked up the screenplay, the soundtrack came with it, hand-in-hand. “I don’t write at all until the end when it’s done,” she says. “When it is I’ll transcribe it, and it takes not very long. The real bulk of the work is done entirely in my head, entirely with music.” And that music is the siren song of rose-tinted, upbeat nostalgia. Like a sort of homage to Baz Luhrman’s Romeo + Juliet, in the midst of tragedy and devastation, there’s a deliciously incongruous, soaring pop tune—an orchestral version of Britney Spears’ “Toxic”, or a surprise blast of Juice Newton’s “Angel of the Morning”. And instead of sugarcoating the bitter pill of rape and suicide, the contrasting sweetness skewers us all the more painfully. From the very beginning, as the film came to Fennell complete with its soundtrack, she also had a rock-solid idea of how it should look. On the set of The Crown, Fennell showed the script to co-star Josh O’Connor. “I thought it was complete magic,” O’Connor says. “She just knows exactly what she’s going to do. She was like, ‘This is how I’m going to make it. This is what it’s going to look like.’" Margot Robbie’s production company LuckyChap were early believers in her concept, and her deceptively sweet, subversive approach to a heavyweight subject. “I feel like Emerald had an incredibly clever approach in luring us—especially those of us who grew up in the ’90s—into nostalgic territory,” Robbie says. With “the familiar ’90s rom-com relationship dynamics we have been accustomed to seeing in films”, Robbie says Fennell is expert at “pulling the rug out from beneath us and smacking us in the face”. As soon as she'd read the script, Mulligan was on board. “For ages before this film came along,
“
We have countless films about men who go on crusades on behalf of their loved
ones and we never say they’re crazy or that they’ve lost their minds from grief.
They’re going around having shootouts and ninja fights in every scene. That is objectively insane. What Cassie's doing, by comparison, is fairly mild.
”
—carey mulligan
D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
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Somebody described Promising Young Woman “the other day as looking like a ’90s Lifetime movie.
And I was like, that is truly the greatest compliment anyone could give me. Could there ever be a more violent, feminine world than the world of the Lifetime movies of the ’90s? —emerald fennell
”
people were like, ‘What part do you want?
U.S.A. felt necessary. “It was important that
Fennell, Mulligan was thoroughly cut out for the
What have you not done that you want to do?
nobody could say, for example, ‘Oh well this
job. “You see what’s happening with so little. She’s
What’s your dream part?’” Mulligan says. “And
happens in England because they have a different
got that thing that’s so rare to find, where she
I couldn’t describe what it was. I would just
culture.’ Or, ‘This happens in New York, because
does almost nothing, and it's almost everything.”
say, ‘Well, I just know it’s not that, and I know
girls in New York are a little fast.’ It had to be the
it’s not that. I know it’s not the wife to that
most accessible place, and because all of us
breakout, An Education, spotted this particular
great man or the girlfriend who’s a ‘troubled
have grown up on American culture it felt like
quality in her from very early on. “I knew that we
individual’. I knew what it wasn’t. And when
something where the fewer people that could be
had to see a lot from her eyes, or through her,” she
this came along I was like, ‘Oh, it’s that. That’s
let off the hook, the better.”
says. “And she has that strong detector for what
what I want to do.’”
To achieve her picture-perfect American pop culture vision, she went to the source: Michael
F
ACT II
Lone Scherfig, who directed Mulligan’s
is true. She doesn’t like phoniness.” Paul Dano, Mulligan's longtime friend who
Perry, production designer on that fabled TV teen
directed her in Wildlife, saw it too. “Even when
froth, Sweet Valley High.
playing a character that has some edge or some
“When I first met Michael, he gave me Todd’s
darkness or some harshness or some shadow,
Letterman jacket,” Fennell says, referring to Sweet
Carey is still somebody you can look at and
ennell had a mood board that had “a lot
Valley High’s lead heartthrob jock character. “Every
understand,” he notes.
of angels” she says. “It had To Die For,
time I think about it my whole body gets like...
Psycho and The Virgin Suicides, a lot of
Sometimes I wear it. If I’m feeling really peppy,
Sweet Valley High, a lot of tactile clothes
I’ll just pop on Todd’s letterman jacket and think,
and multicolored manicures. I wanted it to show that not only was it going to be comfortable and
This is it.” Fennell had also admired Perry’s work on It
A real potential pitfall for Cassie was the kickass, ‘woman scorned’ trope. “I think there would have been a temptation for other actors to maybe make Cassie kind of badass,” Fennell says. “It was important, certainly
glossy and appealing, kind of like Cassie is, but
Follows. “It was incredibly low-budget; a very
to me and to Carey, that she felt real; she felt like
that it could be somewhat allegorical, because
short shoot time. And the way that he just gave
a traumatized person.”
if Cassie is a part of this thing, doing something
it inherent, spooky femininity; these sort of soft
completely real, in many ways it is a sort of
shells. It was sexy, but frightening. It was brilliant.
underpinned with realism. No, she has not learned
classical journey, the allegorical story. And so, I
I said to him—and I do think this is true—that he’s
to wield a samurai sword, nor will she Jiu-Jitsu
wanted the world to feel somewhat like that too.”
probably responsible for millennial pink, at least
her way through those who have done her wrong.
in part.”
Because that is simply not truthful. “There’s a
That allegorical factor would later, during the shoot, prove almost too alluring. In a scene where Cassie confronts the lawyer
She was amused when someone attempted to derisively suggest Promising Young Woman
(Alfred Molina) who ensured Nina’s attackers went
looked like a ’90s Lifetime movie. “I was like, ‘That
free, he begs forgiveness at Cassie’s feet. “I was
is truly the greatest compliment anyone could
like, ‘Guys, here’s a picture of the Pietà,’” Fennell
give me.’ Could there ever be a more violent,
says. “So, if you could just find a way, as naturally as
feminine world than the world of the Lifetime
you can, of being in the position of Michelangelo’s
movies of the ’90s?”
Pietà by the end of this? Then we’ll pop a shaft of light on you.’”
Fennell and Mulligan built Cassie through an ongoing conversation. And the result was a
Fennell laughs. “The shaft of light actually got
character who mostly appears impassive on
nixed because, even I in the edit was like, ‘Well, this
the surface, like a kind of angel of justice. This
is absolutely silly. Too much.’”
was something that required so much internal
As a Brit, her choice to set the film in Anytown
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D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
emotion with so little surface tension. But, says
Thus, Cassie’s actions are also consistently
reason women do not resort to violence,” Fennell says. “Because they fucking lose when they do.”
ACT III
W
ith flip-the-script expertise, Fennell sends in Adam Brody as predator number one in the opening scene. Not some
beefed-up frat guy, but a man immediately recognizable as an old teen favorite, The O.C.’s
“DIRECTOR VADIM PERELMAN TREADS A FINE LINE BETWEEN HISTORY AND INVENTION IN THIS HOLOCAUST SURVIVAL TALE, WHOSE POWER COMES FROM ITS TWO LEAD PERFORMANCES” PETER DEBRUGE,
Persian L Lessons DIRECTED BY VADIM PERELMAN
“A BIG, WIDESCREEN CINEMATIC RIDE WHICH DEFTLY MIXES SUSPENSE, LAUGHTER AND TEARS” LEE MARSHALL,
nice-guy-on-wheels, Seth Cohen. (“We called him Seth behind his back all the time,” Mulligan jokes.) Brody’s apparently thoughtful, feminist guy rolls his eyes at his co-workers’ sexist remarks during after-work drinks at a tacky club. “Sorry about them,” he tells a fake-wasted Cassie as he gets in a cab with her. And yet he will soon press a huge drink on her, wait for her to (pretend) pass out, and then he'll attempt to sneakily whip off her panties. Having now seen the film, O’Connor calls it, “A blend of nostalgia and realism.” The Seth Cohenness of it all certainly smacked him in the face, he says. “It put you in this place of, certainly from my point of view, sexual discovery, like when all those Britney songs [were hits], that music, that color scheme, Seth Cohen.” Bringing in teen dream references, particularly the kitschy ones, was so key to Fennell’s vision. “I think certainly for women of our age group, that’s the pleasure center. For me, Clueless does something to my brain. That yellow plaid, that fluffy pen. When I see those things, I get what I imagine some men feel when they see a football player that they loved when they were growing up. I’ve never not bought a fluffy pen if I see one. It does something to me. It brings me back to that place of, ‘I could be that person.’” But she also wanted to look at how and why we disregard these ultra-feminine stylings. “I love getting dressed up, I love having stupid nails, I love Britney,” she says. “I’m really interested in what part of our culture diminishes that stuff, that makes that stuff silly. So partly for me, this movie was also about interrogating why that is. Why should it be this gray?” And in the ultimate ’90s romcom homage, she brought in the love montage. When Cassie reconnects with fellow med student Ryan (Bo Burnham), his self-effacing, goofy charm breaks down her walls, and they fall for each other. Set to the Paris Hilton tune “Stars Are Blind”, the couple dance in a pharmacy, posing with cans of food, giggling and generally looking adorable—a scene Mulligan found intimidating. “It’s so easy to cry on camera and that’s the territory I feel comfortable in,” she says. “But laughing and being free and happy, without ego and selfawareness, I think is much harder. That’s why I have such an immense respect for comedians.” She definitely did not want to dance, and tried
My only rule for myself was to not pretend I knew something I “didn’t. So, I tried to be as clear as possible when I didn’t understand,
or I didn’t know something. I would just be like, ‘Sorry what is that?’ Because otherwise you’re like, ‘Yeah, yeah yeah,’ and then you’ve agreed to shoot your film in black and white. —emerald fennell
”
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D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
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the tactic of telling Fennell she didn’t imagine
minutes, everyone in the room was just like, ‘Oh,
So, I think I was particularly aware in that scene
Cassie would do that.
it’s just fucking horrible. Horrible,’” Mulligan says.
of the broader picture and women’s treatment in general. It just felt really, really sad.”
She confesses, “It was definitely me hiding
When it was her turn to play the scene,
behind my character saying, ‘Oh, Cassie doesn’t
Mulligan found she had got her position wrong
want to do it,’ but I think it was Carey not wanting
and couldn’t breathe. “But he [Lowell] didn’t
monitor in the room with their hands clamped to
to do it. A great note from Emerald was, ‘Of
know. And I was like, ‘Well, I think I can get out
their faces,” Fennell says of that day. “It feels so
course you feel that way, but when you’re in love
of this.’ Then I realized that 10 seconds later I
horribly real. The thing for me was that it seemed
you look like an idiot from the outside. Everyone
couldn’t. I couldn’t breathe at all and I couldn’t get
like a plausible possibility, and all the things we’re
thinks you’ve lost your mind. You’re so annoying.’
out of it.”
used to feeling: It’s so unfair, it’s so unjust, and
And Bo, from the beginning, God bless him, was
She gave a pre-arranged hand signal to stop.
“I remember everyone standing around the
it’s the experience of being in a woman’s body… Inevitably there’s an imbalance.”
just totally comfortable doing it. He says he
“It was all very funny. Then I went outside and
wasn’t, but he was immediately picking up the
just burst into tears. I couldn’t explain why it was
[can of] spam. So much of the levity, and so
so upsetting. I’m so of the school of acting of, it’s
“Emerald was steadfast about it from the
much of Cassie’s lightness and vulnerability, was
pretending, it’s playing. But it was one of those
beginning. She was absolutely clear,” Mulligan
just because Bo was so hilarious and charming in
moments where, I think watching it happen to
says. “And I’m sure she heard objections. Even
that role. I can’t imagine a different actor doing it.”
somebody else, doing it yourself, understanding
when we were working on it, [the crew] were
how horrendously common that kind of stuff is,
saying, ‘Oh, I just wish [that didn’t happen].’ But
it was really way more upsetting than I thought it
that’s just not reality. The film does live in this
would be to actually shoot it. That surprised me
slightly heightened world, and I think there’s a
because I’m usually pretty unmoved by things.
tendency for people to want that to carry over
But there was also the problem of singing along to Paris Hilton. “The lyrics are quite complicated to learn,” Mulligan says, with absolute seriousness. “There
Even the crew struggled with the ending.
are bits of it that don’t really make sense. It’s like
into the storyline. But the storyline stays in truth.
learning a Radiohead song. It’s not a narrative.
And I’m so proud of Emerald for standing firm
They are strange bits in it that are... I mean, it’s a
on that.”
brilliant song, don’t get me wrong, I loved it. But it’s not straightforward to learn, so we did have to print the lyrics out and practice them.” Fennell and Mulligan always excitedly planned to invite Hilton to the premiere, and then the
SAVE THE EMPIRE
On the set of Promising Young Woman. Top: Carey Mulligan discusses a scene with (left to right) Emerald Fennell, Laverne Cox and Bo Burnham. Bottom: a heavily-pregnant Fennell readies a take with Sam Richardson and Mulligan.
Mulligan had, pre-shoot, watched The Hunting Ground, which details the covering up and denial of rape on college campuses. There’s a scene in that documentary in which a young woman is asked why she didn’t fight off a man twice her
pandemic got in the way. “My biggest
size. The question arises, why would
disappointment of 2020 was not
a woman filmmaker perpetuate that
getting to meet Paris Hilton,” Mulligan
delusional and damaging idea, given
says. “I hope she likes it.”
the choice? Fennell would not. But also, there is some resistance
ACT IIII
A
to the idea of women on revenge missions at all, Fennell says. “I do think that Cassie is a very particular person, and blokes go on these
s Fennell said, in reality,
dangerous missions—revenge
violence from women
missions—all the time and no one
against men usually
minds. But when women do, people
doesn’t end well. And
are frightened by it.”
when Cassie does finally attempt
“The other day, someone said,
this against Nina’s rapist, played
‘Yeah, but is she just crazy at the
by Chris Lowell, the consequences
end? Has she just gone mad; has the
pop the balloon of the traditional
grief driven her mad?’” Mulligan adds.
Hollywood revenge fantasy. Reality
“The point is that we have countless
crashes down on the pop-culture.
films about men who go on crusades
“It comes back to that honesty
on behalf of their loved ones and we
thing, and trying to do justice to
never say they’re crazy or that they’ve
telling the truth,” Mulligan says.
lost their minds from grief. They’re
“It’s just statistically true. Once
going around having shootouts and
she’s introduced a weapon, it just
ninja fights in every scene. That is
isn’t honest [to have her win that].
objectively insane. What Cassie’s
There’s no way I could out-fight, or
doing, by comparison, is fairly mild.
ninja my way out of a fight with Chris
It’s just an interesting reaction
Lowell. It’s just not going to happen.”
because there’s a huge amount of
This confrontation was perhaps the toughest scene of the shoot.
logic, actually, to what she’s doing.” Fennell’s bold ending is both the
First, the actors watched the stunt
thing that makes the movie, and
team do it. “I started watching them,
breaks the audience with its painfully
and then after two-and-a-half
sharp left turn. Brave and divisive, but
42
D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION IN ALL CATEGORIES
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as possible when I didn’t understand, or I didn’t know something. I would just be like, ‘Sorry what is that?’ Because otherwise you’re like, ‘Yeah, yeah yeah,’ and then you’ve agreed to shoot your film in black and white. I thought, the things I want from this film I know inside-out. If I don’t know the name of a particular cable, it’s not the end of the world. I can learn that, that’s fine.” This can-do attitude is just who Fennell is, says O’Connor. “Three months after the film she came and did The Crown Season 4. I said, ‘How was it? Was it mad?’ Most filmmakers, when they make their first feature they say, ‘Yeah, it’s incredible and I want to make more, but it is hell and my relationship suffered, and I’ve lost my house.’ All that carnage around their life happens. But she was just like, ‘Oh no, I had the best time of my life,
“to anyone. She puts her full faith in the audience. Nothing is overly explained. And you get the ending that you get. ”—carey mulligan Emerald made no compromises. And she doesn't play down
and all the actors were incredible.’” Mulligan sees Fennell’s creative genius as part of a “new generation of women”, with her own particular brand of real, twisty, dark humor. “It does feel in keeping with that kind of work that [Fleabag creator] Phoebe Waller-Bridge has been doing, and Michaela Coel [who wrote and starred in I May Destroy You].” They are “a wonder group of women,” Mulligan says, creating new—and
necessary, LuckyChap stood behind it. “They’re
drunk, and she “slept around” anyway.
distinctly unique—work that is giving voice to an
just amazing,” Fennell says. “They didn’t know it
Then there’s Connie Britton’s college dean.
was going to end the way it did, and when they
Her politely blinking, bland defense of those ‘nice
called me after they first read it, I think we had
boys’ with bright futures who couldn’t possibly
fresh viewpoint on women’s stories that’s pushing
a very brief discussion about it, but they were
be rapists. All of this, horribly, hauntingly familiar;
real change. “That’s what’s so exciting, because
completely on board. The whole thing is you
all stories we’ve heard documented in so many
these shows have massive audiences and
couldn’t really change anything about it because
real-life campus rape cases. When Cassie calmly
they’ve been huge hits,” she says. “I think it’s just
otherwise it would then just become the thing
brings her to her knees, crying tears of remorse,
a really good sign to all the people who make the
that it’s trying so hard not to be, which is a generic
it becomes perhaps one of the most satisfyingly
decisions, but actually there’s a massive audience
revenge thriller.”
set-up movie scenes in recent memory.
for stories about women, and they don’t have
producer of the film, says, “It was so assured and specific and completely original,” she says. “It question of how are we all a part of this knot we need to unpick.” With a movie that appears so pretty on the surface, Fennell perfectly points to that knot, to what lies beneath, what goes unsaid. “I think for me that just feels like so many women’s lives,” Fennell says. “I do think that we’re so practiced
She points outs that there is a hugely-popular,
to be perfect, or look perfect, or act perfect…
LuckyChap co-founder Josey McNamara, lead
evaluates our culture and thinking, and asks the
entire generation of women.
B
ACT IIII eing over seven months pregnant and
These aren’t the things that are appealing to just women or just feminists or some sort of niche group. Everyone—everyone—loves Fleabag. Barack Obama loves Fleabag for goodness sake.” Still, with relatively very little industry
directing your first feature in only 23
precedent for stories of real women who make
days in a foreign country might have
real decisions, and who don’t always have things
worried a different person, but Fennell
neatly work out, making Promising Young Woman
just leaned right into it. “I was so pregnant and I think that really
required the determination to stand by those bold choices throughout the process. “What’s so good about it is that Emerald, in our
at covering things up and making things appear
helped, because in general, I care deeply,
functioning, appealing, happy, putting a brave
pathetically what people think about me. I just
film, made no compromises,” Mulligan says. “And
face on it all… That’s the film really, because it’s
chose the worst possible career in every way
she doesn’t play down to anyone. She puts her full
[Cassie’s] film. It’s so much about looks being
for that personality trait,” she says. “The idea of
faith in the audience. Nothing is overly explained.
deceiving in every way.”
people not liking me and thinking I’m difficult, all
And you get the ending that you get.”
It’s Allison Brie's character, Madison, who
those things, is just dreadful to me. But luckily,
The film’s ending is not the fantasy we expect,
exemplifies the added toxicity of cover-ups and
when you’re carting around a massive baby and
but it may well be the reality we need. And with it,
the ugliness of collusion. She’s the college friend
you’re about to give birth, you don’t have the time
Fennell crests a brave new wave of storytelling.
with the seemingly perfect ‘nice girl’ existence: a
to be anxious. I was like a literal ticking time bomb,
A more ego-driven filmmaker might now
rock on her finger, a rich husband, twin babies and
which I think gave me this weird power for myself.”
be telling us what to think about their subject.
a meticulously-curated Instagram. But she has
She was so thrilled to be living her lifelong
Not Fennell. “I don’t necessarily, in spite of what
also sickeningly justified her decision to maintain
dream, she was “like a competition winner” she
the film is about, know any answers,” she says
a friendship with the popular, successful guys
says. “My only rule for myself was to not pretend I
sadly. “I don’t have any answers, because it’s so
who violated Nina, because she says, Nina was
knew something I didn’t. So, I tried to be as clear
unbelievably complicated and hideous.” ★
44
D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
The B est O f 2020 | Actors
GOOD VIBRATIONS Ahmed as deaf musician Ruben in Sound of Metal.
With two films and an album out, 2020 can’t stop the Sound of Metal star B Y D A M O N W I S E
★
★
★
★
★
in a year that has stymied many of his peers, Riz Ahmed has been incredibly prolific, with two 2020 feature releases— Darius Marder’s Sound of Metal and Bassam Tariq’s Mogul Mowgli—as well as an album, The Long Goodbye, which came with a powerful short film that imagined life in a racist, post-Brexit Britain. If The Long Goodbye is a showcase for the sometime musician’s eloquent wordplay, the two movies offer some of his finest acting work yet, as a heavy metal drummer coming to terms with his sudden deafness in Sound of Metal, and as a rapper struck down by an autoimmune disease in Mogul Mowgli.
46
D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
Your recent choices tuned out to
of humbling about living with death
be quite prescient this year: both
by your side, right? Because it can
Sound of Metal and Mogul Mowgli
really take these lofty illusions of
feature characters whose lives
artistic endeavor or personal iden-
change when they are forced to
tity and just dash them. The shadow
face their mortality.
of mortality is something that just
Well, the ideas I’ve been really
throws both of those concepts into
interested in recently, and I guess
sharper relief.
the ones I’ve been grappling with throughout my whole career—my
What appealed to you about
whole life really—are the ideas
Sound of Metal? It’s a very chal-
about how art and identity interact.
lenging, physical role, not just in
So, out of choice and out of circum-
terms of playing the drums, but
stance, it has been just an area that
in terms of sign language too.
I’ve either been interested in or been
It was just a brilliant script. It’s
forced to be interested in, or to try
pretty straightforward, really. My
and engage in. And I guess nothing
agents sent it to me. I loved the
really poses the question about the
script, met Darius, loved him, and
role of art, or the limitations and
he told me this whole idea of learn-
possibilities of identity, like mortality
ing the drums and learning sign
does. Our identities are made, and
language. I loved the idea of that.
often we make art as an attempt to
Of course, when I started down the
immortalize those identities, and I
road, there was some stuff to not
guess there’s something just so kind
love, alongside all the stuff to love.
COU RT ESY OF A M AZO N ST U D I OS
Riz Ahmed
It was a big challenge. It was quite
York is that I was intermittently
your body of nutrition, to a certain
grueling in many ways, but, by the
meeting up with Bassam [Tariq],
extent, your mind goes to some
end of the process, I’m able to look
and we’d talk about it. Like, what
absolutely bat-shit crazy places.
back and say, “It was just a tre-
is this film? What are we going to
mendous gift.” Learning the drums,
do? It wasn’t really fully clear to us,
learning sign language—it just
even though we had a script. When
opened me up in different ways as a
I wrapped on Sound of Metal at the
person, as an actor. It expanded and
end of October, I went back to Lon-
it enriched me, particularly being
don, collapsed for a bit, and then
able to be immersed in some way
we flew out to Pakistan, because we
in deaf culture, building those rela-
were going to make the film partly
tionships. I often say that Jeremy
in Pakistan. We went there, met
Stone, my sign instructor, taught
some people, filmed some interest-
me the meaning of listening, taught
ing stuff, and when we came back,
me the meaning of communica-
I was like, “Actually, I don’t think
tion. Listening isn’t something you
this is right. That’s not what this
just do in your ears. It’s something
film is.” That was February. So, we
you do with your whole body, your
just banged out a new script at the
attention, your energy. Communica-
end of February and shot the film
tion, when you’re not hiding behind
in April. The whole thing was similar
words, can often be more con-
in a way [to Sound of Metal], in that
nected. I found myself getting much
it was a very long period of gesta-
more emotional communicating
tion with a very concentrated burst
in ASL at times than I did speaking
of crystalizing the idea and then
about things. Jeremy warned me
executing it.
of this—he said that deaf people think of hearing people as emotion-
Did you find that to be a very
ally repressed, because they hide
demanding experience?
behind words.
With both projects, there was a lot
I'd drum for two and-a-half hours a day, sign for a couple of hours a day, and work on the script with Darius. It was one of those projects where you're like, 'All right, this is all in.'
How do you balance indie movies with franchise movies? Why do they interest you? The way I think about is, does it stretch me, and does it stretch culture in some way? Is it trying, in some way, to contribute to stretching the boundaries of genre, or people’s expectations of it, and rearranging their mental furniture? That’s one side. And then the other side is, will I also learn and grow from it? And going from doing films like Shifty, to stuff like Rogue One, you absolutely learn. You learn about different kinds of filmmaking. You learn about how to do a marathon rather than a sprint. You learn all kinds of things. Do you keep the door open for those bigger projects? Could you return to the Star Wars universe? I haven’t had any conversations with anyone about it directly, but… I try
of emotional stuff to mine. That’s
and keep the door open to every-
How long did you train for it?
true of any project, but what was
thing. I think part of the terror and
It was seven or eight months, from
interesting about Mogul Mowgli was
the joy of life as an actor is you have
February until maybe September
the weight loss. You may or may not
to surrender a little bit to the waves.
[2018], I think.
notice it, but basically, I’m playing a
And you never know which direction
guy who is fit and healthy and ready
they’re going to take you. I try and
Were you doing other things at
to go on tour, who is suddenly barely
leave the door open to everything.
that time? How did you fit that
able to walk. We didn’t make a big
in with your work schedule?
thing of it and show lots of closeups
You also released an album and
I moved to New York and just told
of my ribcage, although you do start
a short film this year, The Long
myself, “This is what I’m going to
making out some of the weight loss,
Goodbye. What would you like to
do.” I’d drum for two and-a-half
I think, towards the end, when my
say about that project?
hours a day, sign for a couple of
character argues with his family. I
The Long Goodbye was directed by
hours a day, and work on the script
lost 10 kilos in three weeks for that
Aneil Karia who’s one of our bright-
with Darius. It was one of those
film. That was part of the big chal-
est new talents, I think, in Britain as
projects where you’re like, “All right,
lenge there, and it was really intense.
a filmmaker. Mogul Mowgli allowed
this is all in.” You can’t really dial
I read about other actors going on
me to put all my toys in one box,
this in. And not just because of the
that journey, and, obviously, it’s an
take the music—both rap music
technical aspects, but also because
emotional journey to go on with
and Qawwali music—both my
Darius’s writing always has a way
that kind of weight loss, but I didn’t
British and Pakistani heritage, my
of plumbing such emotional depth.
realize that other people do it in
Urdu and English, and put it into a
You see that in The Place Beyond the
five months with nutritionists and
film. I’m interested in that idea. I’m
Pines. You see that in Blue Valentine
stuff. It was an almost micro-budget
interested in hybridity as a person,
as well. He’s baring his soul, opening
film—we were like, “Fuck it, let’s
but also now more and more as
a bit of a vein. So, you have to meet
just do it.” I don’t think I’d attempt
a performer. And that’s what The
his words with that energy.
that again. I wouldn’t advise anyone
Long Goodbye was about. It was a
to attempt that. Because it does
chance to take the spoken word,
Did you go straight from that to
take you emotionally to some really
rap, film, some of my, I guess, more
Mogul Mowgli?
dark places. It’s crazy, actually. It
social political opinions, but also
No. Actually, the one other thing
just makes you realize how much
personal feelings and put them all in
that I was doing while I was in New
we live in our bodies. If you deprive
one place. ★
48
D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
T h e B est O f 2 02 0 | Actors
MARCHING ON Lindo leads his fellow vets back into the jungle in Da 5 Bloods.
The actor reunites with Spike Lee for a very fresh look at the Vietnam War movie B Y D A M O N W I S E
★
★
★
★
★
Spike Lee’s 1995 thriller Clockers, based on the novel by Richard Price, drew some of the best reviews of Delroy Lindo’s career, but astonishingly, it has taken 25 years for the duo to reunite, for the Netflix streaming hit Da 5 Bloods, and the results are just as incendiary. Cast against type, and almost over the actor’s dead body, as a MAGA-hatted Trump supporter, Lindo dominates a superb ensemble cast as Paul, a bitter, tormented Vietnam vet who reconvenes his old platoon to go looking for a cache of gold hidden in the jungles in which they once fought.
50
D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
It’s been a while since you last
pleased.” [Laughs] And when I saw
worked with Spike. When did you
the film, I was really proud of my
two first meet?
contribution. And I was also slightly
I first met Spike at my audition for
taken aback that my contribution,
Malcolm X in New York. It was very,
as relatively short as it is in the film,
very brief. You know, it was not an
impacted audiences in the way that
introduction per se. He may have
it did. You know, it’s a three-hour-
shaken my hand. I don’t remember.
plus film, and I’m probably in it for, I
Denzel Washington was in the room,
don’t know, 10 minutes, 12 minutes.
and Denzel and I read a scene or
But the fact that it landed as it did
maybe a couple of scenes from
and audiences responded to it, was
Malcolm X together. That was in, I
really… “Oh wow,” It was wonderful.
guess, 1991.
So that the following summer, when Spike called me and said, “Hey
How did your collaboration grow
man, I’m doing this film Crooklyn,
after that first encounter?
and I want you to be in it,” I was not
It really was very organic-seeming.
entirely surprised. I mean, I was not
I remember, right before Malcolm
expecting that call, but I was thrilled
X was released, Denzel called me.
when I got it. And then the summer
I had not seen it at that point, so
after that, he called me and said,
I said, “Have you seen the film?”
“I’m doing this film Clockers—there’s
And he said, “Yes. I think you’ll be
this character, Rodney, and I want
pleased.” That’s pretty much verba-
you to play Rodney.” So, I guess the
tim what he said. “I think you’ll be
answer to your question is, it has
COU RT ESY OF N E TF L IX
Delroy Lindo
evolved very, very organically. Not a
fact that it was these Black men...
that one way or the other—just
lot is said. As far as I can remember,
There’s a love story between these
from a technical point of view, I
he has never, in advance, said to
men, these compadres, and I was
understood that I would be doing
me, “Oh, I’m doing a film next sum-
aware that audiences don’t get to
it directly to the camera. Thank-
mer and I want you to be in it.” He’s
see that. They don’t get to see Black
never said that to me. It’s always
men interacting lovingly. Of course,
very immediate, inasmuch as the
it’s fraught—we’re not all perfect.
phone rings and it’s Spike on the
But I loved that also, because that,
line, saying, “I’m doing project X and
for me, was a manifestation of the
I want you to be in it.”
very humanity that existed inside of the relationship. And also, I would
How did Da 5 Bloods come to
say that I really relished the pros-
your attention?
pect of telling the story from the
I got a call from one of my reps say-
point of view of Black vets. Because
ing, “Spike wants your phone num-
we don’t get to be center stage like
ber.” Which was a little surprising,
that, ordinarily. So, I responded to
because he already had my phone
the material in those terms.
number. But anyhow, they said, “Is
We've just come through a year of sociopolitical and racial unrest. So I think it's resonating for people from that standpoint.
fully, we did not film that scene until five or six weeks in. And by that time—I want to believe—I was sufficiently conversant with Paul. I was sufficiently grounded inside of the work and grounded with Paul that the morning we shot the film, I was clear about how I wanted to approach the work. It was... I don’t want to say ‘effortless’ because I was working, obviously, but there was a flow inside of the work that I was very comfortable with. I actually overheard Spike say, “He’s in
it OK if we forward your number to
How was the camaraderie on
Spike? Spike wants to talk to you.”
set? Had you worked with
He called me a day or so later and
people like Clarke Peters,
said he had this film. I think he said,
another of Spike’s regulars,
“What are you doing right now?”
before? How did you bond as Da
And I said, “I’m doing this TV series
5 Bloods?
[The Good Fight].” He said, “I’m
We bonded extraordinarily well
doing this film and I’m going to send
and effortlessly. I had seen Clarke
I think part of the reason that it’s
you the script. I want you to read it.
Peters on stage in London in 1997
resonated is that it’s landed directly
Let me know what you think.” I said,
in a production of Guys and Dolls.
in the middle of the zeitgeist, right?
“OK. But, you know, Spike, I’m com-
He played Sky Masterson. Other
To the extent that the film opens
mitted to this TV series." And he
than that, I did not know him. I did
with this sociopolitical and racial
said, “Don’t worry about that. Just
not see The Wire—the only other
unrest, and we’ve just come through
read the script and let me know
work of Clarke’s that I had seen was
a year of similar sociopolitical and
what you think.” He said, “The main
[Spike Lee’s] Red Hook Summer.
racial unrest—not only in the con-
characters in the film are called
Isiah Whitlock Jr. and I went to act-
text of America, but globally. So, I
Paul, Melvin, David, Otis and Eddie.
ing school together in San Francisco
think that it’s resonating for people
Who does that remind you of?” And
in the late 1970s—Isiah was a year
from that standpoint, and also, it’s
I said, “Oh, that’s The Temps!” The
ahead of me. I’d seen him around
telling a story that has not been
Temptations, right? And he laughed.
New York, intermittently. Norm
told—by which I mean that these
Maybe that’s how I got the part,
Lewis, I had seen in Porgy and Bess
vets are front and center, essen-
man—that I got that quiz right. I
from maybe four or five years ago
tial to the telling of his story. The
don’t know.
on Broadway. Jonathan Majors, I did
component that I responded to is
not know at all. Obviously, I knew
the fact that it’s, on some level, a
What did you think when you
Chadwick Boseman from Black
love story between these men. All
read the script?
Panther and Get on Up, where he'd
of those things, I think, are resonat-
There were two things that I recall.
played James Brown. But the con-
ing for audiences. And in the final,
One was that the overall arc of the
nection between us all was com-
final, final analysis, it is presenting
story seemed large and classical to
pletely organic. It was very, very rich.
these men in all of their humanity,
me. And when I say classical I mean,
And the bonding that took place
including their flaws. So, I want to
in the classic use of the term—
off the screen, we then transported
believe that, from the standpoint
Shakespearean, August Wilsonian.
that into the work that we did for
that these men and their humanity
It was a big story. I’m sure you know,
the camera.
are being represented, all of those
at this point, the reservation that
the zone right now. Leave him alone. Don’t bother him.” Which led me to believe that whatever I was doing was working. Why do you think Da 5 Bloods has struck such a chord in 2020?
things are resonating for audiences.
I had about playing a Trumpite? I
Could you talk a little about the
And broadly speaking, I believe the
really had a problem with that, but
amazing to-camera monologue
film has connected to the zeitgeist
we got past it fairly quickly. Probably
you have in the jungle?
not only in America, but across the
after my third reading of the script,
The only thing Spike said to me,
world in terms of the turmoil and
I recognized Paul as a big, classical
some weeks before we shot it, was
the tumult that is happening. I think
part with an amazing emotional
that I would be speaking directly
that that only accentuates the reso-
arc. I relished the prospect of play-
to the camera, which was fine. I
nance—and the importance—of the
ing him. And then also I loved the
didn’t really think anything about
film at this particular time. ★
52
D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
T h e B est O f 2 02 0 | Actors
GREAT LEADER Kaluuya as Fred Hampton of the Black Panther party.
In Judas and the Black Messiah, the Oscar-nominated actor takes on the biggest role of his career so far BY NADIA NEOPHY TOU
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In Judas and the Black Messiah, Daniel Kaluuya is the late Fred Hampton, deputy chairman of the Black Panther party, who was assassinated over 50 years ago, at the age of 21. The British-born, Oscar-nominated Kaluuya has featured in such screen gems as Get Out and Black Panther, Widows and Queen & Slim. For this latest, which tells the story of the informant who helped the FBI assassinate the civil rights leader, Kaluuya took on a lot of introspection, much research and daily dialect work. “It’s because it’s Fred Hampton,” he says, simply, when asked why he felt driven to take on the task.
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D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
What did you already know about
time. So, it was a joy to work with
director Shaka King and what
Shaka. I feel very blessed.
made you want to work with him on this film?
What made you say yes to playing
Ryan [Coogler] introduced us and I
Fred Hampton?
always really respect Ryan’s view on
He is a figure that encapsulates
people, point blank, in and out of the
so much of what people today are
industry. So, I sat down with Shaka
fighting for in America, and around
and, for me, you can see where
the world. And he was a channel. He
someone’s at, in terms of the rea-
was murdered at 21 and he was a
sons why they do it. If their reasons
channel, a vessel for all these incred-
are aligned, and it’s about something
ible ideas, incredible philosophies,
more than just themselves, it’s usu-
that are still being used today. And
ally more likely to produce a story
what the Black Panther party repre-
that’s likely to elevate, to resonate.
sented, as well, really resonated with
But also, it’s kind of an instinct, I
me, and really resonated with how
don’t really consciously think about
I see the world, and how I want the
it. It’s just like, “Oh, this makes
world to be. And it was also working
sense.” And I don’t question why it
with Shaka, working with Lakeith
makes sense. Things, in the world
[Stanfield, co-star], working with
we live in, they rarely make sense.
Ryan, working with Charles [King,
But Shaka’s an incredible person. He
producer] and Macro [King’s pro-
really cares and is really collaborative,
duction company], all of those fac-
and really has the vision at the same
tors, so many stars aligned.
COU RT ESY OF WAR N ER BROS . P I CT U R ES
Daniel Kaluuya
Did you feel a lot of responsibility
Oh, so much prep. So much prep. I
and resonance to them.
playing him? How do you put that
just worked on it with Audrey LeC-
What I go out to find is the truth.
aside and just focus?
rone, my dialect coach, who’s amaz-
And how do you tell the truth? I think
I think you put it aside by accept-
ing. I asked her, “Please be honest. I
that’s what art is, it’s articulating and
ing it, and going, “This is real, this is
want to feel confident when I’m out
a responsibility.” If you ignore it, it
there.” We just drilled it every day.
will just fester and manifest in a way
This is like a couple months before
that you won’t have control over. So,
the shoot, every day we just drilled it,
I accept it, listen in conversations,
drilled it, drilled it. I watched footage
ask questions. For me, it was really
or listened to audio. And then I would
important to have the family’s bless-
record the session, and then listen to
ing. So, I took myself to Chicago and
it back when I was at the gym, and
opened up to see the family. And
then go back and then mend stuff
we eventually got to see the family,
bit by bit. But it really was a situa-
Fred Hampton Jr. and Mama Akua
tion where, drop by drop, a river is
[Njeri, Hampton Jr.’s mother]. I just
formed. So, we just have to show
accept the conversation, accept
up every day and do a little bit, and
the responsibility. Then you can
then hopefully it will grow into a fully
put it to the side and do your job. If
formed interpretation that’s honor-
you understand what it is, you can
ing his spirit.
contextualize what it is, and go, “OK
I've had a window into a perspective that not a lot of people my age, or in my generation, would know. So, it does change you, and it gives you a deeper understanding.
visualizing things that people are too scared to say normally. Just say it and going, “This is it.” How it resonates as a result, is just to do with timing. That can’t be manufactured. When we were filming it, it was pre the murder of George Floyd. There was a different level of consciousness about this. I’m not saying it was devoid of it, it was just a different level. So, if you just tell the truth, then things happen. When we shot Get Out, Obama was still in office, and then when it came out, Trump was there. Then that changed how people viewed the film. That’s out of your control. All you can do is tell
cool, these are real things. These
Would you say that this is the
are valid things.” And then just go,
biggest role you’ve done? The
“Alright, put that to the side, I’m still
most important for you?
here to do a job.” And if I go, “Oh well,
Yeah. 1000%. If I’m being brutally
there’s all these other factors that
honest, it’s a huge weight, a huge
come in, that’s why I couldn’t do it,
responsibility. And he’s a huge man,
that’s why I couldn’t learn my lines,”
he’s a huge spirit. His words were
no one cares. I mean, with love, not
big. The biggest version of me had
in a dismissive way. No one cares.
to show up, in order for me to even
Yeah I learnt loads. Shaka gave me
You’ve got to show up and do what
hold the words in the way that they
the Black Panther party reading
I’ve been working for.
needed or were warranted.
list, which is basically the political
Does that go for criticism about
Did you feel like something in you
before they were a fully-fledged
you being a British actor playing
changed after playing this part?
member of the party. So, I’ve read
an American person too?
Yeah. The weight on those people
the majority of books on that, and
Yeah. Because to be real, it’s trigger-
during that time was real, the
just understanding that, from the
ing for generations of African-Ameri-
thoughts and beliefs that they were
outside looking in, they were per-
cans, and you have to address it, and
having in order to say the things
ceived as antagonists. However, they
accept it, and have the conversation,
they were saying, with as much feel-
were doing such amazing work in
and then interrogate your reasons
ing that they felt, in order to ignite
their communities. They were feed-
for doing a project, and your reasons
the people who they were trying to
ing kids before school, because a
why you’re going in, and going, “Do
ignite, had that weight. It’s hard to
lot of kids were going hungry. They
the pros outweigh the cons of it?”
be conscious of that weight, and
were educating kids before school,
And then if it does, then you move
not feel different as a result of it. I’ve
they were opening medical centers,
forward. If you don’t, then you don’t.
had a window into a perspective
they were trying to open medical
That’s why I don’t ignore the conver-
that not a lot of people my age, or
centers to heal the vulnerable within
sation. I try not to block it and ignore
in my generation, would know. So, it
the community. Whether it’s diabe-
the conversation, let it flow. I just
does change you, and it gives you a
tes or sickle cell, even helping the
believe that we are stronger together
deeper understanding into a lot of
Hispanic community. It alludes to it
as a diaspora. And I want to help
things. Why things work the way they
in the film, that they also formed a
that union, and if people don’t want
work, and you just see more. You’re
Rainbow Coalition, with the Young
to unite, then that’s what they want.
more aware.
Patriots, which is an all-white organi-
the truth. And then when it comes out, how people take it, and where people are at when they’re taking it, is just that. Did you learn things about the Black Panther party that you didn't know before?
education that they needed to have
I can’t force them.
zation, that was their enemy. I mean, It’s hard not to think of Breonna
they were doing a lot of great work.
You also take on another
Taylor, when you watch those
Something that Shaka always said is,
American accent, which is very
scenes of Fred Hampton being
“There’s so much information about
different to the ones that you’ve
killed in his home while he sleeps,
Fred Hampton’s death. And we’re
done before. What kind of prep
by the FBI. The films you’re in
trying to show how incredibly he
did you do for that?
seem to have an eerie timeliness
lived his life.” ★
56
D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
T h e B est O f 2 02 0 | Actors
Tahar Rahim Channeling the pain of a wrongly imprisoned Guantanamo detainee in The Mauritanian BY JOE UTIC HI
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Mohamedou Ould Salahi endured unimaginable horror as an inmate of the U.S. government’s notorious Guantanamo Bay detention center for more than 14 years. In all that time, no charge was ever leveled against him, and with the help of his tireless lawyer Nancy Hollander, who weathered extreme criticism for representing terror suspects, he was finally granted his freedom in 2016. His story is the subject of director Kevin Macdonald’s new film The Mauritanian, based on the memoir Salahi wrote in confinement, in which Tahar Rahim telegraphs the pain and resolve of a casualty of America’s heavy-handed war on terror. Yet, as Rahim explains, it was a role he might have dismissed before reading it…
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D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
You last worked with Kevin
How did you overcome that?
Macdonald on The Eagle. That
I’ve been working on my English ever
was your very first role after A
since then. First of all, I work with
Prophet, right?
a lot of foreign directors who don’t
Yes. I remember when A Prophet
speak French, so English was a com-
came out, I had a lot of offers, but
mon language. And I started learning
it was all kind of the same type of
English from movies, music. There
characters only not as good, not as
was a turning point for me, and it
well-written. So, I wanted to wait
was when I was playing Ali Soufan
to have something good to defend.
in The Looming Tower, because he’s
Kevin called me after he’d seen the
an American citizen. He went to
trailer for A Prophet. He hadn’t even
America as a teenager, so I had to
seen the movie, just the trailer. And
work four hours a day with a coach
he offered me a part in The Eagle.
working on the accent, and I did my
Everything was brand new to me,
homework every morning. By being
so I was thinking, This is great, you
in America, being in New York, I was
can get a role just off the back of the
surrounded by people who spoke
trailer. I was a kid actor, just discover-
English every single day. Wherever
ing this industry, this world. At the
you go, you get to practice. So, that
time we shot the film, though, I could
helped me a lot.
barely speak English. So, it was a little strange and frustrating to share
How did Kevin approach you
an adventure without having a real
about The Mauritanian?
relationship with my director.
After The Eagle we had always
COU RT ESY OF STX E NT E RTA I N M EN T
LONG STRETCH Rahim as Mohamedou Ould Salahi in The Mauritanian.
HUNGARY’S OFFICIAL ENTRY - BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM - 2021 ACADEMY AWARDS
“HAUNTING AND MYSTERIOUS. THIS ONE STICKS IN YOUR HEAD.” - RYAN LATTANZIO, INDIEWIRE
“SUPERB. SLIPPERY, SUPPLE AND SINUOUS.
A DELICIOUSLY REWORKED PSYCHOLOGICAL NOIR... IN GORGEOUS 35MM.”
- JESSICA KIANG, VARIETY
“HITCHCOCKIAN. MYSTERIOUS AND CAPTIVATING.” - AWARDSDAILY
A FILM BY L I L I H O R V Á T
PREPARATIONS TO BE TOGETHER FOR AN UNKNOWN PERIOD OF TIME
wanted to work together again.
experience such as his without
two days. So, you think about…
We were going to make a show
holding a grudge against anyone? I
Mohamedou was wearing them
together—The Last Panthers—which
was like, OK, that’s a life lesson right
every day, sometimes for 24 hours a
I eventually did with Johan Renck.
there, and I need to go through this
day, for nearly 15 years.
In the end, it didn’t work out with
process because I want to learn
Kevin, so I’m like, OK, well, there’ll be
something, not just as an actor, but
another chance.
as a man. It all started this way.
About two and a half years ago I
And then I got the chance to
had a text from Kevin saying, “Hey, I
meet Mohamedou virtually, and
might have a good part for you.” So,
he was incredibly nice, with such
I’m like, “Great, send it over.” He sent
a brilliant sense of humor. I didn’t
me the script and my first reaction
want to bother him by asking too
was disappointment. At the time the
many touchy questions. I didn’t
film was called Guantanamo Diary,
see myself as a young actor with
which is the title of Mohamedou’s
a notepad going, “OK, about this
book. I saw the title and I thought,
experience…” So, we just talked. We
No way, Kevin is not going to offer
had a conversation, and it was just
me one of those endless stereotypi-
about catching his mood, his spirit,
cal parts that I’ve been turning down
and all of that.
for years from Hollywood to play a Muslim terrorist.
What were you able to take from him? There’s footage of the real
[Terrorism] is a tiny fraction of the Muslim experience, and Muslim people, Arab people, are very wounded by what those people have done as well.
That was one example. Another was that Mohamedou was transferred into a cold cell at some point, and I asked the production to make the set as cold as they could so I could really feel that experience. I did. When you’re that cold for that long, something starts happening inside of you. I was combining that with a drastic diet where I was eating hard boiled eggs, a little bit of chicken breast and maybe two glasses of water every day. When you combine all that… Man, I learned a lot from that experience, fasting on set, living in this cold. Your soul is flying into fields you never knew existed [laughs]. You’re dragged along by
How many offers like that have
Mohamedou at the end of the
you received?
film, and he is wearing a huge
I’ve had maybe 15 or 20 offers like
smile, and just generally full of
that, from America, from Germany,
life. The Mohamedou you’re play-
from France, since I did A Prophet.
ing is in a very different place,
When you’re going to talk about
under lock and key in Guanta-
ally, I can manage my characters and
topics like those, you’ve got to know
namo, fighting for his freedom.
leave them on set, but with this one,
what you’re talking about and what
That was the toughest part, because
I’ll tell you, it took me three weeks
you want to say. What do you want
how can you ever truly know what
to get out of him. That had never
to tell an audience? What do you
that’s like without living it? It’s just
happened to me before. But when I
want them to learn? I’m not saying
impossible. It’s my job to fake it, but
got back home, my wife and friend
Muslim terrorism doesn’t exist; we
I don’t want to fake it, otherwise
would look at me and say, “Tell us
all know it happened and it’s real.
you’ll feel it as an audience member.
what happened. You’re so different.
But it’s a tiny fraction of the Muslim
First of all, I have the responsibility to
You’re not here with us.”
experience, and Muslim people,
Mohamedou of playing a real man. I
But it had to be done that way,
Arab people, are very wounded by
wanted him to be happy with what
for Mohamedou. It had to be real,
what those people have done as
I had done, and I didn’t want him to
because for him it was real. And I
well. There’s another face to being a
feel diminished by my performance.
want to make movies I want to see,
Muslim that is not explored enough,
For that, I needed to embrace
right, so I want the audience to feel
your emotional and physical state. Is it hard to keep control in that kind of environment? It is hard. That time it was hard. Usu-
and even before I started getting
some of the real conditions, physi-
the authenticity of what they’re
those offers, I knew that I wasn’t
cally, because you can work as hard
watching. I wouldn’t have been able
interested in telling stories about
as you like on the psychology of the
to do it in any other way, really. No,
terrorists. I refused to be a tool to
character—and I’d read his book, and
there was no other way to make it.
tell those stories. And they didn’t
met him, and done that—but there’s
need me; of course they told those
a big difference between knowing
Mohamedou came to set while
stories without me anyway.
the psychology and understanding
you were shooting the Guanta-
how that will be tested by the expe-
namo scenes…
This was different though…
riences he’s living through. So, for
He did come, and to him, I think that
Yes, because I knew Kevin and I
example, I asked them to shackle me
did feel like being back there. It was
knew he’d be too clever for that.
with real shackles. I needed to taste
so hard for him. They set him up by
So, I thought, let me set that aside
it. I needed a sense of it. My job,
the monitors and gave him some
and just read it. And, I mean, I fell
then, is to magnify it and play with
earphones so he could hear the
in love. With the part, with the
my emotions, but that realism was
scenes we were shooting. And he’s
script, with Mohamedou’s story. I
necessary for me. The bruises I got
so polite, he said, “Thank you,” and
cried twice, because it was just so
from being shackled, I kept them for
took the earphones, but he switched
moving. I cried because it hurt me.
the rest of the movie. And I can tell
off the receiver. He didn’t want to
I cried because of who this person
you, I wore those shackles for maybe
see, didn’t want to hear. He just
was. How can you come out of an
a couple of hours a day for perhaps
closed his eyes. ★
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D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
T h e B est O f 2 02 0 | Actors
COURTROOM CONFLICT Abdul-Mateen as Bobby Seale in The Trial of the Chicago 7.
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II The Trial of the Chicago 7 star hunts for the real truth about Bobby Seale B Y M AT T G R O B A R
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invested in himself. He’s built himself up, he’s educated himself, and he’s made himself into a very wellrounded individual. I think that’s one of the reasons why you have a person who fights so
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vehemently for the preservation of his own humanity within this story, is
Last year, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II seized the chance to engage with politically conscious storytelling, capturing the world’s attention with a pair of weighty, dramatic performances. On the heels of his Emmy win for HBO’s Watchmen, the actor returns to the awards circuit with The Trial of the Chicago 7, in which he portrays civil rights icon Bobby Seale. Infamously beaten, bound and gagged in the courtroom during the landmark trial, simply for demanding his constitutional rights, the Black Panther party co-founder inspired Abdul-Mateen with his self-sacrifice, his indomitable spirit, and his tireless advocacy on behalf of others.
because he believes in himself, and he’s invested in himself. So, that was something that I was really, really attracted to. He has an excellent way with words, he’s extremely charismatic and outspoken, an extremely passionate leader, and I like to think of myself the same way, when it
What were your first impressions
getting themselves involved in the
What qualities of Seale did you
of the script for The Trial of the
political process, and voicing their
see in yourself? What did you
Chicago 7? I know the language
opinions on things [where] they felt
admire about him?
Can you recall your first
was a draw.
displeasure or outrage. And I thought
I think the first thing is self-pride,
conversations with Aaron Sorkin
It was a big draw, and a really incred-
that was perfect for the time that we
Black pride. Pride in the way that he
and the cast before the shoot?
ible story, and that’s outside of the
were in, in this country.
built himself up as a man, and built
We didn’t talk much. I know that
himself up as a respectable human
there was a table read, and every-
came with playing Bobby Seale. This
I thought that this was something
being. One of the things that strikes
body came, and everyone was so
was an opportunity to participate
that would definitely speak to the
me as so impressive about Bobby
impressive. I really looked up to
in something that was intended to
world, especially in an upcoming
Seale, and I say this with the utmost
the actors in the room, and I found
reenergize the young people in this
election year. So, I was very excited
respect, is that he loves himself.
myself sitting across from Mark
country—to energize them around
about the themes.
He has a deep self-love, and he’s
Rylance. I knew that the majority of
62 M // A 6 DDEEAADDLLI INNEE..CC OO M AW WAARRDDSSLLI N I NE E
I got the script back in 2019, and
COU RT ESY OF N E TF L IX
responsibility and opportunity that
comes to things that I care about.
D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
6
my scenes, with the exception of
advocating for, and then setting that
have been. I thought about my
one, were opposite Mark, and so I did
down in 1960s America, and under-
father, my uncles, my grandfathers,
deep, deep preparation to be abso-
standing the repercussions of finding
and I thought about all the instances
lutely ready.
himself in the position that he was in.
in history where Black men and
Aaron told us that it wasn’t a remake, that this wasn’t supposed to be a one-for-one retelling of the story. It’s more of a painting than it is a photograph. But he did want to get across that we were making something that was important for people to see today, in order to awaken our own civic responsibility in ourselves. We knew that we were coming up on a very, very important year, and so we wanted people to be able to look at the past, but also to be able to relate that to the present. The world changed so much between those words being spoken, us filming it, wrapping the film, and when the film finally came out. So, we didn’t even know how important of a film it was that we were embarking on. How did you prepare? I read his autobiography, A Lonely Rage, and I tried to really get close to his words and his personality. I watched interviews; I read the court transcripts. He talks about his time
I thought about all the instances in history where Black men and women have been silenced, beaten, gagged, murdered for speaking out, and for attempting to hold onto their humanity.
women have been silenced, beaten, What else did you discover about
gagged, murdered for speaking out,
him in the research process?
and for attempting to hold onto
His smile is what I really latched
their humanity, and for attempting
onto. I really admire him, and he has
to speak for the humanity and the
a great affinity for people, a great
freedoms of other people.
affinity for relationships. I looked
So, I armed myself with all of that
back at several interviews and he’s
history. I went in as an advocate,
extremely charismatic and witty, and
and I just prayed for strength, but
he has a smile, which we didn’t really
it was incredibly difficult. I think it
get a chance to explore and show, so
was humiliating, as well. But it was
much, in the film.
my responsibility to step into that
So, that let me know how much
space, to allow that experience to be
pressure he was under during this
portrayed, and most importantly, to
case. I wanted to latch onto some-
come out on the other side victori-
thing on the other side of prison, on
ous. I’ll always say that, because to
the other side of those walls, which
beat him, and bound and gag him in
was his family, his wife, food, having
a courtroom, it wasn’t just because
a quality of life. And it’s not some-
he was speaking out. It wasn’t just
thing that I learned, but I intuited
in order to silence him. That type of
that he was a winner. So, I knew that
act is specifically, I believe, designed
no matter what, I would have to
to break him, to break his spirit, to
make sure that he came out on the
make sure that not only did he not
other side a winner—not broken, and
disrupt the court, but he did not dis-
not defeated.
rupt the status quo in America, once and if he was ever free again.
Seale is the first real person that
I knew that moment was about
in prison, and one of the things that
you’ve played. Did you find that
more than an outburst in court. It
he misses so much was cooking. So,
especially challenging?
was about trying to break his spirit,
he talks about his food. He’s deep in
Well, I think I try to give the same
and trying to break his will—not only
prison during this interview, and he
amount of attention to all of my
his will, but as he was a leader, to
goes on and on, for 10 minutes plus,
work, but this one came with some
break the will of the people who he
just talking about food, gravy, and
responsibility because a living per-
influenced. So, there was a great
what he would do with some onions
son would be looking at the story
deal of pride that I instilled in myself
and potatoes and sausages, and
and judging the portrayal. So, I had a
in those moments, and wanted to
how he does that. He does it all with
responsibility to be an advocate for
instill in my character, so that he
such charm and grace, and then at
him and his experience, and I wore
could not be broken, so that it was
the turn of a dime, he’s talking about
that like a badge of honor. I was so
impossible to break his spirit. And
the judge and his case. He’s pas-
proud that I was the actor chosen
although he didn’t have the facility
sionate about the people, and he’s
to walk in those shoes. It kept me
of using his words, his voice and his
talking about all of the wrongs that
up late at night, and it woke me up
opinion would still be loud and clear.
are going on.
early in the morning. This was a hunt.
He was just a champion, and
From the beginning, until the last
This past year, record numbers
that’s what I tried to connect to,
moment on set, I was constantly
of young people voted in the
knowing that I would have to go in
mining for gold, trying to find the
wake of police brutality. Was that
and tell this story, and eventually go
moments that would make him
heartening to you?
through this pretty harrowing experi-
human, and that would make his
Absolutely. I think the message
ence, this very inhumane experience.
story ring true.
of the film resonated with a lot of
It was my job, in the beginning, to
people, but also, the sentiments of
just understand him and the things
In one sequence, Seale is bound
the people resonated with the film.
that he cared about, to understand
and gagged in the courtroom.
I think we were hopeful that the
the world that he was in at the
What was that like to shoot?
film would resonate, and the film, I
time, and then live that experience
Yeah, it was difficult. I tried to call
think, turned out to be very much of
through the process. A lot of it was
on my experience as a Black man
the moment. I think the spirit of the
learning his words and really learning
in America. I tried to call on what I
people was congruous with the spirit
about the things that he would be
imagined Bobby’s experience would
of the film. ★
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FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION B E S T D O C U M E N TA R Y F E AT U R E
With Drawn Arms uncovers the story behind a critical moment in American history, spawning one of the most iconic images of protest from the past century. Artist Glenn Kaino and photographer Afshin Shahidi follow Olympic Gold Medalist Tommie Smith as he finally tells the whole story of his historic salute 50 years ago that defined a movement and still resonates today. With Colin Kaepernick, former Congressman John Lewis, Megan Rapinoe, and Jemele Hill. The film features legendary civil rights activist and Congressman John Lewis, Colin Kaepernick, Megan Rapinoe and Jemele Hill.
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