Deadline Hollywood - AwardsLine - Oscar Preview/Actresses - 11/24/21

RICHARD JENKINS: THE VISITOR WHO CAME TO STAY + CODA: SIÂN HEDER AND MARLEE MATLIN WON'T BE SILENCED

OSCAR PREVIEW

Deadline assembles the team behind the sci-fi epic that brought us all back to the big screen

CALL SHEET First Take 4 CLOSE-UP: In The Humans, Richard Jenkins plays out a patriarch’s failing as a family falters through a crisis 12 QUICK SHOTS: The music of The Green Knight; The Tender Bar’s production design 14 FRESH FACE: Agathe Rousselle sets Titane alight 16 ON MY SCREEN: Simon Rex 18 COLUMN: With Globes out of the picture, how will SAG and Critics Choice shape the race?

Cover Story 20 JUST DESERTS: Against all the odds—including ones they couldn’t Dune

Dialogue 32 34 38 42 46

Jennifer Hudson Ann Dowd Aunjanue Ellis Catriona Balfe Jessica Chastain

The Partnership 50 SIÂN HEDER & MARLEE MATLIN: The writer/director and Oscar-winning actress discuss the collaboration that created CODA

Flash Mob 56 Deadline Contenders FIlm: London 60 Producers Without Borders: London ON THE COVER: Clockwise from top left: Jason Momoa, Zendaya, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Rebecca Ferguson, Timothée Chalamet & for Deadline by

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Young Ko

for your consideration in all categories including BEST PICTURE

“OLIVIA COLMAN’S MOST COMPLEX AND HEARTBREAKING PERFORMANCE IN A DECADE.”

BEST ACTRESS Olivia Colman

“A masterwork in perception and all that society places upon mothers and motherhood. Olivia Colman is absolutely fantastic. Her body language, posture and facial expressions deliver worlds of emotions.”

A FILM BY

MAGGIE GY LLENHA AL

winner VENICE FILM FESTIVAL

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MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL

best screenplay

winner MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL

2021

best ensemble

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FRESH FAC E : AGAT HE ROUSS E L L E

DARK SECRETS In The Humans, Richard Jenkins embraces a patriarch’s failing as a family teeters on the edge of collapse

By Damon WIse

“THOUGHTFUL, PROVOCATIVE AND EMOTIONALLY RESONANT. TESSA THOMPSON’s and RUTH NEGGA’s exquisite performances provide the pulsing, emotionally heightened center to REBECCA HALL’s assured move behind the camera.”

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

“A GORGEOUS AND MEMORABLE CINEMATIC EXPERIENCE. TESSA THOMPSON and RUTH NEGGA triumph. They give masterful performances that challenge what and how we think about color, identity, sexuality, envy and obsession.”

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BEST PICTURE BEST ACTRESS Tessa Thompson

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS Ruth Negga

A FILM BY REBECCA HALL FILM.NETFLIXAWARDS.COM

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Every actor knows where they were when the pandemic hit in 2020. Some were lucky enough to finish up before the hammer came down, some were in the middle of production, but it’s unlikely that many, like Richard Jenkins, were about to shoot their last scene. Jenkins was in Toronto at the time, preparing to wrap his role as Ezra Grindle in Guillermo del Toro’s remake of Nightmare Alley.

“We stopped in March,” he recalls. “I had one scene left, and we pulled the plug.”

As if that wasn’t bad enough, when he returned in October, he was forced to quarantine in his hotel for two weeks. “By that I mean I couldn’t go out,” he says. “At all. Try that sometime. Somebody said, ‘How are you doing?’ and I said, ‘Well, I’m marking the days on the wall in my own feces.’ That’s how I was doing: I was literally going mad. I wore a path in the carpet, walking in circles like those animals in the zoo that just keep going around and around.”

That sense of claustrophobia would have been useful to him in 2019, when the actor was filming his TIFF hit The Humans, written and directed

by Stephen Karam, who adapted his own Tony-winning play. Jenkins plays Erik, the patriarch of the Blake family, which has gathered at their daughter’s crumbling New York walk-up for Thanksgiving. Over the course of the evening the family’s secrets are revealed, while the damp, ever-darkening, pest-infested apartment seems to swallow them up.

The actor has experienced some grim lodgings in his time as a struggling thesp (“I remember one night flicking a cockroach off my wife’s shoulder while she was sleeping”), but what struck him most about Karam’s drama was its sense of despair. “The first thing I grabbed onto,” he says, “was how close to the precipice this family was, and how many families are on the edge their whole lives. On top of that, it was my character’s fault, and the only time that he references it is when he says, ‘You know what’s crazy is how you still mess up.’ He’s a guy in his 60s—actually, if it was me, he’d be older than that—and you’d think by this time in his life, he’d have figured things out, but he hasn’t. I just thought that was really moving. And terrifying. And angering.”

He’s a youthful 74 now, and while he hasn’t figured everything out, Jenkins certainly knows how to keep on top. If he’d listened to his father, he might not even have become an actor: when he found out about his son’s plans to act, the old man was horrified. “People don’t do that,” he said, exasperated. “I mean, this is a small town in Illinois.” To change his mind, Jenkins’ mother called his drama teacher and said, “My husband’s being unreasonable.” “The teacher said, ‘OK, put him on the phone,’” Jenkins says. “And she told him, ‘All right, you can put your foot down, but if you do, you have to be willing to accept the fact that your son will never forgive you for the rest of his life.’” His father gave in, and if he ever had those doubts after that, he never showed them.

As for Jenkins, he only had the wobbles once. “I was in college—my freshman year, I think. I was feeling like maybe this wasn’t the thing for me. Maybe I was afraid. I didn’t have any experience. I was just kind of stewing about it. I went to the movies by myself, and I saw Alfie, with

Michael Caine. That performance… I thought, ‘If in my life I could do something even close to that, something that would have the effect on people that his performance had on me…’ That was the night I said, ‘OK, I’m going to do this.’”

And he did, jumping straight into film work in the mid-’80s. Looking back now at some of his first few credits—Lawrence Kasdan’s Silverado, Woody Allen’s Hannah and Her Sisters, George Miller’s The Witches of Eastwick—it seems like a golden age. “It was an incredible time,” he says.

“But when you’re doing it, you’re trying to get the next job. I had kids, so I was trying to feed them. On Silverado, I think I said, ‘Howdy,’ and eight weeks later, I said, ‘You can’t do that.’

Then they shot me. That was my part, and I sat around in a hotel for seven weeks. Yeah, it was an amazing time. But when you’re caught up in it, it doesn’t seem like an amazing time—until you look back on it.”

In those days, he auditioned for a lot of lawyers, policemen and fathers. “I would go into an audition, say, ‘Freeze!’ and then leave.” He laughs. “Everybody’s typecast to a degree, but I’ve been fortunate to play a lot of different kind of dudes. Whatever came along, I did it. I didn’t have the option of saying no, I just had to do whatever I could get. And it was always fun. I loved auditioning.

I didn’t mind because at least it was a chance to act.

I always looked at it that way.” Unusually for a young actor, he never really had a day job to fall back on. “I drove a laundry truck for about four months in the beginning, and I had five accidents. I even backed into the boss’s car once—when he was in it. I said, ‘I guess you’re going to fire me,’ and he said, ‘No, no, no.’” I said, ‘Why not?’ And he said, ‘Because if you leave, I have to do it.’ So, that was my only job, and I was not good at it.”

It was in the ’90s that casting agents began to see Jenkins’ deadpan comic potential, a skill he’d refined on stage in summer stock, doing Feydeau farces and productions of Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple. He thinks of David O. Russell’s Flirting With Disaster as perhaps the point where the shift started, being one of those rare movies where “you can feel something change a little bit after you do it”. Indeed, some people only know him from 2008’s Step Brothers, with Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly. (“They’ll say something like, ‘I saw you in your

Richard Jenkins

F

ation

Italy’s Official Submission for International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards®

3

EUROPEAN FILM AWARD NOMINATIONS

Best Film

Best Director | Best Screenwriter Paolo Sorrentino

“ONE OF THE BEST PICTURES OF THE YEAR. SUBLIME.” Awards Daily

“The work of a director in full command of his gifts.”

The Hollywood Reporter

“A magnum opus.

The ensemble is wonderful.

Grade A.” The Playlist

A Film by ®

PAOLO SORRENTINO

Academy Award Winning Director of

THE GREAT BEAUTY

IN SELECT THEATERS DECEMBER AND ON

DECEMBER 15 FILM.NETFLIXAWARDS.COM

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C LOS E- U P Left to right: Richard Jenkins; Jayne Houdyshell; Beanie Feldstein; Steven Yeun, and Amy Schumer in The Humans.

movie,’” he says.) The big turning point, however, came with 2007’s The Visitor, in which he plays a professor who befriends two illegal immigrants.

The role landed him the first of two Oscar nominations and changed his life forever, albeit gradually: “James Cromwell said to me, ‘You’ll find that people listen to you a little bit more on set than they did before.’ That was the first change I noticed.”

He returned to the Academy Awards for his role as Giles in Guillermo del Toro’s 2017 Oscar hoover The Shape of Water, a film that remains close to his heart. “After I did The Shape of Water, all I could think was, ‘I want to work with Guillermo again—I hope he asks me, I hope he asks me…’” And Nightmare Alley didn’t disappoint him, being another unforgettable experience, even if del Toro did, yet again, insist on shooting in sub-zero temperatures. “It was cold,” he says. “Guillermo likes cold. I run for the tent with the heater, but he sits out there with his jacket open.” Ezra Grindle, he says, is another departure. “He’s kind of a different guy than I’ve played before. He’s after something. That’s all I’ll say. He wants to be forgiven for what he’s done.”

After that comes Ryan Murphy’s Monster, a Netflix miniseries about Jeffrey Dahmer (played by

“After I did The Shape of Water, all I could think was, I want to work with Guillermo again— I hope he asks me, I hope he asks me…”

Evan Peters) in which Jenkins plays the notorious serial killer’s father Lionel. It was a long shoot—six months, which is “really a long time when you hit my age”—with strict Covid protocols in place, but it was worth it. “Evan is just really terrific in it,” he says.

The old energy and the passion are still there, it seems, some half a century later. And after such a storied career, is there anything left on his bucket list? Any directors he hasn’t worked with? He pauses. “I think I wrote a note to Steven Spielberg once, and he never answered. So, that was it. But he’s a busy man! We were filming The Humans, actually, right next door to where they were doing West Side Story. I wanted to go over and watch a dance number being choreographed, and we never got the chance to see it. That’s all I wanted to do: see them putting something together.”

How about doing a musical? Does he think that would be something he’d like to try? “You know, I don’t think like that,” he says. “I never did. Never thought in the theater, ‘These are roles I’d like to play.’ Same with movies. I guess one of the things that I love about this world is that you never know what’s coming up around the corner. And that was true when I wasn’t working. I mean, it could be something really awful.

Grim. Bad news. But it can also be exciting. I’ve always really liked that about this profession, that the future is an unknown.” %

"REGINA KING IS AN ABSOLUTE STAND-OUT

with her patois-splashed accent, convincingly expressing frosty and collected wickedness that feels downright chilling in its capacity for malice.”

THE PLAYLIST

"An outstanding cast. Regina King is a queen of the West."

MASHABLE

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION IN ALL CATEGORIES INCLUDING

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

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Poetic Sound The Green Knight composer Daniel Hart on using ancient instruments to score a legendary tale Coming from a choral background, composer Daniel Hart was well prepared to score The Green Knight, but the real challenge was actually in creating an ancient sound. “I had a baroque recorder quartet as one of the main instruments,” Hart says. “And then I’ve been obsessed with this Swedish string instrument called a nyckelharpa, so I learned to play that for

language of the time. “I started reading and listening to a bunch of Middle English poetry,” he says, “so I could get my mind around the sounds of the words and the way that they’re different from how we pronounce things now.

There’s a track on the score called O Nyghtegale, for example, and just the word ‘nightingale’ sounds like a completely different word. There’s a big Scandinavian

Charted Territory

essentially gone from the English we speak now.” —Ryan Fleming From above: Daniel Hart; The Green Knight at King Arthur’s round table.

At press time, here is how Gold Derby’s experts ranked the Oscar chances in the Lead and Supporting Actress races.

Get up-to-date rankings and make your own predictions at GoldDerby.com

Actress in a Leading Role 1 Kristen Stewart Spencer ODDS ................................

2 Penélope Cruz Parallel Mothers ODDS .................................

3 Olivia Colman

The Green Knight, based on the 14th century poem, tells the story of Sir Gawain, a nephew of King Arthur who goes on a quest to prove his bravery by facing the Green Knight. With a basis in ancient England during the time of King Arthur, it was important for the choral elements to use the

The Lost Daughter ODDS .................................

4 Jessica Chastain The Eyes of Tammy Faye ODDS .................................

5 Lady Gaga House of Gucci ODDS ...................................

A Storied Past

Actress in a Supporting Role 1 Kirsten Dunst The Power of the Dog

How The Tender Bar’s production designer Kalina Ivanov created a history for the Dickens bar with “emotional realism” For The Tender Bar, production designer Kalina Ivanov needed to build the bar, Dickens, from the ground up. “When you do something like this, you’re not doing a ’70s bar,” Ivanov says.

“You’re actually making an older bar. I pitched the idea that it was from 1928, because that’s when Manhasset really grew to become a neighborhood of its own. You see elements of every decade, the ’40s, ’50s, ’60s, and then you see

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Left to right: Kalina Ivanov; Ben Affleck in The Tender Bar.

2 Aunjanue Ellis King Richard

some of the ’70s, which would be the telephone and the TV set.”

This coming-of-age tale, based on J.R. Moehringer’s 2005 bestselling memoir, is about his experiences growing up at his uncle’s bar after his father leaves him and his mother. As he lives his life at the bar, his journey is mirrored by his surroundings. “That design is what I call ‘emotional realism’,” she says.

“The setting should feel very real but should also underscore the

The most important aspects of the bar were the books lining the walls, which was a decision that shaped the life of young J.R. “That

ODDS ...................................

3 Caitríona Balfe Belfast ODDS .................................

says. “I wanted to make it almost like a bar/library, because Uncle Charlie has such a small room in real life, but he is such a voracious reader that he would actually bring his own books to the bar. He was the impetus to get the owner to build more shelves, which is basically how the bar grew into more of a library.” —Ryan Fleming

4 Ann Dowd Mass ODDS ...................................

5 Marlee Matlin CODA ODDS ...................................

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FAC E

It was very clear to me that I was playing a psychopath, so I watched everything I could, from archives of interviews with Why: serial killers to Ted Talks.

Who: Agathe Rousselle Age: 33 Hometown: Paris

What:

FRESH FACE: AGATHE ROUSSELLE

By Damon Wise

It’s not often these days that a star is born overnight, but Agathe Rousselle achieved that feat this year with her debut performance in Julia Ducournau’s Palme D’Orwinning body horror Titane. Rousselle plays Alexia, a serial-killing dancer who insinuates herself into the home of Vincent (Vincent Lindon), a grieving father whose son has vanished. The film’s strong, bloody violence signalled—to some—the arrival of a new scream queen, but, ironically, Rousselle has an aversion to horror movies.

“I can’t watch them,” she admits.

“I’m just too scared. This summer I said to myself, ‘OK, it’s sunny outside, I’ll try to watch one.’ So, I tried to watch Suspiria—and I had to stop after three minutes.”

Personally, Rousselle sees Titane as a very human story of redemption.

“It was very clear to me that I was playing a psychopath, so I watched everything I could, from archives of interviews with serial killers to Ted Talks. I had to understand that Alexia was a psychopath that was going to discover what love was. When she meets Vincent, something happens, and she regains her humanity.”

Ducournau discovered Rousselle via her Instagram account.

But Rousselle had always wanted to act. “Even when I was in high school, I was doing drama classes,” she says. “Then I went to a conservatoire in Paris for two years in my early twenties and then I just did a hundred different things, but acting was always at the back of my mind. The complicated thing about this job is you depend on someone else’s desire. I just had to find someone who would want me—and that someone happened to be Julia.” Rousselle was awed to be acting opposite Lindon. “Vincent is probably the biggest actor we have in France. He’s a huge star here. Even if you go to the asshole of France, people know him.”

Was she surprised to see him do a weird movie like Titane? “Yeah. I mean, it surprised everyone, but he would’ve been stupid not to.

And he knows that. Because when you’re aging a little bit, if you’re not taking risks anymore, you’re just going to end up doing the same things over and over again.”

Where & When: Rousselle teases a project to be shot in the new year and talks of offers from American, U.K. and French production companies.

“Things are going well,” she says. “If I have to be completely honest,” she says, “my plan is to make another four features and have a career that’s solid enough to just quit social media, because, just like everyone else, it takes up a lot of my time—and I really don’t want to spend all of that time on my phone.”

FOR

YOUR

CONSIDERATION

PETER TRAVERS

“One

of the year’s best movies”

W R I T T E N F O R T H E S C R E E N A N D D I R E C T E D BY

SIÂN HEDER

STRONG SEXUAL CONTENT AND LANGUAGE, AND DRUG USE.

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My Toughest Role

Red Rocket

SIMON REX

My First Film Lesson

Red Rocket

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Red Rocket

Red Rocket

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By Damon Wise

Simon Rex arrived at the Cannes film festival this year as an outsider: it’s pretty unlikely that any other actors in this year’s heavyweight competition line-up could boast a recurring role in the Scary Movie franchise, a hip-hop career as Dirt Nasty, and a successful transition from adult film. But after the rapturous reception for Sean Baker’s Red Rocket, in which he plays washed-up porn star Mikey Saber, Rex left town with a whole new world of possibilities ahead of him. Like Baker’s previous festival hits Tangerine and The Florida Project, Red Rocket is a raw story from the margins of American society. But it also proves a surprisingly effective platform for Rex’s previously undiscovered range, as Mikey is forced to come to terms with the life that he has made for himself.

The Part I Always Wanted -

James Bond

The Most Fun I’ve Had On Set Scary Movie 3

this

The Best Advice I Ever Received

-

Naked Gun

Scary Movie 3 “Islands in the Stream”

by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers. I do both parts by myself, which is maybe why it’s kind of fun. I don’t switch my voice up, I just do both of them, which I guess is kind of funny: to be singing to myself that I love you.

Who’d Play Me In My Biopic

one of those jobs where you’re like, “Am I really getting paid for this?” When you’re actually shooting it, it’s very technical and there’s no room for improv—everything’s got to be done exactly as [director] David [Zucker] has written it. So, you don’t really get to go off-script, which I like to do.

and audition. I was thinking, “Oh, these poor guys—are they going to even let them go home?” I showed up for work, and she was like, “Yeah, just be yourself and do what you did in the room.” So that was a cake walk.

The Character That’s Most Like Me

People come up to me always, to this day, and quote one line from Scary Movie 3. They say, “You just hate me because I’m Black.” And that’s a line that I have to Charlie Sheen because I’m trying to be Eminem, I’m trying to be a rapper. And it’s just a really dumb, funny line, and even to this day, that’s what sticks out 20 years later, almost. People come up and they’re like, “That movie was my childhood.”

And that’s always the line.

I got a TV show years ago called Jack & Jill for WB, like, 20 years ago. I remember going into the audition and doing a cold read [for the role of Mikey Russo]. I hadn’t really prepared too much, and I went in there and they were just cracking up at everything I was saying. I’ll never forget this: Randi Singer, who wrote the show, right there in the room, she goes, “You are this character. Don’t change a thing. You got the part.” I remember walking out, and there were other actors preparing to go in Jack and Jill

My Most Quoted Role

The Films That Make Me Cry Believe it or not, A Christmas Story. The whole movie is about a kid called Timothée Chalamet

Ralphie who wants a BB

My Guilty Pleasure

gets his gun and he accidently shoots himself in the eye. His mom comes out and yells at him, and he just starts crying. It breaks my heart every time. Like the ending of The Florida Project, where the little girl runs crying to her neighbor’s house because her mom is being arrested. It puts a lump in my throat. And I’ve only just realized that it’s the same kind of thing: seeing a child crying is so sad. I probably should talk to my therapist about what that means, but there’s

I like watching really bad movies and talking shit to the TV. Just a mindless, horrible movie. I just want to turn my brain off for a while. I don’t want to watch a piece of high art, I just want a shitty movie so I can just laugh at it and make fun of it, saying things that I would never dare say in person to hurt anybody feelings. Usually, I do it with reality television more than movies, but sometimes I’ll

it that’s like a punch in the stomach for me.

My Karaoke Playlist

The Florida Project

and I’m like, “This looks awful—let’s give it a go!”

“Islands In the Stream”

Oh, that’s a really good question. Timothée Chalamet. Is that how you say his name? He’s just got to cut his long hair and then he’s good to go.

I didn’t know much about him until very recently, and now I get it. Sometimes in life you miss the boat on something, and you’re like, “What’s the craze?” I’ve recently seen a couple of his movies and I’m like, “Oh, this guy’s the best. I love him.” I guess I just think he should play me because I want him to. He’s not even remotely like me, except that he’s a white, brownhaired guy. I just want to see him play me because it would be entertaining.

F T

CO LU M N

WITH THE GOLDEN GLOBES ON ICE, WILL SAG & CRITICS CHOICE WRITE OSCAR’S NEW SCRIPT?

For the past several years I have written a variation of this column that almost always pairs an analysis of potential SAG and Golden Globe nominees, as well as throwing in some speculation about the way winds are blowing with the often very predictive Critics Choice Awards. All three of these groups traffic in movie and television categories and can be right more often than they are wrong. They also serve

By Pete Hammond as kind of a roadmap for Oscar voters whose chance to fill out their ballots comes much later down the line in the seemingly endless awards season.

Well, things are going to be a little different this year because the Golden Globes are a non-starter, their NBC telecast and show were cancelled in light of scandals within the organization and a dictum to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association to get their act together. In a very unsportsmanlike move they announced, after first indicating they were going to focus on getting their house in order rather than handing out statuettes, that they will indeed somehow name winners of the Golden Globes on Jan 9. That’s the same night Critics Choice announced for their glitzy televised show in May (on The CW and TBS this year). And all of this comes after many publicists and studios publicly rebuked Globes organizers. We’ll see how all that goes down, and in what form, but it is clear the Globes will likely be far less influential in this race as potential nominees and winners might want to look the other way rather than be seen endorsing a group still struggling to right its own ship.

In other words, embracing a win or nomination for a Golden Globe can be a much more slippery slope than usual.

All this means is that the Screen Actors Guild awards and Critics Choice loom even bigger than they ever have in terms of being a genuine Oscar bellwether, even though the pandemic-affected 2021 virtual ceremonies for both did not deliver their usual strong correlation with eventual Oscar winners.

The Power of the Dog Belfast

SAG’s film awards only matched Oscar in the supporting categories (Yuh Jung Youn, Daniel Kaluuya) and missed matching the Academy’s choices of Anthony Hopkins, Frances McDormand, and Nomadland by anointing Net-flix with wins for Chadwick Boseman, Viola Davis, and the cast of The Trial of the Chicago 7 (SAG’s version of Best Picture). SAG will be looking for a comeback in line with 2019 when they went five for five with Oscar.

So, what can we expect in terms of front runners at the all-important SAG Film nominations? Count on King Richard’s Will Smith as a certainty in the Lead Actor category for his towering portrayal of Richard Williams, the man behind the tennis dynasty of Venus and Serena.

His closest competition is likely to come from Benedict Cumberbatch as the mean-spirited but fascinating and complex cowboy in Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog. Immediately after its AFI fest premiere, Andrew Garfield in tick, tick...Boom! shot up the list and seems certain for a nomination. They are the top three at press time, but Leonardo Dicaprio in Don’t Look Up is coming on strong and the still unseen Bradley Cooper performance in Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley could be a late-breaking factor. Below that tier, don’t ever count out Denzel Washington, especially doing Shakespeare in The Tragedy of Macbeth. If MGM mounts a big campaign, I would say Cyrano’s Peter Dinklage is one to watch in a role that won Jose Ferrer an Oscar in 1950 and later earned Gerard Depardieu his only Oscar nomination.

Javier Bardem’s dead-on portrayal of Desi Arnaz in Being the Ricardos is a certain contender, especially since actors seem to love it when actors play other actors.

Depending on the campaign, there could be some real love for Nicolas Cage in his critically acclaimed turn House of Gucci

The Lost Daughter Pig

in the indie Pig, or for Adam Driver who is turning up everywhere this year, but especially in his role as the doomed husband in House of Gucci. Simon Rex came out of nowhere to wow in Red Rocket, and he could be lifted by attention from SAG and/or Critics Choice for his unhinged comic performance, although comedy always has a hard time impressing voters and is one category that benefits from the usual Globes hoopla.

Also, in the indie vein, Clifton Collins Jr. broke out of the gate early at Sundance in Jockey and will get renewed attention as the film finally opens at the very end of the year. It is the kind of portrayal from an overdue indie veteran that actors may well want to recognize. Matt Damon in Stillwater is a summer performance that SAG could bring back into contention, or if the love continues to build, 11-year-old Jude Hill as the irresistible Buddy in Belfast could melt enough hearts to win that rare nod for a kid. Names like Andrew Garfield, Leonardo DiCaprio, Joaquin Phoenix, Oscar Isaac and Mahershala Ali are also popping up here and there but are probably dark horses this time around, especially since some movies have not yet widely seen.

On the female lead side, the competition is fierce with Nicole Kidman as Lucille Ball, Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana, Jessica Chastain as Tammy Faye Baker, and Jennifer Hudson as Aretha Franklin all angling to gain attention playing real-life celebrities. Throw in Lady Gaga for playing a real-life murderous Italian socialite in House of Gucci and you have quite a reality list. Holding the flag for playing fictional characters are Oscar winners Olivia Colman—so great in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Lost Daughter—and Penelope Cruz, who is excellent in Parallel Mothers. Alana Haim in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza made such a dazzling debut she could gain traction against this murderer’s row of female contenders. Three-time Oscar winner Frances McDormand playing Lady Macbeth sounds irresistible, but it really belongs in supporting. The unseen West Side Story has newcomer Rachel Zegler as Maria, the role that didn’t land Natalie Wood a nomination in 1961, but Zegler does her own singing, so there. The list of contenders also includes Tessa Thompson in Passing, Halle Berry directing herself in the MMA drama Bruised, and the divine Emilia Jones in CODA. Supporting categories are equally crowded. Count on Ciarán Hinds and Jamie Dornan in Belfast, Jared

Leto’s out-there turn in House of Gucci as well as Al Pacino’s, J.K. Simmons as William Frawley in Being the Ricardos, and Troy Kotsur in CODA. Ben Affleck could well be a front runner for his wonderful turn in George Clooney’s The Tender Bar, as could veteran Richard Jenkins in The Humans, or both Jason Isaacs and Reed Birney in the intense Mass. And don’t discount the haunting Kodi Smit-McPhee in The Power of the Dog, Jonah Hill in Don’t Look Up, or the as yet unseen veteran Willem Dafoe in Nightmare Alley. If Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch can make a dent, Jeffrey Wright will be the beneficiary.

On the female supporting side Kirsten Dunst has her first real shot at a nomination for The Power of the Dog, and has killer competition from both Caitríona Balfe and Judi Dench in Belfast, and Marlee Matlin in CODA. Count in both Ruth Negga in Passing, Aunjanue Ellis in King Richard, Ann Dowd and Martha Plimpton in Mass, and Ariana DeBose as Anita in West Side Story—the same role that won Rita Moreno an Oscar in this category 60 years ago. Can lightning strike twice for that role? SAG awards weren’t around in 1961, but we will look to SAG to give us a clue about this Anita.

There is an intriguing second tier of contenders here too, including Cate Blanchett in Nightmare Alley and Meryl Streep in Don’t Look Up. I would also add the magnificent Nina Arianda for her brilliant Vivian Vance in Being the Ricardos and Lily Rabe in The Tender Bar. And of course, McDormand if voters deem her Lady Macbeth more supporting than leading.

After a slow awards season for movies last year, this one seems to be roaring back. As for the TV side of things. SAG often seems to be following, with Critics Choice (and the Globes when they were around) leading in terms of Emmy influence. Last year, Emmy darling Ted Lasso scored at SAG with a Comedy Actor win for Jason Sudeikis, but otherwise it was a big night for Schitt’s Creek and The Crown. I am predicting, however, SAG will follow the pattern of taking the Emmys’ lead with Ted Lasso, Hacks, The Flight Attendant and Mare of Easttown all scoring major love in nominations. The one new show too late for Emmys that could find attention is The White Lotus, the breakout limited series on HBO. The series seems destined to finally land Jennifer Coolidge in a number of winner’s circles, certainly at SAG and Critics Choice for starters, all leading eventually to Emmys. Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building is well-liked, and I think after a year off, AppleTV+’s The Morning Show will be back in a big way at SAG where Jennifer Aniston pulled off a surprise win two years ago. She, Reese Witherspoon, Juliana Margulies and Billy Crudup look to land major attention. The same will be true for the third season of HBO’s Succession, which should spell success for Brian Cox and Jeremy Strong as well as its superb supporting cast. SAG doesn’t draw a line between comedy and drama series, so it can get very interesting. Whether FX’s limited series American Crime Story: Impeachment gets a look-see remains a big question as that show didn’t get the water cooler treatment initially thought, but how do you deny Sarah Paulson’s Linda Tripp?

The race, as they say, is on.

King Richard Tragedy of Macbeth

Nightmare Alley Don’t Look Up Stillwater

AGAINST ALL THE ODDS, DENIS VILLENEUVE HAS DELIVERED THE DEFINITIVE ADAPTATION of Frank Herbert’s 1965 classic novel Dune. But a complex narrative and the difficulty of shooting a blockbuster in the scorching deserts of Wadi Rum, Jordan became the least of the challenges when a global pandemic threatened to disrupt the movie’s chance to screen in theaters. At the end of the process, with a follow-up having been announced, Villeneuve, producer Mary Parent and the cast of Dune tell Joe Utichi why the journey to Arrakis was worth the effort.

A F E W W E E K S P A S T T H E DOMESTIC RELEASE of Dune, Denis Villeneuve is in a reflective mood. It’s not quite that he can finally relax—in fact, he says, he’s already deep into prep on the second chapter of his adaptation of Frank Herbert’s epic sci-fi tome—but rather that the many dice he’s been rolling for the better part of the last five years have finally come to rest and he can be reasonably confident in declaring victory. Dune: Part One became the biggest opening of his career, Warner Bros.’ biggest opening of the pandemic era, and a reminder for audiences the world over of the power of cinema.

“I felt the appetite for people to go back to the theaters, to be together and to watch movies, to go back to the theatrical experience,” he says now. “We made the movie for that kind of experience, and people really embraced it. People were moved to tears to be back in theaters. It was really touching.”

It’s a victory for Villeneuve—and for Legendary Pictures who set the course for a new adaptation of Dune by picking up the rights only a short while before appointing the director—not just because Dune has a rocky history on the big screen. Alejandro Jodorowsky’s attempt to adapt the book resulted only in a definitive documentary about the folly of it all some 40 years after the fact, and David Lynch’s 1984 adaptation is much-maligned, especially by the director himself. It’s also a victory because of the landscape cinema found itself in when the pandemic shuttered theaters the world over, and Warner Bros. announced its entire slate would stream on HBO Max concurrently with a theatrical release—if the latter was even a

possibility at all.

And it’s especially a victory for the 13-year-old kid from Quebec who first read Dune and could scarcely believe he might one day get the chance to combine his passion for it with his love for movies.

“Reading the book was a visceral experience,” he remembers of that first encounter. “I devoured it.

I devoured the entire series. As I grew up, I rediscovered it through the years, because it’s the kind of book where every time you read it, you discover something new according to your life experience.”

Villeneuve had seen Lynch’s version of Dune on its initial release, not long after he first read the book. He was disappointed, admiring parts of it, but feeling frustrated by its deviations from the source material. “I remember coming out and telling myself somebody will do it in the future again.”

So, he waited and waited, hearing rumors about attempts that all seemed to fizzle, and nobody ever got into production with a new adaptation.

That might have been the end of the tale. But Villeneuve may be the Kwisatz Haderach of this story—the chosen one sealed by fate—because in relatively rapid fire in 2016, the planets aligned to put him in charge of his dream project. In an interview, almost as an aside, he disclosed that Dune had been the film he always wanted to make. Across town, Mary Parent had just brought the rights to Legendary, the company she would eventually join to become its vice chair of worldwide production.

“It never happened like this before and it probably never will again,” Parent says now. By chance, she read the interview, and reached out to Villeneuve. “We hadn’t even started to develop the script. I didn’t want to develop a script because I wanted it to be the filmmakers’ vision. And then in the third paragraph of this article, Denis had said it was his dream to direct this movie. It did feel fated.”

Still, Villeneuve faced the challenge of succeeding where others had failed. His first roll of the dice was the decision to split Herbert’s first Dune novel into two movies, betting on the success of the first that the second would get a green light.

Part of the struggle to adapt the project—and Villeneuve notes that writing the script was the hardest part of the process—was how much depth and definition there was in the world Herbert had created. With Eric Roth and Jon Spaihts, Villeneuve spent months trying to crack the nut, brainstorming how to introduce an audience to the themes, characters and politics of this game of thrones in space. “The novel starts with the phrase, ‘Beginnings are very delicate times,’” Villeneuve says with a laugh. “It’s true. You could make the movie for hardcore fans, and if everybody had read the book, that would be easy, but to make sure that everyone who saw this would feel welcomed, that was the biggest challenge.”

He set a simple goal: “I wanted to make the movie to please myself as

Director Denis Villeneuve and Javier Bardem on set in Jordan.

DENIS VILLENEUVE PHOTOGRAPHED FOR DEADLINE BY

VIOLETA SOFIA AWARDSLINE

a hardcore fan, but also to make sure that my mother, who had “I WANTED TO MAKE A MOVIE TO PLEASE not actually read the book, would understand the story and not MYSELF AS A HARDCORE FAN, BUT MAKE feel alienated.”

Cutting the story in the middle meant that Villeneuve and SURE MY MOTHER WOULD UNDERSTAND co. could focus the narrative primarily on establishing Paul AtreTHE STORY AND NOT FEEL ALIENATED.” ides, the wide-eyed 15-year-old whose fate is intertwined with that of the desert planet of Arrakis, which gives the story its title.

DENIS VILLENEUVE From Paul’s perspective, we are introduced to the power struggles between rival houses over access to the Spice Melange, the natural resource of Arrakis that makes the planet a highly contested landscape. And through him, we meet the various other groups along the margins who are all affected by this fight for supremacy. They include the Fremen, Arrakis’s native population whose notices for work like Lady Bird and Beautiful Boy. He was ready for his first world is being decimated by spice mining, and the Bene Gesserit, a femaleblockbuster lead role to test his mettle as a movie star. led order who appear to be the puppet masters behind the patriarchies “What he has is a very rare talent,” Villeneuve says. “You see actors like that fight over political power and territory. that come by once in a decade. He’s a profound thinker and a skilled actor, There were few elements here that stood up to being cut. Every thread and I needed someone who had that. And yet, on screen, Timothée looks of the plot impacts the overarching narrative. Splitting the story in two really young, and I also needed that youth. I wanted Paul to be close to the not only meant an opportunity for a longer overall runtime (Parent notes description in the book, where he is a teen with a lot of maturity.” that she expects theaters might want to treat the separation point as an What Chalamet also brought, Parent says, was a commitment to the prointerval for the inevitable double bills of both chapters), but also that an cess that made him more than just an actor for hire. Along with Zendaya, audience wouldn’t feel overwhelmed by the information dump of exposicast as Chani, whose narrative will dominate the second chapter of Viltion required to cram it all into a single movie. leneuve’s adaptation, the film’s two leads fully immersed in a collaboration “There’s so much worldbuilding, but it’s completely accessible,” notes with their director. “Timmy and Z aren’t just legitimately two of the best Parent of the script for Dune: Part One that emerged as the project develactors of their generation and movie stars, but they are in full command of oped. “The worldbuilding is simply hard to hide in this movie. But Denis what they want their careers to be,” Parent says. “They take charge, and is precise about that, and he makes it as intimate as it is epic. There’s only they drive decisions about the filmmakers they want to work with and the a few people that I think of who could pull that off, and Denis is at the top kinds of material they will do.” of that list.”

Around them, a supporting cast full of franchise-commanding players And just as fate seemed to hand this project to Villeneuve, so it was includes Oscar Isaac, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem and Jason Momoa. that finding a young actor who could bear the weight of that worldbuilding “One of the big challenges of the film is getting all these people assembled,” turned out to be less of a challenge than perhaps it could have been. Not says Parent, with an eye on how she will plan to bring most of them back only had Timothée Chalamet set up a Google news alert for Dune when he together for Dune: Part Two. “It’s a high-class problem to have, but they’re heard Villeneuve was going to adapt the book, but, for Villeneuve, “there all so busy and at the top of their game that figuring out how to schedule was no other candidate, frankly.” Chalamet was fresh from his Oscarthe movie was not easy.” nominated breakthrough with Call Me by Your Name, and a raft of stellar Hence the biggest of all the movie’s rolls of the dice. Because Dune: Part One—thus titled on screen, with a definitive ellipsis at the film’s conclusion—had been constructed specifically to play as a first chapter and not a standalone picture. And yet Warner Bros. had not committed to a back-toFrom top: Villeneuve and Timothée Chalamet rehearse; with executive producer Tanya Lapointe. back shoot as they had done with the Matrix sequels, or as New Line had done with The Lord of the Rings. Getting a chance to make the second part of Dune would always rely on delivering success for the first part.

And even in late 2019, as principal photography wrapped on Dune, conversations about the survival of cinema—about its viability and its definition—had started to rage. Streamers like Netflix and Amazon had gained ground offering in-home convenience, but they set out to make movies and television shows alike, blurring the division between the two formats. And the most successful tentpole releases seemed to come from a single studio, Disney, with its consolidation of franchises including Marvel and Star Wars.

“We’re not a Marvel movie and we didn’t have a Marvel budget,” Parent says. “At $165 million we’re on the smaller side of a big movie. I’ve never made anything of Marvel size, but I’ve certainly made movies for $10 million or $15 million more, and by the way, that would have been great. But we were helped by Denis knowing exactly what he wanted to shoot.”

Nevertheless, $165 million is no small indie loss-leader. And marketing the movie, despite a committed fanbase for the book, would not be easy, especially since so many of the ideas Herbert originated in Dune had been co-opted by the many other space-bound franchises that followed its publication. When the global pandemic shut down theaters just as Dune was nearing the finish line, all of these challenges multiplied.

It wasn’t that Dune was the first project rocked by the pandemic and

the lockdowns that began in earnest in the early half of 2020, and nor will it be the last. Every studio—streamers included—has had to reckon with a new paradigm for releasing movies… or risk letting them rest on shelves indefinitely, incapable of recouping their production costs. But more than many—perhaps even most—Dune demanded the big screen.

When Warner Bros. announced it would send its slate to stream on HBO Max day-and-date with whichever theaters were available, it was reported that the company had not consulted with the filmmakers in its stable about its plan. The studio would ultimately lose the loyalty of Christopher Nolan, a longtime proponent of the theatrical experience, whose next film Oppenheimer will be released instead through Universal Pictures. And Legendary fought on behalf of its own projects at the studio to preserve the value of a big-screen release, coming close to taking legal action.

For Dune, a compromise was reached. “We had already sat on the movie for a year, so thinking about sitting on it for another year was very stressful,” Parent says. “Faced with holding the movie longer, I think we made the right decision.”

The announcement from Warner Bros. might have blindsided its filmmakers, but it wasn’t without precedent. As soon as late March 2020, studios had begun toying with shifting movies originally bound for theaters into exclusive streaming runs. Theatrical windows, which had long held exclusivity for theater operators, started to collapse, and exhibitors, whose venues were shuttered, had little leverage to protest.

The accessibility of streaming combined with the sudden arrival of brand-new studio pictures piped directly into homes had a profound cultural impact, too, though this took a while longer to manifest.

While no outbreaks of Covid have been conclusively linked to movie theaters, audiences seemed to be in no hurry to return. When Dune finally premiered at the Venice Film Festival in August, critics who suggested the film belonged on the big screen encountered the ire of social media users who had come to see theatrical cinema as a frivolous—even dangerous—pursuit, when safer home distribution models had been applied to other releases.

“There’s a level of engagement [to a theatrical release],” Villeneuve says now, determined that there is only one optimal way to see his movie. “If you’re at home watching it on your computer, you are less committed to the experience. There’s something about the power of the big screen and the sound system that you cannot find at home. It becomes almost spiritual, because with an audience suddenly you become one together, which is something humans need. I think we are not meant to be isolated. We are meant to share together. And cinema really is one of the last places that can happen.”

He isn’t ignorant to the notion that most audiences, in the lifespan of a movie, will experience it first on the small screen. “That’s how I saw 2001: A Space Odyssey for the first time,” he notes, while insisting, humbly, that he isn’t comparing his own movie to Kubrick’s classic. “You can still have a strong cinematic experience at home. But when you watch it in 70mm in a theater, the difference is emotional. I cried when I watched 2001 again in a movie theater. I realized how much I had missed when I watched at home.”

As for the teed-off Twitterati? “A platform like Twitter is just polarizing and everything will become hostile. There’s no more place for nuance.” Villeneuve knows that people need to feel safe, and that may involve eschewing the cinema. “It’s delicate because of the pandemic, and I respect that.

But it’s not the ideal way to see the movie, and the movie was not meant

From top, left to right: Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya, Javier Bardem and Timothée Chalamet; Chalamet and Ferguson.

to be seen on a TV screen,” he says simply. “It was shot and edited and designed for the theater.”

In the end, Dune’s release proved that there was still an appetite for theatrical. After premiering at Venice, the film rolled out internationally as a cinema exclusive before opening day-and-date with HBO Max in the US. At the time of writing, it has made $350 million globally; numbers that may have felt modest pre-pandemic, but that suggest Villeneuve’s adaptation has given post-pandemic audiences an excuse to emerge.

When, on Oct. 27, Dune: Part Two was officially announced, Villeneuve’s victory was complete. He had been feeling good about his chances. “When Warner Bros. finally saw the movie, they did express to us loud and clear that they loved it and were very proud of it. And of course, I have had the full support of Legendary from the beginning. Nobody wanted the journey to end there. It would have needed a catastrophic opening to end that journey, I think. But until the light goes green, you really don’t know what can happen.”

“You can’t take anything for granted,” Parent adds. “Hollywood doesn’t make these kinds of films anymore, these big epics. It’s a film that’s a mix of new and old, because it’s cutting edge and very timely, but it was made in the tradition of old Hollywood, with not a lot of CG and as much practical as possible. People really did appreciate that, and it gives you hope.”

“The worms were visual effects, though,” laughs Villeneuve. “No worms were harmed in the making of this movie.”

Z E N D A Y A I S C H A N I After a year and a half of pandemic, how did it feel to premiere this movie in Venice?

Timmy and I looked at each other like, “You know what, let’s really take this moment in, because this is so special.” There are very few people that get to have the view that we got. And I think we were just reminding each other that this is real life, and to soak it up as much as we possibly could. I felt very grateful also to be sharing that with a dear friend of mine.

this movie, but her story will really be told in Part Two. What

established ensemble relatively I was late to the party. It’s interesting because I pursued it quite early. Before any casting went out, I heard that it was happening and I was like, “Hey, I’m here, I just want to put my name out there, can I get in the room?” At the time I hadn’t done Euphoria yet, so I knew I didn’t have anything to prove it. when I arrived in Jordan, there was an already this set family. I remember turning up and everywhich was cool. I met everybody fully in the stillsuits. So that was a very cool way to be introduced to everyone, pretty much in their character essentially.

Even though my time on set was brief, Denis is great at giving you structure, but then also giving you freedom within that structure. And I think for me, I could come to it with a sense of who she was. I don’t feel like she’s too much of a departure from who I am, though the circumstances may be different.

the pieces of yourself that line up with the pieces of who they are and then you build around that.

I felt immediately connected to her. I wish I had more time with her, and with everybody. I didn’t want to leave.

What are you most excited about for Dune: Part Two? Well, I can be there for longer, which is cool [laughs].

I want to grow with the characters I play, and with the people that I get to learn from. Anybody who has read the books knows there’s so much more to explore and deal with. What was cool for me having not been around getting to see the movie from a completely fresh perspective, because I hadn’t seen the sets and the scenes for most of the movie. And watching it felt like just the beginning of this story.

We’ll see more of Zendaya’s Chani in Dune: Part Two. What did you make of what she brought to the project?

She is Chani, and it’s incredible to witness. From the get-go, she was that character, and it was inspiring to see. I love the shot in the movie of Chani pulling the feels properly momentous. But even on the day, it was like, Holy shit, Chani has arrived.

There’s the book, and there have been other adaptations, but not only was the relationship between us alive in Jordan, and not only does it live on the screen chemistry read. It felt obvious.

Are you ready to head back to the desert for Part Two? We were ready to do it back then [when we wrapped Part One].

T I M O CHAL I P A A T R E

PHOTOGRAPHED FOR DEADLINE BY

VIOLETA SOFIA

T H É E AMET S U L I D E S

How much did you rely on Frank Herbert’s novel to understand more about who Paul was?

Absolutely. When you’re lucky enough to work on something with a book as source material, it’s the best cheat code. There’s a blueprint right there in front of you. On the day, you just let go of all of your prep work and trust in Denis. But it did feel like taking authorship of this character.

I felt close to Paul Atreides and close to this story. I have excitement to do another one.

These characters are far from their end points. It’s a dream come true to get to work with Denis once on a movie of this size. And it’s certainly a marathon and not a sprint, so you have to pace yourself. But you don’t want to be weary of having fun. Certainly, in the project I’m working on now [Paul King’s Wonka], I’m learning even more than you don’t have to suffer all day at work. How lucky are we to get to do this?

R E B E C C FERGUSO I L A D J E S S I C

A N S Y A

Did you know Dune before you took the part?

I didn’t have a relationship to Dune at all. It was all very new to me. But it was enough for me to sit on a Skype with Denis. He’s cheeky, mischievous and he’s curious. Those qualities are what lure me in. When someone’s a very good talker, you’re drawn in and it has power. So, when you meet someone like Denis, who can verbalize in quirky ways and use gestures as he explains all this to you, I’m blown away.

Done. I’m sold on this story. And then I read the script. I’d already said yes before I read the script, but reading it, I didn’t feel like I wanted to change a thing. I didn’t feel a female suppression, which I often do. It was a script that had been dissected so carefully that there was time to follow the journey of everyone.

What did you make of seeing all the effects and music put into place?

I took my son, Isaac. And I was expecting him to be blown away by the cool shields or the body armor. Or by Jason Momoa, of course. But when the imperial spaceship comes into land early my hand and I literally saw him do an intake of breath. It was the sound of it. The score. It provoked every atom of my body.

Lady Jessica is part of the Bene Gesserit, a female-led order and they’re basically pulling the strings of the universe.

She was ahead of her time in 1965, and still is. What’s wonderful is the fact that this male writer—Frank Herbert—was enlightened and felt the urge and

necessity to describe this sisterhood who are connected ancestrally to be able to manipulate the universe. Because it wasn’t so different back in the day when the women were building strong households, marrying off their children and making alliances to build stronger communities.

That’s basically the Bene Gesserit, right?

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J M I D I

A S O N O M O A S U N C A N D A H O

to you?

I hadn’t read the book before or in our off hours. I’d show Denis -

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-

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S D B I D L K

H A R O N U N C A N REWSTER S R .

I E T Y N E S

What did you make of the scale of this project? You had been in Rogue One have felt different.

For Rogue One, I basically had

in a time now where so many

What excites you about being an actor?

Art is there to stimulate and

I only did like two-thirds of a they just want to be famous, but

audiences to think about what was Star Wars, but by heck, this is Dune

Dr. Liet Kynes is a man in the books. How helpful was the conception of the character on Frank Herbert’s page to you as

I haven’t been in this busiDune is

and once you’re in the moment

own version?

movie that occurs when you’re

stood by is that, if you extract

with everybody else, and you

T he B es t O f 202 1 | Act re ss e s

Jennifer

-

HUDSON

-

The Oscar-winning actress recounts the joy and trepidation on playing soul legend B Y C A R I TA R I Z Z O

What’s so interesting about Aretha Franklin is that she is this woman who commands a room and knows what she wants, but the men in her life, from her father Whitaker) to her husbands, have such a powerful effect on her.

Respect,

-

When Aretha said she wanted you to play her, did that feel like enormous pressure or was it freeing,

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To portray a real-life icon over the course of a lifetime must feel like a huge task.

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There is always an interest in the technical aspect of embodying a real-life character. What is it like to emulate Aretha’s singing?

You, personally, sound more excited than nervous about the process. Was it a challenge?

Was she there when you were prepping for the role or did all that happen later?

Dreamgirls -

How would you describe the spirit and essence of Aretha?

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Michael Buckner

Ann

D OW D

The Mass star deals with a story of grief, forgiveness and resolution in Fran Krantz’s directorial debut B Y VA L E R I E C O M P L E X

One of the most notable actresses working today, Ann Dowd has become a household name, having played everything from a deranged cult leader in HBO series The Leftovers to the chilling Aunt Lydia in Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale—performances that snagged her an Emmy nomination and a win, respectively. And now, there’s much Oscar buzz around her stunning performance in Fran Krantz’s Mass, in which she plays a grieving mother on the other side of a school shooting, alongside her onscreen husband Reed Birney, Martha Plimpton and Jason Isaacs. Here, Dowd discusses Mass and what she hopes audiences will take from it.

Given the subject matter, making

Well, Fran (Kranz) thought everything out carefully, given the money and the time we had. The shooting schedule was interesting as the beginning and ending were the only thing shot out of sequence, but everything that took place in that room was shot sequentially. Fran was not in the room shooting, he was outside as they kept the video village away from the actual set. The experience was intensely private and that doesn’t happen often.

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We shot 12 pages of dialogue a day. Normally, if I heard this on any other set I’d say, “On what planet?”

However, due to the nature of the material it had to be done and I didn’t mind. We had the two-anda-half days of rehearsal three weeks prior, which isn’t a lot, but it established clarity of text. We all knew what we were talking about, but we also came to trust each other tremendously and we knew we were safe with one another.

The script is extremely well written, clear and intentional. It’s very carefully thought and felt through

by Fran. Being an actor turned director, he knows what it is to drop into each human being and give them their own story. He did that remarkably well, so I knew right away I would do it. But also, I really admired Linda as a character.

She’s an extraordinary and strong individual, so I was drawn to her.

At the same time, I was properly scared because I wondered If I could drop into this level of grief for the time necessary, while showing respect to this character and story.

The added thing here was the responsibility [you have] as an actor of showing respect to the experience because this is a real thing in the world and you’re dropping into a place where I don’t know what that experience is like.

But I thought to myself “I’m going to do the best I can.”

Compliance

Mass character

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Ann Dowd and Reed Birney as bereaved parents in Mass.

Being able to hold a level of grief is a comfortable place for me. I don’t know why. I think it is for actors in general because we know that we’re safe. As for Compliance, people have asked a lot of questions about how a situation like this can manifest, and I answered that for any woman in cloud your judgement. For example, I was raised in a very loving family and strong tenets were deferred to authority and deferred to the church. Now, if you’ve been shamed early on in life and told that your opinion is worthless, that voice says, “My opinion, my conscience is what leads the way.

Not what someone else tells me is important, if that is a possible thing.” Well, that character in Compliance didn’t have that. What Linda and Sandra share is that what we see is that everything isn’t in black and white. Those gray areas are where the intrigue happens.

Being able to hold a level of grief is a comfortable place for me. I don’t know why. I think it is for actors in general because we know that we’re safe.

do the deep dive is that we don’t take the consequences home with us. I’m afraid to use this phrase because it doesn’t sound proper but it’s make believe for us. It doesn’t mean that things aren’t challenging, but there is a difference between personal suffering and the suffering of character—and that balance is hugely important. And when you feel it start to shift to self, then a

was going to happen, and when it did, I was stunned and grateful. It was such a lovely moment. I tell myself, as you get drawn into these hopes and wishes, it’s good to keep a balance.

I just remind myself, just stick to the work, focus there, and everything will sort itself out.

Awards are lovely, however if you overly focus on them, it’s possible to lose your way.

about personal suffering then I can’t come back to set every day, and the story becomes about me, not about the character. Setting those boundaries over time becomes essential. With the four of us actors, no one was precious about it. Between takes, you can’t imagine the laughter. Shooting was really dependent upon the natural light of the day and so when the sun went down, so did we, if that makes sense.

Ideally, what do you want audiences to take away from watching Mass?

The takeaway would be, when you are ready, a way through is always possible. If we can put aside those voices that scream at us when we feel so unsettled. If we can lay them down, and step in, and listen to others, the walls drop, and it is an extraordinary experience.

I’ve had that [experience] a few times in my life when I’m sure I’m the one who’s right, and somehow the person in front of me shares their grief, and their tears, and it’s all over. All you want is to hold them, and vice versa. There is always a way through. Just don’t leave the room.

There’s been a lot of talk about Do you have a method of decompressing such emotionally charged material that the characters deal with in Mass?

I would say the reason actors can

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performances. Is that something that you care about?

I’ll never forget the feeling of winning an Emmy. I didn’t think it

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of promise that I felt… I think that’s what’s so remarkable about them young girls, but they also inspire grown women.

A person can be an incredibly talented athlete, but the inspiration of that person is limited to their play on the court or on the football don’t necessarily carry that spark of imagination when they leave the court or when they leave that Serena are, and that’s why they’re so incredibly motivating, inspiring, all those words, because of not just their play in tennis.

Aunjanue

ELLIS

The King Richard star pushes a powerful but unsung hero into the light B Y A N T O N I A B LY T H

In King Richard story of tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams. As a determined and driven father and coach, the titular character Richard Williams (played by Will Smith) has long been known in the public eye as the man behind the sporting family’s magic. But while King Richard documents the incredible efforts and support Williams gave his daughters, it also sheds new light on the athleticism, care and skill provided

by Price. Ellis explains her own drive to allow Oracene to shine and the experience of selecting roles that Black women can get behind.

What did you make of the script for King Richard when it arrived?

Well, I was sent the script in the fall of 2019, and I think they had other people in mind for the role. But it was interesting, you know, this happens every now and then where I hear that someone is attached to play the part or they’re looking at other people, but I wasn’t worried.

I did a television show called Lovecraft Country, and that was another situation where they were going to someone else, but I wasn’t worried.

I just felt that it was going to come back in some sort of way. And so, I don’t know the real history, the

38

facts of what happened, but I got a chance to audition and just started taping when I was in Mississippi at home. That led to a conversation with [director Reinaldo Marcus Green]. And I guess that went well.

And then that led to me coming to California to do a read with Will at his house. I was actually doing Lovecraft at the time. I had to do out type of thing. And I couldn’t brush my teeth until I actually got to his house. So, I was brushing my teeth in the car, in the driveway.

I’m outside Will Smith’s compound brushing my teeth and spitting

toothpaste in his dirt. Girl, it was very elegant.

What did you know about the Williams family going into this?

Well, I knew what everyone else knows. The stories that are written about him and what’s in the media about him. It was limited to that. And I had even further limited understanding of Miss Oracene, but I just remembered [Venus and Serena] when they were little girls and 60 Minutes came and interviewed them in Compton, so I remembered the feeling that I had when I watched that interview, the feeling

The sisters are executive producers. Did you get a chance to communicate with anyone in the family? And did the sisters give much input?

Isha Price, who is Venus and Serena’s older sister, she was there every day. Venus and Serena came in and said hello one time. I think they came back other times, but I wasn’t there.

But from what I’m understanding, what they had said was that they would participate, but they wouldn’t necessarily come on as producers, unless they really dug the movie. I actually didn’t know that. I mean, Will has been telling that story, but I was not aware of that. So, you know, It was really Isha, their sister, who was there every day offering guidance.

I didn’t get to speak to Miss Oracene, but what I had was these recordings that they did of her—our director Reinaldo, and our writer, Zach Baylin—they did these recordings of her, and I just listened to them over and over and over again.

Was there a lot of pressure in playing a real person? It's not the Yeah. And what I decided was I had to make a decision about that. There wasn’t an active decision. I think that I just, in a subliminal way, a subconscious way, I don’t care. I don’t know how else to say that. I know that may sound insensitive, but what I mean by that is I certainly care about those

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that, her daughters I mean, that it was a family enterprise and Miss Oracene was on the court.

It’s extraordinary.

Yeah. And the other thing about that is—I’ve been saying this, and I like it so I’m going to keep saying it—that if Mr. Richard was an architect of that dream, then Miss Oracene was a builder of that dream. And you can see the difference there: that an architect can draw a sketch and he leaves, but the builders are there every day.

about how the family feels about I know that they are supporting signed on to be producers on the

Aunjanue Ellis as Oracene Price, coaching Serena Williams, played by Demi Singleton.

people. I certainly care about the people that I’m portraying and that family, but that’s not my job though.

I’m not doing a documentary where I’m creating these real moments.

That’s someone else’s job. I’m an actor. I dally in the make believe, that’s what I do. And so, I take what I know of Miss Oracene. I listen to her words, that’s the raw material, that’s the clay. I’m there to play the character of Miss Oracene. And as long as I’m honest with that, that’s the most I can do.

You've said previously that your selection process has always had this layer of choosing roles that serve Black women.

It’s interesting, the level of responsibility that Black women have, art form that they’re in. The level of responsibility is very different. It’s just very different, the demand on us to serve. Do you know what I mean by that?

First of all, there is that demand that demand to serve is not there for Black men necessarily, it’s certainly not there for our white counterparts, and I think that’s because we

40

It’s interesting, the level of responsibility that Black women have, and really in any art form they're in. The level of responsibility is very different, the demand on us to serve.

are seen on screen, particularly in these kinds of roles, so rarely. So, when it happens it’s just like the whole world wants you to meet all of these expectations. You have to meet all these expectations that are centuries old, that come from centuries-old trauma. You cannot let folks down. And I understand that because I’ve been there before, playing a role and disappointed folks,

I know what I’m talking about… It is very hard.

liked. And we had a big press day on Sunday, and they were there all day.

They are really pushing the movie.

Oracene was there on Sunday.

I did see her. It was good. I mean she’s just an accessible woman. I went up to her and I was like, hi. I’ve had to do this so much in these last few years that I have to do a disconnect because if I leave myself too vulnerable to that, I can’t do my job.

I love that this movie redresses the balance a little bit, because it shows that Oracene was an athlete and a coach. I don’t think anyone really knew that.

I do want to get a little insight into what it was like working with Will as well. Tell me about that.

For everybody who wants to be a movie star, all the superstars in training should come and watch him on

and you know, she was described as a coach and I had such a cynical response to that. I was like, oh that’s a bit of an overreach. You were really just there being a wonderful mother, cheering for your daughters, but calling yourself a coach? Really? And then I felt so ashamed when I found out the truth. And they will tell you, they are very clear about the fact

dows were full of Post-It notes...

He’s very, very serious about what he’s doing, but then that’s coupled with the intention he has of making sure that the people around him feel welcome and feel that they are taken care of. And that’s not limited That’s everybody.

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is so different to the Belfast accent.

think it’s not that. It’s this.” I mean,

very easy to stay in it.

Did this role bring to mind your own mum? Your grandma?

my mum lived very close to all her

got transferred there. So, the idea of my mum leaving all her sisters, and that close-knit community, and that support system, and moving

Caitriona

BA L F E

Bringing homegrown authenticity with her biggest feature role to date in Belfast B Y A N T O N I A B LY T H

to our front door, and my dad might

Beloved for her role in Starz television series Outlander screen. Her turn opposite Christian Bale in Ford v Ferrari Belfast Belfast

thing like that. But she knocked on

implemented Branagh’s vision.

I am so thrilled to see you in this meaty role. How did it feel for you, stepping into this?

I mean, it’s like a gift, it really is. I feel like I haven’t really had an opportu-

get something good to do. I feel like Ford v Ferrari I got a great role.

She must have been put through a lot.

I think it’s only as you get older in directing it, as a role, the fact that

out of it. From a very young age, it

really special, like a gift.

all of these British army checkpoints around the place. parents—or this version of his par-

You grew up closer to Dublin, right? In the countryside?

In terms of the accent, regionally, it’s a little different. So, how did you get your head into that?

It’s such a fun accent to do. For oth-

compassion. So, of course, I thought -

it’s very far north. It’s a very different very familiar to me. The minute I read the script, I felt like I understood

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or from Ireland, the fact that accents change so drastically every 15 miles

around, and that feeling of a home, and a community, and all of those

Violeta Sofia

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gle in rehearsal. Whereas, I’m like, “Oh, yeah. No, I got this stuff.” I have a weird thing in my brain where I can But there’s something about when you put things to music. The disconnect. Just like I get caught up in the melody, and then I forget lyrics, and I forget beats. So, we would rehearse, and rehearse, and rehearse, and he would be moaning and saying, “I’m never going to get this. I’m never going to get this.” Then on the day, he absolutely knocked it out of the park. And I would be like, “Oh, no. good.” And on the day, I completely fucked it up so many times.

Balfe with Jamie Dornan as Ma and Pa dancing during the Belfast scene in which Dornan sings "Everlasting Love".

proper roots since, at least physically. I understand that idea that Ken has of that being the last time that you remember life being so certain.

Jude Hill, who plays Buddy, carries like to work with?

I think I’m just going to be so sad when we stop this little train that we’re on, and I don’t get to see him as frequently. He’s such a special kid, he really is. In life, he’s a special kid. As an actor, he’s evidently, incredibly, naturally talented. There is something wonderful about how he was able to give that performance.

ally wanted to show how the tragedy and exuberance can live side by side, and sometimes on top of each other.

Especially for Ma and [Jamie Dornan as] Pa this moment was so needed in their relationship, because I think you really feel the stresses on that marriage are starting to really pull it apart. They needed that reminder that, yes, life is getting in the way,

I’m still having it, so I haven’t stopped. I feel terrible because there’s nothing worse, I think, when you meet somebody, and someone’s just going, “Oh my god.” But I can’t help it. They broke the mold when she came along. There’s just a radiance that comes from her. And yet, she’s so mischievous. Watching her and Jude, they were just like... They’d chat and you could just see, there’s a lot of mischief going on.

D

there’s stresses of separation. But underneath it all, there’s a deep and everlasting love.

-

Well, life goes on in any place with civil unrest, or civil war, whatever term you want to use. Life doesn’t stop. And I think, especially in Ireland, you go to any funeral, any wake, and inevitably, it ends up in some sort of singsong. It’s usually either a Or both, and all at the same time. And Ken re-

I walked into that one. It wasn’t planned, but it had to be done.

This was the day where we had everybody. And I think initially, everyone was kind of nervous. It was like, “This many people under a roof.” But then, once we started, it did have that party atmosphere. I don’t think anybody had been around that many people in months and months. And it felt so joyous, and it felt so freeing.

Well, that’s the thing. He wouldstrug-

such a blast. His enthusiasm and his joy about getting to tell this story the way he wanted, without any interference from anybody, it was so infectious. And because of that, I think, we all just felt so grateful to be part of it, that you feel like we’re all in this to make this the best for him, when you’ve got a leader that you really believe in. So, everybody was like, “Oh, we have to make this the best it can be for him.” Because he’s really just one of the loveliest, kindest, most patient people I’ve ever met, especially in this business, as a director.

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Jessica

C H A STA I N

How the two-time Oscar nominee transformed into televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker in The Eyes of Tammy Faye B Y A N T H O N Y D ’A L E S S A N D R O

The Tree of Life

When did you get the desire to play Tammy Faye Bakker? Was it after seeing the documentary?

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Was the project hard to get off the ground? Were you met with a resistance where you would go into the room, and people would say, “No, we’re not making a Tammy Faye movie?”

Zero Dark Thirty

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Zero Dark Thirty

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from when I got the rights to when we ended up on set. I had hundreds of hours of unused footage that the that I could watch.

-

her, and the things that I got, most of all, there’s two things I think with the makeup. One, she felt prettier with it, and two, it’s like what, you know,

Jessica Chastain as Tammy Faye Bakker in The Eyes of Tammy Faye.

Molly Bloom and Madeline Elizainto your canon?

This is so fascinating, you’re asking me this, and this is just coming to me right now as I’m talking. But if you did, The Tree of Life, which is such I am, and in terms of my career, that And I look at my characters, and usually, some of them are nature, and some of them are grace. And nature, for sure, is Miss Sloane, and Commander Lewis in The Martian though she is a hero, in that she goes

-

a feminist.

minister, and they’re ministers, and I want to listen to the interesting stuff.

I had seven years from when I got the rights to when we ended up on set. I had hundreds of hours of unused footage that the documentary me that I could watch. It was the best gift I could ever get.

Pieters, it wasn’t like she was, “I’m going to take people down” or “I’m going to really push against

to look this certain way, and yes, she was raised in a church; the Pente-

right there, right?

just like Celia Foote, I would also say, from The Help

I have to imagine that this is the most demanding character you’ve played when it comes to components and costumes. It was 11

Tammy Faye in the same category.

Her morphing into a physical caricature over the years, was it because something was missing in her life? Was it Jim? Was it to get his attention or quite simply the fame and money of it all?

This is something that took me toward the end when we were shooting to actually understand. thought, OK, she puts a mask on, right? Like, that’s the easy thing to say, and that’s kind of, like, what the media was doing, all her make-up, she’s putting a mask on. And the

48

process of showing the inner you, of how you feel. It’s not how you look. It’s, “I’m expressing how I feel through the artistry of what my makeup is. That’s what I’m projecting out there.” And I think that was -

you know, when I did my prosthetic nose for The Heiress, it’s not easy.

There’s a reason why these people

the makeup, the only thing exposed

openness through a wall, in some I had to pull up more energy than I

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M

The

PARTNERSHIP

Siân Heder & Marlee Matlin No.

10

Michael Buckner

The

PARTNERSHIP

The 2014 French La Famille Bélier centered on a young woman growing up in a family with deaf parents, but for the most part the filmmakers cast hearing actors to play the deaf roles. Writer-director Siân Heder was determined not to take that same approach when she set about making CODA, her award-winning adaptation of the French film, and thus began her collaboration with actress . Heder cast the Oscar winner as mom Jackie Rossi, along with fellow deaf actors Troy Kotsur as husband Frank, and Daniel Durant as son Leo, while hearing actress Emilia Jones plays Ruby Rossi, the titular ‘CODA’—an acronym for Child of Deaf Adults. In conversation with Matt Carey, Heder and Matlin discuss how they set about telling an authentic and moving story that bridges the deaf community and hearing worlds and that sold in a record-breaking deal out of Sundance.

Siân, describe your thought process as you Siân Heder: It just seemed to be such a shame that in a moment where you could represent a deaf family on screen, that you would not use deaf talent in those roles to authentically represent that culture and that family. So, that was the first thing I felt even going into this story that if I was going to try to tell it, I wanted to make sure it was as authentic a representation of this family and this culture as I could have.

And it was very important to me to cast deaf actors and Marlee was always in my mind, because I knew her work. She’s obviously an Oscar-winning actress and incredibly talented, and I think hasn’t had the opportunities that I feel she should have had through her career based on her incredible talent. And so, as I was writing, I had her in the back of my mind and then she was the first person I met and the first person I brought onto the project. (speaking via ASL interpreter Jack Jason): When I met Siân and we had an in-depth discussion about the script, I mentioned to her, “It’s just been too long [casting actors] to play deaf people who aren’t deaf,” knowing that there are great deaf actors out there. For so long we’ve been overlooked. And now it was time to say stop and cast authentic deaf actors in roles. And when I met with her, I knew I was in the right place because she was on the same page as I was. Her love for our community, her love for our culture and the language—she knew what it was all about.

She was in the right place. She already began learning sign language, began asking questions, she did her homework, she rolled up her sleeves, which is different than the experiences I’ve had with directors in the past.

Heder: It felt amazing to have an ally and to have a collaborator and someone who was willing to fight for the same things that I was because there was definitely resistance. It was originally a studio project and there was resistance to casting deaf actors in all of these roles because they’re very focused on star names and getting a movie star in the movie… Up until meeting Marlee, it had just been me fighting those fights. It felt like I had my first collaborator and my first partner in the fight to really take a stand for the way that we wanted to make the film and not be willing to compromise on those things that really felt so important to both of us.

and actor?

Heder: The way Marlee talked about the script and the depth with which she had read this role and was thinking about the dynamics within this family—she has four CODA children of her own [in real life]—and was bringing all of that experience, not just through her lived experience as herself, but also as a mother and what that is to be raising CODA children.

A lot of times directors that I work with would just come in and say, “Well, she’s signing, she must be doing a good job. We can move on.”

And I never really had an opportunity to work one-on-one, as I did with Siân. It’s a very rare experience. And it’s a very important relationship for an actor with a director.

Heder: Right from the first couple days I remember, Marlee, I was really pushing you and we were doing many takes… And I think it was exciting for Marlee, as it was exciting for me, to really work and dig out this character and work on performances and explore different things.

As it should be, as it should be. She kicked my ass.

Heder: I did. I kicked her ass.

In a beautiful way. And it should be, working together. She’s an actor’s director.

Heder: Also, I have to say it was very helpful to me that we had two ASL masters on the project, Alexandria Wailes and Anne Tomasetti. Those roles were really key. Alexandria worked on the translation of the script with me—50 percent of the movie was in ASL. We made sign choices based on what I felt like were revealing the meaning that I wanted as a writer. And then my actors got involved and, of course, had a lot of input about sign choice: “This is how I feel Jackie would say this…” There are regionalisms to sign language. Just like there is a Boston accent, there are signs that deaf people use in Boston.

I was conversational in sign [language]. So, it wasn’t like I was watching something that I was clueless about. At the same time, I would never have caught the kind of things that Anne had her eyes on… Anne was there to go, “Troy keeps throwing in secret ‘fucks’ and I don’t know that you want that many ‘fucks’ in your movie.” And there were a lot of secret ‘fucks’ that I wouldn’t have caught had Anne not been there. Having Anne on set to be my deaf eyes behind the camera, I could focus on working with my actors really on the subtleties of performance and exploring different options for a very complex, emotional story and the dynamics of this family.

Talk with me privately, I’ll tell you the truth [laughs]. No, honestly, she was awesome.

She knew when she wasn’t signing properly—she was aware, she was clued in enough to her sign language. It was funny to see her say something to herself [in sign], like, “That’s not the way to sign it.” I could see her talking to herself and then I would watch her and she’s sitting there. “I don’t know if you want me to help you, Siân, or if you’re just happy talking to yourself, or what was it that you are doing there?” I think she wanted my help.

It was a cry for help. So, then I would jump in and give her a sign, but she was extremely passionate.

Heder: And to be clear, when I say I’m ‘conversational’, four-year-olds are conversational, too. It doesn’t mean that they’re having deep conversations, but they are conversations. I mean, being

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The

PARTNERSHIP mocked by my actors for my signing was just a part of the process. The amount of times Marlee would laugh in my face and be like, “That is definitely not the sign that you want to use right now.”

Matlin: But you laughed with us.

Heder: Oh, completely. And that’s how you learn.

Matlin: Being on the set, as I’ve said, I was totally in my element. By that I mean that I was within my culture, my community, every day, from the first day I was there. I was not accustomed to having almost everywhere I looked an interpreter or a cast member who could sign or a crew member who could sign. Everything was so available and accessible, I just wasn’t accustomed to that. I’m accustomed to saying [on a set], “Hi, I’m Marlee.

This is my interpreter. This is how you’re going to have to talk to me.” And it’s sort of a game of telephone there… Like it was on The West Wing or The L Word, the pace of conversation was so quick, and it was tough for me as a deaf actor. But in this case, it was our pace, our language, and it just was about the most liberating experience you could expect. And it was so relaxing, and we could really focus on the work as actors—work on the work.

Marlee, I’m curious, to what degree did the script evolve from the original version, based on your input?

Matlin: Clearly, you have to deliver what’s on the page. So, I really didn’t go beyond the lines without the permission of Siân. But I think in the process of rehearsal and working with the deaf actors together at the table, we were able to delve deeper beyond the simple translations or whether we chose to extrapolate with a different sign choice or whatever made sense for that character.

But we made sure that whatever it was, it was what Siân wanted and in the spirit of what she wanted, the meat of what she wanted in the story. So, there were some opportunities for us to improvise—mostly Troy, who did it all. I mean, he really went above and beyond with his brilliant, but absurd sense of humor and his sign language that made the entire crew and the entire cast just drop to the floor and roll around laughing.

Heder: Yes, Marlee is right, the actors honored the lines that I wrote. For me, the interesting part of it was that ASL and English are completely different languages. And they’re not just different in sentence structure and grammar—which they are—they’re different conceptually in how an idea is expressed, how an emotion is expressed. And so, for me, it was a huge education in translating written English into this purely visual language and the way concepts and ideas and jokes are expressed is so different that it was this incredible process of discovery.

That was really the gift that Marlee was bringing, Troy was bringing, Daniel was bringing, was going, “OK, there’s this line, which has a meaning in English, but what’s underneath the line? Like,

Marlee Matlin and Troy Kotsur as Jackie and Frank Rossi in CODA.

what does this line really mean? What does this character want? What are they trying to express?

What is the subtext?” And we would have those conversations about almost every line. And then that really influenced the sign choices of how this is being expressed. Is it literal? Is the character saying exactly what they mean? Or are these kind of the surface words and there’s something else underneath it, because that would affect sign choice in what was expressed or what wasn’t.

There were a lot of times where I found the limits of English and there were moments that I didn’t even subtitle in the film because what was being expressed in ASL was beautiful and not able to be translated back into English words… It was also fun to have a hearing audience probably be catching things that were in the ASL that were not in the subtitles. The sex talk—when Troy does this entire condom demonstration, which I was never going to subtitle because how the hell would I ever subtitle for that? And if I subtitled it, the MPA definitely would’ve given this movie an R. Matlin: X! Heder: NC-17.

One thing that hearing audiences probably wouldn’t think about, Marlee, is that you as a

Matlin: These are secrets one does not reveal. I can probably count 30 different instances where I’ve gotten away with sign language flubs, but no—I mean, I’m a perfectionist, I have to say. And particularly with Siân, with her hawk eyes and the hawk eyes of [ASL masters] Anne and Alexandria, that if I made a mistake, we would actually go back and shoot again.

Marlee, I’m wondering what ways Siân was able to support you and help you put in your

Matlin: She didn’t define me by my deafness. As I’ve said so often, she’s woman-to-woman as a director, she’s mother-to-mother as a director and she listens and she uses what she listens to and directs. She has a very strong sense of empathy in a way that is so positive. There’s no bullshit there.

She has a great sense of humor, and she knows her stuff. She has her head on her shoulders. The one thing I worried about with Siân—nothing else in all honesty, the one thing I worried about—I don’t think she ate enough.

Heder: I didn’t. Marlee followed me around on set with snacks. She was like, “Eat this, eat that, put some nuts in your face. Why aren’t you eating?”

Oh, that sounded dirty. I didn’t mean to say that.

Matlin: She’s so beautiful, so thin, she needed fuel. She needed fuel to do her job. She was like, “Yeah, OK, whatever Marlee.”

Heder: Marlee was such a mom on the set. Jackie is the matriarch of the family [in the movie]. Marlee was the matriarch of our set and her care for everybody—she is a caretaker, so it’s not just her fellow actors and me, it’s the crew, it’s saying hello to everybody on the set in the morning, saying thank you to every single person on the set as she leaves. She is the most gracious, present person.

Matlin: Did you like the cookie sandwiches that I got? The cookie sandwich truck. How about that?

I doubt you had one though, Siân. You probably didn’t eat one.

Heder: I was too busy, I was too busy. But it’s true, I think it’s hard when you are working with assholes, and we were so lucky on this set to have zero assholes.

Matlin: Yay for that!

Heder: It’s such a gift when you work with people that are genuinely giving, who are there to support their fellow actors, who are present for their fellow actors, present for the movie and the story you’re telling, who work so hard without complaint.

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AwardsLine Wins SoCal Journalism Awards -

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Dead to Me

Harriet RichParasite.

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“THE BEST PICTURE OF THE YEAR, NO DOUBT.”

WINNER Toronto Film Festival • People’s Choice Award

WINNER

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WINNER

Dallas Film Festival Audience Award

San Diego Film Festival Audience Award

Montclair Film Festival Audience Award

Mill Valley Film Festival Overall Audience Favorite

Middleburg Film Festival Audience Award

Heartland Film Society Truly Moving Picture Award

Twin Cities Film Festival Best Feature Film Award

Scottsdale Film Festival Audience Award

“A deeply affecting story with five superb performances.”

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C O N S I D E R AT I O N

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE

BY A MALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE

BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE

BY A MALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Jude Hill

Caitríona Balfe Judi Dench

Jamie Dornan Ciarán Hinds

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OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A

Cast in a Motion Picture CAITRÍONA BALFE JUDI DENCH JAMIE DORNAN CIARÁN HINDS COLIN MORGAN JUDE HILL

© 2021 FOCUS FEATURES LLC

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FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE

BY AN ENSEMBLE IN A DRAMA SERIES WITH

AND

MELANIE

TAWNY

CHRISTINA

JULIETTE

LYNSKEY

CYPRESS

RICCI

LEWIS

“A PHENOMENAL MUST-BINGE”  FORBES

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