Speaker 1: M h. You're listening to Playback, a Variety I Heart
Speaker 1: Radio podcast. I'm your host, Variety Awards editor Chris Tapley.
Speaker 1: Today I'm talking to Oscar nominated actress Toni Collette, who
Speaker 1: stars in the new film Hereditary. And if you like
Speaker 1: scary movies, this one is for you. It's absolutely terrifying.
Speaker 1: But she is truly amazing in the film, and it's
Speaker 1: a reminder that she is one of our greats. So
Speaker 1: we talked about that and what it took for her
Speaker 1: to get to some of the places she does in
Speaker 1: the film, and a whole lot more so. Sit tight.
Speaker 1: This is playback, same thing, every day, same thing, every
Speaker 1: day for several years. Really, what is it? Um, It's
Speaker 1: a couple of boiled eggs and some gluten free to hoast.
Speaker 1: It's some avocado. What about you? Changes every day? Change?
Speaker 1: You're fascinated by having like a strict breakfast regiment. It's
Speaker 1: not street, It's just I love it. It's just what
Speaker 1: you like. Sometimes I include salt and butter, which is delicious.
Speaker 1: And my husband makes an incredible hot sauce. What is it?
Speaker 1: What does he put his hots aus It's a secret, okay,
Speaker 1: secret recipe. You're good, Dan, I am good, sweet, thank you,
Speaker 1: thank you. I have a great one. And see you.
Speaker 1: What did I have today? I had a shake? You
Speaker 1: recorded it. No, no, it's not like what did I
Speaker 1: have my check count? Frozen banana. It's some frozen blueberries
Speaker 1: in there. Frozen blueberries, little almond, butter, spinach. That sounds good.
Speaker 1: All the stuff that I'm just not going to get
Speaker 1: to otherwise throughout the day. Perfect you want to close,
Speaker 1: just crack it a little bit. That's all right. I
Speaker 1: must seem so demanding for you. You're fine, honey. But
Speaker 1: we are recording and we're gonna jump in. I'm here
Speaker 1: today with Tony Collette, star of Hereditary, which scared the
Speaker 1: poop out of me in Sundance, which she says she's
Speaker 1: heard a lot lately. First of all, thank you for
Speaker 1: doing the show. So you're hearing that a lot people
Speaker 1: are frightened by your work here intensely intimidated and frightened
Speaker 1: five minutes ago. Yeah, I mean it is pretty confronting.
Speaker 1: There's nothing it's quite yeah, it's quite ballsy, fearless. It
Speaker 1: goes to places, um, most films that want to do
Speaker 1: well kind of stare away from and it has. It
Speaker 1: has a lot of surprises, but not in a gratuitous,
Speaker 1: kind of sensationalized way. M Absolutely, it's ah as I
Speaker 1: was telling you right before the show. I went to
Speaker 1: sundanswer for the second half of the First of all,
Speaker 1: I didn't know anything about the movie. I recommend anyone
Speaker 1: that goes to see it you don't read about try
Speaker 1: not to read about it. I think that's the same
Speaker 1: for every film. I'd rather not know a thing, but
Speaker 1: certainly with this one for sure. Yeah, we're going to
Speaker 1: get into that in a minute, but I wanted to
Speaker 1: jump back and play a little bit of this is
Speaker 1: your life with you a couple of those questions, just
Speaker 1: curious while you're an actress, like we'll start again. To
Speaker 1: be honest, I think it started because I didn't know
Speaker 1: how to express myself very well, and I felt pretty
Speaker 1: overwhelmed by my emotions. I was a teenager, my grandmother
Speaker 1: had just died, and I did god'spell at school. So
Speaker 1: a I got to hang out with the guys in
Speaker 1: the school next ll be, I got to sing, see,
Speaker 1: I got to emote. It was expected of me, and
Speaker 1: it's so it became like an outlet and I think
Speaker 1: um for a while, it kind of used it as such,
Speaker 1: and then my relationship with acting has changed and deepened,
Speaker 1: and that's interesting, so a very personal reason. Well, this
Speaker 1: is what I'm did you say? I mean, I'm only
Speaker 1: I'm trying to figure it out still because it's kind
Speaker 1: of I think if you you know, actors with right intention, um,
Speaker 1: there's like an inevitability to it. There's like you have
Speaker 1: there's a feeling of like a knowledge that this is
Speaker 1: what you need to do. It's strange, UM, but I
Speaker 1: suppose with anyone who feels passionate about what they do,
Speaker 1: they have that kind of feeling and it's hard to
Speaker 1: explain and it's hard to kind of figure out the
Speaker 1: genesis of it. But I think that that was well,
Speaker 1: that was the first time I was on stage apart
Speaker 1: from you know, dance recitals from the age of three, UM,
Speaker 1: and it was it felt really profound, and even at
Speaker 1: the age of fourteen, I think I can't remember exactly
Speaker 1: exactly what AGA was. Um, it felt special and profound,
Speaker 1: and it helped me connect to myself and it still
Speaker 1: does do that. That's awesome. Well, you know, were there
Speaker 1: any like inspirations like um, you know, it's interesting to me.
Speaker 1: This is a very personal reason to get involved in
Speaker 1: the in the profession. A lot of times it's like, Oh,
Speaker 1: I saw so and so in a movie or so
Speaker 1: and so on stage, and I felt like I had
Speaker 1: to do that, But later on did that kind of
Speaker 1: I mean, certainly they were. I don't know. I've never
Speaker 1: had and I have been asked this before, like who
Speaker 1: do you love to who's your idol? And I I don't.
Speaker 1: I don't there. You know, there are people whom I
Speaker 1: admire and whose work is really outstanding, but there's no
Speaker 1: one person that inspires me or that I try to
Speaker 1: emulate or try to mimic what they've created. I think
Speaker 1: we each have our own path in life, and um
Speaker 1: it's not even that. Honestly, I still don't even have
Speaker 1: some grand plan and thinks it's what really just putting
Speaker 1: one foot in front of the other. I didn't think
Speaker 1: I would have a career. I just really enjoyed acting,
Speaker 1: and actually I still feel the same way. It's just
Speaker 1: something that I love to do and it helps me
Speaker 1: to learn. It makes me see life from many different
Speaker 1: perspectives through the many different characters, and um so in
Speaker 1: a way it kind of. I don't know. It keeps
Speaker 1: me learning, and I think that's important to maintain a
Speaker 1: curious mindset. Is the escape of it all appealing or
Speaker 1: is that sort of a cliche? Well, like I said, well,
Speaker 1: maybe it's a double edged sword, because not even a sword.
Speaker 1: Maybe it's a case of both connecting with myself more
Speaker 1: deeply because I'm using myself to to bring some kind
Speaker 1: of truth to someone else's story. But also also it
Speaker 1: is probably perhaps um at times, moving away from myself
Speaker 1: and deepening someone else's story. But I'm pretty sure it's both,
Speaker 1: And I'm not sure if the balance or the ratio,
Speaker 1: and it probably differs from job to job and character
Speaker 1: to character. Yeah, well let's start talking about this one.
Speaker 1: You know, as I said, very scary. How did it
Speaker 1: read on the page? Did it read haunting and scary
Speaker 1: on the page? It just felt heavy? I mean I
Speaker 1: had explicitly said to my representation, I do not want
Speaker 1: to do anything heavy. I just wanted to make funny
Speaker 1: movies and I wanted to be like for a while,
Speaker 1: because I've done a few jobs that was started, it
Speaker 1: felt like it was starting to kind of accumulate, and
Speaker 1: I just wanted to shake it off, Taylor. Sorry, she
Speaker 1: was impressive. Actually, I've never seen her. I had seen
Speaker 1: her play before, ironically at at some festival in Sydney
Speaker 1: many years ago, when she was very different to how
Speaker 1: she is now. Yeah, it's a funny thing she's doing.
Speaker 1: She's kind of straddling this kind of new emerging self
Speaker 1: of hers but still really appealing to the ten year
Speaker 1: olds in the audience. That's going to be a tricky
Speaker 1: line to war. Yeah, but she did it. She's so
Speaker 1: positive and she smiles and is pretty impressive. Anyway. Um,
Speaker 1: we were talking about how it read on the page,
Speaker 1: and you didn't want to do anything heavy. So I
Speaker 1: was doing a somewhat light film. I was shooting in Paris,
Speaker 1: I was in a different times on. I got this
Speaker 1: call and I was and my agent said, I know
Speaker 1: he didn't want to read anything. I'm not interested in
Speaker 1: anything like this, but I really think you should take
Speaker 1: a look at it. So, you know, I listened and
Speaker 1: I read it and I couldn't stop reading it. And
Speaker 1: and it's it's a deep, profound, somewhat emotionally heavy, revelatory,
Speaker 1: highly original screenplay slash now film. Um. And then after
Speaker 1: we you know, I called my agent back, and I
Speaker 1: was like, because I knew I had to do it.
Speaker 1: There's just something in me that it was undeniable material.
Speaker 1: I had to do it. It spoke to me somehow
Speaker 1: on in a deep way. Um. And then did you
Speaker 1: come to Ori the director, saying I want to do this?
Speaker 1: He didn't know. I said I really liked it and
Speaker 1: I wanted to meet him, and so we met in
Speaker 1: back when I was back in l A. And I
Speaker 1: don't know if you've met him, but spoke on the phone. Okay, Um,
Speaker 1: he is incredibly articulate. I'm sure you would have heard that,
Speaker 1: but he's everything about this man, and his process is
Speaker 1: so thoughtful and so considered and very meticulously specific. So
Speaker 1: I felt immediately that he knew what he was doing.
Speaker 1: And I'm pretty sure maybe even years before we even
Speaker 1: stepped on set, he knew what he was going to do,
Speaker 1: shot for shot, cutting points, every single nuance. So I
Speaker 1: get really excited when I find somebody like that to
Speaker 1: work with, who's very much at the helm of their
Speaker 1: own story, has an absolute vision and it's still willing
Speaker 1: to collaborate and is just as married to the material
Speaker 1: as you are. Because as an actor, you know, you're
Speaker 1: putting it out there, and there's a certain amount of vulnerability,
Speaker 1: and you want to know that you're someone meeting you.
Speaker 1: You know, there's a sense of support, and he was
Speaker 1: all of those things and um, and he's also one
Speaker 1: of the kindest people I've ever worked with. He really is.
Speaker 1: That's always helpful. Yes, it is. I agree that you
Speaker 1: make a point there. It's interesting to me sometimes how
Speaker 1: actors respond to filmmakers. You know, they're filmmakers who go
Speaker 1: in and they'll just kind of spray everything, they'll shoot
Speaker 1: it all and they'll try to find things later. And
Speaker 1: we're very experimental, and then their directors are obviously going
Speaker 1: with a very definitive division each shod so you kind
Speaker 1: of prefer the latter, I guess. Um. I really am
Speaker 1: not specific about that per se. It's just more a
Speaker 1: matter of them being completely completely immersed and dedicated and
Speaker 1: being in it as deeply as I am, so that
Speaker 1: it doesn't feel so alone alone. Yeah, really, that's it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think that's the difference between a because then he
Speaker 1: knows when he can see when I'm on it, and
Speaker 1: he'll he will step back. He doesn't kind of get
Speaker 1: you know, when it's there's one scene towards the end
Speaker 1: of the film which was shot towards the end of
Speaker 1: the the shoot itself, and you know, every single utterance
Speaker 1: was specific, but in this one particular scene it kind
Speaker 1: of just needed to take on its own energy. I
Speaker 1: think I did it once and I just knew it
Speaker 1: wasn't right, and there was gonna it was gonna be
Speaker 1: this one very long shot and then there was going
Speaker 1: to be a bit more slightly more traditional coverage, which
Speaker 1: is there is not much of in this film, which
Speaker 1: is quite admirable. Um, And so I just thought, I
Speaker 1: don't know, it was kind of a case of throughout
Speaker 1: the whole film, I just had to do it. I
Speaker 1: kind of resisted it until I really had to do it,
Speaker 1: and then in that moment, I was just like, funk it,
Speaker 1: I've got to do it. And so I just let
Speaker 1: everything go, let it happen. And he responded to what
Speaker 1: I did so um incredibly, he just decided to He
Speaker 1: was like, we don't need anything else, so he just
Speaker 1: moved on and left the scene alone. And it's a
Speaker 1: really big scene. It's all in one shot now, So
Speaker 1: that was that was that was exciting, and also I
Speaker 1: think when you really really get it and it's really
Speaker 1: really real and in the gut, Um, you can't do
Speaker 1: it twice. It's a moment in time and I was
Speaker 1: I just loved that he left. Which scene was that, Um,
Speaker 1: there's a scene at the end where I'm begging my
Speaker 1: husband by the beautiful guy real learned to do something
Speaker 1: unimaginable and pretty much I'm kind of, you know, explaining
Speaker 1: how much I love him and how I need to
Speaker 1: sacrifice a lot of things and trying to get him
Speaker 1: to help me. I want to make sure you're talking
Speaker 1: about the table scene, because the table scene, which is
Speaker 1: obviously very explosive and was well used during Mother's Day
Speaker 1: during the marketing, that was, Oh my god, it was perfect.
Speaker 1: But I did talk to him on the phone of
Speaker 1: a while back and he had mentioned there was during
Speaker 1: that scene. He was like, I knew I had it
Speaker 1: pretty early, but I just wanted to boil myself with
Speaker 1: more tony little ship. It was funny around that that
Speaker 1: particular dinner table scene. Um, there was an air of
Speaker 1: it being like something people had to kind of tread
Speaker 1: on eggshells around, But I didn't feel that way. It was.
Speaker 1: It all felt like that to me. So when that
Speaker 1: scene came up, I could kind of feel everyone treading
Speaker 1: lightly and being you know, and I was like, guys,
Speaker 1: come on, that's just it's just another scene. And I yeah,
Speaker 1: I just I guess, um, well, they're watching. If you
Speaker 1: if you start to imagine that somethings are more important
Speaker 1: or bigger or whatever than others, it's too much pressure.
Speaker 1: It's all just got to be equal. That makes sense.
Speaker 1: I mean, they're sitting there watching you go to these
Speaker 1: really intense places throughout the movie, so they you know,
Speaker 1: scene pops for them. And he did mention that everyone
Speaker 1: was kind of waiting on that scene to play out.
Speaker 1: Like I said, you go to a very dark place.
Speaker 1: It's very wicked. Just I don't even I don't know
Speaker 1: how to adequately ask you this, But how do you
Speaker 1: get to that place where you're literally scaring me on
Speaker 1: screen with your form. It's not not with what happens
Speaker 1: toward me in the movie, but just like just where
Speaker 1: you're at emotionally, it's so intense and I just I
Speaker 1: marvel at it. I don't know how to explain what
Speaker 1: I'm saying, But how do you get to that police
Speaker 1: for this movie? Um? You know, usually when you start
Speaker 1: a movie, the first few days at least there are
Speaker 1: lighter scenes with few less dialogue, if any dialogue at all.
Speaker 1: And I turned up and had to go straight into
Speaker 1: some of the most intensely emotional stuff I've ever had
Speaker 1: to do, with loads of dialogue and at crazy house
Speaker 1: of the day and night. And I think it was
Speaker 1: just a matter of accepting that this is what it was.
Speaker 1: I just had to I just had to show up,
Speaker 1: and I had to do it. I had no choice.
Speaker 1: I kind of, you know, I knew I really read it.
Speaker 1: I'd spoken to Ari. We've had you know, conversations at length,
Speaker 1: a couple of times, we had a small rehearsal period
Speaker 1: with the kids, and um, I you know this. I
Speaker 1: think it always helps when script is brilliant, and it
Speaker 1: really really was. Um And you know, it's an actor's
Speaker 1: job to make something feel truthful, and as you see,
Speaker 1: it is how I read it. So I just, you know,
Speaker 1: went for it. I think all actors want a chance there.
Speaker 1: You know, you're only ever as good as the opportunity
Speaker 1: you're given. And I feel like Ari just wrote something
Speaker 1: so so incredible I would have been addict not but
Speaker 1: it in you know, like, um, what an opportunity. It
Speaker 1: was really an amazing, amazing gift. I can't believe he
Speaker 1: sorry chose me, like all the curse words possible. Um yeah,
Speaker 1: I feel incredibly lucky and just dark and heavy and
Speaker 1: intensely exhausting than it was. It was somehow very very satisfying.
Speaker 1: The family dynamic is you know, do you drawn personal
Speaker 1: stuff for something like that? I mean, just you know
Speaker 1: that always feels wrong, It always feels too. I mean,
Speaker 1: I think all actors somehow do use all of their
Speaker 1: experiences because you are using yourself and you are using
Speaker 1: your emotional Um. I was going to say toolbox. It
Speaker 1: sounds so wanky and accurately I hate talking about acting,
Speaker 1: but oh yeah, just because it is. Actually it's kind
Speaker 1: of a mystery, and I love that it takes on
Speaker 1: a life of its own and I'm not entirely in control.
Speaker 1: I kind of prefer it that way. It feels freer,
Speaker 1: It feels like there's more of an opportunity for something
Speaker 1: real to happen, um, and for spontaneity to occur, And
Speaker 1: the less in control I am, the more satisfying it is.
Speaker 1: I think. Actually it's kind of a metaphor for life.
Speaker 1: You know, it's why people meditate. You get to that
Speaker 1: place where you're kind of free in it. That's what
Speaker 1: I love. And there was a lot of that on this.
Speaker 1: Now that I know you don't like talking about acting,
Speaker 1: let's talk some more. Well, I just want to now,
Speaker 1: I want to go down a different path, Like, what
Speaker 1: do you hate being asked as an actress? I just
Speaker 1: I mean, I come from a very working class background,
Speaker 1: so it just feels indulgent and I feel like a
Speaker 1: dickhead when really asked to talk about acting. I remember
Speaker 1: I was asked to be on the jury at the
Speaker 1: can Film Festival and it was the first time I
Speaker 1: felt like I was given permission to be able to
Speaker 1: talk about the art of filmmaking and acting in depth.
Speaker 1: And it was really lovely. It was a really, really
Speaker 1: great experience for me, because until that point it just
Speaker 1: felt it did It felt indulgent, and I feel kind
Speaker 1: of self conscious doing it. And also because I don't
Speaker 1: entirely understand what I'm doing, and I don't want to
Speaker 1: because I don't want it to be too self conscious,
Speaker 1: you know. Um, So yeah, anything specific about what I'm
Speaker 1: doing to make me uncomfortable so hit me feel. Well,
Speaker 1: let's talk about Aris more. You know, new director. I
Speaker 1: think this is a debut, right if true speA she
Speaker 1: made some great shorts. I don't know if you've I mean, yeah,
Speaker 1: he's an original voice and he is truly talented, and
Speaker 1: I'm so excited to see what he does in the
Speaker 1: future because I think he's going to be around for
Speaker 1: a long time. And it's not just this genre of
Speaker 1: film that he's capable of. He's got so many ideas.
Speaker 1: He's prolific and he has he's an incredible writer, and
Speaker 1: he just has such an understanding of the dynamics between characters. Well,
Speaker 1: you've worked with veteran directors, you've worked with younger directors.
Speaker 1: What qualities does he seem to have that are necessary
Speaker 1: you think for like a career of longevity. He's he's
Speaker 1: able to understand what it is to be human. Ultimately,
Speaker 1: I think storytelling is about seeing ourselves and feeling connected
Speaker 1: to ourselves and understanding ourselves and feeling safe in that knowledge.
Speaker 1: And I think he's so so smart and so aware,
Speaker 1: and he's able to capture it on on page and
Speaker 1: then on film, and his perspective is original. It feels
Speaker 1: authentic and it's him and he's not. I mean this.
Speaker 1: I think people are excited about this film because it
Speaker 1: is unlike anything else that's around at the moment, and
Speaker 1: you know, horror film. It's not even really entirely a
Speaker 1: horror film. It's it's a family drama. It's a very
Speaker 1: sad study about people dealing or not dealing with loss
Speaker 1: and how it affects these family dynamics and how they
Speaker 1: all handle it completely differently. And then as an extension
Speaker 1: of that, it does become it does become horrific. And
Speaker 1: I think it's so clever because he's going to get
Speaker 1: people in to see the movie who just love horror films.
Speaker 1: But also it's like when I first read it, I said,
Speaker 1: it feels like the Ice Storm or something like, you know,
Speaker 1: it has a poetic quality to it. Um So it's yeah,
Speaker 1: it's a balance of capturing something very true but also
Speaker 1: giving it a heightened film quality without taking away from
Speaker 1: that natural honesty that it possesses. It's really kind of complicated,
Speaker 1: and he's done it magnificently. I can't wait to see
Speaker 1: what he does next. Me too, well, I know what
Speaker 1: he's doing and it is amazing. Do you like scary
Speaker 1: movies in general? Are you not a horror really? Because
Speaker 1: my mind is fertile enough and I want to sleep
Speaker 1: at night. So you watch this one, Well, it's different
Speaker 1: when you've worked on it. It's you know, you have
Speaker 1: a different um relationship to it because you you know
Speaker 1: you're in it, and there are different memories attached to it.
Speaker 1: But I have watched it on a small on my
Speaker 1: computer screen in my hotel room in Manchester when I
Speaker 1: was working, and so I'm excited to watch it with
Speaker 1: an audience. And that's another great thing about it. I
Speaker 1: think this particular film does lend itself to a cinematic
Speaker 1: kind of communal experience. It's all fun and perhaps there's
Speaker 1: a bit of a kind of safety in numbers situation
Speaker 1: going on. And I looked around. A lot of us
Speaker 1: were just doing kind of dismember holding their hands looking
Speaker 1: through your fingers, which I never do, and it's such
Speaker 1: a cartoonish thing to do, but I was doing this.
Speaker 1: I was like, yeah, I don't want to say so anyway,
Speaker 1: good job you sparent have to look. I want to
Speaker 1: spread out and talk about some other things. I'm actually
Speaker 1: talking to Brett Haley after this. We went to film
Speaker 1: school together, saying I will let's talk about Hearts Beat
Speaker 1: Loud working on that film, his movie. You talk about
Speaker 1: a complete reverse by the completely different movie, but such
Speaker 1: a lovely movie, and his kind of personal stamp has
Speaker 1: been one of just humanism and just you know, I
Speaker 1: really like what he's been doing. Yeah, he's gorgeous and
Speaker 1: I really like his films. And it was such a
Speaker 1: total pleasure to work on on Hot Speak Loud. Yes,
Speaker 1: it was a completely different experience, equally as satisfying, um
Speaker 1: similar in that everyone was on the same page, dedicated
Speaker 1: and wanted to make it great, and everyone was kind
Speaker 1: of hand hitt for what they could bring, and it
Speaker 1: felt special. It was summer, it was New York. It
Speaker 1: was fun. It's a beautiful story. It's also about lost
Speaker 1: to a certain extent, but it's about growth and it's revelatory.
Speaker 1: But there's hope in this one, whereas in Hereditary it's
Speaker 1: really seriously hopeless, which I think is terrific thing about it. Um.
Speaker 1: But I love working with Brett and Nick and Kiss
Speaker 1: and the entire crew, and also the film's kind of
Speaker 1: a love letter to UM, to Red Hook, to Brooklyn,
Speaker 1: and it was really fun staying there and working there
Speaker 1: and being there, and it had a really wonderful vibe
Speaker 1: regarding that and regarding just you know, it was summer,
Speaker 1: it was New York. It was lovely. Like I like
Speaker 1: to talk to actors about how environments there everything, especially
Speaker 1: with these two movies. Did they shoot hereditary around Park City? Okay,
Speaker 1: So the house I was staying and looked kind of
Speaker 1: like the house every night when I came home, I
Speaker 1: was scared that was on stage just that compound really
Speaker 1: know what I mean, like the exterior um like whenever
Speaker 1: it cuts to like the people standing around the house
Speaker 1: that was. Yeah, that was around Park City. Actually, yes,
Speaker 1: that was. It looked close enough to my house that
Speaker 1: I didn't like going home at night. It was in
Speaker 1: negated community outs just outside of Park City. It was
Speaker 1: so beautiful to be in that area when it was
Speaker 1: not snowing. I mean, it's beautiful when it is snowing.
Speaker 1: I've only ever been there and it has been several
Speaker 1: times for the festival for Sundance, So to be there
Speaker 1: during spring um it was initially we had to get
Speaker 1: over just you know, there was a lack of air,
Speaker 1: like the altitude really contributes to your inability to breathe
Speaker 1: for a while until you were justked um. And then
Speaker 1: just the amount of wildlife there and the flora was incredible.
Speaker 1: So there was a lot of Clareton going around being
Speaker 1: passed around, but the crew there was incredible. I was
Speaker 1: really blown away by the crew. We had a lot
Speaker 1: of fun. I think sometimes when you work on something
Speaker 1: arc there needs to be a certain amount of levanty
Speaker 1: levity on set just to balance it out. And it's
Speaker 1: not it's not intended, but it just naturally, um, happens
Speaker 1: that way. I think it's a survivor. It's like a
Speaker 1: group survival skill. Um. Yeah, but I absolutely believe. I
Speaker 1: mean everything is energy in life, right, so all the
Speaker 1: people that you're working with, as well as the story itself,
Speaker 1: as well as the the actual physical space you're working
Speaker 1: and I think it all absolutely contributes to the outcome. Yeah,
Speaker 1: sorry for the actor question. Another active question that was
Speaker 1: more general. I guess you just worked with Dan Gilroy
Speaker 1: and I wanted to talk about that something's called velvet
Speaker 1: but buzz, so is it called that? Okay? I didn't
Speaker 1: realize that landed on a title, I guess, So Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm a big fan of his. I love what he
Speaker 1: how he writes regarding environment, the way environment informs character
Speaker 1: and his work is really fascinating to me. This one
Speaker 1: has Jake killen Hall and John Malkovit Rene Russo digs
Speaker 1: what's what's the film about? Because we don't know a lot.
Speaker 1: It's said in the art world, um it is. The
Speaker 1: actual storyline is that, you know, the actual basic narrative
Speaker 1: is Zale Ashton, who actually is keep saying, actually, let
Speaker 1: me say it again. Actually we worked together recently on
Speaker 1: a BBC Netflix TV show called Wonder Last So we'd
Speaker 1: met when I was shooting in Manchester last year and
Speaker 1: we worked on that for five months and then it
Speaker 1: was so crazy that we're both cast in the same
Speaker 1: film shooting here in l a. Um So. Her character
Speaker 1: is kind of up and coming in the art world.
Speaker 1: She's more of a p a. She finds this guy
Speaker 1: in her building dies, she finds a whole bunch of
Speaker 1: work of his next it and it becomes a bit
Speaker 1: of an art star in that she's representing this deceased
Speaker 1: artist and it's limited obviously, and um so, yeah, it's
Speaker 1: about art being monetized, how how it's perceived, what it's worth.
Speaker 1: It's about artists achieving quote unquote success and then suddenly
Speaker 1: having you know, six figures put to their name and
Speaker 1: absolutely stunting their ability to create anymore. My character is
Speaker 1: just a complete us. Really well, I don't know. Um
Speaker 1: very she starts out working at what essentially is Lachma.
Speaker 1: It's called Lama in the film, and um she leaves
Speaker 1: to basically earn more money and become a private advisor
Speaker 1: for someone who buys a lot of art. Um. But
Speaker 1: there's a lot of pretense in there. There's a lot
Speaker 1: of passion in there. And what I love about the
Speaker 1: film itself is that the art takes on a life
Speaker 1: of its own. And I think, as as I was
Speaker 1: saying before, all all art, you know, everything in life
Speaker 1: is energy, So this you know, That's I guess what
Speaker 1: I liked about it the most, that this this um,
Speaker 1: it takes on a very like an actual physical, energetic form.
Speaker 1: How do you like working with Down? He's a total sweetheart,
Speaker 1: He's so collaborative, so open um, totally laid back and creates.
Speaker 1: I don't like it when I just got like I
Speaker 1: was on the film for maybe three weeks. I like
Speaker 1: to be in there in the trenches with the crew
Speaker 1: all day, every day, and it just feels like I
Speaker 1: belong there. Right. So when I have a smaller kind
Speaker 1: of supporting role where I'm in and out, I feel
Speaker 1: like I'm invading or that I'm some kind of impostor
Speaker 1: on somebody else's set. So and everybody on that on
Speaker 1: that set, every crew member was just a master at
Speaker 1: what they did. Um. So I felt really intimidated, but
Speaker 1: it was the warmest, most welcoming um environment. So yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm really really glad that I did it. I think
Speaker 1: Dan's lovely Jake made me laugh. Everyone was very very
Speaker 1: um just open and enthusiastic. I didn't I didn't know
Speaker 1: what I expected, but it was better than what I expected. Awesome. Yeah,
Speaker 1: this is the director behind a Nightcrawler and Roman j
Speaker 1: israel Esquire by the way, if anyone's curious about that.
Speaker 1: And uh, I also wanted to talk to you about
Speaker 1: The Sixth Sense, which is almost twenty years old, which
Speaker 1: is crazy. It's uh gets brought up a lot with
Speaker 1: this movie Hereditary because it was you know, you're certainly
Speaker 1: you're at the end, You're in both films, but the
Speaker 1: scene at the end of the film is obviously just
Speaker 1: something that's I mean, I watched the film again recently,
Speaker 1: and I think you should have won that Oscar for
Speaker 1: for that alone. It was phenomenal work watching you work,
Speaker 1: and I just want to gush a minute. And I'm
Speaker 1: sorry because I feel like you probably are not gonna
Speaker 1: like that watching you work in films like that and
Speaker 1: in this and and just the deep well you're drawing
Speaker 1: on is phenomenal, and uh so I just wanted to
Speaker 1: gush there a little bit, and I do appreciate it,
Speaker 1: thank you, and just talk about, you know, working than
Speaker 1: Night Shamalan and then just the legacy of that film.
Speaker 1: Anything come to mind. Well, I mean not just similarly
Speaker 1: to Ari. He was pretty new at the time, you know. Um,
Speaker 1: I think he'd made one other feature that he started,
Speaker 1: and this was his first kind of big effort. Um
Speaker 1: oh man, it's so long ago, does it feel like?
Speaker 1: I tell you what? It is really similar apart from
Speaker 1: they both kind of have created a story which is
Speaker 1: very dramatic and kind of stands as a classic drama
Speaker 1: on its own. And then there's a bit of a
Speaker 1: without simplifying too much, a bit of a twist, right,
Speaker 1: um So that's one similarity. They were both both early
Speaker 1: in their careers. Um, all the character driven, even though
Speaker 1: it does become a genre piece, and I love that
Speaker 1: both films just take their time rhythmically. They're very brave
Speaker 1: filmmakers at a very early stage in their careers, and
Speaker 1: I find that so admirable that they know themselves enough
Speaker 1: and have um strength enough within to not be kind
Speaker 1: of sometimes people are bullied when they're at that point
Speaker 1: in their career. You know, there are certain expectations, You've
Speaker 1: got to tow this line, we need to connect with
Speaker 1: this audience that audience, and things become watered down and neutralized,
Speaker 1: and then there's no voice in it. But they maintained
Speaker 1: their voices and they made something very original, each of them.
Speaker 1: And at the time in both films, it did feel
Speaker 1: like there was something special about it, something undeniable about it. Um,
Speaker 1: not just to me, but to everyone working on the film.
Speaker 1: So um, it's strange, Yeah, twenty years apart to have
Speaker 1: like somewhat kind of a mirrored parallel experience with fairly
Speaker 1: new filmmakers. Regarding that scene, does anything come to mind,
Speaker 1: how you got to the police you had to get
Speaker 1: to for that scene? Are things become a blur? Um No, No,
Speaker 1: they're quite crystallized. It's quite the opposite. Um. I mean,
Speaker 1: it depends on the film and it depends how I mean,
Speaker 1: for any character for it to feel really you do.
Speaker 1: And when I say you do have to personalize it,
Speaker 1: I'm not talking about drawing on specific things. It's just
Speaker 1: you somehow have to make it important to you because
Speaker 1: it is important to that character's life in that moment.
Speaker 1: And um, and so yeah, when it got when it
Speaker 1: got to you're talking about the scene in the car
Speaker 1: where I find out that my son sees dead people
Speaker 1: and has communicated with my mother, who always an amazing
Speaker 1: message from beyond. So that I mean, who doesn't have
Speaker 1: loss in their life? Who doesn't want to know that
Speaker 1: there's something beyond a for a start, but also connect
Speaker 1: with that person that you miss. So it was kind
Speaker 1: of very I've told you about why I got into acting,
Speaker 1: I think in the first place. So that was I
Speaker 1: didn't really have to conjure much out, but just was
Speaker 1: bubbled with both feel ms. Actually it felt like whatever
Speaker 1: was there and required was I didn't have to travel
Speaker 1: far to kind of find it, And it just kind
Speaker 1: of bubbled out in a way that, um, I didn't
Speaker 1: really have to manipulate and didn't really have to be
Speaker 1: entirely aware of. It was just there. Yeah. Well, I
Speaker 1: want to close by talking about your production company, which
Speaker 1: you've recently launched. And I typed the name and that's
Speaker 1: an auto correct. That's not correct. What's the name of
Speaker 1: your production Coocab Films? Well, okay, this is Vocal Films
Speaker 1: And I was like, I know that's not what it was,
Speaker 1: Boca Films. What kind of movies do you want to make?
Speaker 1: What do you want to do with this? I want
Speaker 1: to make good movies. Really, I don't want to limit
Speaker 1: myself by boxing myself into one genre. But fast far Um,
Speaker 1: we're working on a TV that's my producing partner over
Speaker 1: the j he she likes this question. We're working on
Speaker 1: a couple of films. Um. I guess tonally one of
Speaker 1: them would be considered well, you know what, not even
Speaker 1: just that, but like, what kind of voices are you
Speaker 1: interested in amplifying? What what kind of filmmakers do you
Speaker 1: want to Well, I guess it's an extension of the
Speaker 1: things that I already gravitate towards. Right, So if you
Speaker 1: look at the types of characters that I play in
Speaker 1: the majority of films that I've done, it'll be that vibe.
Speaker 1: It's just I want to represent reality. I think there's
Speaker 1: enough crap in industry that I don't need to perpetuate myths,
Speaker 1: certainly that women are misrepresented by, and I want them
Speaker 1: to feel original yet very very familiar. Awesome. Well, you're,
Speaker 1: like I said, you're so busy, so I keep it up.
Speaker 1: Everyone should go see Hereditary. June eight is a release date,
Speaker 1: and uh, you know, be prepared. I'm telling you, thank you,
Speaker 1: nice to see it. Thanks so much.