When this project came your way, what made you want to take it? Was it Sarah’s involvement?
It was everything. It’s very, very rare that you get something that you’re [this excited about] I knew that Francis [McDormand] was producing it with Dede [Gardner]. I had randomly watched “Take This Waltz” in lockdown. I’d never seen it before, and I watched it. And then, I watched “Stories We Tell.” So, I knew how amazing Sarah was. The caliber of the film was so extraordinary. And then, I read the book and felt so connected to it and moved by it. So, you’re just worried that it’s not going to go your way basically, but you understand why it wouldn’t because it’s so great. I was so surprised I was being given the opportunity. I really was. Sarah took a massive, not leap of faith, but put so much confidence in her actors that she was like, “No, you can do it,” even if some of us had never played parts like that before. Or she just knew that if we felt connected to it, it would come out. So she, yeah, has a lot of confidence in that way. She’s a very confident filmmaker.
Did you feel like Salome was out of your comfort zone for characters that you’d played before?
No. I had a real affinity with her energy. Who she is as a person. I think I was slightly worried about the technical aspect of her energy. Keeping up that energy for a three-month shoot is a lot, and not in the sense that the scenes were dialogue-heavy. We would be shooting a 10-page scene for two days, three days. So, to sustain the energy of that intention and that clarity of thought and what that person is bringing, it’s not like, “Boohoo, I’m an actor. Is my life terrible?” But it’s like you have to get yourself into a zone because you’ve got to be there, you’ve got to be doing that. You can’t phone it in. So, it was more of a technical exercise for me that just thinking, “My God, how am I going to have the stamina?” But I did.
I haven’t spoken to Sarah, but you are talking about a huge ensemble, all in extended scenes together. Would she just let sequences play out or was it more traditional block shooting?
No. It was consecutive. It was more like a play rehearsal. In that way, you were shooting the scenes consecutively. We never split up shots, so we never went back or forward because we were on the right angle for someone. It was always that particular scene and that particular moment at that time. And then, we would move on to someone else and someone else and someone else, and then we’d do the next section. So, we’d never block shoot, I suppose you’d call it. We’d never do that. The whole experience was very in the moment and present at that time. But we figured out ultimately, I think, at a certain point, how to shoot the emotional scenes, because I think we all realized that what was coming, you couldn’t repeat 150 times. You could, but you couldn’t for a close-up. You just couldn’t. It wouldn’t be there. You would be so exhausted by it by that point that the truth of it might have gotten lost. So, we figured that out, but we didn’t do it chronologically or skipped back or skipped forward. No, it was always in the right order.
The film itself, is sort of being released at a remarkable time right now. This is a movie about women who take control of their lives and decide they’re not going to put up with what’s going on anymore in their community. You can see parallels to the #MeToo movement in many, many ways. I’m not trying to force a circle into a square peg, but you’ve got things going on in Iran right now with women standing up and fighting for their rights. How important do you feel it is for the movie to come out? Did that aspect of the themes of the story appeal to you when you read the script?
That question is really interesting because there is sort of an understanding or an assumption that the film hasn’t always been relevant, or that it’s more relevant now. You know what I mean? You see what’s happening in Iran and what happens all day, every day around the world, not just with women, but any oppressed group of people. I think that that’s why the film is incredible and also worrying is that a lot of people watch the film when they think it’s 50 years ago or something. That’s not the reality that everybody lives in. The reality that lots of women live in is this scenario or variations of this scenario or experiences they’ve had in their life, which is very like this. So, I think it’s not zeitgeisty, and it’s not of the moment, I think, to say that you make it seem like the movie is taking advantage of a moment. What’s extraordinary about that is this film would not have been made, these stories of these women and women’s experiences or that people have experienced would not have been deemed as worthy of a movie being made about it. That’s the thing that makes this film so extraordinary to me, is I’m part of something that is made by Dede Gardner and Frances McDormand and was directed by Sarah Polley. There is no reason why this film should not have been made 30 years ago. But there we have it. That’s the interesting question, isn’t it? Why has it taken so long? It’s not like the stories haven’t been happening.
I 100% agree. My last question for you is, you once again have a surprise cameo in the latest season of “The Crown.” Did Peter Morgan just tell you “You never know when I’m going to be calling,” or has it always been a surprise?
It’s always been a surprise. It’s always been slightly like it probably is not going to happen. It may or may not happen. And then, it’s always just managed to sync up and fit in and be fun and lovely to go back, and I get to see everyone. So yeah, it’s always a surprise. I was like, “That’s it. I’m never coming back. That’s it. It’s over.”
Well actually, they are shooting the final season, I think. Should we assume you’re not in the final season?
I don’t know yet. Who knows? Maybe I will be. I’m waiting for the email.
“Women Talking” opens in limited release on Friday
