‘Shape of Water’s’ Sally Hawkins Gets Emotional About Guillermo Del Toro’s ‘Huge Gift’ [Interview]

Sally Hawkins has endured this sort of attention before and let’s make sure to put an emphasis on “endured.” She was a critic’s darling when she burst on the scene in Mike Leigh’s “Happy-Go-Lucky” winning every honor under the sun, but Oscar recognition eluded her. That changed when she rode Cate Blanchett’s “Blue Jasmine” wave and earned a Best Supporting Actress nomination in 2014.  But Hawkins shuns the spotlight. She’s admittedly not a fan of large crowds and hasn’t attempted to use the red carpet publicity machine to further her career.  And, yes, she’s as absolutely endearing in person as she is on screen.

When we spoke a few weeks ago regarding her celebrated performance in Guillermo del Toro’s period romantic fantasy “The Shape of Water”, it was initially through a conference call set up by a PR agency.  However, for some reason, the transatlantic connection made it difficult for us to hear each other. Without missing a beat and not even allowing the publicist to come up with a different solution Hawkins simply insisted that she call me directly instead. So, what was meant to be a quick 10-minute conversation lasted almost half an hour. And the only reason it came to an end was because of my own busy schedule that day.

You’ve probably already heard how del Toro wrote the part of Elisa specifically for Hawkins and that he first approached her about it while somewhat inebriated at a Golden Globes party some years ago. That’s all true, but she didn’t officially sign on until a few years later.

“I was in Toronto prepping for a film I did in Canada called ‘Maudie’ the year before. I met with Guillermo again then and he showed me the beginnings of the script on his laptop,” Hawkins recalls. “I mean, I said, ‘Yes’ as soon as I heard that Guillermo was doing it. I didn’t need to read the script to know that I wanted to do it.”

What you also might not have known is that Hawkins was slightly more prepared to play a mute woman who communicates with sign language than even del Toro expected. She notes, “I’d oddly had experience of sign language with a play called ‘Constellations.’  It’s about alternative universes. And in one of the universes, my character is deaf and uses sign language. So, I was used to doing it then and so it’s quite a powerful tool. And I wanted to get to Toronto as early as I could.”

Even with that experience, how Elisa communicated was extremely important to Hawkins. She wanted to do it “justice” and “not patronize people who use ASL [American Sign Language] even though Elisa’s ASL is an amalgamation of many things” because the film is set in 1962.

“It’s like learning a different language and you’re never going to do it justice just sort of doing a crash course in any language,” Hawkins says. “You’re still going to have the overhang and the hangup of accent. I felt that if I didn’t [prepare correctly] I would give myself away. And even if you are doing it for a year, it won’t be enough. Just like it wouldn’t be enough to learn French or to speak French fluently. Even if you had a year to do it intensely you’d still give yourself with away with an accent.”

She pauses.

“Oh my God, I really shouldn’t speak so much,” she says. “I’m so sorry.”

Obviously, she didn’t need to apologize.

“I’m always wanting to cut everything out because so much can be said with less,” Hawkins says. “And so when I heard about this I thought, ‘Well this is my dream. A script with no words.’ And I don’t have to open my mouth and make a nonsense out of many words that some writer has written or I won’t be able to pull them off or that’s always the fear.”

READ MORE:‘The Shape of Water’ Clip: Sally Hawkins Discovers A Merman

Having been through the awards season adventure twice before I asked Hawkins if she was approaching this time around any differently.

“It’s hard really. I don’t know. I’m taking it all with a pinch of salt,” Hawkins says. ” You know, you try to do your best and I do find interviews quite overwhelming when they’re a lot of them. And you’re speaking to very informed, highly intelligent people, at the best of their field and writers that I’ve read and admired all my life, really. So, that can be overwhelming in itself.  You’re speaking to the best people there are who inform of films and tell the world about film. And I have a responsibility to present the film and myself in the best possible light within that. And you’re dealing in quite a big, global thing that’s on a global scale and a global stage. And that can be too overwhelming when you think about it in those terms. And, while it’s me, you’re sort of alone within that.”

She continues,  “That being said, I’ve got these lovely, great, smart people around me here to sort of filter it and keep me sane as much as possible. I have an autoimmune condition so I get very tired and so I have to be careful of that and pace myself. And know that even though I want to make people happy and make the studio happy and Guillermo happy, I have to look after myself, ultimately. And that it’s only for a limited amount of time and it’s a very privileged position to be in. You know, this doesn’t happen very often.  For a film like this, that is an incredibly special film that I’m so grateful for. It’s like the biggest gift of life. It’s the ultimate thing that you want to film, especially for Guillermo.”

As we continue it’s clear she’s clearly rooting more for del Toro’s success than her own.

“He is a genius who’s inspired millions of filmmakers and people coming up and writers and artists,” Hawkins says. “To be in this game, for him, and other filmmakers? It doesn’t get better than that. And these are rare things and they’re lucky. I’m extremely lucky. And whatever it does, in the award season all I want is for him to be honored and applauded because he deserves it. He gives so much to the world and is a creative force of good and he’s given me a huge gift. So, I am eternally grateful and it’s beyond my wildest dreams. I get emotional when talking about it.”

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is Sally Hawkins to a tee.

“The Shape of Water” opens in New York on Friday, and in Los Angeles on Dec. 8.