Deadline Hollywood - Oscar Preview - 12/12/18

PRESENTS

DECEMBER 12, 2018 OSCAR PREVIEW

LAKEITH STANFIELD Breaking down conventions in Sorry to Bother You JOANNA KULIG Meet the revelatory star of Cold War DIALOGUE: DIRECTORS Steve McQueen Mimi Leder Karyn Kusama Debra Granik Adam McKay

BROUGHT THEM HERE Barry Jenkins, Regina King and newcomer KiKi Layne on the power and passion behind James Baldwin’s If Beale Street Could Talk

DEADLINE.COM/AWARDSLINE

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F O R

Y O U R

C O N S I D E R A T I O N

BEST PICTURE BEST DIRECTOR

ALFONSO CUARÓN

“ +++++

THE BEST PICTURE OF THE YEAR.

A game-changer. A true work of art. Alfonso Cuarón’s masterpiece.”

PETER TRAVERS, ROLLING STONE 4 WASHINGTON DC AREA FILM CRITICS ASSOC. AWARDS

3 NEW YORK FILM CRITICS CIRCLE AWARDS

INCLUDING

BEST DIRECTOR • BEST SCREENPLAY ALFONSO CUARÓN

WINNER

WINNER BEST FILM VENICE FILM FESTIVAL GOLDEN LION

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6-19

FIRST TAKE Lakeith Stanfield is the one-of-a-kind star of Sorry to Bother You The Art of Craft: Delving into the designs behind Mary Queen of Scots Fresh Face: Joanna Kulig makes a major breakthrough in Cold War

20

COVER STORY Barry Jenkins and his cast on the power of love and the potency behind If Beale Street Could Talk

30

THE DIALOGUE: DIRECTORS Steve McQueen Mimi Leder Karyn Kusama Debra Granik Adam McKay

40

FLASH MOB Deadline’s The Contenders New York, AwardsLine Screening Series

ON THE COVER KiKi Layne, Barry Jenkins and Regina King photographed for Deadline by Chris Chapman ON THIS PAGE Steve McQueen photographed

by Carl Timpone

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The Actor’s Side with Pete Hammond

Meet some of the biggest and hardest working actors of today, who discuss life, upcoming projects, and their passion for film and television. deadline.com/vcategory/ the-actors-side/

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12/7/18 9:33 AM

F O R

Y O U R

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

I N

A L L

C AT E G O R I E S

I N C L U D I N G

B E S T

P I C T U R E

B E S T

HUGH

A C T O R

JACKMAN

BEST SUPPORTING A C T R E S S

VERA

FARMIGA

“+++++” — MIKE REYES, CINEMABLEND

“‘THE FRONT RUNNER’ IS

A REAL WINNER.” “‘THE FRONT RUNNER’ IS

WORTH SEEING

FOR A NUMBER OF REASONS — NOT THE LEAST IS

JACKMAN’S OSCAR -WORTHY TURN.” ®

— PETE HAMMOND,

“HUGH JACKMAN PORTRAYS HART AS

A BEAUTIFUL, TORTURED ENIGMA,

A ONE-MAN EMBODIMENT OF 20TH-CENTURY WHITE MALE EXCELLENCE AND HUBRIS.” — DEREK ROBERTSON,

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The Art of Craft: Mary Queen of Scots

p. 14

| Fresh Face: Joanna Kulig

p. 16

| Animation Roundup

p. 18

Weird Science Fiction Lakeith Stanfield made it big this year with the part fantasy, part political satire Sorry to Bother You. But would he rather be playing the Joker?

BY AM Y NI CHO L SO N

6

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

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PHOTOGRAPH BY

Dan Doperalski

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F O R

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C O N S I D E R A T I O N

B E S T D I R E C TO R S T E V E M CQ U E E N

I N

A L L

C A T E G O R I E S

B E S T P I C T UR E

I N C L U D I N G

B E S T ACT R E S S V I O L A DAV I S

B E S T S U P P O R T I N G AC T R E S S

M I C H E L L E R O D R I G U E Z , E L I Z A B E T H D E B I C K I , C Y N T H I A E R I VO

B E S T A DA P T E D S C R E E N PL AY

“

+++++

”

JOSHUA ROTHKOPF | TIME OUT

“

“

+++++

”

CHARLOTTE O’SULLIVAN | EVENING STANDARD

+++++

”

NIGEL ANDREWS | FINANCIAL TIMES

“

“

+++++

”

TOM SHONE | THE SUNDAY TIMES

+++++

”

MARK KERMODE | THE OBSERVER

“WIDOWS TURNS THE DEFIANCE OF ITS HEROINES INTO A BRILLIANTLY ENTHRALLING MOVIE.” OWEN GLEIBERMAN | VARIETY

“OSCAR® WINNER STEVE MCQUEEN EMPOWERS THE MULTI-RACIAL CAST IN A FILM ABOUT FEMALE EMPOWERMENT. ALL THE WOMEN HERE ARE STRONG, REAL, AND SO VERY CAPABLE WHEN THEIR BACKS ARE UP AGAINST THE WALL.” FIONNUALA HALLIGAN | SCREEN DAILY

“FEW FILMS ARE LIKELY TO HIT THE TARGET OF FEELING MORE EXACTINGLY 2018.”

MARK OLSEN | LOS ANGELES TIMES

F O R O P E N S C R E E N I N G S V I S I T: W W W. F OXS C R E E N I N G S .CO M

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DREAMERS Tessa Thompson and Lakeith Stanfield in Sorry to Bother You.

LAKEITH STANFIELD IS HEADED HOME. That is, if he can remember where he lives.

“I forgot my street,” he chuckles to the driver.

He snaps his fingers once, twice, three times, and like magic, summons his address to mind.

To be fair, he hasn’t been living

addicts and needles on his way to

techbro (Armie Hammer), becomes

school, all the way to this one-story

the fulcrum of an office strike, gets

wooden house with a backyard

turned into a meme, and then gets

stuffed with trees and bushes and

transformed into a half-man, half-

rustling critters where he can sit

horse—all to learn not to sell your soul

outside and feel “kinda Snow White”.

to corporations. The misadventures

The outdoor noises creep out his

of Cassius Green were like Pinocchio

guests. Maybe his home is haunted,

on peyote. “It turned me off initially,”

him into the public consciousness:

he muses. “There very well could be

Stanfield admits. “Then I picked it up

there long. Since his career started

as the stoner sage Darius in FX’s

ghosts because it was built in the

later, and after the second time, I was

to click, the 27-year-old actor hasn’t

Atlanta, and the mind-zapped kidnap

’30s,” says Stanfield. “It was an actor

like, ‘OK, we have to do this.’”

been rooted anywhere for long.

victim in Get Out who made a straw

before me. I wonder if he’s still alive,

Yesterday, he was in Boston film-

boater hat look diabolical. And then,

though, or if he’s haunting me through

because Sorry to Bother You feels

ing Rian Johnson’s all-star murder

the capper on what feels like an

my walls, giving me actor juice.”

like a tailor-made showcase for

mystery Knives Out, alongside Daniel

inevitable climb to stardom: the lead

Craig, Michael Shannon, Chris Evans

in Boots Riley’s Sorry to Bother You, a

lessly asked if he’s a rapper. “Lemme

His Cassius is vulnerable yet

and Jamie Lee Curtis. Then a red-eye

bizarre and breathtakingly ambitious

make these people some cakes or

manipulative, a straight man in his

flight to Los Angeles, a day of photo

film that feels like a roadmap to the

something just to introduce myself and

world and an emotional dervish in

shoots, and finally, the back of this

future of Hollywood, a place where

quell all those worries about my tat-

ours. He’s a victim and a villain, a

car on the way to his new house in

creative talent like his isn’t just a

toos,” Stanfield jokes. “But yeah, I love

money-grubber with a noodle for

the Valley, not far from the crowded

detour, but a destination.

it. I’m here, I worked hard to get here.”

a backbone, which embarrasses

apartment he used to share with a

Stanfield adjusts the brim of his

Sure, his new neighbors have clue-

Sometimes his compass is off.

His hesitation is surprising

Stanfield’s specific kind of strange.

his activist girlfriend Detroit (Tessa

bunch of dudes just three years ago

pink Captain’s cap and smiles. He

When he first read the script for Sorry

Thompson). Clashing with Ham-

when he was still that bit player who

owns the same hat in a half-dozen

to Bother You, Stanfield didn’t like it.

mer’s Silicon Valley tycoon Steve

would pop up in a movie and make it

colors—pink, white, red, blue, teal—to

“It was a weird, twisted, crazy thing,”

Lift, Stanfield would get so riled up

sparkle, but vanish before audiences

match, or clash, with his outfit of the

he says of Riley’s furious and funny

that, “when they said cut, I almost

remembered to Google his name.

day. “Always sailors, because I like that

anti-capitalist screed. A telemarketer

forgot we were doing a movie.”

Selma, Straight Outta Compton, Short

idea: Riding the waves of life.” He’s

named Cassius falls through ceilings,

In the film’s most uncomfort-

Term 12, Miles Ahead, Dope. Finally, he

ridden them from Base Line Street in

adopts a white voice to boost

able scene, Lift pressures him to

got two supporting roles that carved

the Inland Empire, where he navigated

sales, catches the eye of a smarmy

entertain his fancy party with a rap.

8

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

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STAND OFF Stanfield’s Cassius Green faces up to Armie Hammer as Steve Lift.

Cassius reluctantly grabs the mic—

“Yeah man, let’s burn this bitch

own approach,” says Stanfield. “They

and what comes out is so offensive,

Stanfield was sanguine. “If it’s a mess,

down,” says Stanfield. “I’m optimistic

all wear hats.” But really, he wants to

we can’t tell if the shocking joke is

it’s a bleeding mess of authenticity.

in a sense that I still have hope. I get

do everything, even, “like, a really bad

on him or the crowd.

And if it’s a great piece of artwork,” his

up every day and I’m like, ‘OK, it’s

movie, that’s just horrible.” Boom-

voice arching into posh frippery, “then

going to be a nice day. I don’t think

mics-in-the-shot-horrible, some-

Stanfield explains. Not only did Sorry

whatever. This is the world’s now and

everything’s going to self-destruct.’”

thing totally unselfconscious—which,

to Bother You take huge risks, its low

I’m going to let them have it.”

He pauses. “But I kinda do.”

in a way, is its own kind of impossible

“You don’t want to feel safe,”

budget set definitely teetered on

At the film’s Sundance premiere,

The timing was perfect. The

The numbers are on his side. So far,

mission. “Bad transitions, weird stuff

the edge of disaster. “It was ghetto

current news cycle, notes Stanfield,

Sorry to Bother You has made back its

going on. Just like an unfolding mess

fabulous,” he laughs. When Cassius’

strikes the same tone as the film.

budget six times over. That’s fantastic,

of balls being dropped everywhere,”

desk drops into people’s apart-

“It’s been kind of like its own horror-

but what most excites Stanfield is the

Stanfield beams. “I’d love to be in

ments, Stanfield really fell nine feet,

tragedy-drama-comedy,” he says.

people who dressed up like Cassius

one of those.”

steadying his phone and computer

The night of the election, Stanfield

on Halloween—the true sign of a

monitor and continuing the scene.

was on another plane as the results

character that connects. He even saw

to Bother You has put wind in his

On the day his character discovers a

came in. Passengers sobbed in the

a few photos of folks who’d turned

sails. “The sci-fi world meets black

monstrous equisapien in an under-

aisles. “Although at that moment

themselves into equisapiens.

people—I think that’s a beautiful

ground bathroom, the stunt man in

they were scared, they felt some-

the homemade horse suit fell to the

thing, they felt engaged,” says

as black Joker, when that inevitably

interesting characters, not always

floor and started flailing as planned.

Stanfield. “Hopefully this drives us

happens,” says Stanfield. He’s not

having to be, ‘Hey man! I just come

“I’m just like, ‘Oh he’s a good actor,’”

to realize that we’re all stuck in this

kidding. Earlier generations wanted to

home from choich!’” he says, adding a

says Stanfield. But then he started to

together, black, white, blue, purple,

play Hamlet. Today’s true artistic coup

rasp to his throat. “Now, we can play

smell something burning, and when a

man, woman or anything else.”

is landing the part of Batman’s lead

a little bit, too.”

plume of smoke streamed out of the

“I want people to dress up as me

Wherever he’s headed next, Sorry

juxtaposition. To be fully realized,

Increasingly, progressive voters

villain. “I just think there are so many

horse mask, he realized the internal

seem clued-in to Sorry to Bother You’s

things that haven’t been touched yet

relax. Stanfield’s car has found its

mechanics were on fire. “They take

impassioned politics. Writer-director

in terms of how the performance can

way home. There’s only one problem:

him out and he’s like, ‘Let’s do it

Riley, a former community organizer from

be delivered,” he says, adding, “When I

he doesn’t have a key. “It’s all good!”

again, let’s go!’ I’m like, ‘Dude, you’re

Oakland, hasn’t held back from linking

make the movie myself.”

he shrugs, making himself comfort-

a G, man.’ If I almost burnt to death, I

the ideas in his film to a larger crusade to

would definitely not just do it again.”

wrest control back from the 1%.

10

He wants to direct. “All directors are so different, they all have their

But for today, it’s finally time to

able on the porch. “I’ll figure it out!”

No doubt he will. ★

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

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BEST PICTURE

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION IN ALL CATEGORIES INCLUDING

OFTIMTHE YEAR BEVAN ERIC FELLNER

“

++++” ++++” ++++” ++++” THE GUARDIAN

EMPIRE

THE TELEGRAPH

THE TIMES

PRODUCED BY

DEBRA HAYWARD

BEST DIRECTOR JOSIE ROURKE BEST ACTRESS SAOIRSE RONAN BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS MARGOT ROBBIE

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY BEAU WILLIMON

BASED ON THE BOOK “QUEEN OF SCOTS: THE TRUE LIFE OF MARY STUART” BY DR. JOHN GUY

For more on this film, go to www.FocusFeaturesGuilds2018.com

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CHARTED TERRITORY

Gold Derby’s Oscar Odds At press time, here is how Gold Derby’s experts ranked the Oscar chances in the Director and Animated Feature races. Get up-to-date rankings and make your own predictions at GoldDerby.com BEST DIRECTOR

The Artist’s Way

Breaking with convention, At Eternity’s Gate DP Benoît Delhomme finds a new artistic path AS THE CINEMATOGRAPHER BEHIND AT ETERNITY’S GATE—Julian Schnabel’s unorthodox story of Vincent van Gogh—Benoît Delhomme experienced a degree of creative freedom both exhilarating and terrifying.

Unusually, for his prep work, Schnabel sent Delhomme out to the wheat fields of Scotland, with only a handheld camera and Van Gogh’s clothes, asking him to film himself as the character. Throwing himself into this challenge, Delhomme ended up developing a new working method.

“Like a war photographer,” he would shoot long takes that looked in every direction, with no regard for continuity and looking for inspiration in the moment, while carrying his own gear “like [Van Gogh] was carrying his easel and paint”. If his arms were tired from carrying the camera for too long, the image would be shaky, and that too became part of the process.

During the actual shoot, Delhomme worked to make himself invisible to Willem Dafoe, who plays Van Gogh, even as the actor gazed directly into the lens. At times, Delhomme even allowed Dafoe to pick up the camera himself as part of the creative process. So the end outcome of Schnabel’s unusual request was one of freedom and new creative inspiration for Delhomme, who fully embraced this fresh experience. “Now, I’m completely liberated from technical stuff,” he says. “Maybe sometimes you can fail as a technician and succeed as an artist.” —Matt Grobar

SOUNDS OF SILENCE Erik Aadahl and Ethan Van der Ryn, sound editors of A Quiet Place, constructed a new world, step-by-step.

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SOUND EDITORS ERIK AADAHL AND ETHAN VAN DER RYN hit upon a rare opportunity with A Quiet Place.

John Krasinski’s Paramount horror smash centers on a post-apocalyptic family who must live in total silence to keep noise-sensitive alien monsters from the door–a situation that made sound “a central character”, Van der Ryn says.

While potentially deadly, noise could also be a savior at times, as the characters

ODDS

1

Alfonso Cuarón Roma

16/5

2

Bradley Cooper A Star Is Born

9/2

3

Yorgos Lanthimos The Favourite

13/2

4

Spike Lee BlacKkKlansman

7/1

5

Barry Jenkins If Beale Street Could Talk

9/1

6

Peter Farrelly Green Book

14/1

7

Damien Chazelle First Man

18/1

8

Ryan Coogler Black Panther

25/1

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

ODDS

1

Incredibles 2

10/3

2

Isle of Dogs

39/10

3

Ralph Breaks the Internet

5/1

4

Mirai

11/2

5

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

6/1

6

Smallfoot

22/1

7

Early Man

30/1

8

Tito and the Birds

64/1

made it a weapon to distract the creatures. One of the greatest creative challenges came in entirely redefining the way we think about a sense that’s often taken for granted, in cinema and in life. “In any other movie, the sound of feet walking would be swallowed by score, by constant, incessant noise,” Aadahl says. “But because of the negative space in our approach, the little sounds become huge.” —Matt Grobar

SOUNDLESS John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place.

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

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GOLDEN GLOBE AWARD NOMINEE ®

BEST ACTOR • DRAMA

LUCAS HEDGES

BEST ORIGINAL SONG • “REVELATION”

WRITTEN BY JON THOR BIRGISSON, TROYE SIVAN & BRETT MCLAUGHLIN PERFORMED BY TROYE SIVAN AND JÓNSI

F O R YO U R CO N S I D E R AT I O N I N A L L C AT E G O R I E S I N C L U D I N G

BEST PICTURE OF THE YEAR PRODUCED BY

KERRY KOHANSKY-ROBERTS, p.g.a. STEVE GOLIN, p.g.a.

JOEL EDGERTON, p.g.a.

BEST DIRECTOR JOEL EDGERTON

BEST ACTOR LUCAS HEDGES

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR RUSSELL CROWE JOEL EDGERTON

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS NICOLE KIDMAN

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY JOEL EDGERTON BASED ON THE MEMOIR “BOY ERASED” BY GARRARD CONLEY

“

++++

One of the best and most unforgettable films of the year.

Joel Edgerton directs with painstaking care and precision.

‘BOY ERASED’ has the potential to heal us all.”

REX REED, OBSERVER

WINNER

WINNER

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

AACTA AWARD

NICOLE KIDMAN

Untitled-10 1

AACTA AWARD

JOEL EDGERTON

12/6/18 1:54 PM

Mary Queen of Scots examines the relationship between Queen Elizabeth I and her cousin, Mary Stuart.

Costume designer Alexandra Byrne sought an aesthetic that brought immediacy and accessibility to the 16th Century.

Byrne made almost all of the film’s costumes out of denim. The Elizabethans “didn’t have dry cleaners, they didn’t have tumble dryers, so men and women, they lived in their clothes, they got wet, they dried in the sun. Their clothes would have been molded to the body.

That made me think of jeans.

I wanted a fabric that gets better with wear.”

Unlike many designers, Byrne doesn’t use sketches

The Art of Craft Costume designer Alexandra Byrne dresses Mary Queen of Scots in denim

BY MATT GROBAR • ILLUSTRATION BY BELINDA LEUNG

to conceive of her costumes.

“I believe very strongly that if you do that, you deny yourself extraordinary moments— not of serendipity, but the coming together of all these incredible talents and things that you can grow, and the moment on the body when

“HAVING DONE THE PERIOD BEFORE, I WAS VERY AWARE OF THE BIG FROCKS, BIG COSTUMES, AND I FELT THAT THIS FILM ABSOLUTELY WAS NOT ABOUT THAT. I didn’t want it to be a revolving door of, ‘Here comes another Queen and another prop.’

I was interested in limiting my materials, so that I was manipulating a fabric, as it were, to tell the story.” – Alexandra Byrne

things are working.”

Instead, she uses research to create mood boards, in concert with an illustrator, which reflect the emotion of a certain scene. “All the cutters, the makers, the dyers, everybody is surrounded in this world of my mood boards.”

Numbered Two Countries, Two Queens, One Scene

Created with a digital tablet, the illustration above is for Saoirse Ronan’s Mary Stuart. The flower associated

The production filmed in 2 countries, England and Scotland Leads Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie share only 1 scene Alexandra Byrne is on her 3rd go-round with Queen Elizabeth I after Elizabeth and Elizabeth: The Golden Age Around 30 mood boards were created during pre-production

the marigold (which appears all over the image), its yellowgold hue suggestive of fertility, sexuality and seduction.

Mary frequently wore indigo,

Mary had over 30 different looks, in comparison to Queen Elizabeth’s 17

the color of the Scottish

35 male principals in costume, and 30 day players

and leaving France behind

Factoring in background players who were double- or treble-fitted, around 2500 costumes were fitted overall

14

with this particular royal is

court, after being widowed around the year 1561.

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Italian Masterpieces

GranTorino sofa designed by J.M. Massaud.

Brno, Ceskรก republika poltronafrau.com Los Angeles Beverly Blvd Ph. 310.858.1433

Untitled-4 1

12/3/18 2:36 PM

Fresh Face

BY NANCY TARTAGLIONE

WHO Joanna Kulig Age: 36 Hometown: Krynica-Zdrój, Lesser Poland, Poland

WHAT

WHY

WHEN & WHERE

In Pawel Pawlikowski’s Cold

Kulig is one of the rare foreign language performers being buzzed about for a

You’ll see Kulig next

War, Kulig is Zula, a woman in

potential Best Actress Oscar nomination. Her layered turn as Zula was crafted

in Amazon’s action/

post-war Poland who joins a folk

over an essentially chronological shoot which she says invested her with the

drama series Hanna

music touring group. She begins

ability to “find this line of how Zula is at the beginning and at the end. I decided

which releases next year,

a romance with conductor Wiktor

to try to find the method of how to build the character very strong but fresh, like

along with three Polish

(Tomasz Kot) and the two form a

how animals are.” This is her third film with Oscar-winner Pawlikowski after The

movies she has coming

passionate but volatile couple. The

Woman in the Fifth and Ida. Kulig says, “When we met for the first time, Pawel

up. Expecting her first

story spans time and countries

told me he loved to work with actors who have music inside their soul. It helps

child in the spring, she’s

as the pair begins to realize that

me a lot because music is your expression, how to explain your emotions.”

reading some scripts,

although they should never be

She spent five months rehearsing with a Polish folk ensemble, learning “how

but is planning on taking

together, they can never be apart.

to dance proper and be very young without baggage”. But the other stretch of

things somewhat slowly.

“I think Zula is like me, very

the film was a long “psychological process” about struggling through crisis. “You

For now, she says, “This

emotional,” Kulig says. Pawlikowski

need time to jump from one point to another. Step-by-step you can build better

is private time because I

has said the inspiration for the

and better and in the end this is something that is completely different... When

will have a new wonderful

two leads was his own parents’

we are older we are very smart, but when we are younger we don’t think we are

part becoming a mother

turbulent past.

happy, we have all of life ahead of us.”

for the first time.” ★

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PHOTOGRAPH BY

Michael Buckner

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11/9/18 3:43 PM

SMALLFOOT

SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE

Drawing For the Win Both studio and independently-produced features are raising the animation bar this year.

But can anyone break Disney and Pixar’s run?

BY MATT GROBAR

IN THE COMPETITIVE WORLD OF FEATURE ANIMATION, IT TAKES MORE THAN AN ENTERTAINING YARN AND A BIT OF SLAPSTICK COMEDY TO CUT THROUGH THE NOISE. To make an impact at the box office in 2018—and at the Oscars, heading now into its 91st go-round—filmmakers are called upon to pursue a new standard of excellence, going back to the drawing board with each new effort, and finding exciting ways to break the mold.

18

HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 3: SUMMER VACATION

Leading the charge as regular

Bowing just a few weeks ago,

contenders for Best Animated

Ralph Breaks the Internet tran-

Feature since the category was cre-

scended that same sequel chal-

ated in 2001, Walt Disney Studios,

lenge. A follow-up to the beloved

and its Bay area subsidiary Pixar,

Wreck-It Ralph, this iteration from

once again enter the field of 25

Phil Johnston and Rich Moore

films, with two projects that embody

(the writer and director behind

the category’s ideals. First, there’s

the Oscar-winning Zootopia)

Incredibles 2, Brad Bird’s return to

capitalizes on the boundless

the groundbreaking superhero world

world the original set up, following

he established in 2004. Sending the

compelling video game char-

Parr family off on new adventures

acters (and best friends) Ralph

(with Elastigirl out chasing runaway

and Vanellope into the Internet.

trains, and Mr. Incredible taking a

Impeccably designed, the film

backseat), the film easily achieved

visualizes the web as it’s never

hard-to-get hit sequel status, set-

been seen before, offering up

ting a record for best debut for an

thoughtful satire on the culture

animated film—with a gross of $182.7

embedded within the informa-

million in its opening weekend—on

tion superhighway, with a timely

the way to becoming the second

critique of Disney princess tropes

highest-grossing animated pic of all

and the ideas about gender that

time, second only to Disney’s own

have circulated for as long as

Frozen, in fact.

stories have been told.

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withered spirit of the iconic green

RUBEN BRANDT, COLLECTOR

curmudgeon, setting out to ruin

ings this year is Warner Bros.,

Christmas for those poor Whos of

with Smallfoot—centered on a Yeti

Whoville yet again. Also featuring

who is convinced humans don’t

the voices of Rashida Jones, Kenan

exist—and Teen Titans Go! To The

Thompson, Cameron Seely and

Movies, based on a popular televi-

Angela Lansbury—with narration by

sion series, involving the exploits

Pharrell Williams—Illumination’s film

of DC superheroes.

sought to pay reverential homage

INCREDIBLES 2

Bearing in mind that Disney-

Another pillar of stop-motion—

On the international front, it can

to Seuss’ work, while making it feel

take even more craft to draw Oscar’s

fresh, introducing the Grinch to a

attention—and yet in 2018, the

new generation of viewers.

animation shortlist is as diverse as

From Sony Pictures Anima-

DR. SEUSS’ THE GRINCH

Rounding out the studio offer-

it’s ever been, with submissions from

tion, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-

Mexico (Ana y Bruno), China (Have a

Verse really shakes things up. A

Nice Day), and Taiwan (On Happi-

postmodern take on Spidey—and

ness Road). One of three particular

the first-ever animated film center-

stand-outs is Ruben, Brandt Collector,

ing on Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s

Sony Pictures Classics’ R-rated art

iconic creation—the immersive,

and cinema pastiche from 66-year-

action-and-laugh-packed flick

old first-time director Milorad Krstić,

brings the style of vintage comic

who weaves a tapestry of all of the

books to CG animation, playing with

works of art that have consumed

form, and employing meta-level

him over the years. From GKIDS,

self-awareness. From innovative

MFKZ is based on a comic series of

producers Phil Lord and Christopher

the same name and follows one of

Miller, this Spider-Man film is the first

many deadbeats making his way

to star Miles Morales—an Afro-Latino

through the violent Dark Meat City.

version of the character existing

Also on the dystopian front, Shout!

within a Marvel multiverse. The film

Factory’s Tito and the Birds (Brazil)

introduces the viewer to parallel

paints a picture of a world where fear

dimensions and several Spider-

manifests as a disease, and a villain

people, demonstrating that there’s

(inspired by President Donald Trump)

no single definition of a superhero.

weaponizes mass hysteria for his

produced offerings have won the

behind such classics as Chicken Run

Anyone can wear the mask, so long

own malevolent purposes. Notably,

Animation Oscar in 10 out of the

and Wallace and Gromit—Nick Park

as they’re willing to stand up for

this season’s list features a record

last 11 years—in an unprecedented

has won four Oscars to date, and

what’s right.

eight films produced in Japan, many

stretch—competing studios are work-

looks to compete again with Aard-

Also on the Sony slate is Hotel

ing tirelessly to up their game, in hopes

man Animations’ Early Man. Set at

Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation, the

heights. These include Fireworks,

of breaking the behemoth’s spell. The

the dawn of time, the comedy takes

latest installment in a franchise from

The Laws of the Universe – Part I, two

top candidate to do so this year would

an altogether new angle on history,

Genndy Tartakovsky, which takes

films from Masaaki Yuasa (Lu Over

have to be Fox Searchlight, with Wes

following a group of cavemen as they

Dracula away from the comforts of

the Wall, and The Night is Short, Walk

Anderson’s Isle of Dogs. The second

face off against the powers of the

his hotel, and out onto the sea, where

On Girl), Mamoru Hosoda’s Mirai,

stop-motion outing from the critically

Bronze Age in a football match, with

new characters including Van Helsing

Maquia: When the Promised Flower

praised auteur, the film follows a

life as they know it at stake.

(voiced by Jim Gaffigan) emerge.

Blooms from first-time director Mari

Japanese boy living in the retrofuture,

Four other studios are also mak-

At Paramount, John Stevenson

of which strive to take anime to new

Okada, and Liz and the Blue Bird from

on a quest to find his missing dog.

ing a run at Oscar. A major presence

brings his skill to Sherlock Gnomes,

Lovingly crafted by hand, the film

in the animation conversation since

a sequel to 2011’s Gnomeo & Juliet.

Naoko Yamada.

features an astonishing assortment

its inception in 2007, Illumina-

It sends a band of garden gnomes

ers this year are Tall Tales, coming

of environments and gorgeously

tion Entertainment is back with

out into a different genre and setting,

out of France, and Sgt. Stubby:

sculpted characters, pushing the

Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch, directed by

as Sherlock Gnomes investigates

An American Hero, from director

medium of stop-motion and bending

Yarrow Cheney and first-timer Scott

the mysterious disappearance of

Richard Lanni. Providing some

towards Anderson’s signature stylings.

Mosier. The third adaptation of a

garden ornaments in contemporary

resolution in a season with an

It opened the 68th Berlin International

classic 1957 tale by the beloved

London. Executive produced by Elton

overabundance of solid works,

Film Festival, where its director was

children’s author, this version sees

John, the film even features some

the Oscar nominations will be

awarded the Silver Bear.

Benedict Cumberbatch tap into the

captivating Elton originals.

announced on January 22, 2019. ★

Completing the list of contend-

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Fresh from his Oscar success with Moonlight, Barry Jenkins returns to deliver If Beale Street Could Talk, the first English-language narrative feature adapted from James Baldwin’s work. A powerful story of love’s struggle, set against the oppressive backdrop of America’s racial divide, the book is as urgent now as it was when it was first published in 1974.

Alongside his cast—including Emmy winner Regina King and newcomer KiKi Layne—Jenkins tells Joe Utichi of his trepidation in adapting a master, and his determination to believe in love.

PH OTO G R APHS BY CHRIS CHAPMAN

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LOVE STORY Opposite page, left to right: Teyonah Parris, KiKi Layne and Regina King.

Above, from top: Stephan James with Layne; Parris.

“Love cannot be taken from your heart,” says Barry Jenkins. “Love is too important.”

It is a lesson the director of Medicine for Melancholy and Moonlight—both films about love’s survival in spite of challenging circumstances—has finally learned. “You’ve made me sound like a fucking romantic,” he told me two years ago, when we discussed Moonlight. “And I’m a craftsman. I am a craftsman, I am a craftsman.” he declared.

“That’s out the window with this film,” he reluctantly admits now, of his new project If Beale Street Could Talk. “Oh man, is that out the window.”

It’s easy to understand why he might have fooled himself out of a romantic response to his own work. Melancholy dealt with a rare connection between two people in a city in which minorities are firmly in the minority. Moonlight dealt with a young boy tortured by his sexuality in a torturous home. And Beale Street is about disenfranchisement; about a relationship that

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persists when one half is arrested for a crime he didn’t commit, almost certain of a long confinement with the odds stacked against him because of his skin color.

“There’s just so much struggle and strife,” he says. “These characters are dealing with so damn much. When they have to fight back, they have to figure out a way to preserve themselves. And that, to me, in some ways, is just the story of black people in America.”

There’s a line in James Baldwin’s book, though—one that forms the backbone of Jenkins’ adaptation—that frames what the movie is about. “Love brought you here,” the line reads. “If you trusted love this far, don’t panic now.” The script adds five more words: “Trust it all the way.”

WHAT IF THE PERSON I LOVED THE MOST IN THE WORLD WAS TORN

“It’s this idea,” says Jenkins, “that despite the struggle, despite the strife, you have to look at things through a positive prism. It signifies. It confirms. It makes undeniable the humanity of these characters. The humanity

AWAY FROM ME OVER

of black people.”

SOME REALLY UNFAIR

tance—has crystalized in Jenkins’ mind. “It’s

B.S.? THIS FILM MAY BE

It is only now that its meaning—its imporso easy to be cynical,” he says. “But this idea of love—whether in Beale Street or in Moon-

SET IN THE 1970S, BUT IT’S

light or anything I’ve done—I wasn’t going to

A STORY THAT IS STILL

sophical concept. Taking a moment now to

BEING TOLD TODAY. —KIKI LAYNE

trick myself into rejecting that idea as a philoprocess what this film is, it’s not that I’m setting out with an objective, per se. But I can’t deny, looking back on them now, that that is a very foundational aspect of my films.”

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LOVE BROUGHT YOU HERE

If Beale Street Could Talk tells the story of Tish

Jenkins started his career at Harpo Films, and

and Fonny, a young couple grappling with life in

he has never forgotten the lessons he learned from

1970s Harlem. As Tish learns she is pregnant with

the philosophies of its principal, Oprah Winfrey.

Fonny’s baby, Fonny is arrested for a sexual as-

“Ms. Winfrey was always clear that part of her

finally held all the cards. It had been a long time

sault, which he had nothing to do with. We see the

mission was to bring people back to these authors.

coming. Moonlight’s Best Picture victory followed

story through Tish’s eyes, willing her to fight as she

I think, by so many of these amazing writers not

years of struggle to mount a follow-up to his

struggles to clear the name of the man she loves.

being adapted, the work itself has slipped out of

2008 feature debut. Medicine for Melancholy cost

To get him home. But the institutionalized biases

the public eye in a way.”

$13,000 to make, and couldn’t even gross as much

of the place she lives conspire to make any hope of

on its opening weekend. By comparison, the mod-

Fonny’s release entirely improbable.

After Oscar night in February 2017, Barry Jenkins

est $1.5 million in Moonlight’s budget must have felt like winning the lottery.

He had been so used to the struggle that it would be months after Moonlight’s Telluride premiere before he realized how much the movie had

“I didn’t expect to find these soulmates in

He knew he had to try, even as a particular passage of the book laid out the challenge in his mind.

In it, Fonny, a sculptor, considers an untouched

this book,” Jenkins says. “I remember being very

block of wood and weighs the possibilities of what

emotional when I first read it. And then I remember

he will make it into. “He does not want to defile the

being terrified.”

wood,” the text reads. It reverberated with Jenkins,

The terror came from the idea of adapting

because he felt the same about adapting Beale

caught on. He rationalized it in his mind: “I’m just

it. Baldwin’s work has never been turned into an

Street. “I saw myself at certain points in my life

talking about the movie, right? I’ve done this with

English-language narrative feature. In 1998, Beale

when I thought, ‘Yeah, I’m not going to get to make

other filmmakers for years at Telluride. Wait, am I

Street became Where the Heart Is, a French film

this into a film. I’m not good enough; I don’t have

campaigning? Is this actually happening?”

by Robert Guédiguian, which shifted the action to

access.’ All these reasons why… can’t, don’t, won’t.

Marseille and recast Tish as a white woman. And

How utterly debilitating. It’s one thing to lose, but

knew it, and in the days and weeks that followed,

in 2016, the year Jenkins released Moonlight, Raoul

to feel yourself so completely incapable? That’s an

everybody in Hollywood wanted to meet Barry

Peck turned Baldwin’s unfinished manuscript

extreme loss.”

Jenkins. It probably didn’t hurt that Moonlight’s

Remember This House into the Oscar-nominated

eventual victory happened in the oddest of ways.

documentary I Am Not Your Negro. But that’s it.

In fact he was on the Oscar stage before he

Even after the prize for Best Picture had been

It is partly because of the way Baldwin writes.

He did not even start a dialogue with the James Baldwin estate (the author himself died in 1987) until he had a finished screenplay. Instead, he just

announced, Jenkins believed he’d missed out. In

“Film is not the best medium for interiority,” Jen-

started to write. He knew that he was breaking the

one of Oscar’s greatest upsets, presenters Warren

kins says, “and Baldwin’s stock-in-trade was the

first rule of Screenwriting 101; that adapting a work

Beatty and Faye Dunaway had been handed the

interior life of human beings. It is not an easy thing

without securing the rights was almost guaranteed

wrong envelope, and mistakenly called the award

to translate. It is not an easy thing to adapt.”

to be a wasted exercise. But he didn’t want anyone

for La La Land. The town would have been curious

But also, “Black authors have been adapted

looking over his shoulder as he worked out if it was

to hear from the filmmaker at the heart of that

less than white authors, for reasons that are

controversy. But Moonlight also struck a chord—

many, and very obvious. So it’s not surprising

actively shouting Jenkins’ arrival, where Medicine

people like Mr. Baldwin, or even Toni Morrison, or

confesses now. “The fact I was even able to reach

for Melancholy had managed only a whisper.

Zora Neale Hurston, or Richard Wright, have rarely

the estate is mindboggling. This was in a pre-

“So many filmmakers reached out to offer

even possible.

“It should have just been a writing exercise,” he

been adapted. Just so many amazing writers

Moonlight universe. The fact they even went down

advice,” he remembers. Their words encouraged the

whose work hasn’t been translated into visual im-

the road with me is preposterous. Preposterous! I

director to keep rationalizing. “These accolades don’t

agery, which is sad because people aren’t reading

don’t know what they were thinking.”

change the actual film, or who the filmmaker was

as much as they’re watching.”

When he wrote the estate, he sent a copy of

that made it. I wanted to make decisions going for-

Medicine for Melancholy along with his draft of the

ward in the same way that I made decisions about

adaptation. Baldwin’s niece, Aisha Karefa-Smart,

that film, both on set and in regard to my career.”

who had been aware of Medicine for Melancholy,

The film had a gold statue, “but the way it ar-

became his champion. “A letter came back saying,

rived in my hand was just so odd and so weird. It’s

‘OK, hey, you seem pretty interesting. Let’s con-

not like I was questioning, ‘Do I have a gold statue

tinue the conversation.’”

in my hand?’ But it did lead me to question, ‘Have things really changed? I’m going to proceed as though they haven’t.’”

So he went back to a project he had started on around the same time he’d been adapting Moonlight. With Hollywood at his feet, ready to give a green light to whatever Jenkins might choose to do next, he returned to an adaptation he’d already secured the rights to—rights that had been granted in a pre-Moonlight world.

Jenkins had read If Beale Street Could Talk in the aftermath of making Medicine for Melancholy. It’s a lesser-known work by the highly-regarded James Baldwin (though there’s little in the author’s canon that could be considered lesser-Baldwin) and Jenkins—who had his initial Baldwin epiphany in college—was reading it for the first time.

THE WAY [THE OSCAR] ARRIVED IN MY HAND WAS JUST SO ODD AND SO WEIRD. IT DID LEAD ME TO QUESTION, ‘HAVE THINGS REALLY

He suspects that the Guédiguian film made it easier for them to put their faith in an as-thenuntested filmmaker. “It had already been done once before.” But also, Jenkins’ version would be tremendously faithful. He kept the contemporary setting of the novel, which had been published in 1974. He didn’t change anything about Tish, or Fonny, or their respective families, the Rivers and the Hunts. He kept the Harlem setting.

“He honored the book so well in the script,” says

CHANGED? I’M GOING

Regina King, whom Jenkins would eventually tap to

TO PROCEED AS

Shakespeare of our time, and as a screenwriter, to

THOUGH THEY HAVEN’T.’ —BARRY JENKINS

play Tish’s mother, Sharon Rivers. “Baldwin is the adapt something from an author like James Baldwin is probably more terrifying than adapting a book by another author. But it needed to be someone whose regard for Baldwin was as strong as Barry’s.”

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IF YOU TRUSTED LOVE THIS FAR, DON’T PANIC NOW There are many moments in Jenkins’ adaptation of If Beale Street Could Talk in which silence is

She expected to find something very different;

played by Colman Domingo. Early in the film, we

assumed that Jenkins must have changed a lot

watch as Tish must confess to her father that she

about the story to make it work on film. What she

is pregnant. She is taken aback when he greets the

found instead was a deeper understanding of the

news with joy rather than castigation. He invites

characters and the themes Jenkins had so care-

Fonny’s family, including his mother, played by

fully translated.

Aunjanue Ellis, and his father, played by Michael

“It’s like, you might read an article on light bulbs,

Beach, to share a drink. Ellis’s character reacts

as important as sound. The moment that so cap-

and then you read the encyclopedia and get so

bitterly and throws god-fearing insults at her son’s

tured Jenkins personally, as Fonny circles his block

much more information. That’s what the book was.

beloved. She and Sharon square off.

of wood, is one of them. Regina King gets another,

Would we have gotten to the places we got to with-

as Sharon Rivers prepares to travel to Puerto Rico

out reading the book? I think yes, because we had

dressed to fill in for the Rivers’ family home. “Imag-

to find the woman who is accusing her son of rape.

Barry as our leader. But having read the book, it cre-

ine that room,” King says. “It was eight of us and

Alone in her bedroom, she fusses over the wig she

ated a shorthand for Barry with his conversations

the camera crew in a tiny front room. The energy

should wear for the trip, and an encounter that

with anyone involved, from the actors to the crew.”

of being up tight like that added to the scene in a

might be crucial in proving her son’s innocence.

In fact, Jenkins encouraged all of his cast to pick

They shot the scene in a real brownstone

magnificent way. Most of us knew each other, or

“She is the matriarch of this family; the one that

up Baldwin’s novel. “When you make an adapta-

knew of each other. I hadn’t worked with Aunjanue

makes everyone feel better,” says King. “If Sharon

tion, sometimes you go into the process saying,

since we did Ray, so we caught up. It was Michael

says it can be, it can be. But now we’re with her

Beach’s birthday the second day we shot, so we

and she’s by herself; nobody else is around. And

all sang Stevie Wonder’s ‘Happy Birthday’ to him.

she’s terrified for her son. What does that moment

From the moment we got together, we all realized,

of fear look like?”

‘Wow, this is Baldwin and this is Jenkins, and that

It’s a two-and-a-half minute sequence that

seems special.’”

exists in almost total silence. In the previous scene,

If Barry Jenkins set out to make Beale Street

Tish says, “Momma gets to Puerto Rico on an evening plane,” and then we’re in Sharon’s interior world. “Cinema may not be the best medium for interiority, but an actor is,” says Jenkins. “There are moments where that’s all you need. It’s just the actor and the audience, and the actor is inviting the audience into their character’s interior life. And when it works, man, it works.”

In the book—and Jenkins’ original draft—Sharon grapples with a shawl. It was King’s idea that they make it about her wigs. She remembered the wigs that her mother and grandmother wore. “They were their armor,” she says. “They had one wig that they wore when they handled business. Another that they wore when they were going out. Most times, they’re wearing their own hair. But I realized, in the era this film is based in, this woman would not make a trip like that without bringing her wig.”

“It’s just Regina’s face, and the audience, and

without feeling a change from Moonlight’s Oscar

BEALE STREET JUST IMMEDIATELY HIT HOME. IT REALLY STRUCK ME AS AN

success, in this area of the production—casting—it still proved helpful. Every character in the story carries tremendous weight, but most of them get little more than a scene or two in which to do it.

There are many in the film’s ensemble who came for James Baldwin. Pedro Pascal, who plays a Puerto Rican man Sharon goes to visit in her

OPPORTUNITY TO

search her son’s accuser, flew in from the Domini-

BE A VESSEL. TO

was such an admirer of the author’s work. But still

SPEAK FOR SO MANY

can Republic for a day of shooting because he others signed up because it was Jenkins, too, and because Moonlight had spoken to them. Brian

VOICELESS YOUNG

Tyree Henry delivers a one-scene standout that

MEN IN THIS COUNTRY.

ny’s freshly released from jail. Finn Wittrock plays

—STEPHAN JAMES

own inexperience in exonerating Fonny. Ed Skrein

this wig,” Jenkins says. “I love that, in building this

could land him a nomination, as a friend of Fonthe eager young lawyer who struggles with his is the racist police officer, Bell, for whom a run-in with Fonny is reason enough to hound him. Dave

narrative, you arrive at this point where you are

‘We’re going to leave the book here, and the film

Franco rents Tish and Fonny a warehouse home,

now actively empathizing with this character, so

is over here.’” Not so with Beale Street. “I was very

and Diego Luna plays a waiter who takes a shine

why not look directly into her eyes and experi-

adamant, ‘You guys can bring the book. Scenes

to them, offering free food and drink because he

ence what she’s feeling? I think that’s when the

that may not be in the film, they can very much be

simply likes their company; believes in their love.

translation of going from one medium to the next

in your performance.’”

really comes to life.”

Though it deals with the most desperate of

King found Sharon in the pages of the novel.

Jenkins dwells on Luna’s contribution to the film.

The actor had come to mind as soon as he started

“In the black community, we have overcome so

thinking about how to cast the film, but he was

circumstances, If Beale Street Could Talk is a movie,

much,” she says. “Usually, the thing that drives us

reluctant to offer him a part so small. Still, he made

King says, wrapped in warmth, and typified by

is our relationship with God and with love. Sharon

the offer, and was thrilled when Luna said yes.

this moment. “We need this movie right now. We

represented my mother and my grandmother. It

need this hug. We need to understand love on a

was the same for Barry. I think we infused those

make it into the film, but it was so beautiful,” he

universal level. Barry Jenkins can make the global

women into Sharon. It was an opportunity to

recalls. It comes from the novel, and involves Luna’s

feel personal. He’s a master at that, and he doesn’t

represent the women who were responsible for me

character, Pedrocito, watching Tish as she sits in the

even have to try. It just happens to be who he is.”

being who I am.”

restaurant alone and reflects on the times she shared

Though King was familiar with Baldwin’s

While Tish and Fonny exist at the heart of the

“There was a scene that Diego shot that didn’t

with Fonny before his incarceration. “She’s letting

better-known works, like Jenkins she had not read

film, their families, and even minor characters that

her food get cold, and without asking her, Pedrocito

If Beale Street Could Talk. She started with the

appear only briefly, are just as central for Jenkins.

brings out a fresh plate, swaps it, and sits down. They

script, and felt she owed it to herself to read more.

Sharon is one, and so too is Joseph, Tish’s father,

have a conversation that’s about unity and strength.”

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yet she found a way to get her own tape

role, to have to carry as much weight as

it falls in the narrative, by that point the

He loved the scene. “But the place

to us,” marvels Jenkins. After he saw her

KiKi is forced to carry in this movie… It

movie was all Tish and Fonny’s story, so

self-tape, he flew her out to do a chemistry

was tough for her.”

we had to take it out.” He didn’t get to tell

read with Stephan James, who had booked

“This wasn’t about celebrity for KiKi,”

Luna until the moment of the film’s New

the part. James had been working for a few

says King. “She comes to acting with an

York Film Festival premiere. “He said, ‘Oh

years, and had most memorably played

open heart, wanting to learn more, more,

don’t worry, man, I was just happy to be

Jesse Owens in the 2016 film Race. But it

more. That’s rare to find in someone

here.’” That is the power, Jenkins infers,

would be Layne’s first role in a feature film.

of her age. That first scene, where the

of Baldwin’s prose. But it is also the draw

Her first major role of any kind, in fact.

camera is going over the couple, over the

of Jenkins. “I saw an article about Diego

Jenkins was still taken aback when he

trees, and it lands on her face, and the

where he said he modeled his perfor-

phoned Layne to tell her she’d booked the

love in her face is just… I cannot believe

mance in the film after me—that it was

part. “She didn’t answer,” he says.

we’re only two minutes into the movie

basically his impression of me. I was like, ‘Wait, what?’”

And yet, even if actors did line up to play Baldwin and to play for Jenkins, the

“I didn’t recognize the number,” she protests, grinning.

and I’m already tearing up. It was just because of the honesty you get from her

“I called like five times in a row.”

in this performance, and in that first mo-

It was early morning when Layne got

ment, you know she’s special.”

two roles that lead the film would offer

the call and she was still in bed. “You

the greatest casting challenge the director

called two times! Second time, I felt

James, too. “We were so lucky to have

faced. “Trying to find this young couple

something say, ‘Girl, pick up that phone,’

these two at the center, who are passion-

that very clearly read as soulmates from

so I did. You didn’t even introduce your-

ate and who understood the responsibil-

the very beginning of the film. That was

self. You started going in on this whole

ity they had.”

objective number one.” Finding Stephan

idea about me being asleep. I said, ‘Yes,

James to play Fonny. Finding KiKi Layne to

it’s 9 o’clock in the morning.’ He’s like, ‘No,

Fonny, and fought for the part. He took

play Tish.

it’s 12.’ Oh, this person is in New York. And

Jenkins to lunch, and sent him multiple

then I put it together; it was Barry.”

tapes. He felt the exact frustration Fonny

TRUST IT ALL THE WAY “I didn’t find KiKi,” Barry Jenkins corrects.

“KiKi found us.”

Jenkins says calling her personally was a

King extends the same sentiment to

James instantly recognized himself in

feels at his false incarceration. It re-

mistake. “I had this idea of it being this fun,

minded him of the story of Kalief Browder,

really awesome thing for KiKi, but I should

the 16-year-old boy accused of theft and

have just called her reps.”

sentenced to three years in Rikers Island,

“He’s like, ‘Do you even know who you’re

two of them in solitary confinement.

talking to?’ I said, ‘I believe I’m speaking to

Browder committed suicide in 2015, two

With his casting director Cindy Tolan,

Barry Jenkins, and I’m just trying to be chill

years after his release.

Jenkins scoured far and wide to find actors

right now.’ I can’t even describe the feeling.

for Tish and Fonny. He heard KiKi Layne

But I was just trying to rush him off the

home,” says James. “It really struck me as

before he ever saw her, on the other side of

phone so I could really go crazy.”

an opportunity to be a vessel. To be a voice

the camera reading in Tish’s lines for a friend of hers who was auditioning for Fonny.

It was a mark of how different Layne is

“Beale Street just immediately hit

to speak for so many voiceless young men

from the character she wound up playing.

in this country. [Kalief’s story] struck me

She found more evidence of it when she

in a place where I thought, ‘This is only one

record his self-tape, and she responded

got to work. “I realized Tish and I are actu-

story. He’s one in a million. There are so

instantly to the casting information he had

ally really different,” she says. Tish is less

many other young men in this country go-

handed her. “I don’t really know what it was,

confident of her voice than Layne herself. “I

ing through exactly the same thing.’”

because it was just from looking over the

had to get past some of my own hang-ups

breakdown,” Layne recalls. “But I just felt

and habits, especially around what strength

lished more than 40 years ago, but it

like something had leapt into my spirit, and

and vulnerability looks like. Tish and I ex-

resonates deeply precisely because

I said, ‘But that’s me.’ It wasn’t until two

press those things very differently.”

so little has changed. It was this that

Her friend had asked her to help him

weeks later that I was able to submit my

Beale Street might have been pub-

She struggled with a scene in the

validated Jenkins’ feeling that he should

aftermath of Fonny’s encounter with

hew so closely to the novel, and keep its

Officer Bell. It is the first—perhaps the

1970s setting. Simply put, nothing needed

“But he was so excited for me. He’s like my

only—moment in the film in which Tish

reframing. Nothing needed updating.

little brother and he’s 100% in my cor-

and Fonny don’t see eye to eye. He sees

“I thought a lot had changed be-

ner,” Layne says. “We’re people of faith, so

red; seethes with anger at his mistreat-

tween 1974 and now,” Jenkins reflects. “I

we felt like it was always meant to come

ment. He wants to lash out, but Tish

thought the roles and rights of women had

around to me. It happened with him think-

counsels calm. “I had to figure out how

changed quite a bit. Or at least, I thought

ing, ‘KiKi would be a great reader for this.’

I, KiKi, would handle the situation versus

that until 2016, and then I understood that

He saw the film recently, and afterward,

how Tish handles the situation,” Layne

they hadn’t changed as much as we all

I said, ‘I just want to thank you, because

says. “I think I was fighting to stay silent.

thought they had.”

you’re the first person that looked at Tish

KiKi would have been more willing to

and thought of me.’”

push. That was a tough day.”

own tape for Tish.”

Her friend didn’t land the part of Fonny.

There was something of Tish’s determi-

But she put in the work. “She took it

If Beale Street Could Talk, Jenkins says, reflects the two voices found across Baldwin’s work. One that is obsessed with

nation in the way Layne had approached

extremely seriously,” Jenkins recalls. “For

sensuality, romanticism and interpersonal

the casting. “She didn’t know anybody, and

someone performing in their first screen

relationships, and the other that is just

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IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY, WE HAVE OVERCOME SO MUCH. USUALLY THE THING THAT DRIVES US IS OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD AND WITH LOVE. SHARON REPRESENTED MY MOTHER AND MY GRANDMOTHER.” —REGINA KING

as obsessed with systemic injustice and the disenfranchisement of black America. “They say the best vessel for an idea is a story, and I think the best vessel for a story is a relationship. The story of America is framed through this family. It’s what struck me about the novel, and when people see the film, I hope it strikes them about the film too.”

“What if the person I loved the most in the world was torn away from me over some really unfair B.S.?” wonders Layne. It is the central question which gives Beale Street its potency; love transcends time, place and skin color, and yet these characters’ circumstances cannot be transcended. Channelled through the universal, the specific cannot be denied. “This story speaks to what happens when that love is under attack. What’s special is we’re having this conversation in a film that is all wrapped up in love. You’re seeing people dealing with these circumstances, and they transcend statistics. These are real human beings, with real families, who love and are loved. People’s brothers, fathers, moms and sisters.”

She takes a beat. “I can go online right now and find a list of real-life Fonnys and Tishes. People left behind by these injustices. This film may be set in the 1970s, but it’s a story that is still being told today.” ★ D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

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D THE DIALOGUE

OSCAR CONTENDERS/ DIRECTORS

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Ste ve

To get there you’ve got to work on it. We had a while to rehearse and we also talked a lot. To

McQUEEN

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get into the headspace, to get in the character, to almost let it seep into the actor’s head that they don’t even know they’re taking it on after a while. And it’s freedom as well. The fact that they need to have room for movement in order to feel, and explore every single possibility before they come up with an answer, or allow

After an Oscar triumph for 12 Years a Slave, the British artist returns with Widows, his most accessible film to date

BY J O E U T I C H I

themselves to understand where they’re going.

So it’s a process. It’s a steady process.

How did you work together with Gillian Flynn on the script?

DON’T CALL STEVE MCQUEEN PREDICTABLE. The British artist and director may have made three previous films that steered closer to the arthouse end of the market—Hunger, Shame and 12 Years a Slave—but Widows, an expansive heist movie he co-wrote with Gillian Flynn based on the 1980s TV show created by Lynda La Plante, doesn’t feel at all out of place when you consider the breadth of stories he has told to date. He saw the show when it aired, and 35 years later he has made it a rollercoaster ride through a corrupt city as four women struggle to survive.

I said that I wanted to make this movie in Chicago, and she came along on a research trip and it was great. It was a hand-in-glove situation. We basically researched with the FBI. For three-and-a-half hours we really did our heads in. We came out having seen the Matrix. We spoke to politicians off-the-record. We spoke to clergymen off-the-record. We spoke to private investigators. We spoke to people in the underworld. Actually, the person in the underworld was introduced to us by a policeman. Go figure.

That’s Chicago. All these strings amalgamate, and I think that’s what it’s about.

There are interesting questions in the

acted in a movie before. And I saw her and

film about how complicit or innocent

immediately thought she was amazing.

these women were in their husbands’

I didn’t know Elizabeth Debicki. She

What caused you to see the Matrix when you went to the FBI?

activities. What kind of work went into

had been in a play by Jean Genet called

Well, just how things really worked. That’s why

striking that balance?

The Maids with Isabelle Huppert and Cate

in this picture there are no cowboys rolling

I think there’s a sense of loss—a grief—that

Blanchett. I heard about this play and I

across the hills coming to rescue you. Every-

brings about many questions. It brings to

said, “OK, let’s get her in for audition.” She

one’s involved. Everyone’s got their hand in.

the surface a lot of things. It diminishes

was amazing. Really, really amazing.

That’s not to say that people don’t have a moral

what is not important and raises things

And then I was talking to a number of

conscience, but in the world we’re living in

which are vital. ‘Fair’ becomes secondary

women about the role of Veronica, and I

people make compromises because they have

in some sense, because sometimes death

opened the door for Viola and that was it.

to. Everyone does it. I do. You do. And we try to

does sort of liberate you. I remember ask-

I was sold. She’s so deep. She’s an iceberg.

navigate our way through the cesspool the best

ing a friend of mine, whose mother had

So much depth. So much gravitas to her.

way we can do.

died, “How do you feel?” six weeks after-

Opening a door handle can mean so much.

ward. She said to me, “Reckless.” It didn’t

With Michelle Rodriguez, she said no.

The popular belief, echoed in cinema, is

matter anymore. Once you’ve got nothing

I went to see her and then she changed

that corruption on this scale is a thing of

you’ve got nothing to lose.

her mind. There was a lot of to-ing and

the past. You don’t think that’s true?

fro-ing. In the meantime, when she said no,

Look, not all, but a lot, and a lot makes a differ-

pushes these women forward: the fact

I auditioned over a hundred women and it

ence. In England we were talking about, “Our

that there’s nothing to lose. But the fact

didn’t work out. So I had to get on a plane

police force is the best. Best police force in the

that someone could take away their life

to meet Michelle and, thank goodness, she

world.” Everybody used to say that. That was a

makes them actually more active and pur-

was persuaded by myself to be involved

cliché. And then you look at the Stephen Law-

poseful. What they have is a certain sense

and it was great. Fantastic.

rence situation and you find out how corrupt

I think that’s the main crux of what

of fearlessness because of grief. Them

and disgusting they were. So unfortunately, it

just picking up a gun would be unbeliev-

What’s the philosophy behind how you

isn’t the majority of them, but it was allowed to

able, but the fact that they’re fueled with a

work with actors?

happen. It’s a single police culture in which they

sense of recklessness is very important.

Well, we rehearse but, for me, to put it in

protect each other and whatnot. So it is what

a nutshell, my job is to help the actor to

it is. They’re meant to protect and serve, and

How did you assemble this cast?

become a sphere, meaning that whatever

sometimes they serve themselves more than

Cynthia was the first. Francine, my casting

they do is correct. As a sphere, you roll this

others. And it’s not just the police. You can’t just

director, just came to me and spoke to me

way, you roll that way. Whatever you do is

go on about them. The politicians. The clergy-

about this woman called Cynthia Erivo

correct. My job is to get them to that level

men. I’m not saying it’s midnight. I’m not saying

who was on Broadway. She had never

and then get out the way and say “action”.

it’s all dark. But it is allowed to happen. ★

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Carl Timpone

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Mimi

Hammer, and I knew he had that side in him. I loved his height, as well, next to the

LEDER

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diminutive RBG, and I hoped their chemistry would be great.

In finding Felicity, I was comparing photos of her with [Ginsburg], and I felt they had great similarities in their look and feel. If you look at pictures side by side, it’s remarkable. I have known Felicity’s work

Tackling the important origin story behind Supreme Court heroine Ruth Bader Ginsburg in On the Basis of Sex

BY M AT T G RO BA R

and admired her for years, and felt that she was the one who could inhabit the essence of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. I just felt it in my bones, and then, when I met her and talked with her, I really knew that we could

HILE RUTH BADER GINSBURG ORIGIN story On the Basis of Sex is Mimi Leder’s first feature in 18 years, it isn’t a return. In the mind of the director, who was making groundbreaking television long before it was in vogue, she never really left. When she struggled to land a feature after the commercial failure of 2000’s Pay it Forward, Leder simply reoriented herself, returning to the ideas that drove her. “I didn’t want to make shitty films,” she says. “I wanted to do stories that mattered.” With her latest, examining a groundbreaking case Ginsburg fought as a young lawyer to create a path towards gender equality, the director does just that.

W

do this. You never know if the chemistry between an actor and actress playing husband and wife is really going to work. You only hope that it will work, and it did.

While you’ve recently worked on a lot of extraordinary television, On the Basis of Sex is your first feature in 18 years. Has that been a matter of preference or opportunity?

I believe it’s all about the storytelling and great scripts. Whether it’s on the big screen or the small screen, my approach is always the same, and I’ve had a lot of great opportunities in television to really tell great stories. After I made Pay It Forward,

How did On the Basis of Sex come

little woman. When we had dinner though,

which is a film I’m very proud of, but did

together? What was exciting for you

things were very loose, and it was interest-

not perform, I was being offered lousy

about this project?

ing having to ask Justice Ginsburg about

films, and I found the work in television to

Robert Cort bought the rights to the script

very personal questions that I wanted to

be superior.

and developed it with Daniel [Stiepleman,

ask her in relation to the film, so that we

screenwriter]. I know there were other

could be as authentic as we could be. It

ing. I didn’t feel I was coming back from

people attached to the picture. When I

was like going on a first date, but asking,

anything. I continued to work in high-end

came on, Natalie Portman was attached,

“How did you know Marty was the one?

television and make shows that mattered.

and she eventually dropped out. I sent the

How did you know?” She told us about her

script to Felicity [Jones] on a Thursday,

courtship with him, and how brilliant and

What changes have you noticed, in

and she responded on Monday with a big

funny and smart Marty was. That she [had

terms of representation, at this point?

yes, so that came together very quickly,

gone] on a date with someone else and

The issues are certainly complex. We

and when I read the script, I just felt that

they were playing charades, and he wasn’t

never say, “That male director Steven

I had to do it. I felt that I related to Ruth

very funny and he wasn’t very smart. She

Spielberg really did a great job.” But we’re

Bader Ginsburg’s life; I felt many com-

said he was an idiot. It was very funny, and

always tagged with, “Female director Mimi

monalities with her. Not that I would ever

Daniel and I looked at each other and said,

Leder,”—always. It used to bother me quite

compare my accomplishments to hers,

“We have to put a charade scene in the

a bit a long time ago, and now, we’ve made

but breaking the glass ceiling, and her tire-

movie.” So, meeting her was extraordinary.

great gains with more female directors in

less fight for equality… Being a mother—a

Making the film was life changing.

film and television. So much has changed,

Jewish woman in a long-term marriage—

Making this film was really interest-

and so little has changed; we have such

those were things that she was up against

What did you see in Felicity and Armie

a long way to go to reach gender parity.

in those times, and she tackled all of them

Hammer that spoke to who Ruth and

You can see the percentages—they’re still

with her fight for equal rights, and contin-

Marty were then?

very bad. I’ve been fortunate to choose

ues to.

Both of them have faces of generations

the projects that I want to direct, but for

past. In seeing some early footage of what

a long time, I wasn’t. For a long time, I was

How did you approach meeting her?

they looked like, and how handsome and

in movie jail, and I don’t even like to really

I met her several times; I have had several

beautiful they were, I wanted Armie to play

linger on that, but the double standard still

dinners with her, and conversations. I first

Marty because I felt that he possessed

exists. Male directors whose films have

met her in her chambers; it was very polite,

those qualities of charm and humor. We

failed are always given second and third

and I was very intimidated by this tiny

hadn’t really seen the lighter side of Armie

chances to make more. ★

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Kar yn

Nicole kept going back to those films of the ‘70s, like Klute, Dog Day Afternoon, A

KUSAMA

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Woman Under the Influence, Taxi Driver, and Chinatown. She was living in that cinematic love space.

We brought in Bill Corso, an Oscarwinning make-up artist who transformed Steve Carell for Foxcatcher. Bill really leaned into her character; because she’s so por-

Reinvigorating a vintage genre from a woman’s point of view with Destroyer

celain, we worked with sun damage, how she’d look if she had not worn sunscreen for years in the desert.

BY A N T H O N Y D ’A L E S SA N D RO Is the state of female film directors

HE PREVAILING WISDOM IS THAT HBO’s The Sopranos and AMC’s Breaking Bad put the crime noir genre out of business on the big screen. But with Destroyer, director Karyn Kusama and screenwriters Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi prove that there are still a few 180-degree tales left. What sets this noir apart from such classics as Chinatown and L.A. Confidential is that it’s from the viewpoint of a complex, battered undercover female cop on the hunt, embodied by Nicole Kidman in one of her most chameleonic turns since her Oscar-winning portrayal of Virginia Woolf in The Hours.

T

improving? We often see more female producers than directors. Why is that?

Producers tend to do more work behind the scenes and exert their will differently.

They can quietly lobby people to get a desired effect. There’s not necessarily that moment for them every day that a director is faced with: “What do I want? How do I have to have it?”

I still think it’s difficult for female directors to break through on certain genres, perhaps because they’ve been so maledominated in the past. Women do love action and crime movies. These are things I love. It’s a question of proving oneself on set. Someone who can communicate

How long did Phil Hay and Matt Man-

on her obsession, her stubbornness, her

clearly, that’s certainly the strength I bring

fredi work on the script?

strength, her will, and that obsessive drive

to my job as director. I know historically

All of their original screenplays take a lot

that starts to taint her character. Eventu-

there hasn’t been enough faith in women

of marinating time. Over the years, while

ally we realize the non-linear part of the

to advocate for themselves on set and

working on other big studio movies, they

storytelling will inform the peculiarity of her

through the process. The process is a hard

spoke about the non-linear structure for

character. I kept trying to lean into specific

one. You have to constantly work with peo-

this film; even as we made The Invita-

visual gestures that felt really interesting.

ple, listen and assert what you know and

tion, they were still talking it through. At a

For instance, seeing her uncomfortably

think is right. That’s something that takes a

certain point I came on during the outline

close—you want to look away, but when

cultural shift and that may be even longer

phase and they shared the direction of the

it’s somebody like Nicole who occupies the

than #MeToo in the past year or Time’s Up.

main character Erin Bell and the relation-

role so fully, you can’t look away from her.

It’s going to take a decade of Time’s Up, it’s

ship with her daughter. They really take

actually a very long haul.

their time. That’s why the script is so good,

How did you get Nicole on board? As

rich and complex. They thought about this

with her turn in The Hours, she com-

and has biases. One insidious cultural

script for ten years, made notes, but when

pletely disappears here.

bias is that it’s easier for some people to

they actually sat down to write, they were

We had been talking for a couple of years,

hear a man speak with confidence than a

fast about it.

trying to figure out how to work together.

woman. Some of us feel more secure when

Initially she was not on our radar. She’s tall,

we trust a man to occupy that assertive

Given all the films that came before

statuesque, and she has perfect porcelain

space. With these particular stereotypes,

in this genre, how did you avoid all the

skin. We haven’t seen her do something

there are men and even some women in

usual tropes?

like this, and now I can’t imagine anyone

positions of power who keep hiring men

Phil and Matt had a couple of ideas that

else doing the role.

out of the fear that a woman’s potential

animated how I approached the filmmak-

There was an agent, Chris Andrews at

Everyone makes cultural assumptions

poor performance will reflect badly on the

ing: Erin Bell suffers not because she’s

CAA, who was supportive of the project

person who hired her. But men who fail are

amoral, but because she’s moral. There

and said that he’d send the script to

often given another opportunity to prove

was this idea that we’re watching an in-

Nicole. And she responded. In reading

themselves. There’s a lot of pressure in

vestigation where we come to understand

the role, she said it terrified her, and she

the system for men—and particularly for

that the detective is hunting herself. In

cried. After that first conversation, I was

women—to prop up the old norms. The

thinking about those two ideas, it creates

like, “There’s only one person who can do

hiring practices need to change, and the

a necessity for a different kind of emphasis

this.” (In being inspired by the character),

system itself needs to change. ★

34

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D e b ra

seen from their fire? Why did they take such care to cover their tracks? [The

GRANIK

★

★

★

★

★

father] was using “gray man” techniques of living, and it was effective.

What was their standard of living?

It was rudimentary, but it involved books, and a rhythm and a schedule. In the novel, Peter fancied that the father was someone

In Leave No Trace, the Winter’s Bone director explores a father and daughter surviving in the wilderness

BY J O E U T I C H I

who enjoyed reading Henry David Thoreau [the author of Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings], and who was asking himself, “What level of material possessions do I need for my life

N 2010, DEBRA GRANIK MADE WINTER’S BONE, the film that first showcased the skill of Jennifer Lawrence, who would be Oscar-nominated for her breakthrough performance. Granik returns to narrative eight years on with Leave No Trace, which tells the story of Will and Tom, a father and daughter living an unconventional life off-the-grid in a public park. Granik’s film refuses to moralize, asking questions about non-conforming lifestyles without ever passing judgement on its characters, authored expertly by Ben Foster and newcomer Thomasin McKenzie. On a hike along one of Los Angeles’ less-trafficked trails, she explained more.

I

to function?”

Then, if you add something like PTSD into the mixture, it became very touching to me to think of a story in which someone has developed a rarefied way of living, a specific way of life under which he could function. The bureaucracy, hyper-connectivity, the amplified clatter, din, and chatter of the outside world was not something he felt he could participate in.

How much of this is a pathology and how much is a life choice? And who draws up those distinctions?

Absolutely. That brings up, immediately, the question of what’s normative and

When the film premiered at Sundance,

Were you turning down offers?

what’s non-conforming. The thrust of

the narrative was that Leave No Trace

People are not doing this right now—which

all human civilization is that we actually

was your first return to filmmaking

is great—but for a couple years, like, five

mostly want people to join us. We mostly

since 2010. But you made a documen-

years ago, if you were born into a female

want people to live lives that are recogniz-

tary, Stray Dog, in 2014. What were you

body, you got all these scripts about just

able to us. There’s certainly an element

doing in the meantime?

the bummer of being female. All the bad

of that to it, where these systems are

I was never twiddling my thumbs. For

things that can happen, almost to the

designed to keep people safe. We think

example, one of the first scripts that I was

point where you feel a little like you’re

we have to conform, we think we have to

very much entertaining after Winter’s Bone

misogynist. You’re like, “Oh my God, it’s

live very similar lives to other people. And,

was a script that was a very deep dive into

just repulsive to be female.” Either you’re

actually, most people do.

urban poverty and apartheid in America. I

cutting yourself or you’re vomiting, or

went down to East Baltimore and started

you’ve had early violation and incest. I was

The film is very non-judgmental. Was it

workshopping that film. I really enjoyed

like, “That’s not my wheelhouse.” And so,

hard to strike that balance?

what I was recording.

in terms of getting sent stuff, it wasn’t a

Yeah. People say to me—and it’s such an

fertile vein for me to get. That’s not how I

appropriate question—how do we know

find my material.

she’s OK with this? Is this an oppressive

So what happened?

I couldn’t get the ending. And the ending

construct that he’s imposing on her life,

as written was that the woman basically

Where did this film start for you?

that she doesn’t buy into or enjoy in any

recidivates. I was interested in change. The

I was presented with the novel, My Aban-

way? To that, I always have to answer,

script that was presented didn’t explore

donment. The author is Peter Rock, who’s

“If this is your normal, then what are you

change. It was saying, “The cruel urban

local to Portland. He’s a regional writer

comparing it to?” I was intrigued by that.

cyst just puts the person back in where

and knows a lot about Portland culture,

“Want” is a social construct. False needs!

they started.” And I said to myself, “I want

he includes it in his novels. He had been

This is something philosophers of capital-

to do a story about people who don’t go

intrigued by an article that showed up in

ism and consumerism have been trying to

back to prison. That’s what interests me.”

the newspaper of Portland, The Oregonian,

look at for quite some years. I don’t know

in which the authorities expressed surprise

if she’s unhappy or happy—she’s just im-

I’ve been filming that for quite a while. I

at discovering a father and daughter that

mersed in this life. But she will soon start to

took a hiatus from it to make Leave No

were living in this public park. They were

compare her existence to other existences,

Trace, but now we’re editing it. So that was

baffled that this family could live for so

and it is something that can happen in a

a strange transition.

long undetected. Why was smoke never

day; a single moment. ★

I started making a documentary, and

36

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Josh Telles

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12/7/18 9:56 AM

Adam

How different was the Cheney you imagined at that point from the one

M c K AY

★

★

★

★

★

Christian Bale depicted—which was not at all flattering?

Well, by the end it’s not very flattering.

Everyone will tell you, he’s legitimately a funny guy. Crazy about his family. Does all the cooking, the shopping. Meticulous eye for detail, which you see in his fly-fishing.

After tackling the banking crisis in The Big Short, the director goes toe-to-toe with Dick Cheney in Vice

BY M I K E F L E M I N G J R .

Crazy about his wife. Really values the idea of being a [public] servant in his position in government. And at a time where people weren’t very open-minded about gay and lesbian issues, he was really cool about his

LAST TIME ADAM MCKAY CRASHED the Oscar party with The Big Short, his inventive dissection of the meltdown of the global economy in 2008 got a Best Picture nomination and McKay’s first Oscar for script. He’s back with the latecomer Vice, cleverly mixing humor and inventive narrative techniques to show how Dick Cheney hitched himself to George W. Bush and wielded unprecedented power for a veep, from quarterbacking the 9/11 crisis while Air Force One circled the skies, to masterminding the fight against terrorism with hardnosed moves. McKay’s film recently led the Golden Globe nominations, hauling six nods, including Best Director.

L

daughter when she came out of the closet.

There were a lot of things that were good about him. And what really changed for me was this crazy rise to power. You had a guy who got two DUI’s, and was drinking like a beast. And 11 or 12 years later, he’s chief of staff in the White House. It’s one of the craziest rises to power ever.

No crazier than George W. Bush.

I would say, though, that that’s not real power. Cheney’s rise is real power. W, his whole career was [being] a figurehead who was chucked in there. What surprised me by the end was how tragic [Cheney] was to me, how he gave it all away. He had

On a film like this, one that is so barbed

incredibly secretive. He’s got hundreds of

it, and he gave it away. I now look at Dick

toward its subject, did you even at-

thousands of documents, and millions of

Cheney when I see him interviewed and

tempt to seek out cooperation?

e-mails that they won’t turn over. If they’re

he’s kind of like a tragic figure—an empty,

It’s tricky, because if you go to them, they

going to be this secretive, we’re going to do

empty guy. I don’t think that’s who he was

then have a claim that they’re involved in

the best we can to get it out there.

in the beginning, and, certainly, by the end

the movie. They weren’t going to support

some people would call him a war criminal.

this. You read his autobiography, and see

Why did Cheney’s story burn in your

Some people would say he’s a villain, he’s

that he keeps everything on lockdown. He

gut so much? Is it because there’s con-

awful, whatever. I just see an emptiness,

doesn’t say anything. Lynne Cheney says a

nective tissue to today?

and that really surprised me—that I was

little more than him, but there was no way

There are a couple of different levels to

able to find some level of… I hate to call it

they were going to go for us talking about

that answer. That guy did a great job

compassion, but feeling that.

the thing between their daughters.

keeping us out. He never really showed his cards, and pretty much what everyone

What did he gain from giving away

humanly possible. And balanced. Like the

associates with him is, “Oh yeah, [he’s]

those things? His giant house? Hal-

scene where Mary comes out of the closet

Darth Vader—he shot a guy in the face

liburton stock rising 500 percent?

and Dick says, “It doesn’t matter. We’ll love

on a hunting trip.” There’s so much more

For him, it’s the juice: “You can’t say no to

you no matter what,” and she tears up and

than that. He’s a guy who never sought

me, you can’t question me. I’m in charge.”

her mother says, “It’s going to be so hard

the spotlight, in a very smart way. He knew

The movie I really looked at when I was

for you.” That’s word for word what they

where real power resided—and it wasn’t in

writing was the old Alex Cox movie, Sid

said, by several accounts. But then there

the spotlight. He knew how to wield real

and Nancy. Lynne [Cheney] wanted power.

are just some moments where you’re never

power, for power’s sake.

You hook up with her, you’re going to be

We really did try and be as truthful as

going to know what was really said.

It was also such a transformative era.

trafficking in power. I think both of them

Look how much America changed. The

became power addicts, and I think Dick

What do you, as a filmmaker, owe your

big question floating in the air right now is,

became the ultimate master of power.

subjects? You started out making

how the fuck did we get to where we’re at

That’s what took him down at the end—it

comedies, but this is your interpreta-

right now? Reading about Cheney’s life led

took us down and him down. He would

tion of really important history.

to the initial attraction of this story: who

never say that, but that’s my read. It was

We owe them our absolute best effort

the hell is this guy that changed American

Sid and Nancy, only it wasn’t heroin, it was

to [accurately reflect] what happened.

history? That was the entrance. That’s

power, and it started as an understandable

They’re never going to tell us. They’re

when I knew we had a movie here.

love of power. ★

38

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Michael Buckner

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12/7/18 9:57 AM

Regina King

Michelle Yeoh and Ken Jeong

Ethan Hawke

Amandla Stenberg

Stephan James

Emily Blunt

Paul Schrader

Lin-Manuel Miranda

John David Washington

Raffey Cassidy and Brady Corbet

The Contenders NY DECEMBER 1, NEW YORK Our third and final city on the Contenders tour.

See more photos at Deadline.com

Thomasin McKenzie and Debra Granik

Bradley Cooper

40

Rami Malek

Tim Blake Nelson

Spike Lee

RE X /S H U T T ERSTO CK

Lucas Hedges

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

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12/7/18 9:58 AM

THE ACTOR’S SIDE Intriguing one-on-one conversations between Deadline’s awards editor and leading actors of film & television NEW VIDEOS EVERY WEDNESDAY WATC H N OW AT D E A D L IN E .C O M

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N OV E M B E R 2 6 LOS ANGELES

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42

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D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

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12/7/18 10:20 AM

3

Golden Globe Nominations

HOMECOMING Best Television Series - Drama Julia Roberts Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Drama Stephan James Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama

3

Golden Globe Nominations

A VERY ENGLISH SCANDAL Best Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television Hugh Grant Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television Ben Whishaw Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

1212 AL AMAZON_GATEFOLD OFF CVR3 - CVR3.indd 1

12/6/18 4:00 PM

4 GOLDEN GLOBE AWARD NOMINATIONS ®

BEST DIRECTOR Spike Lee • BEST ACTOR

DRAMA

DRAMA

BEST PICTURE OF THE YEAR BEST PICTURE OF THE YEAR John David Washington • BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR Adam Driver

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION IN ALL CATEGORIES

BEST DIRECTOR

“SPIKE LEE’S ‘BLACKkKLANSMAN’

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

WITH MEANING AND METAPHOR.

Spike Lee

Adam Driver • Topher Grace • Corey Hawkins Jasper Pääkkönen • Harry Belafonte

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS Laura Harrier

FOR MORE INFO ON THIS FILM, GO TO WWW.FOCUSFEATURESGUILDS2018.COM

Untitled-30 1

IS DARING AND ESSENTIAL. EVERY FRAME IS PACKED

WASHINGTON AND DRIVER GIVE STANDOUT PERFORMANCES WITH A STRONG SUPPORTING CAST INCLUDING

LAURA HARRIER AND TOPHER GRACE. EXHILARATING, FUNNY AND PROFOUND.” Lindsey Bahr, AP

BEST ACTOR

John David Washington

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY Charlie Wachtel & David Rabinowitz and Kevin Willmott & Spike Lee

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE Terence Blanchard

©2018 FOCUS FEATURES LLC.

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