Variety's Actors on Actors: Ana de Armas and Eddie Redmayne

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"I was astounded by your work in #Blonde," Eddie Redmayne tells Ana de Armas in their #ActorsOnActors conversation. "It felt like you ripped open your soul for the sake of Marilyn." | Variety Actors on Actors presented by @AmazonStudios https://t.co/0imRaDMf5i pic.twitter.com/gEYdP3PM6R
- Variety (@Variety) December 9, 2022

Ana de Armas made waves with her controversial take on Marilyn Monroe in Andrew Dominik’s 'Blonde,' an adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates’ novel about the late star. Eddie Redmayne starred in 'The Good Nurse' as serial murderer Charles Cullen, whose crimes eventually raise the suspicions of the film’s title character, played by Jessica Chastain.

In this Actors on Actors special, de Armas and Redmayne rave about each other’s work.

On playing real people based on works of fiction:

• Redmayne: "I had this with “The Danish Girl,” about Lili Elbe. Lili’s story was true, but there was a book written called “The Danish Girl” that was a fictionalized version. Our script was an adaptation of that book. I find it complex when there’s a true person, and you’re playing an adaptation of a fictionalized version. I find it complex to wade through what truth I was looking for."
• De Armas: "There is this photographic memory that we all have of Marilyn. So we think we know what was happening at that time. The film is giving a different interpretation to those images, mixed with the story of the book. I think that’s what has been tough for the audience to understand about the movie; the emotional truth is so powerful in the film that it’s hard to separate that it’s not a biopic. I’ve heard, 'You missed this part of her life,' and 'She was not only sad or depressed.' And I’m like, 'I know, but we’re not telling that story."

On the difficulties of being an actor:

• Redmayne: "The weird thing about our jobs is going from job to job, city to city, and to these new families that you make. To do our job, you have to be vulnerable, and you become very close to people very quickly. There’s such a complexity to that."
• De Armas: "That only happened to me in my first movie, “Una rosa de Francia,” when I was 16. I was devastated."

Their approach to their roles:

• De Armas: "The real Norma Jeane was completely unseen, and nobody was really paying attention to that. That became her lifesaver and, at the same time, a prison, because she couldn’t do anything else without Marilyn. I have nothing to do with Marilyn, in many ways. But I could understand how you manage to navigate life and an industry that spits you out if you’re not wanted anymore. What do you do to stay there longer and feel wanted by people, even though it’s not who you really are? They want something else.
• Redmayne: "I read Krysty Wilson-Cairns’ script, and I was astonished that I didn’t know anything about him. I was like, “This guy might be the most prolific serial killer in American history who was aided and abetted by these hospitals that just moved him on.” But there was lots of footage. I got to speak to the author, Charles Graeber, who spent a lot of time with him. But primarily, it was the real Amy. And she described how kind he was, how gentle, how self-deprecating. And that there was this other human being that she only met twice - this thing happened to his eyes, where one eye drifts up, and it was like a different human being."

Redmayne on the interrogation scene in 'The Good Nurse':

• Redmayne: "I’m not Method at all. But when I arrived on the set, the director, Tobias Lindholm, had my wrist locked up. And I didn’t know that was going to happen. I’m an actor who quite likes working with intentions. And my overriding intention for that scene, despite the fact that he’s broken and complete­­ly lacking any power, was to somehow try and retain the upper hand. There was a thing that happened in court when the judge was giving out his opinion, and a lot of the victims’ families were there. And Charlie, with that arrogance, just started shouting to the judge about his ineptitude. And this built and built to a really violent place - he ended up being bound and gagged in court. So it was also trying to find that moment."

De Armas on the reaction in Cuba to her success:

• De Armas: "They played 'Blonde' in Cuba in the theaters. Original version, with the subtitles and everything, for five or six days. And they were packed. The lines outside the theaters were going around the corner."

A partial transcript of the conversation can be found here.
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