Happy Sad Confused - Rebecca Hall

Episode Date: July 29, 2015

The fantastic Rebecca Hall sits down to chat with Josh about the upcoming tight thriller The Gift, growing up with a opera singer mother and English director father, working with Woody Allen, being in the new Steven Spielberg film, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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They handcraft premium jeans for guys at under $100. a pair. I've been wearing mine, as I said, and I can totally feel the difference that they're really truly high-quality stuff. Plus, they'll even send you guys a second waist size for free to try on. It doesn't get any better than that. For this quality, you truly can't beat this price, but the deal just got better, friends. Simply go to montenbow.com slash happy and automatically get 20% off your purchase. That's montenboe.com slash happy for 20% off automatically applied at check out. Go ahead, try them. Hey, guys, welcome to another edition of Happy, Sad, Confused. I'm Josh Horowitz. I'm talking like a robot

for no reason. Uh, hey, say hey, Michael. Hey, Michael. Not like that. This is Michael. Whoa, sitting in the co-captain's chair. I'm regretting. We're now at cruising altitude. That's enough. Okay. Um, Hi, guys. Thanks for tuning in to the podcast this week. Michael's here for moral support. And if my voice gets tired in the next three to four minutes. I have to do an impression. Of?

Josh. If you can't talk, I have to be your voice circuit. Hey, guys, it's Josh Horwitz. It's two boring white guys talking. But luckily, we spoke to a non-boring white woman this week. How's every segue? You are so good at diversity. That brings up actually a point

I know the show I know the show could be more diverse It should be more diverse I have no excuses except that These are the guests These are the guests that have come around the bend Here to the Happy Set Confused Studios But thankfully we've had a lot of amazing

Female actresses on lately And Rebecca Hall The guest this week is no exception She is starring in a new movie Called The Gift See the trailer for this one? Michael? Oh, yeah. It's creepy. It's really, it's freaky. It's one of those, like, uh, stalkery, uh, something's not right person. You let them, you give them an inch. Ooh, they take like 17 inches.

Yep, you got, you got the gist of it. It's a, it's a really good movie. Honestly, it's, um, it's like a tight little thriller with Jason Bateman, uh, playing kind of against type. Don't expect him to be jolly old Jason Bateman that you always enjoy. Uh, Joel Edgerton, who I'm a big fan of. And he actually also wrote and directed the film, which is kind of cool. And Rebecca Hall, who's really kind of the leading, like the hero of the film you'll find. I want to give too much away. But it's a really, uh, taught thriller. It's, there's no fat on it. It's just sort of like, uh, it gives you exactly what you want out of something like this, some good twist and turns. And it's a little bit unexpected in ways that

the trailers and marketing materials may have you expecting one thing. It's, it's a little bit deeper than that. So highly recommend that comes out, I believe, next Friday. So look out for the gift. It was lovely to talk to Ms. Rebecca Hall. She is a fantastic actress. She's one of these actresses who, frankly, like, she's not a big celebrity. I wouldn't call her that. Like, you know, we were talking before. Like, you know, it's not like you could rattle off the top of your head, maybe five of her movies. But when you sit down and look at what she's been doing the last six or seven years. It's a great body of work. Yeah. And it's like very like well chosen roles. Yeah. Yeah. So she comes from like, and you'll hear this in the, in the conversation I had

with her. Like, she comes from, like, a really high pedigree background. Her dad is Peter Hall who started the Royal Shakespeare Company. And he invented the Lawzenges, right? The Hall's lodgages? No, again, making me regret that you're in this office right now. Interesting. What did I read? Her mom is a great opera singer, and she, she kind of in the last, like, I guess, eight years or so, I would say, has really crafted a cool body of work. She was in The prestige. She was in Iron Man 3. Transcendence, she was the lead in. Woody Allen's Vicki Christina Barcelona, I think, is where a lot of people saw her for the first time. She's got a lot of cool projects coming up, which we touch on. She's in the new Steven Spielberg movie. She's

going to be in Steve McQueen's new TV show, a lot going on. And she's an actress who's really frankly not into it for the celebrity, or at least she's, maybe she's pretending. Maybe she's a really good actress. And all she wants to be is a Kardashian. She's fooling all of us. I don't know. But I had a really good time talking to Rebecca because I never had. And frankly, in researching her, I was like, oh, maybe she's going to be a little stiff, not so, like, fun. But I think we, I think we hit it off. I think she was, she had a good time. And, or again, she's just the best actress known to man.

So let's catch you up on other things going around. Let's see. In Happy Sad, Confused, Josh Universe just got back from Vienna for Mission and Pop. for Mission Impossible. Michael sadly wasn't able to join me. No, I don't do well traveling. You're not. You're not.

People tend to not like me. Plains, I get scared on planes. No, I could not go. I wish I could. You said it was incredibly hot, though. It was incredibly hot. I don't want to complain because I'm living a very, like, you know, I get... You're globe trotting.

I'm globe trotting. I get to do fun things. But yes, it was freaking hot. 99 degrees, I believe, in Vienna, where Mission Impossible Rogue Nation was premiering, world premiere, Vienna Opera House. It's a big sequence in the film that takes place at the opera house. And just to give you my unsolicited review for a second, the movie is great. And I'm not just saying that because they flew me to Vienna.

Like, I would just not say anything. It's actually a really, really, really good movie. I think it might be my favorite mission impossible. That's awesome. You know, I feel like it was this last one and then this one, and with your review, I haven't seen it yet. But it's kind of cool. They sort of took their time away from it. And then came back really hard.

Yeah, yeah. This is, I think, the, the briefest, like, gap in between two of the films. The last one was Brad Bird, which I know a lot of people loved. I liked it. I didn't think it was, like, amazing. But this one, it's directed by Chris McQuarrie, who did Jack Ritcher. It has some amazing set pieces. It's got this amazing leading lady performance from Rebecca Ferguson, who you've probably

never seen. I've never seen her before. But she kicked so much ass on this, and it's so great. I can't recommend it enough. But, yeah, the premiere was, yeah, go ahead. Oh, no. Just does Tom Cruise fall off? the plane and die?

Yes. Okay. Well, considering it's the opening sequence in the film, it's only a 12-minute movie. Yeah. So it's like very tight and condensed. Super tight. Man, that's sad. It makes sense.

It's good writing. But they recover Jeremy Renner. It's basically just 10 minutes of him on a plane and then a long funeral. No, then it's just like an hour and a half of Vingrames and Jeremy Renner talking about it. Yeah. Recapping. Different way to go. Yeah.

But you get to talk to everybody on the carpet. I did. I did. I talked to Tom. We also, then he always does these things in a big way. He did a New York premiere last night. which I also did the carpet for. And, you know, say what you will about Tom Cruise.

The dude is a movie. No, not, no, I don't mean that. Well, I've got a lot of opinions. I don't mean that literally. But he is a movie star and he also is so committed in every way. Like, he signs more autographs than any human being ever should have to. Literally, like, I mean, much of the chagrin of journalists in Vienna, we were waiting on the carpet for him for like three hours.

But that was because he was signing autographs for three hours. So that's amazing. It's kind of awesome. It's like it's part of the job, which probably sucks. but he just has taken full responsibility for it's like if you're going to live this life you got to do the autographs you got to be a good he loves being a movie star he like loves being tom cruz and yeah i guess more power to him um okay time for some questions via twitter um oh i like this one i just asked for questions like two minutes ago and i got a few

random ones um this is from hi i'm mary dresser look okay have you ever interviewed billy Williams. I just love that. That is the greatest random. Thank you. No, I haven't. I haven't. I'd love to. Because you're scared. Is that? Yes. Well, we have a past that we'll never just be spoken of. But hey, maybe he'll be in a Star Wars movie coming up, but maybe I'll have an opportunity to. That would be awesome. Speaking of which, I spoke to JJ Abrams last night. That was awesome. I love him. Let's see. He needs one more Jay in his name. Right. J.J. J. J. J. J. What's the J. J. I've never asked him. Jay Jonah. His parents are a huge Spider-Man fans. Cindy McCoy wants to know, I want to see both Tom's Hiddleston and Cruz in Top Gun 2. I feel the need for speed.

It always comes back to Hittleston. You guys, and Hiddleston, by the way, came up in this podcast, and I feel like I, I don't know. I just, I feel like I'm being portrayed as a Tom Hiddleston stalker. And I don't know how this happened. Interesting. Well, actually, I do. I think it's Jessica Chastain. Yeah.

She pushes that. She pushes that. How do you like his blonde hair? I don't want to talk about it. It's weird. Your eyes lit up. I like it. You're licking your lips.

That's strange. What should we put? I'm meant to ask you. Do you have any comedy things you want to plug? Is anything you want to plug, Michael? Me? Am I allowed to plug things? Well, yeah.

I mean, you're in the office. Okay. I'm in a group called Nancy. It's musical comedy. It's kind of like Flight of the Concords, but funny and handsome. Is that your go-to for that? Yeah, I use that a lot. lot. And we got a, if you're in New York, we've got shows at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater every other week. And the next ones are, well, this Thursday, the 30th. I don't know when this goes out. That'll be, that'll be, yeah. Great. And then August 6th and August 17th, it's a half hour show. It's really fun. And then I got a monthly show called OSFUG at the UCB Theater East, third Saturday of every month. So yeah, if you want to come out, see some live comedy, you know, that's some great ways to do it. Wow. You were killing it, man. All right, guys.

Enough of Michael pimping his comedy career. And that creepy laugh. Nope. Nope. Time to enjoy the lovely, the talented, the star of the gift. Here is Ms. Rebecca Hall. How's it going? Good.

What's this list? Is that people that live in New York? Yes. So the other side of my... life besides doing somewhat straightforward normal kind of interviews, because I do silly sketches, which now having seen your funny or die thing, I realize we're miscalculated because I think we should be doing a sketch today. So that list on the board is just sort of like in the back of my head who might be around. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let me turn this off. And how are you doing

on this sweaty humid day in New York? I'm in the middle of a, you know, they're funny these days. You get carted around and... Yeah, that's how your life should be, just carted around. Or constantly being followed by six people pushing you into rooms where people ask you questions. In other contexts, this could be, you might have done something wrong with your life. I know. No, it's actually not dissimilar, really. But apparently you're doing the right thing. You're not allowed to know the time. Somebody tells you when you're allowed to eat.

And go to the bathroom. Hopefully, do you have bathroom privileges? No, I haven't had any bathroom privileges. No, I'm sorry. You seem stressed. This falls on yet. No, I'm fine. it's good to i don't think we've ever chatted before which is surprising but um considering how

much you've been working in recent years um yeah what's wrong don't you don't you don't like my well no but i figured was rebecca we should just dive in forget those like four minute junket things which are horrible let's dive in and really get get to know each other uh and that's why we're here today um congratulations on the movie i saw it yesterday it's really good it's really really good I don't know, I'm not, I don't know why that sounded like a surprise. It's not a surprise. Well, I can, I think a lot of people do that, actually. And I've been trying to work out why that is.

And I think it might be the trailer suggests it's going to be, you know, a sort of screaming, shouting horror movie. Not there's anything wrong with those, but it's, it's surprising when you realize that actually the thrills come from a psychological place. Truly. And you're so, I'm so, and I think any audience member are so, like, geared now to, like, expect a certain kind of thing. a film like this and you're like, oh, he's going to come around the corner with a chainsaw at some point and it never happens. And it never happens. And it's all the more scary for it, I think. Yeah. Probably because the stuff that it actually confronts is much more, well, pernicious and hidden. Well, it is entertaining without, you know, we don't want to give

the whole kitten caboodle here, but like, well, why not? Okay, let's just, okay, so at the end. If you've seen the trailer, you basically seen it. Not really, though. And I'll fill in all the gas. It's absolutely not. Yeah, totally not true. I mean, it's like basically a three character piece. And what I think is really cool about it is that they're kind of three totally unreliable people to kind of find. Entirely unreliable. Yeah. And it's a really smart film in what Joel has done, Joel Edgerton, who's obviously star and director and writer, I believe, too, right? Yeah, completely. Gamalian. What a jerk. Give it a rest. But kind of playing on audiences preconceived notions, even in the casting.

Yeah, no, it absolutely it is. Well, I think there is a sort of tradition there. I don't know. I feel like I was reminded of a lot of, there's a lot of Hitchcock thrillers that sort of rotate around three characters, you know, or, I mean, often too, but often there's a sort of, you know, whether it's, you know, I'm thinking of something like rope, I guess, where there's, you know, James Stewart and then the two guys or, and it's all basically in one place or, you know, and that, there's something similar to that.

I suppose if you are playing with that, then it's always a question of who knows what or what time and what don't you as the audience know about that person. I suppose the most reliable is my character, but she is not a sort of, what I personally liked about it was that I think in the other version of this film, she could easily have been the female and the victim and the person that doesn't have any human aspects.

And there are surprises with her, too. Absolutely. You know, and I think there's something sort of interesting about the fact that she goes on a journey of perhaps not being her full potential as a human being at the beginning of the film. And despite horrible things happening to her, she comes out of it better than she starts. She does, though, have questionable judgment, I feel like, in human beings. Entirely. I mean, about halfway through, I'm like, way, you've really, you're not reading the signs, lady. But a lot of people don't in relation.

And I think that's kind of one. But, again, I don't want to give anything away, but I think we, we, everyone has, everyone has come across some sort of relationship where they know one party and they know that that party is a much stronger, more confident being when they're not with that person. Right. What's cool. I think, was this always like a Blumhouse production, what Jason Blumst. Yeah, it was. It was. Which is it, for those I don't know, the way his business model is kind of fascinating and the way they do it.

because this happened really quickly, relatively speaking. No, it's a tiny indie movie. It really is. Like, we made it on nothing. We made it, you know, that's how his model works. And then if they work out, then they put a lot into the marketing, which is sort of a completely, well, actually probably a brilliant way of doing it. Because nothing, I mean, that's the only way that anyone goes to the cinema these days

is if you plaster it everywhere and come up with interesting ways to market it, and they've really done that. And I guess it is, you know, from, I think Jason Blum has been really smart about this because in it's not he his brand is very much big horror movies right and i think he saw in this a place that slots right in between that and whiplash which is another movie that blum has it you know so it's kind of you know he's definitely thinking outside the box smart guy yeah and great for you know to take a gamble on a first time director and give him creative freedom which he did yeah like genuinely did i mean speaking of the marketing i was one of those privileged few that got the

insane. You've heard about this. Oh, did you get a gift? Oh, my God. It was so, like, I'm not even joking. I would never pimp out, like, marketing. Like, it's the last thing I think is, like, that I'm interested in, frankly. I'm just like, but I have to say, this has been unique. This totally screwed with me. So I mentioned this on the podcast once before, but one day I got in the mail here a mug from my college newspaper that I was the editor of. It said, it was the herald, the herald from like this tiny college. And there was a note that said, hey, I was at a flea market, thinking of those days at W.E.OS, where I was a radio post. And thinking about those late nights at the Herald, just thinking of you, Gordo.

And literally that night, I went to my wife and I'm like, I don't know what this is, but there's this crazy guy from college, I think. I don't remember him. Oh, that's brilliant. They really got you. Like, I am an idiot. I'm clearly like the most gullible man on the planet. Yeah, you might be. I haven't heard of anyone else who actually believed it. Oh, no. It's so sad. But I'm a great audience goer that way. I don't see the world. the twist coming, see? Yeah. Well, that's good for this. Yeah, exactly. When you, when you walked in,

I mean, I did know what accent was going to come out of your mouth, but before kind of like talking to you at length, you're one of those actresses where I wouldn't be entirely sure, because I feel like you've played as many Americans. I've played more Americans than I have English people. Right. Yeah, and I pretty much live here now and, you know, my mother's American. So I suppose I am, I do sit in a sort of a non-place. And I do keep my mom. mouth quite shut as a human being. So I can understand that most people think I'm American. Or a mute. I'm basically mute as a public figure. Are you generally a quiet person?

No. If I feel comfortable and I'm around people I know, then I'm not at all. I can be right. You go to extremes, basically. I go to extremes. But I suppose I'm not, I'm not wildly loud in, you know, all comfortable sort of being loud as myself as a sort of the celebrity thing. Right. kind of that's not, it's not hugely my bag. And I suppose that it's kind of, I suppose that as a result of that, people don't necessarily know who I am or know what I sound like. And I kind of like it that way. Well, it's kind of working out. It's not like you're not getting good material or good directors to work with. So there's a lesson in that where you. Yeah, but I might be a dodo because

there's nobody else doing it like that. Well, hey, you're charting your own path. But I mean, yeah, I mean, don't you get it? You got into this business to be a celebrity, Rebecca. Everybody knows that. Oh, why didn't you tell me? It's too late. It's too late. No, but you mentioned so, I mean, you come from, so yes, your dad, British, your mom's American, did growing up, did you feel that kind of push and pull was there? Do you spend a lot of time in America as well as...

I didn't. My mom lived in England the whole time, but she worked a lot in the States, so I spent huge chunks of time in New York and L.A., actually, she's an opera singer, and she worked at the opera houses there. And my dad worked here a fair amount, too, so I always, like, American culture was always very much, I knew it was part of my life. And my mom does still have a very, you know, she's a sounds American. Really? She's from Michigan. She's from Detroit. So it's like, you know, she's, as America as you get. Yeah. So I don't, so it's, I suppose what I'm saying is like it's not,

it's not a leap for me. If I made a decision tomorrow just to sort of speak like an American all the time, I'd probably forget about it in 12 hours. So what, but I won't do that. Just to be clear, not doing that. Just to be clear, I feel very, very protective of my English roots as well. So when you were growing up, did, in terms of pop culture, in terms of film, were you equal opportunity in terms of the kind of stuff that you were? Equal opportunity. Yeah, I like that's the kind of politics to film watching. The world is falling apart, folks.

We can't, we're going to be judged on. That's right. I don't think I'm making the least be correct. My life's work. No, I was definitely equal opportunities with American and British films. I was very, no, I watched everything. I was, I was, uh, what? And I was a real film person when I was a kid.

That's really my childhood was watching films. I was. And that come through your parents? Was that just something? Yeah, my, my father was always interested in film. He's a theater director, but he didn't, he didn't work in film. His first wife was a movie star in the classic old sense, Leslie Caron. Oh, my God.

Yeah, of course. And he had an interesting trajectory in that, you know, my dad was born in 1930s, so we're talking like 1950s. He married Leslie. Wow. And he definitely, he had a moment where he went to Hollywood and MGM said, here's a contract, you want to be a film director. But at the same time, he was setting up the RSC in England. So I was like, well, actually, I've got this theater institution that I need to take care of. So he made that choice.

So he's always been sort of fascinated in film, but not. It's not his love and it's not his work. And my mom, again, is an opera singer, but she was born in the 50s and in Detroit. And so she grew up with that sort of, with that whole really interesting moment in American cinema, basically, in the 60s and 70s. And so she's sort of, and her great love as a film viewer is movies from the 40s and 30s. Oh, wow. So when I was a kid, I didn't have a lot of kid stuff, but I did have this access to this huge VHS. Yes, videos.

That sounds like prehistoric. Don't worry. You're in a safe spot. I had this enormous video library of old movies. And I'd sit and I watched, you know, Betty Davis and and Catherine Hepburn and Barbara Stanwick. I'd just watch those were my heroines and I'd watch them again and again and again obsessively. Were you relating to your peers in that way? Did you have friends that were into that or were you the anomaly?

No, I was a total anomaly. It did not make me cool at school. Let me tell you now. Especially as I was kind of into jazz music at the same time. It was awful. But the good news is for every nine-year-old with strange interests out there is that if you stick to those tastes, by the time you hit about 17, it suddenly becomes very cool. Totally. You were ahead of the curve. Yeah. But yeah, I remember I would get my friends around and be like, you know, you want to watch a really scary film. Here's whatever happened

to baby Jane. Right. They're like, what the way? Like, can we watch scream? You're like, nah. So were you a snob about contemporary film? No. No, I've always been very, I watch everything. Even now, I'm not snobby. I'm a big, I'm a big exponent of highbrow plus lowbrow at all times. Good. Everything.

Same here. I mean, you can see my, I apologize, I just moved into this office, so I haven't hung anything. But, like, my office is like an explosion of my silly brain, as you can see. There's lots to look at. There's a lot of sensory input. Doing it. So give me a sense of your high-brow low-brow tastes. What are films that like, you can recite by heart, what are films that like are really,

you mentioned some of the early heroines, but in terms of more contemporary stuff, are there films that really like you remember being obsessed with as a kid or a teenager? Yeah, I'm trying to think of some good examples. There are many. One of the things that I go back and watch again, again and again, I can quote. It's pretty much, I'm drawing a blank because there was one that I watched very recently. And I was like, oh, I find myself being able to quote entire, oh, bringing up baby. Sure.

So Carrie Grant and Catherine Hepburn, I found that I could, I watched that again recently. And I realized that it tapped into my 11-year-old self. And I could quote huge chunks of it. Wow. It's been a while for me. I remember there's a dinosaur. Yeah. It's a great bit with a dinosaur.

Which I like was, I'm now going on a digression. That's okay. I watched it again recently. I was like a screwball comedies for women, like great kind of batty characters that can hold it and aren't necessarily comics but are kind of actresses. Like Catherine Hepburn is hilarious. And kind of doesn't exist.

It just doesn't exist. Those scripts never exist. That's why I always liked to do. I don't know if you're a Cohn Brothers fan, but one of the underrated ones I always loved was Hudsucker proxy, which was fantastic. And Jennifer Jason Lee in that is amazing. So good.

So was, I mean, given, you know, you're from this this family with this pedigree like true chops in theater and opera was there any push and pull for you in terms of like an act of rebellion of like no i'm not going to go that route because it would seem looking at the CV or whatever like it was just like okay it's meant to be i'm doing it yeah right out of the mouth yeah it's three months old do little kinglier it was born in tights exactly but was that the case did it feel no no it wasn't actually they did they did a very good job of not encouraging me either way. I think if anything, my father would have discouraged me.

That sounds odd because he actually cast me in my first thing when I was nine. He directed a TV series called The Cammer Man Lawn that I was in, but he did. That was sort of initially against his will, like the producers suggested it. And he came to me and said, is that something you're interested in? And so the story goes. My precocious nine-year-old self was already like, yeah, I want to be an actress. But I don't know if that's true.

What do you remember about how do you treat you? I remember auditioning and I remember him going, you know, realizing that actually I was pretty good casting and then being convinced and then being very protective, but also treating me like a grown-up. And I remember having real discussions with him about acting and what it means. And then that sort of, that didn't like. carry over entirely. They were the teenage years. Right, because there was a big gap where you did not act for all, right?

Well, I didn't, I got an agent then, and I remember, you know, going up for stuff like interview with a vampire as a, as a kid. Oh, is that right? The Kirsten does that role? Yeah, and I remember my dad reading that and going, but you cause is terrible. In terms of the content of the material or in terms of? Yeah, he was like, if you want to, if you want to audition for it, fine, go and audition for it. But I, you know, around that time, I think I was definitely influenced by him because I remember, You know, to stop, basically. He didn't tell me to stop, but he said, is this something that you want to do?

And I said, yes. And he said, well, because, you know, I love these women and these actresses, but they're all women. They're all grown-ups. And he's like, well, then you don't want to be a child actor. Right. And I was like, I completely agree with you. I don't want to be a child actor. And I said, you know, and we had this discussion where I basically realized that I'd probably

be a better actor if I stopped being a child actor and actually went and just be a child for a bit. Learned how to be a human for a minute. Did you figure that out ever? No, that's a life's work. Come on, who knows that one? Not me. So when did it gain another, you know, some seriousness?

Was that it came to? Well, again, with him, I sort of, after that, I kept it quiet because I'm, you know, I'm, I do, if I'm taking things seriously, I tend to go underground with them and, you know, look after things and sort of think about them privately until I share them with anyone. I think I even did that with my parents to a point when I was a teenager. and I sort of disappeared and I I like painting and drawing and all that kind of thing now pretty much for myself I certainly wouldn't show anyone on it and during that time I thought oh that's probably what I'll do I won't do the acting thing and I painted for a lot and but I was new you know

and I kept doing acting as much as I could at school and then I went to Cambridge and Cambridge has is brilliant for aspiring actors and directors and anything obviously but the reason why is because there's no course. You don't go to Cambridge to do drama. There isn't a drama. You can't major in drama. But what you can do is major in literature or languages or history, whatever it is, and then do drama like you do in the real world, i.e. come up with an idea, raise the money, put it on, get producers, get designers, the whole thing. So in a way, it's a sort of brilliant training for how it actually works. Right. And I started doing that way more than I did my degree and met all these incredible people my peers at Cambridge were all now preposterously

successful. You know, Eddie Redmayne. Oh, I've heard of him. Tom Hedleston, Dan Stevens, Khaled Abdullah. These were all like people in my... God, very uncharming class of characters. Like, was that anybody have any charisma that you knew? No. What a shame. No. No. Okay, so who in that group? Because I've spent a lot of time with particularly Tom and Eddie in recent years. Why? They've not been doing much. No, not much.

I had a memorable pillow fight with Tom. Did you? Yeah. That seems interesting. Yeah, it was quite interesting. You should look it up on the internet. A lot of gifts were made, as you can imagine. Who in that group, was there one that we were like, oh, God, this person in particular is going to be, that is going to be supremely talented is going to be the thing?

Or was it? No, you can't really. You don't know? No, you can't really judge that. friends. Everyone was successful and there were definitely sort of cleaks in Cambridge. They would like the people who did this and the people who did that and the people. I mean, I did a lot of stuff with Khaled Abdullah, who now, who was an actor, is an actor. He was in the kite runner and United 93. He's Egyptian and he's kind of taken some time out from acting to be a political

activist. If you saw that documentary, The Square. Oh yes. Yeah, he was the one with the English accent. Amazing. Yeah, he's a, you know, he's a, he's a, he's a, he's a, he's a, he's a well-rounded wife. He's an activist and he does extraordinary things. And he's probably my closest friend from Cambridge in terms of the person that I did. We set up a theatre company together. Oh, wow. And he was a great director as well as an actor then. And I'm sure he'll come full circle and direct all sorts of things.

Right. So did it feel like at that time, like what was the gap in terms of the chronology of your life between Cambridge and starting a film career? What did it feel like was there a gap in terms of like struggle in terms of finding your niche? Essentially what happened. nutshell, I just looked up and saw Tom Hiddleston's face. See, I thought. Look at that prophetic. Just right there.

You know, that coffee table book is just nonstop Tom Hiddleston photos, but that's for another time. Weird. I didn't make it. I promise. I swear to God. See, there's this thing going around. Yeah, yeah.

And, you know, he's in this movie, Crimson Peak, right? Oh, yes. And Chastain is also a friend, and she insists that I'm obsessed with Tom. And now this podcast is doing me no favors because I feel like I'm just coming across. I think you just, you know, I think my takeaway from this is, oh, no, this is not the impression I wanted to give today. All right. Back to your life and career.

Yeah, so I did a production of hilariously at Cambridge, who's afraid of Virginia Woolf. Okay. Where I played Martha, which was, you know, really great casting for an 17-year-old, 18-year-old to play, you know, middle-aged drunk. and Khalid actually directed it and it was like a very successful Cambridge show if you could say such a thing it was terribly like it was terribly pretentious on some levels there are two newspapers at Cambridge

there's a varsity in the Cambridge student and you know if you get you get five star reviews and those then you've really sort of made it and you've got a sellout show anyway it was one of those and I sort of finally was you know to my dad you can come and see that and then tell me honestly like should I be doing this or shouldn't I and he was he got very emotional about it actually and said it was you know and said I think if you want to do this you you absolutely should and then very soon after that I ditched Cambridge not because it sounds the proximity so makes it sound like because he said that it absolutely wasn't it was for lots of reasons but I I left it and I didn't get my degree and I wanted to get on with my life and I wanted to start acting and I felt like I'd got everything that I wanted out of Cambridge, which is very arrogant sounding, but it

wasn't. And I didn't want something to fall back on. I thought if I'm going to do something as mad as being an actor, then I might as well commit to it as opposed to think that I've ever have the right to do anything else. Right. A new MTV project from the creators of Catfish, the TV show is looking to help anyone ready to let go of a secret once and for all. Do you have a secret that you've been keeping from a friend or loved one, has this secret spiraled out of control, leading you to live a double life? Are you exhausted from covering it all up?

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Like MTV's Secretcasting Facebook page for a link to the official application and submit your story today. When you look back on it now, was there one job in particular that you landed that made you feel like I have security? No, I didn't land any jobs. I went out into the world all cocksure and arrogant thinking, right, this is it. I'm going to. I got two good reviews from that show, Cambridge, guys, I'm ready. My marker was so fantastic. Where are you all?

And I auditioned and my agent, Victoria Belfred, who'd stayed with me throughout the teenage years, actually, she sent me. me up for really great things and I'd get I'd get quite far in auditions and then obviously no one wanted to take a punt on right someone who had no training no experience and you know and certainly didn't want to take a punt on someone that comes from some grand old theatrical dynasty because then it looks like they're just employing me for that so was there one at the time that you're like this is going to be it I'm getting I'm on the second or third round and I think this could change my life oh yeah there totally was there was a play at the national about um about that one that that then there was recently a film about her uh that Freud and

young had a patient oh sure yeah dangerous method was the yes yes yeah um anyway there was a play that was loosely the same sort of story and i was very close to getting that role and and then didn't and was like well now what am i going to do and often i would come up against people who said you know it's just uncomfortable the press attention and blah blah blah blah blah blah and we don't want to be accused of this and how do we know that you're good? Do we just think you're good because of your family? And that was kind of irritating. And so when my dad finally came around and gave me a play, Mrs. Warren's profession, and was like, why don't you just work with me and do this? Because you'd be great in it. And I initially said, no, because that's terrifying in the

face of everything that I'm confronting. Exactly. I'm trying to deal with all this stuff and try Let's just embrace the whole. And be taken in my own right and now I'm going to go and work with you. That sounds like lunacy. But, you know, actually, as it turned out, after time, I realized that it was pointless trying to pretend that or deny it or work against it. And if no one else was going to cast me because of it, then I might as well work with him and try and establish myself in my own right and then get on with it.

And then after that, I was really lucky. You know, that's the truth of it. I did that. And it could have gone horribly wrong. I remember my father coming back after the first night. He sat with me in the kitchen. I was staying at his house for some reason. I'd gone back with him or something.

And we had a bowl of soup and he just turned this kind of green color thinking about all the reviews coming out the next day. So he thought if this has gone badly for her, I've just ruined my daughter's life. Oh, gosh. I could see that, yeah. You know. Clearly it didn't work out that way. No, it was on.

And then five years later, I recovered. And Woody Allen called in all was right in the world. Speaking of, whenever. Woody Allen's on the resume. I have to talk about that because, you know, I'm a cliche New Yorker, born and bred, like, obsessive. Um, so working with him was that, is that surreal? Is that something that you can kind of like check it off as just like another director, another film or is constantly, are you like, that's an icon I'm staring at that I grew up watching everything he's ever done? Yeah, he's, he's a standalone. You can't work with, I mean, you work with him almost more

for the experience of that than you do for anything else. It's sort of, you know, knowing that you're entering the Woody Allen world you can't you can't really do anything but be in the Woody Allen world it's sort of and that is a wonderful world to be in and for me it was a dream come true because definitely of the movies that you asked me earlier about things I was obsessed with as a teenager Annie Hall was another one that I could just I could just recite all of it um and so meeting him was surreal and then working with him just was a very strange is the process because again there are all these myths legends and some are true

it some or not and i can know it varies sometimes but like i've heard people say that you know he's obviously an amazing writer a understatement of the century but i feel like he's also said i've heard him say to actors like if you want to change the lines change it which seems insane did he do that with you did you and do you feel like you're allowed to do that or do you want to like say no you're witty allen i trust your line i didn't initially but i was in that film a lot Like, I worked nearly every day. And so there was, you know, apart from the chunk that I'm not in, but, you know, I was, so I was there and I had a, and my character was very wordy, like on the page, she just didn't stop talking in the vein of those characters in Woody Allen films who don't stop talking. And, you know, I think, and often he shoots in, in, there's just one set up.

Right. So there's no restrictions in terms of continuity or whatever or the need to say things so you can match it when it's someone's close up. Um, so he would always say to me, why don't you try one way you put it into your own words? And he didn't mean like, you know, go crazy and yeah, make up an entirely different plot. He just meant to say what I've written, but put it into a way that sounds more natural to your, to your way of speaking, to your idiom or whatever. And all the characters way of speaking as I had then sort of swallowed and internalized, I guess. Right. And, you know, I suppose I did actually, if I'm going to be honest with you.

I did do that, but I like doing that. Often that's a way out of a hole. I never felt like I was rewriting him. I mean, we're talking about I would switch a couple of, you know, verbs and prepositions around this thing. Take full credit. So, and then, like, you know, in looking again at these kind of like points that clearly stand out on a resume as like mark, you know, a mark of a change or shift in retrospect at least. Like when that film premieres, I think it was like, I can probably right. Yes, it was.

And well received needles to say, does that feel like, okay, I held my own, I more than held my own in a Woody Allen film that is being celebrated. I'm now, I have a right to be at the dinner table and I have a, you know what I mean? Or is it, is there constant kind of like, are you one of those actors that's constantly doubting their own place in the universe? Like, what, when are they going to pull the rug out from under me? Or do you feel at this point that you know what you're doing? I mean.

And I'm not trying to set you up to sound. conceded and like, yeah, I know what I'm doing. I'm good. No, no, but I think it's, I think it's neither in a weird way. I don't think that I, I mean, every time a job ends, I assume that I'm never going to get another one. And I'm looking down a void of kind of, you know, when to the next one. I think Judy Dench said that the best thing about being an actor, about the job is that is the phone call that you get when to say that you've got the job. Right. And then everything after that is sort of panic. Right. Six months later, six months of panic and then again.

And that's, that is true. having said that, I don't, I think I've always, you know, my dad always said to me, I think to be, to really, to be an actor, you kind of have to have, you know, that your, your skin is thin necessarily and you're vulnerable and you're emotional and all the rest of it, because you have to be, because that's your stock and trade. Yeah. But at the same time, if you're going to survive it, somewhere underneath all those layers of vulnerability, so you have to have a little kernel of steel that believes in it. Sure. And, you know, without wanting to sound conceited, I think I've always sort of thought, oh, this is what? I do. Yeah.

You know, it's not, I don't think, I don't go through my days thinking I'm great to it. I just think this is what I'm going to keep doing. Right. Whether or not it's, you know, Woody Allen and Cannes or, or it's working in regional theater and woking or whatever. Right. I think I'm going to be doing it. Right.

I don't really measure too much about the whatever, do it? The glam trappings of sitting in someone's anonymous office in town town town town. Yeah, on a, with a full micotagon, you know, slightly. The vitamin water zero. staring at you. It does. A couple other films I want to hit Prestige, which was relatively early

in the film career. Christopher Nolan, couldn't it be more... That was about as early as it gets, actually. Was it? That was my... I think of it is my first film, actually, but it wasn't. Start of a 10 was first, which was a British comedy. But I started Prestige the day after,

and I got cast in both of them at the same time. So I had the sort of... So I associate them very much as being my first. break into film and he did pluck me from no one did obscurity in the sense that I I auditioned for him on a on a camcorder that I like flipped the thing and recorded myself in my bedroom in north London well and then sent it to his people and then two days later he was flying me to LA to read with Christian bail and so it was that that was very that was very odd the way that happened does auditioning get easier at this point having able to be in a room Christian

bill and get the part? No, it doesn't get easier, but I'm a little bit, I'm a little bit odd in that I quite like auditioning. What do you like about it? Well, if I, if I had an option, I'd probably, I'm always slightly mistrustful of the jobs that I get when someone says, you know, we want you for this, because I'm just thinking, well, what do you think I'm going to do? Right.

And also, what do I think that you're going to do? You're thinking too much. You're thinking this through way too much. No, but auditions are a good way. You're testing it out for yourself and then for them. You know what. your limits are. You know whether or not you can do it and you know that the director is going to work with you. I like that myself and I'd happily keep auditioning for us forever.

And I think you do actually these days. I don't think it ever stops. What's your worst nightmare of a film set experience? Like what's the kind of, and you know, you've been in enough films by now. I'm sure that you know what you don't like or you know how you don't want to be directed. What's the, what's the environment that you don't want to find yourself in? I know that films are, the film set is intrinsically hierarchical and not a democracy, but I don't like the ones that, the sets where the people kind of get off on that. And it becomes a sort of massive old power game and nobody's, you know,

I'm just talking about basic niceness. Like, I don't like it when people aren't nice to each other. Because I honestly don't think that being shouted at is the best way to get anyone's best work. And everyone's in it for the same goal. Everyone wants to make a good film. So I never, that's my preference. And it seems to be, again, from experience of talking to people, like that cliched number one on the call sheet person can often dictate what the environment is on sex. Very much.

Yeah. Very much. And if you have an asshole as number one, that's not going to be a fun set to be on. No, it's the trickle-down thing, isn't it? It's like, that is definitely true. You, correct me if I'm wrong, you've just worked with Steven Spielberg. I have, yeah. That's pretty cool.

Yeah. I mean, it is, actually. You're like, you're right, Josh. I was going to make some snidey joke about it. And I was like, you know what? No. No, no, there's nothing I could say about that apart from it was very, very cool. Well, I mean, yeah.

I mean, and you're clearly you've proved your pedigree as a legit film fan in our conversation today. So, I mean, working with someone that is like intrinsically part of our lives in childhood. He is. He is. He is. He is, he is Hollywood, really, isn't he? He is. I mean, mainstream Hollywood, as we know it, it's like, he's, and so, such a great man, genuinely, really good, nice person to be around and so brilliant.

And it was a really happy, happy experience. And this is the BFG. And it's, I think, the only film in history to bring together Bill Hader and Mark Rylands in a film together, which had to have, it was inevitable going to happen. Yeah, I mean, it's a double. It's a bromance in the making. Have you worked with Mark Rylance before? No, I hadn't worked with it. Actually, that's not entirely true.

I did a reading of a play once with him, but like not really, you know, a day's workshop or whatever years ago. Do you get to do some stuff with him in the film? Yes, a little bit. I mean, mostly. I mean, I'm... Are you giant or you human? No, I'm human.

I mean, the film is very divided between all the mocap giant stuff and then there's this sort of strange stuff. section at the end where actual human beings come into it. And so we did, it was fascinating to watch actually, I've got to say, but I didn't get, I don't have any like chunky scenes with him or anything, but I had some stuff with him. And the way they were doing it with him on a scaffolding so that all our eyelines would be right. So we'd look up and react him. But he was, and he'd be there, but in his scuba suit. And then if you watched it on the monitor, it would be live streaming into an animation.

Amazing. Oh, wow. So, like in real time, they're just animated again. In real time, which meant that when he wasn't, you know, when we weren't doing a scene and he was sort of asking someone for a cup of tea and just kind of scratching his head and, you know, having a think, that would be animated too. I want to see that film. I want to see Mark Rylands as a giant having tea.

It was extra. But he's such a brilliant actor. I mean, for my money, I think he's the, he's one of our best at the moment. Yeah, he's one of those that, I confess, I haven't seen a ton of his work. It made such an impression when I saw on Broadway. I think it was Jerusalem, which I don't know if you saw. I did. I did.

The last three minutes of that, I think, of some of the finest acting I've ever seen in my life. And I felt like an idiot because being a film fan, I was like, where did this person come from? I don't know this person. He hasn't done a film. He hasn't done any. He's not really been that interested. Now I think he's sort of open to it, and I think it's going to be interesting. It's all the better for us, right?

Yeah. And did you end up shooting? Is this Steve McQueen project? Is that happening? Or have you guys shot anything on that? No. No, we start in September is when we start. So that's coming up.

But yeah, I've had a kind of weird year because I did, in between BFG and this, I did a film with Antonia Campos. Okay. Oh, that sounds fascinating, too. It's about a journalist, right? Yeah, it's based on Christine Chubbock, who was a real person. Yeah. And is theater still something that you are prioritizing, that is just when it comes,

it comes, or is it just sort of? I always prioritize it in as much as. I won't ever not do it. I'll always want to do it. But I don't, yeah, it has to, you know, I love, I love film acting and I love films. So I always want to get to do both because I'm greedy. Having gone through like the gauntlet of something like Ironman and something like BFG, does the technical aspect of filmmaking, because that's a skill in and of itself,

just to be able to still lend a credible performance to spectacle. Yeah, it horrifies me. It horrifies me. Does it? Yeah. I mean, I think I'd be really game to try it once because I've not really done it. Should other people be in the suit and do the thing? Right. You know, I mostly get to sit around and have a cup of tea and then go and be like, oh, okay, we're ready.

That's what those films are for me. But like the moment someone asked me to run and jump and spin through the air and all the rest of it, I'll be. Actually, I did one, the closest I've got to doing anything remotely like that was actually a transcendence when they rigged me up to a harness. And they had to, for an explosion, they had to sort of pull me up in the air and I'd land on a crash mat. And there was a big explosion that was tied to it. And so we did like two takes and eventually Wally Fester comes up to me. He's like, I'm like, what is it? What is it?

Why do we have to keep doing more and more takes? He's like, because every time that you get pulled through the air, you go, wee! And it doesn't really look like you're being blown up. Not organic to the moment, Rebecca, you're losing it. So I think I might have problems. Yeah, that character in the next avatar movie that's just like, this is awesome. Look at you blue people. No.

James Cameron might not respond. It's not going to work. So next on the agenda is you have a break between now and Stephen Queen. Yeah, a little break. Yeah, a little break. Can you say anything about what that project is? I know like Paul Dano, I think, is in it as well. Paul Dano is in it and Helen and Bonham Carter's in it.

And no, I can't say anything. Well, the cast alone and the director makes me intrigued. I've basically signed up for those reasons. I mean, you probably know as much. I do. Okay, I'm glad to be on equal footing with you. And his home still, we were saying, do you split time now between? Yeah, no, I'm now pretty New York-based.

Are you? Yeah, I'm going to put you on the wall. You could put me on the wall. Having seen your amazing, what was it about Louie from One Direction? Did that come from the heart? Yeah, totally, of course it did. How did that happen? Do you have like a thirst to do more?

Because one of the things I feel like I haven't seen you do a ton of, frankly, is comedy. Yeah. Is that something? No one really gets, you don't get asked. I was talking about that Catherine Hatburn thing, I think it's a kind of a straight actress that, you know, looks like she's going to play the straight, the, you know, the whatever, then you don't really get asked to do a ton of comedy, which is sad. And I would love to personally. Well, I promise you, you're at least getting an invitation from me. I don't know, I know it's not Steve McQueen or Steven Spielberg, but you're welcome any time to do something stupid with me. I mean, you should put Dan Stevens on the list as well. Oh, Dan's here. Of course. That's right. Yeah, yeah. And he's very funny. Well, have you guys do a little reunion. High Maintenance thing.

No, I haven't. Oh, I've heard about high maintenance. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You should put him on the board. Please, his performance alone in that museum with a nose that was dripping for 10 minutes. That's Oscar material. I actually thought it was brilliant. He is brilliant.

He's a very good friend of mine. Well, I look forward to chatting with him and doing something silly with him and hopefully you at some point. Congratulations on the movie. Thank you. And it's been great to catch up with you today. And you. Thank you, Rebecca. Bye.

This summer You center, you monster. The world's greatest screenwriters. So it appears it is to be a chess match, after all. And Hollywood's brightest actors. How do you just stop believing in it all? We'll come together. Eventually, you will slip.

In a cinematic explosion. I hope you tripping. Break your bloody stiff neck. The likes of which podcasting has never seen. Ooh, into the goddamn world, huh? The Blackless Table Reeds takes the best screenplays from the famous Blackless website and brings them to life

with cream of the crop talent and beautiful sound design. It's like a movie for your ears. You have no idea how committed we are. The story continues every week with a new movie every month. The Blackless Table Reeds, hosted by me, Franklin Leonard, and not in the movie trailer voice.

Check it out on iTunes at wolfpop.com or on your favorite podcasting app. We'll see you there. Matt Goorley, and Paul Shear. Goodbye, summer movies, hello fall. I'm Anthony Devaney. And I'm his twin brother, James. We host Raiders of the Lost Podcast, the Ultimate Movie Podcast,

and we are ecstatic to break down late summer and early fall releases. We have Leonardo DiCaprio leading a revolution in one battle after another, Timothy Salome playing power ping pong in Marty Supreme. Let's not forget Emma Stone and Jorgos Lantamosa's Bagonia.

Dwayne Johnson, he's coming for that Oscar in The Smashing Machine, Spike Lee and Denzel teaming up again, plus Daniel DeLuess's return from retirement. There will be plenty of blockbusters to chat about two. Tron Aries looks exceptional, plus Mortal Kombat 2, and Edgar writes, The Running Man, starring Glenn Powell. Search for Raiders of the Lost podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.