Happy Sad Confused - Samantha Morton

Episode Date: August 3, 2026

Samantha Morton says acting saved her life and once you know about her childhood you'll agree. Thankfully her talent and tenacious spirit triumphed. Along the way she's earned two Oscar nominations and may be on her way to a third thanks to a remarkable turn in THE ODYSSEY. SUPPORT THE SHOW BY SUPPORTING OUR SPONSORS! Rula -- Rula patients typically pay $15 per session when using insurance. Connect with quality therapists and mental health experts who specialize in you at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.rula.com/happy⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ #rulapod Quince -- Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Quince.com/HAPPYSAD ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for free shipping and 365-day returns. Limited Time Offer–Get Huel today with my exclusive offer of 15% OFF online with my code happy15 at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://huel.com/happy15.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ New Customers Only. Thank you to Huel for partnering and supporting our show! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Acting saved my life, but without being too heavy, I also am a firm believer in God, and I think that my faith gave me the ability to feel loved when human beings in society were pretty cruel. And if you still feel loved, that you are worthy and that you have a right to be here and that you're a child of the universe or a child of God or whatever you want to call it, then you feel lucky. You just feel lucky. You don't feel sorry for yourself, you don't feel bad, you're just like, this rocks. Life is actually pretty cool. Prepare your ears, humans.

Happy, sad, confused begins. Hey guys, it's Josh. Welcome to another edition of Happy, Sad, Confused. Today on the show, one of the true standout performances in The Odyssey, we are highlighting the great Samantha Morton today, an amazing career. Sweet and Lowdown Minority Report, two Oscar nominations and maybe another to come for this one. Thanks, guys, as always, for checking out the podcast. We've been really diving into The Odyssey a lot.

We, of course, had Matt Damon and Chris Nolan for some brief conversations. And today it is the deep dive with one of the great actors. Samantha Morton, if you know, you know, she's accumulated quite the filmography, and we dive into quite a bit of it today. Before we get to that, though, quick reminder, as always, remember to check out the Patreon. Patreon.com slash happy, say I'm confused. Early access to every episode, including this one in the spacetime continuum.

You would have seen this already. trust me. You also get access to our live events in New York and Los Angeles, merch, bonus materials, all sorts of fun stuff. Check it out. Patreon.com slash happy, say, confused. Okay, so a little bit more on Samantha Morton. If you listen to this podcast, you know her work, but I'm just going to say it. She's been one of those like consistently, maybe under the radar performance performers for many decades now, dating back to her breakout leading role alongside Sean Penn in the Woody Allen movie, sweet and low down she got an oscar nomination for that she then got an oscar nomination for in america but you've seen her in minority report in the walking dead in so much on television and film she's one

of those people that is just always reliable and maybe we take for granted a little bit well we don't take her for granted after seeing the odyssey because in a in a film filled with standout sequences for my money the surcy sequence she plays surcy um is a true it's a true moment it's a true I don't know, exhibition of horror and acting and all the tools that Christopher Nolan and his actors bring to the four. It's an amazing sequence that people have been talking about since the start the screen, and I think it is going to get Samantha some hopefully justifiable awards attention as this season continues. It's a long way to go, but she, for my money, delivers one of the best steam stealing performances of the year so far. So without any further ado,

She is, she's so sweet. She's so honest. She's such a great actor. I'm so thrilled she came on the podcast for the very first time. It is me and Samantha Morton. Enjoy. Samantha Morton, should we do this? Hello.

It's so nice to meet you. It's great to meet you. Long time fan, first time caller. I'm so thrilled to have you on Happy SAC Confused for the first time and for a very good cause. Congratulations on The Odyssey, but we're going to cover a lot today. This is your life, Samantha Morton. Oh my goodness.

Okay. Hello. Right. First of all, we were just talking before. You're not a New Yorker anymore, but you have spent some time here. It used to be. Yeah, I was here.

I was lucky. I came, I was like on the side of a bus because I was doing like an A&E show when I was 19. I played Jane Eyre. And so, and I'd also done like Emma before I played Harriet.

And they, I think Kate Beckinsale couldn't do the press in L.A. for whatever reason. So I got her ticket to go to L.A. And I loved that. And then I got to come with Jane Eyre and I didn't leave. I was naughty. I just, I, I kind of sofa surfed and then I got a job

and then I got another job and then I got another job and then I got a visa and I stayed. And not so long thereafter in the sequence of events as a film I love was in America, which was obviously shot here. That was a long time ago. Some of it was shot here. Yeah. And then the rest in, and we doubled, Dublin doubled for Alphabet City. I think it was freezing. We were like in shorts and t-shirt with everyone spraying us. Like we were really hot. And yeah, it was, yeah. Well done. Movie Magic.

Worked on young Josh Horowitz. I was, I was fooled. And you were saying, but we were saying before we do bond because we both are proof that you don't have to drive to function as an ambulance, right? No, I never learn how to drive. And I think that's because I've been acting since I was 12.

So I left school at 12, appalling education. Because back then on film sets, in England, you didn't get a tutor. So I just carried on working. And then I was, it sounds really whatever, but I was always on a minibus or had a driver. Right. Because these TV shows, you just get driven to work and then driven home. And because Touchwood, lucky for me, I've always worked, I'd never got the time to learn how to drive.

Well, if both our careers hit a horrible moment, which they won't, but maybe we could take driving lessons together. We can help each other out. So you do like a crash course. Excuse the word, crash. Let's avoid the crashing. Yeah. They call them crash courses, I don't know. They do. They do. They do. They do. The reason that brings you here today is a very good reason. You're part of a true phenomenon.

We're in the middle. As we tape this, The Odyssey has just opened just a couple days ago. It is a global sensation already. The reviews could not be better. And you are getting some much well-deserved praise for this remarkable performance. Thank you. Thank you. I mean, in a career of you've had some great successes and you've had the ups and the downs like every actor does.

Yeah. Can you contextualize what this means to you at this moment right now? Hope and faith that I suppose if you keep at it, and you keep producing good work and that the right people see it, then maybe you can carry on working because I've had times when I haven't worked for a year since making The Odyssey, you know, and I've got really good agents and a manager, but at the end of the day, I'm 49, and whilst I'm a really,

I do believe I'm a good actor, there are other good actors out there. Do you know what I mean? So the politics of the industry has changed massively. So what this means to me, first of all, regardless of carrying on working,

which I feel confident that, you know, with the ups and the downs, I will keep working until I'm in my 80s or whatever touch would. But it's more that, for me,

I got to work with Christopher Nolan in my lifetime, that that, That's it. That's, that's, I'm, I'm happy now. Like, I mean, I was happy before. I've worked with some brilliant people, but you're always at the mercy as an actor of who your employer is and what they, what they expect of you and what they believe in you to do for them. And, and without sounding corny, I genuinely cried when I got the call from my team saying, Christopher Nolan would like to meet you. And I, John Papsedera, I, I know, believes in me. And, and, and I, I,

I just didn't, I just, even being in a room with him to talk to him, to listen to him, I'm of, like yourself, I'm obsessed with cinema. I have been since I was very, very little. It's my savior. It's my life. It's, um, if I wasn't an actress, I'd do anything on a film set just to watch the magic and just watch it happen. So. And it's the odyssey, you know, so being part of something that is bigger than any individual, is really important in this day and age.

It's because we live in the age of the eye, the me, the Instagram, the selfie, the ego. And the Odyssey is the opposite of that. It's a human, a deeply human spiritual experience for me personally when I saw the film for the first time. So to be part of that is incredible. Obviously it's awesome. Everybody's telling me that it's done really well this weekend.

And I think for Universal and for Chris and Emma, that's, I'm just so, so unbelievably happy for them. Well, it's funny because you talk about like, I mean, your body work is amazing. And we'll talk about some of it. But like, no matter what, how successful you are, I mean, it's very illuminating, a very eye-opening to hear what you say, which is that like even at the stage of your career, it's out of your control. You're only as, you're dependent on a phone call on an email, on someone seeing something in you at the time and yeah the meaning of getting like you had no previous relationship with Christopher Nolan as far as I know never met before no and in fact years ago I was to

get my equity card I was a magician's assistant and so worked very hard at that and so when they were doing the prestige and I knew they were doing that and I'm obsessed with magic and I asked my agents could I get an audition and I didn't get an audition or anything obviously at the point of I mean come on it's fine but I was like, oh, but he's doing a film about, and I was obsessed with Tesla. Yeah. Oh, wow. You know, who isn't and David Blaine and, you know.

Yeah. It took 20 more years, but you've got the right part for the right film. Yeah. Do you believe in kind of like that kind of fate thing when it comes to your career that like the right part finds the right actor at the right time? I'm not sure. I think that life and art have a really bizarre way of intertwining. and what's for you won't pass you, but sometimes it's hard to know that in the time. Because there have been times when things haven't worked out, and I've been very sad,

both creatively and financially, because I have three children, and a mortgage and life. And, you know, oh, it's a shame about that. But ultimately, I think if you are earnest and you have dignity and compassion, and you're, as I say, you're a good egg. And you keep being a good egg, hopefully. the rules of something make it that you do get these moments to cherish forever because they're few and far between. And I think becoming very successful at 16, which is what happened to me in England where I couldn't walk down the street and the fame was weird. I then retreated. I didn't

like it. And I wanted to be in cinema. That was my dream. And then so I actively sought to only do independent cinema when I first got an American agent, refused all of the big movies that were coming my way because I just wanted to work with filmmakers rather than a machine. And I'm not to say that that isn't an amazing opportunity either, but it just didn't suit my temperament at the time. And I felt that they would be better with somebody that knew how to play the game rather than somebody wondering about direction or shots. Do you know what I mean?

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Join the Glass Cannon podcast as we plunge into the Shadow Dark every Thursday night at 8 p.m. Eastern on YouTube.com slash the Glass Cannon with the podcast version dropping the next day. See what everybody's talking about and join us in the dark. Let's talk a little bit about this specific role and why people are talking about it. I mean, it's in a film filled with standout sequences, the Circe sequence stands out. It is, to say the least. Do you get the full script? Do you get, like, how is it presented to you? Does Chris get on the phone with you, or you just get a script, or what happened?

No, I was invited to meet Chris, and I went to meet him in Los Angeles, and we spoke about, well, I think I probably spoke too much because I'm a chatterbox. And once I start, I'm like a Pringle, once you pop me, you can't stop me. I'm like, blah, blah, blah. So I was chattering away about cinema. I mean, I am really, really am. fan is the wrong word, but I am a fan, a huge admirer and deeply respectful of the work that he's made, and it's really affected me. And so just chatting away. And then I read the script, and then I met Emma. And then I didn't know the book. I'd heard of it, and I think I'd seen a Simpsons. You know,

they did an episode in The Simpsons. Most people know Cape Fear and many other pop culture totems. And I just was very emotional after reading the script. I was kind of galvanized. I was just so, for want of a better word, I was pumped up. I was just full of fury and love and hope and anger. And I was a ball of emotion and kind of communicated with him, I suppose, about my feelings about Circe and the script. And I think that made okay, made good.

and he said, would I play Circe? Did you have an immediate take on what you wanted to do with the character? No, I don't ever do that. I wouldn't dream of forcing anything upon creativity. Right. And that the spontaneity of... Looking other actors in the eye and feeling the atmosphere, right? Listening, feeling, responding, and also being directed.

Listening to my director, what they need and want. and also just seeing what happens. And I think if you do, if you showed due diligence with the prep, and a lot of that is trust and believing that if you, so like if you, for me reading the script or reading Circe's part, my initial feelings and my,

it's like you can see someone, like you recognize them. And I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a part, of me in there because I always give a bit of you know like trivial pursuit part you know the little bits of the cheese or the pie what have you I've always just gone there's no point I don't know how to act I didn't go to drama school I was an extra and then I got one line in something and then I got two lines in something and then so I've learned on the job by watching other actors you know

being I was lucky to work at the Royal Court Theatre when I was younger learning from great directors and then learning how to action my script which was a max Stafford Clark thing that Ian Rixon taught me and then just learning on the job. And the one thing I I find absolutely frustrating and terrifying is when I'm working with another actor and they do it the same every time, because they've learned it a certain way and they can't undo it. All the work was in the trailer and nothing's happening. Or there's a, there's some kind of rigid formation to what they're sticking to. And there's no fun in that. There's no, there's no danger and I'm quite attracted to failing or being vulnerable or like sode it.

Excuse me, let's do it. This really, okay, just tell me something. You know, and then. Well, the excitement of that high wire act where you're like this close to failure and this close to success must be such a rush. Yeah, giving in and then the feeling of making your director happy or, you know, everything worked. And so yeah, I didn't have an idea other than just.

just an instinctive feeling about her that then on set kicked in. I mean, this has already become like legend where early days of talking about how the sequence was made, but Chris has talked about how much like it only happened once before with Heath Ledger, there was this kind of spontaneous applause for you at the end of a certain take. That doesn't happen, as I understand it, much on a set. Does that stick out to you as a very distinct. memory? What did you feel in that moment? Not really at the time and I think it's because the set was so private and a lot of the crew couldn't actually be in that room. There wasn't the with all the guys,

there wasn't the space. So I think a lot of that was happening offset. But the other actors responded to something I did that I was in the zone though. I got to tell you, I was gone. I'm not schizophrenic touchwood at this point, but I was. You were full Cursa. I was there. And so I just didn't know if we were going to go again so I didn't break out because if you needed to go again I needed to stay in the zone so I think I just remember just having this warm feeling in my tummy that we got it and it's more for me it wasn't just about oh they were happy with my performance it was like you know we're working with iMacs here well sound and and the the special effects that I'm dealing with so if every element works we've got it if everybody's happy you're just like

yeah you know it's a You mentioned the effects and there's so much curiosity about how this was even achieved. What can you say about like what was on set? Is it all practical? Yes. That seems impossible. But I believe you, but that's amazing. Yeah, but I think that you, again, I told you about being a magician's assistant.

I also grew up being obsessed with horror. I mean, obsessed. and The Exorcist is possibly my favourite film of all time and then you're going into 2001 and then probably into Stellar, you know, like that world for me. And I grew up, my stepdad had an illegal video store. So I was watching, you know, the witch,

aka superstition or the evil dead and, you know, and Night of the Living Dead. And I've always been obsessed with creatures and I watched it far too young, but American wealth in London. And when Jack transforms in that front room in the flat in London, it blew my mind. And that's the movie magic for me.

So to be, you know, and I was a dancer when I grew up in a gym now. So all these things, to be able to physically work with the practicals is everything to me. I love it. I'm excited. And Chris gave me lots of pointers and we had rehearsals. And also for Circe, this idea that she, it isn't sexual, but it's sensual. And I wanted it to feel as this magic is happening.

If I don't believe it, you're not going to believe it. And I don't just believe it. I know I've done it. Does that make sense? And I think that then the dance, the, it's like almost like I'd, before I got more proper work as an actor, I was studying for a small amount of time to be a rheumtherapist. So working with, you know, essential oils and friends and family that would let me give

them massages and understanding the meridians and the body and, you know, how things flow and just so really working with these actors and then the practical special effects so that it was like we were won and making it central and enjoying it. Yeah, I loved it. What was it like for you? Did you see the film just like in the last couple weeks? I've seen it a few times now, yeah. I mean, it must be, it's such an overwhelming experience.

I just want to see it again. Yeah. Because I keep seeing new things. Obviously, my part was what it was and I didn't get to see the other stuff. So I'm just desperate to see it again. And yeah, the script keeps blown my mind and then the other performances and how, you know, questions. And I only discovered yesterday my husband was explaining to me about the puppetry with the cyclone. And I was like, that was a puppet.

I know, I know. You know, Joe Wright, the director, his parents ran the little angel puppet theater in Islington. And I love marionettes. And so I used to take my daughter, who's 26 now, he used to take her to the little, to the angel puppet theater. And I just love, it's magic, isn't it? It's beautiful. When it's done the way he has done it, and few can operate on that level. When I talked to him recently, he talked to him.

about like Guillermo de Toro and like warning from him and you know treating these monsters as but this the dark crystal when I grew up was one of my favorite films you know that was mind blowing yeah and Jim Henson and I think for me even like the never ending story and I'm that age group and you know you've got the Goonies the never ending story and labyrinth and these we went and you know we think about Tom Cruise in in was it legend you know so we we we did curry makeup yeah and so I wanted that role like I would want to be Tim Curry not the princess I was always like they're the more exciting yeah but yeah I just and I love Chris Cunningham I've worked with Chris Cunningham and I don't know that just I'm just

talking about that that magic bit there is I was like the cat that got the cream so was was film I mean look we can talk we can talk about your upbringing and you've been very open about it like film must have been I would imagine films that escape for all of us yeah was film especially and escape yeah I used to run away from I used to run away from children's homes with my big sister Penny and we would sneak in the back door of the ABC cinema in Nottingham and hide there all day because the outside world was pretty gruesome and so that was our safe space and I my earliest memory is watching 2001 and I must have been about five and it must have been like a rerun of it and then I watched

it over and over watched it all day every day because it would just be played again and again again and then I would hide behind the big velvet curtains and roll down like a roly-poly down the little bank at the front so my entire childhood was sneaking into the cinema because I couldn't afford it either as a child to escape what was going on in the real world or just you know wanting to get to the cinema a hundred percent a little bit of both I would imagine right did um did your path ever cross with Kubrick I mean he was still making eyes wide shut no I've been I'd never met him or, I mean, obviously, he's, I mean, as a photographer as well as a filmmaker and the, I don't know, the dedication to the integrity of his craft, you know, just it's, it's all there. He's one of one.

Is, you kind of alluded to this earlier. I mean, is it fair to say that you view this path, this career acting as something that kind of saved you? That's something that you needed, especially. Well, there was no other option for me. I grew up in, I was taken into care as a baby because my parents weren't able to look after me. And I have nine siblings. I'm one of nine. So it was very complex childhood of my dad.

When he was in and out of prison, I'd be on a care order, which meant sometimes I'd be living with my dad. And then sometimes he'd go back to prison. And then I'd be back in a foster home. And then at the age of about nine, there was no more foster homes. and I was made a ward of court, which is when the government then own you. And then it was just children's homes because you're not cute anymore. And, you know, you can't get a foster family at that point for a long period. So then at about 14, I started running away and living on the streets.

And then at 16, I was in a homeless hostel. And that was when I wrote my first play and got it put on and co-directed it with somebody. And then the guy that, right, it's called Ian Smith, that ran the, the, drama workshop that I was sometimes allowed to go to. Sometimes I was a bit naughty. I got in trouble with the police and, you know, I was a runaway. I would be stealing food and then I'd get arrested for that and I'd be like, I was always vegetarian, which was tricky. So trying to be a homeless vegetarian kid was not, so I'd steal like vitamin tablets, you know, like, but just take one because I didn't want to be greedy and take the whole lot, but you're on camera. Anyway, I digress.

But Ian gave me some train fare to go to London because he knew. about an audition for a TV show and it was a speaking role and it was to play runaway. Was this band of gold or is this? No, this was a thing called peak practice, which was huge in England. It was a big, we only had like four channels, you know, like this was a big deal. They had like over 15 million viewers every week. And I just went and I learned the lines on the train. He gave me the train fare and it was to play runaway and I was like, I can do this.

This is in my wheelhouse. I got this. Yeah. And then that week I got an agent. I got that role. I got an agent. and then I did Band of Gold and the rest is history. So to answer your question in a very long-winded fashion,

acting saved my life, but without being too heavy, I also am a firm believer in God, and I think that my faith gave me the ability to feel loved when human beings in society were pretty cruel, and if you still feel loved, that you are worthy and that you have a right to be here, and that you're a child of the universe or a child of God or whatever you want to call it, then you feel lucky.

You just feel lucky. You don't feel sorry for yourself. You don't feel bad. You're just like, this rocks. Life is actually pretty cool. And you had this attitude, correct me if I'm wrong, right from the start being on set of speaking your mind. And like you kind of like knew your place and wasn't shy about expressing yourself. And that's unusual for young performers, young women especially.

And that got me into a lot of trouble. But I think it's because I didn't have the etiquette. And I've learned that. So if you haven't been to school and then you're entering an adult workplace at the age of, well, I did kind of soldier when I was 12 and extra work and things like that. And then a play at the Royal Court Theatre, I was 16. And then as we just talked about, there was, and I didn't have parents, you know, 12 sets of foster parents, different religions, different cultures, children's homes that are ran, they're like carnage,

you know, young secure units where there's bars at the window, you have to fight pretty quickly to say no to things. No, do not touch me. No, I'm not going to do that. No, I'm not going to eat meat. No, I am going to go to church. You cannot stop me from going to church. There's a whole gamut of things that people force upon you. And then when I entered the workplace, because my brother is in the military, my stepdad, who I miss and love very much, was in the military. Whilst I spoke my mind, I'm an incredibly respectful, old-fashioned girl at heart. So I would never be rude to anybody. Sure. I have manners. But if somebody's asking me to take my bra off, because they want to see my nipples and I'm 16, I'm going to say, no, I don't want to do that, please. And there was

one job in particular where it was on a telejob, the scene had been written that I was doing a sex scene. And I was 17 at this point, not 16, sorry. And I was, It just said Tracy, Anna Punter, whatever is having sex. And then these weren't times where you could find the scene. You know, you go on set and you'd have a mark and it was lit already. And I was like this. And you don't know like what shot, what size of the frame, what they're seeing. And this one particular director wanted to see my private, my chest.

And I went back to my caravan to go to the bathroom and I shared it with three other women because these are England. And one of the older actresses who, Geraldine James, who's an absolute amazing woman, said, Sam, come here. And she got some corn plasters that you put on your toes. And she said, let's put them here. So she put them on my nipples. So that when I went to set and I took my shirt off that I didn't have to do that. But that's where I was considered difficult, not which nowadays you have intimacy coaches.

You might even. guardrails for all these things. Yeah, or you might have somebody saying, you don't, we can communicate. The camera doesn't need to see that. So I actually didn't mind nudity when I was younger so long as it served a purpose for the character or the director was, you know, like with under the skin with Karen Adler or Morven Caller with Lynn Ramsey, that these filmmakers are, the body, the human body is beautiful. We look at art, we look at paintings, photography. But when it's done because somebody's lazy and salacious and it's just, The 90s were, this was 1994, 95 kind of times.

It was funny. It was different. You mentioned under the skin. That leads, correcting from wrong, pretty much directly to Sweden Lowdown, which here in the States especially. And Jesus is son. Yeah. Jesus is a son, great thing.

Billy Crut up, as I recall, right? Yeah. And Jack Black. Forget that Jack Black. Yeah, yeah. Michael Shannon. Michael Shannon. You heard it a couple times.

Michael Shannon. I'm obsessed with him. Yeah. One of the greats. But is there a learning curve? I mean, like Woody's sets are very unique. We all know this by now. But like you're working with Woody Allen,

with Sean Penn. Like, wouldn't Sean Penn make of having this relative unknown to him be his essentially a screen partner? I don't know. I think that he's, again, I say he's a good egg.

And he, I think it's just trusting your director, isn't it? I wasn't a star. I wasn't on the cover of, I was never put on the cover of magazines. And I, I don't know.

Like, I remember looking at the vanity fairs And there was always somebody, always somebody. I was like, oh, they didn't ask again, they didn't ask again, they didn't ask again, even though I was doing these huge roles with whether it was Sean Penn or Johnny Depp or Phil Seymour Hoffman or, you know, Tim Robbins. Like I was in these good movies and playing these great roles. But those calls never came calling, if that makes sense. So I just going back, because I wasn't a star or anything like that, I think that maybe Sean trusted Woody.

And if Woody wants me in the role, then I must be all right. Right. Or maybe they saw under the skin or some of my other films at that point. Because I've made, I think, a few at that point, English ones. But my first leading man was Richard Harris. I did a movie called This Is the Sea with Gabriel Byrne and Richard Harris that, you know, it was an Irish film and it was, you know, so, you know, I was always surrounded by these incredibly strong, formidable talents.

including behind the camera, you mentioned when Ramsey, Morven Keller. And then pretty much around that time, you also work with Spielberg. You work with Spielberg on Minority Report, which is a film that I positively adore. It's a great film, isn't it? And I saw it. I didn't see it properly at the time. I don't like watching myself. I saw it recently.

It is awesome. It's phenomenal. Yeah, it's kind of his film noir. I'm actually doing a Q&A with Spielberg tomorrow. Oh, would you say hello? Of course we'll say hello. Hopefully he'll remember me. It's a long time ago.

No, he works with a lot of actors, and I does just a little role. You were amazing, Agatha and the precog. I mean, I think you have maybe the best, I'm not even going to call it a line reading, it's a word reading. You screaming to Tom Cruise, run? Oh, yeah, yeah. Really stands out. Do you remember anything? Was that like a specific stage direction in how you delivered that line?

Well, it just was in capitals in the script. It's like. You're nothing if not obedient to the scripts. I mean, okay. Yeah, it said it said run in capital. tools with a few ends and an exclamation mark. I was like, we gotta do this. I can do that.

Yeah, and I think it just happened. You were responsible. I mean, Tom had run for that in his career, but I think that emphatic run made him the great runner he is in subsequent movies. It's all due to you. Oh, well, thank you very much. More happy say confused coming up. The world of Sonic the Hedgehog has been thrust into a not so dark,

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What did it take to get there? I do on every episode. I'm Evelyn and on my podcast, Repin, the people the world thinks it knows, gets to say who they actually are. The grit, the doubt, the moments nobody sees. And everything they learn getting there, it's yours for the taking.

Repen, find us wherever you listen. Go get it now. So you kind of allude to this. It seems like, yes, you're consistently working with these great actors, filmmakers. But was it that you didn't, you feel like did you not fit into like a certain box for casting directors for filmmakers in the subsequent years? I mean, again, you're working consistently. I think I stopped to have children.

Yeah. Well, that's part of it. I have a 26 child who I had when I was 21. And then I wanted to have more children. And then I gained weight, I have to say. And I think that, you know, at that point, that isn't cool to be a bigger lady. But I'm still going to breastfeed my children. I refuse to diet, I eat healthfully, I go to the gym. And I think that you're almost, for me it was, I was lucky I got to have to be a mom, you know, do my thing and still work. But it was tough at times to not get a role that you're like, oh, okay, okay. How overt were people talking to you about like reasons that you weren't getting roles? Were people saying to you like, if you were different?

No, no, no, I think that was a bit later, but I think that, that there was certainly a time where certain people in the industry made it very clear that I was not welcome because of how outspoken I'd been about certain people. And I'd... The Harvey Weinstein stuff. Yeah. And I think that from a very, very, very early days of certain films that I was removed from all sorts of reasons, it was just very clear that that, that, that, meant something because at that time you've got to remember he they had their girls and I very quickly because I said no to a film I was doing Jesus son I was in

Philadelphia shooting and I got a phone call because it was an offer for a huge Miramax film and I read the script and I hated the script and I said to my then agent who is now my manager I don't like it I've kind of done this kind of role before she was like it's Miramax and I said I I'm so sorry I can't identify with the character I don't like it and they said I'm not going to say any names because I can't but the actress that will do it if I don't want to do it and I said I don't good for her I don't I don't want to do it anyway then I got a phone call saying you don't say no to this person you know as in to Harvey and and this will affect you forever and it kind of did for a

long time. But I also think, with all respect, I don't think it was that singular. I don't think it was that personal to me. I think it's just that the industry was very small at that time. And I think that he was brilliant. His company were brilliant and experts at what they do. So I don't think, I'm not going to flatter myself by thinking that one particular person has got it infamy, but I think that the general sense of things at the time for women, whether you're Britney Spears and you're a performer and you're being hounded by the press and judged constantly for how you behave or just an actress just saying no to a role, women in general were not allowed a voice. Right. And you were always... And I didn't play those games. Yeah, you had taste and

you exercised that taste. God forbid someone should be allowed to say no to something. That doesn't work for them. Yeah. And then it got really tricky where directors would be wanting to cast me in things and I would screen test and the directors would want me, but that particular producer wouldn't want me. Right. It was just silly.

It was really silly. And what about like, I mean, you've done certainly like Odyssey is as big as you get and you've done things like Fantastic Beasts and John Carter. I love John Carter. Can I just say, Andrew Stanton, that- Brilliant Genius. But, you know, going in for that all of you. I was so excited. It was like, oh, you can, it's a princess. I said, oh, I've never played a princess

before. I was finally. It's really excited. Yeah, it was my time. Honestly, I was like, vanity fair cover, you know, like, all excited. Then I went to, and they show you the art. Yeah, and I was solo. Princess of Mars. I was like, okay, Andrew. Is this makeup? Oh, yeah, so excited. But he was incredible. I had the, I mean, talk about a genius. Like, I, I had the best time. And then I also think that that film came out of the wrong time. Like, you know, like it was ahead of its time, if you can even say that, because this was the source material. People didn't realize. Like, this is not a copycat movie. This is the movie that led to Star Wars and all the things. Yeah, so I loved that. So I had to

interject there because it was a special time for me and Andrew is just the best. Is it true? You said it in one interview, like, again, like, I don't know if this was just more of a philosophical things or it just didn't job, that you turned down an X-Men role at some point? Do you remember what that was? I think it was really, really early on. And I have to. to say what it's more than X-Men it was just there was a time in my career when I was about you know early 20s living in Manhattan and the scripts would arrive from CAA and I don't know there was just how can I put it I would question some of those movies today should they've been made then and I questioned it then you're ahead of your time were just like I but the X-Men thing

I didn't get the script so it wasn't just a turning down X-Men because I'm not turning, I don't know what X-Men is, I wasn't into comic books growing up, you know, in that way. So it was more that I read this script. Without seeing the actual material. I didn't understand it. So I didn't want to go there in that world. And this must have been like 2002. Okay, this is the first film.

Yeah. Yeah. And I think that, but that was the case with quite a few films at that point that were much older male stars. much younger partners, quite a few of them. And I didn't believe it. And I think there was a movie once out there where the wonderful Colin Farrell's mom was Angelina Jolie in something.

And you're like, really? Underlining the point of how insane it is. I don't know what it was. It's just a cracker's time. But I'm just glad I'm still here. I'm glad I'm still working. I do good TV that I'm really proud of, like The Walking Dead and, you know.

Is Walking Dead meaningful? for you? I've heard you say you love that role. Oh my God, are you like when I got offered alpha, I was kind of obsessed with horror, as I've told you. So I had a rule in my house that I didn't have television, only cinema and only films. So we have a film library. And I lived at that point in the middle of nowhere, in a barn, literally in the middle of nowhere. And so I had no way of seeing the show. But it was about zombies.

And my agent was like, we're not sure how you're going to feel, but this office has come in. And you even know me? Yes. And exactly, they didn't know that I had this deep rooted love of kind of 70s, 80s horror. So I spoke with Angela and, you know, it was to be. And I relished that role and those people and that time. And I was really sad when it was like, okay, you've got to go now. This is done.

So three years in Atlanta. And I was so sad. It's a role of a lifetime. you know? We got to get Chris to make a full-on horror movie. I mean, he demonstrates that he has the chops. It's, I can. But this is the thing.

When we look at films like Don't Look Now or The Exorcist, when I look at those performances of the actors in those films, they're in that genre of like, that is horror, but it's more kind of psychological mind melting stuff, isn't it? I think that's where my heads are. I don't like just horror where it's just slasher or, or kind of bringing it down to some weird two-dimensional thing, you know. No, I mean, if the Exorcists were released today, Ellen Burstyn is getting a campaign could win.

Yeah, with the Academy. I mean, it's extraordinary. But it's because it's the primal fears of light and dark. And, you know, I loved the omen, the first omen. And Billy Whitclough was one of my favorite actors of all time, you know, and her performance in that. And obviously, she was Samuel Beckett's muse. these are the things that I grew up going, I want to be that, I want to be that. I didn't grow up wanting to be Elizabeth Taylor, not that she was extraordinary, especially

and who's afraid of Virginia Woolf and not everything else, but I grew up wanting to be Billy Whitelaw, or the devil in legend. So another curiosity on the resume is you were, you performed for Spike Jones and Joaquin and her. Yeah. You were not actually in her. No, no, in the end. No. Can you talk to me a little bit about performing that role and what happened?

Well, I have to say that it's every director's prerogative in regards to the final cut of the film. And for any job, you're never guaranteed to be in it in the end, because you never really know, unless you are the lead in the movie and you're pivotal, you never really know. And I remember doing the Woody Allen film and lots of other actors who'd worked with Woody Allen telling me, don't get too excited Sam, you might not be in the finished film. Until the premiere, yeah. No, exactly, because there's so many reshoots and you're like, why are we reshooting this?

But with that, I was surprised, and a little sad would be an understatement. But again, I think that the time I had on set with Joaquin and the working with Spike on the script and finding Samantha and all the work that we did was really special. and we did some mad stuff though we were like I would be in like this they designed and built a booth for me

to record all my sound so they could literally you know like Doctor Who is in a thing I was in a phone box like a black kind of padded phone box or I'd be in the trunk of a car but I have to say I think my version of Samantha was very you know she's English it was just very very different

a little bit if you think of how like there was a there was a way and I think Scarlett Your Hanson has a beautiful voice she's incredibly evocative it's you know I got it but I was sad yeah and it should be said all credit to you I mean Joaquin's performance like you were just saying you were there was on set yeah sometimes next to the camera because of you you're there's kind of you to say thank you I think we did work together opposite each other and that was I loved it but I was sad it's not it does hurt when you're fired from something or you know before I don't know.

I just wanted, what I'd have wished for was another chance in a booth to do an American accent. But I think, you know, Scarlett Johansson, I mean, come on. We can do it right now if you want to wait. We'll insert it after the fact. It's not too late. Yeah. No, thank you for your honesty about that.

I appreciate it. No, no, thank you. I mean, in recent years, you say you haven't worked since The Odyssey, but you have been working with some great filmmakers. You've worked with Aronofsky in The Whale, which is a remarkable piece of work. Thank you. worked an enemone who yeah yeah Sean was on the podcast I talked to him all right okay that was remarkable as well um so going forward like where is your head at in terms of I mean this is

gonna not that you need like new opportunities because everybody knows Samantha morn is like the best of the best well I don't know that's very kind of you but I'm 49 and I think that there's always new audiences you know like people I had to do a show reel about a new show reel because there's lots of young casting directors and young filmmakers have not heard of smash Anthemorten or maybe haven't seen things over the years. Slide them some links, some DVDs. Thank you. Couldn't connect me.

Thank you. Have you had to audition in the last like 10, 20 years? Like, do you ever have to do that anymore? I don't really audition, although I did read online with a director for something that sadly I couldn't do in the end because I was doing a TV thing. But I don't mind auditioning. I haven't. But I used to like the days when I was in the days when I was in a TV thing.

in a room with a casting director. Right. The self-taught now is just, come on. I find that extraordinary. And I think it does help in the UK with location because everything's London-centric. So if you're a northern actor, you know, you can put yourself on tape and you don't have to pay the train fare to get to London. Sure. But there's something missing in that magic of meeting a director and them thinking that you might be right or for, you know.

Are you hearing from old friends, new friends in the last week or so since? Yeah, yeah. I got a really lovely, I got lovely messages from Melanie Mayeron who directed me in Serpent Queen, just like, so proud. And Irwin Stoff, who was my boss on Serpent Queen. And, you know, I actually heard from Andrew Stanton. Like, I'm, yeah, I'm really, I'm just so chuffed because I'm in something that people are seeing. And obviously they're saying because it's Christopher Nolan's the Odyssey.

And, yeah. It's well to serve. We're going to wrap up with this. I end every happy, second-fused conversation with some profoundly random questions for you, Samantha. Are you ready for this? Yeah. Are you a dog or a cat person?

Both. Both. I have four dogs and four cats. They all get along. Everything's pathetic at home? It's beautiful. Yeah. Got a farm going.

I do. I love on a farm. Any other animals that I should know? Yeah, we have a bearded dragon called Calcifer from, you know, from Howl's Moving Castle. Sure. So we call him crispy. We did have rabbits, but they were just wrecking the carpet. So after a while, the kids lose interest.

And you're like, okay, they need to go to a home where they're going to be really, really loved. Because they were loved for a bit. Yeah, now it's on you. Yeah. What do you collect, if anything? That's a really lovely question. Photographs. Lovely.

Do you ever play a video game like in your youth? Chucky egg. Obsessed with Chucky Egg. Someone else mentioned Chucky Yick. Matthew Good mentioned that one. Yeah, Chucky Egg. And then I was like first Tomb Raider. Obsessed, could not.

I mean, but it was a problem because you're just, you know, like you don't go to bed. Yeah, it's a time. And I had to tell myself age like 19, no more video games because I got bit, yeah. Good to know. What's the wallpaper on your phone? What? Oh, my kids. My kids, yeah.

Who's the last actor you were mistaken for? Oh, it's not mistaken. I went to New Zealand to do a movie and the director said, we're so excited to have you, Emily. I've loved you since you were in breaking the waves. Vincent Ward, I was like, are you joking? I said to the producer, does he know that I'm Samantha Morton?

He said, don't tell him. He thinks you're Emily Watson. Did you go through the whole job and ever correct me? No, it was sad. It was a sad job. But I was like, what the? So I always get mistaken for the amazing the one and only extraordinary Emily Watson or Stella McCartney,

which I love and I'm wearing Stella McCartney. Your help, you're reading in. But it was Emily Watson, yeah. I was amused. I was watching some, like, on my Instagram feed, I saw you like autographing some stuff here in New York, and you were saying, like, I don't know what you're going to get for this, but.

It's true. No, it's true. There's a funco pop. And I don't know if it was the alpha funco pop. Yeah. And I'm like, I don't, you know, but I don't go to convention. and I'm not on any of the cameo thing and I'm very rarely on Instagram. I do go on and I do respond and stuff, but I find it overwhelming.

So I don't know how much they're going to get for it, but there's not many. It's going up though, this season. It's going up. It's going to go up. Oh, that's good. What's the worst note of director has ever given you? Take off your bra. I want to see your nipples.

It's hard to beat that in terms of crappy direction. But he had one of those megaphones as well, and he was on an umpires. You know, like with tennis, he was on one of those chairs as well. And I was like, I mean, that's happened to me before, but I was like, what? Like, you know, and you can't quite believe that it's happening? Yeah. And this is when you're like, you said you were like 16 or something? No, that was, that was a different one.

This was, I was in my 20s for that one. Yeah. Not cool. It doesn't matter if you're in their 50s or 70s or 90s. No. Oh, okay. And finally, in the spirit of happy second, fuse, an actor who makes you happy. Matt Taman.

everything he does. Yeah. He's the real deal. I'm speechless because he makes it look like he's not doing anything. Whether he makes it look like that or just he has this, he possesses this ability to transform. He's like the air. He's like just pure energy, but in whatever distilled form. And I remember seeing Goodwill Hunting and cry, just sobbing. just sobbing and then watching it again and then watching it again and then I

you know like I can't I can't think of any other than actresses you know be Billy White Law Matt Damon good answer movie that makes you sad movie that makes me sad oh my goodness interstellar but also happy like I just I could cry thinking about that film so it does make me sad yeah but it makes me sad yeah but it makes me me happy too. That's the best film should run through all the emotions. And finally, most importantly, what's a food that makes you confused? A food?

Yeah. The puffer fish. The puffer fish. People eat the puffer fish, don't they? Like a sushi vibe. I'm like, it's like, what? Like, why? He's risking it for a biscuit. That's like Russian roulette vibes.

Like, no way, I'm not eating no puffer fish. Doesn't matter how good it tastes. Not working. Or when people have, like, beef tartar. Right. Like, be careful, dudes. Like, it's real. That's raw meat.

Yeah. Like just be careful. Worth it? I don't think so. I'm not sure it's worth taking a risking it for a biscuit, you know? There's the PSA from Samantha Mourn today. We've learned a lot today. Thank you so much, honestly, for the time today. As you can tell, I'm a huge admirer of your work. Thank you. This performs as remarkable. I mean, it's no surprise what you've done throughout your career, but I'm so happy you're getting your laurels for it. It is very well deserved. Well, thank you so much for having me here. I just love talking about it. Thank you.

I appreciate you. Oh, no, thank you. And so ends another edition of happy, sad, confused. Remember to review, rate, and subscribe to this show on iTunes, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm a big podcast person. I'm Daisy Ridley, and I definitely wasn't sure to do this by Josh. Do you love Disney? Do you love Top Tenless?

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