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Transcription by DJL
Olivia Colman,
Jessie Buckley and Dakota Johnson star in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s searing
directional debut, which explores the lesser-told story of motherhood when a
beach holiday takes a dark turn. The trio tell Total Film how mutual admiration
and Mai Tais helped make The Lost Daughter an awards contender.
It’s clear
from sitting in a London hotel suite with Olivia Colman, Dakota Johnson and
Jessi Buckley that when they say they enjoyed working together, it’s not for
the benefit of column inches. Finishing each other’s sentences and teasing one
another, the women are sitting in front of the backdrop of a sun-dappled beach
and will later hold hands on the red carpet as their film debuts at the London
Film Festival.
With its
gorgeous cinematography of Greece and the stars’ jolly banter, you could be
forgiven for thinking their project, The Lost Daughter, was a romcom or travel
porn. But Maggie Gyllenhaal’s directorial debut from her own adapted screenplay
of Elena Ferrante’s novel is a bold, questioning thriller that wrongfoots viewers
at every turn and promotes conversation about female societal roles, regret and
lack of it. Filmed last year on the island of Spetses, The Lost Daughter follows
British academic Leda (Colman) as she takes a working holiday to the Attica
region. While reading on her sun-lounger she observes young American mother
Nina (Johnson) and her little girl – uncovering painful memories from her own
past. Buckley essays the young Leda, trapped in a suffocating marriage and
struggling to retain a sense of herself.
Playing to
rave review at recent festivals, it’s a film that positions unapologetic women
as complex characters with rich, messy lives. There’s disco dancing to Bon
Jovi, ill-advised theft, hotel sex and a very pointy reckoning…Little wonder
then that it’s in the awards conversation as the road to Oscar begins.
Was it as
lovely to film in Greece as it looked?
Olivia Colman:
(deadpan) Awful. We had a terrible time…
Dakota
Johnson: …a really shit place…
Olivia: …it
was amazing. We were very lucky. During a time when everyone was having a shit
one (with Covid), we were in this beautiful bubble. And at the wrap, we could
all go swimming in the sea.
Jessie
Buckley: It was such a dream job – we’re making a great film, with a brilliant
script, with all these brilliant people. It’s been one of my favorite jobs I’ve
ever done.
Dakota:
Yeah. And we loved each other. It was very, very special. That rarely happens,
I think. It was originally meant to film in New Jersey, then Halifax, Nova
Scotia, but I think there’s an energy (in Spetses) that is a little bit
languid, and sort of mysterious. I haven’t spent much tine in New Jersey, the
most time I’ve spent is watching Jersey Shore. And that is a different vibe.
Olivia: I’ve
never seen it. Is it like a Real Housewives type of thing?
Dakota: Yeah. It’s good.
Olivia: Oh,
fun! I’ll watch it.
Jessie was
filming on the island before you two arrived – she got the head start…
Olivia: I
started to worry that I was going to come in, and do something completely
different (from her), and no one would believe that we were the same. So Maggie
said, “I can show you some scenes.” And I started to watch them, but it felt wrong
to watch something before it was all finished. I just felt like not a good
friend. So I decided, “We’ll trust each other. Maggie will steer us back if I’m
going way off.” And I just knew Jessie would be amazing, and I had to try to
live up to her, really. Watching her bits, I think they’re the saddest bits for
me – the hardest bits to watch. She’s just incredible.
Dakota: I
wish that I had scenes with Jessie. We fell so hard in love with each other. I
think if we were working together, we would have just morphed into one person
with two heads. We’d become Hydra.
Jessie: We’re
at a similar age, and we both have come to do this film for a reason. She’s
such a special soul, you know? And a really interesting, complicated woman. And
a laugh! I totally fell madly in love with her, too. I’m just sad I actually
didn’t get to hang out with her more. But we’ve kept in touch, and I’m trying
to convince her to move to England.
Dakota and
Olivia, you play strangers who are fascinated by each other in the film – did you
keep your distance on set?
Olivia: Oh
no. We’re holdings hands and in each other’s pockets the whole time. Every
evening – because Jessie has the voice of an angel – she sang every night. We’d
all drink Mai Tais. I felt a bit bad that our families were at home, holding
the fort, looking after everybody. I tried not to tell them the whole story (laughs).
(Mimes being on the phone) “We’re missing you very much. It’s really hard.”
While somebody’s being like, “More Mai Tais!” “Shhh.”
Olivia and Jessie,
you’re both playing the same character at different points in her life. How did
you create that portrayal together?
Olivia: We
couldn’t meet up before. We had to quarantine. We phoned each other, and said, “So
we’re from Leeds, with a very, very mild, generic Yorkshire accent…” Because if
we both try to do a full-on “Leeds”, we’d definitely have differences in our
interpretation of that. And y’know, there’s no getting over the fact that you’re
two different people. And a woman in her twenties and thirties is different in
her forties and fifties. You become a different person anyway. So Maggie said, “It
doesn’t matter. There’s a dollop of artistic license here. Play it as much as you
want.”
Jessie:
What was a more interesting conversation to have with us independently was: this
woman having different chapters in her life, and being the same but different.
She has lived - and not trying to reduce
her to something king of contained or particular that we would have shared.
Dakota:
Yeah. Maggie also only realized the other day that Jessie and Olivia have
nearly the exact same eyes colour, which she’d not even thought about before.
What was it
like finally seeing each other’s version of the same character?
Jessie: I mean,
I’d watch Olivia Colman dance to Bon Jovi any night of the week. Give us a
bottle of wine, and we’re off. (laughs)
You all
portray women that are complex and challenge ideas of what motherhood should
look like. Was that something that you felt was important to show audiences?
Olivia:
Yeah. And Maggie was saying that she’s had the most extraordinary response,
with people going, “Thank you for saying this stuff out loud.” You imagine this
thing (motherhood) that’s going to happen to you, and it’s going to be easy and
idyllic and cuddly and lovely. And you don’t know the nitty-gritty, and the ins
and outs, and the basic tiredness of it all. And apparently everybody thinks it
but we didn’t realise that until someone says it out loud. So it’s really
important for everyone to know that you’re not alone, and it’s always important
to have your own story reflected back at you, I think. It’s necessary for humans
to check themselves.
Dakota: I’m
not a mother yet, so I feel like, for me, it was so beautiful to know that it’s
OK to struggle with what it feels like to be a mother of a human being, and
what it feels like to live a life that is a little bit confined. Or when you
have to five all of yourself. For women, there’s so much shame in having
different thoughts about becoming a mother, and having fears, and discomfort. I
think that this destigmatizes that in a really interesting and thoughtful and
poetic way, where it’s OK to feel messy about it. You know, not every woman has
to be a nurturing mother. There’s so many different versions of a woman.
Jessie: I
just thought it was incredibly honest. I related to all of the women in this,
and the bravery of the writing to be that honest, and the bravery of Elena
Ferrante in her novel, and what she’s really trying to expose – the inner world
of what it actually is to be a woman. A mother and a lover and an artis and
somebody who wants a life, and not somebody who just wants to be part of a
system of what people think it is to be a “good girl” in the world. Life is
complicated and beautiful, and children are a beautiful burden. That was what
was so rich and challenging and thrilling. That struggle…that’s just life, isn’t
it? It’s bloody hard.
Tell us
about the experience of being directed by Maggie…
Olivia: I was
a massive fan before we met. Secretary was the first time I’d seen her. So
knowing that we’re being looked after, and cherished by this woman who knows exactly
how this feels (to act) – we always got comfortable; we always felt safe; and
that’s really important, to be able to do whatever you need to do. It was just
lovely to be directed by someone who knows what it feels like.
Jessie: Maggie’s
somebody who contains multitudes. She’s accomplished, beautiful and so
intelligent, and unapologetic as a woman, which I think is really interesting.
She’s like, “I want to make a film, and I’m not going to apologise for that. I’m
going to make it, and we’re going to have fun.” From day one, she was like, “Let’s
fall off the cliff together, in every way.” And we did. And I trusted her with
everything.
Jessie, you
also have scenes with Maggie’s real-life partner, Peter Sarsgaard. Was it
interesting creating moments with him through Maggie’s lens?
Jessie: We’re
both actors, and we’re grown-ups. Peter’s and incredible actor. It was like
rock ‘n’ roll. There was no awkwardness. He’s a brilliant man, and they’re a
brilliant couple. They enable each other. If you’re looking at a role model on
how we live together as humans – it’s them. There’s no pretentiousness. They’re
really interested in growing, and investing in something that’s really honest
and truthful. And I just think it’s really cool that they did that.
The film
also talks about ambition and that not being something women are encouraged to
show. Was that something you could personally relate to?
Jessie: Oh,
yeah. I think it’s OK to give yourself permission to want life. Whatever you
are – man, woman, he, she, they, whatever. It’s so short, and there’s so much
to explore and experience. However you look for that, wherever you find it,
that’s up to you.
Olivia:
That bit (in the film) when the kids are young, and it’s (the husband’s) turn
to look after them, and he doesn’t respect that deal that they’ve struck –
that’s not something I recognize. I’ve been very lucky – my partner of choice,
we genuinely have each other’s back. I couldn’t have got to where I’ve got without
someone going, “Absolutely do it. I’ll hold the fort.” And vice-versa.
Dakota: I
feel like I have a supernatural level of ambition, and you sort of have to if
you do this job, there has to be a lever of combating so much rejection and criticism.
And especially as a woman, having to prove myself, and convince people. It’s
exhausting, but it’s almost like a tunnel vision that you have to have, or else
it’s crippling. I had a conversation with my sister the other day about
purpose, and “what is the point of being alive?” – I mean, this is very
existencial…
Olivia: I
don’t talk about things like that with my siblings. (laughs)
Dakota: But
how do you know what your purpose is? When you very clearly know, “This is what
I want to do” – it’s so lucky to have that feeling. In the case of my character
Nina, she isn’t able to do that. She wasn’t necessarily brought up in an environment
that was like, “You’re strong enough to follow your heart.” She’s hungry for
attention – attention for her real self, not just her body or some bullshit.
Let’s talk
about this look of hers as well – black hair, loud swimwear…
Dakota:
Maggie and I worked on that for a bit, and it went through a lot of different
phases. I pulled a lot from early photos of Megan Fox. There’s something about
her in these really early photographs – this wild…it’s like sexuality, that it
seems like she’s bored with. And I liked that look. I thought it was really, really
fun, until, you know, I was in the most ridiculous bathing suits – they’re just
insane. Also, there’s only going to be a certain pocket of time in my life
where I could pull that off (laughs). So just for a laugh, that’s what we made
the warbrode.
Leda is
also forthright and bold – won’t move her sunlounger if she doesn’t want to,
will complain about bad behaviour in a cinema. How was it being that person,
Olivia?
Olivia:
That’s what’s so nice about the job we do. Its is liberating. I’m not a shouter
or a comfrontative person in real life. So to be able to play it is really fun.
It’s a nice release.
Dakota:
Yeah! There was a scene where Nina is screaming at her husband on the beach,
and I found it hilarious.
Olivia:
Getting him to grab your ass was not in the script…
Dakota: No,
it wasn’t. (Her stomach rumbles) My stomach is making a lot of noises.
Olivia:
Have you had breakfast? (Dakota shakes her head ruefully) Aww, dickhead.
There’s
already awards talk around this film – is it encouraging that a film like this
is in that conversation?
Dakota: I
think it’s fucking cool for Maggie and important. And fresh filmmakers – they’re
the voice of now. People should be acknowledged. Anybody should be acknowledged
for making something amazing. That’s how the world should be. So, yeah, I’m
into it.
Jessie: It’s so beautiful that these wicked women are being seen, and getting and opportunity to make a film. I think Jane Campion said if you give women a chance, they’ll make a really good film, you know? And there’s so much to be said.
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