In Strange Darling, nothing is what it seems when a twisted one-night stand spirals into a serial killer's vicious murder spree. The horror-thriller currently sits at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and is, without doubt, a movie of the year candidate.
Written and directed by JT Mollner (Outlaws & Angels), Strange Darling features cinematography by Giovanni Ribisi (Avatar) and stars Willa Fitzgerald (Reacher), Kyle Gallner (Smile), Ed Begley Jr. (Better Call Saul), and Barbara Hershey (Black Swan).
Last week, we sat down with Fitzgerald to learn more about how she approached her role as "The Lady." Like the movie itself, her character is captivating to watch and The Goldfinch star delivers a truly phenomenal tour-de-force performance.
During our conversation about her work on Strange Darling, Fitzgerald explains how she approached the project, reflects on working with Kyle Gallner, and explains what it was like having Ribisi, who also produces the movie, as Director of Photography.
You can check out the full conversation below.
What sort of preparation did you have to do to tackle this evolution of two people going on an admittedly quite intense date to the violent cat-and-mouse chase which follows?
[Laughs] Yeah, I had about a month of prep time before and I feel like as is characteristic of a lot of people, I think I did a lot of procrastination. I knew how heavy of a lift it was and I knew all of the things I was scared about the job so I spent a lot of time doing passive thinking about this character. Just a lot of time also talking to JT the director before we started shooting because it was clear that he had such a specific vision of what he wanted to make and I wanted to make sure I understood all of the layers of this thing. I think why I love working with JT is there's such a synergy there and such excitement to talk about it and learn what my perspective was and what his perspective was. I feel like that was really where I started as an entry point into the movie.
When I spoke to JT [Mollner] and Giovanni [Ribisi], I asked about that amazing one-shot sequence with your character running from a motel. What was it like shooting that?
It was great. I'm a runner so luckily came to it with a foundation of being able to run [Laughs]. It was definitely...that was a very fun shot because technically, it's exciting when something like that works. It really did work. I also think it's an iconic set of images that come from that moment and everyone was really excited. We all left work excited every day because every day we shot at least a few things that felt like just we'd totally nailed it. That's such a gratifying experience to have while you're shooting a movie.
No spoilers, but it goes without saying that, in a movie like this, you and Kyle [Gallner] have to go to some pretty dark places. How challenging is it to get into that headspace?
It's always challenging. I don't know, maybe it's not challenging for some people, but I think it's always challenging. And I think that what makes it easier is to have a foundation of trust and respect with the person you're working with. Luckily, Kyle is an amazing actor and person and it was very easy to trust him and to want to go to those places with him. For me, as an actor at least, I have to feel that kind of trust and that sort of openness coming from the other person. Kyle has that in spades.
Given the material you're working with her and the level of violence, you have a director of photography in Giovanni who is also an actor. Does that help you in those moments?
Yeah, I mean, the camera operators and DPs are always the people right up in your face when you're shooting something and I feel like you always feel a kinship with them. They're seeing all of your good takes and bad takes and are right there when they're happening. Having Giovanni there with me in those moments was actually this really beautiful experience that I've never had before because I've never worked with a DP who is an actor. It was almost like having another actor in the movie with you because...it's a little ineffable, the experience of it. You know, sometimes he would whisper something in my ear that would give me an idea and those were amazing moments too but it was this intangible presence that I felt with him being there in those scenes that was really unique and very cool.
Strange Darling can ONLY be seen in theaters on Friday, August 23, 2024.