Yorgos Lanthimos Talks Emma Stone and Mark Ruffalo’s Poor Things at BFI Event – The Hollywood Reporter

His friendship with Emma Stone, which unleashed new sides of Mark Ruffalo and Colin Farrell, his next film and the limitations of language. Those were just some of the topics Bad things Director Yorgos Lanthimos discussed during an on-stage interview organized by the British Film Institute (BFI) in London on Wednesday evening.

“I don’t really think about the themes themselves,” Lanthimos said when an audience member asked him what themes and themes he planned to address in future films. “It’s more about coming up with stories and structures and feeling like there’s something that interests me.” He also said that only “then you realize what it means to you (because) for others it may be about something else. So it’s hard to say what the themes are.”

The director said that he and his collaborators are “interested in human beings and delving into those kinds of societal structures, behaviors, and relationships.”

Then he mentioned his latest project, which is titled Types of charity Featuring Stone, Jesse Plemons, Margaret Qualley, Willem Dafoe and others. “We just shot this movie… and it’s three different stories,” the director said, describing it as a “contemporary movie.” “It’s three different stories, and we’re finishing editing now, and I still can’t tell you exactly what it’s about. But I also don’t want to tell you what I thought the stories were about because it makes it too small. I try not to think about it during this process,” he added. Because I’m afraid that will make my options more narrow.

The director behind these famous films like Dog tooth, crayfish, Kill the sacred deer And Favorite He also discussed his body of work and creative process during an appearance at the British capital’s Southbank Centre. The event, themed “Yorgos Lanthimos in Conversation,” attracted a large crowd, including Stone, who sat in the front row.

Their science fiction and black comedy Bad things He recently received 11 nominations for both the BAFTA Film Awards and the Academy Awards.

When asked about his ongoing creative partnership with Stone, Lanthimos told the audience: “The funny thing is, I told her, but she didn’t believe me. I thought of it for her.” crayfish Also.” Stone was heard laughing when he said that, eliciting appreciative laughs from the audience as well. He continued: “She has a wonderful speech impediment, and it sounds like she has a lisp.” “And in a world crayfish That would be very important, and it’s a very special trait. So a woman can have a lisp.

How Stone Ended Up Playing Bella Baxter poor Things? “We got to know each other well, even before we got married Favorite, because we started discussing it two years ago, and it took some time to get it set up. “We became friends during that period,” Lanthimos explained. “Then when we got the work experience, it was clear that we got along and loved working together.”

He mentioned other projects to the star, and she immediately jumped in Bad things As soon as she heard the story. …and the rest is history.

He was asked how to show the new sides of Mark Ruffalo Bad thingsLanthimos said that credit for the acting work should go to its stars and their creativity. But he said Ruffalo had some doubts at first, which the director was able to address.

“Well, I just released him, and he was ready to go,” the Greek director said, describing Ruffalo as a “brilliant actor.”

“I think he was a little hesitant, because he’d never done anything like that,” he recalls. “Now that I know him better, I think overall he always thinks he’s not good for it.” Lanthimos recalls Ruffalo getting excited afterward and “totally embracing” his role. He came on strong when we started training. We had two or three weeks of training. He was the man who had actually been there. We had a lot of fun during training.”

He was asked about his reaction to the widespread appeal Bad things I enjoyed it,” Lanthimos said. “I was surprised.”

On Wednesday, the director also paid tribute to other stars he worked with. Discussing Colin Farrell and his work in crayfish“He was looking to do different things,” Lanthimos said in Bruges. I think his sense of comedy and his presence in general was very strong. And I think the thing about acting with me is, first and foremost, I want to try to find people that I want to work with, regardless of whether they fit the character perfectly. That’s why he had to gain a lot of weight. But mostly it’s about the people I want to work with, meet them and see if we fit in.” “It’s important to find people who already have that connection to your work and to you as a person,” the director concluded.

And of course Pharrell showed up too Kill the sacred deer, alongside Nicole Kidman and then-new discovery Barry Keoghan. “We saw hundreds of American kids” for his role, recalls Lanthimos, who called him “incredible.” “It was immediately clear that he was very special.”

Having a veteran like Kidman on set also helped. “Nicole is so generous,” Lanthimos said, singing her praises. “This helps a lot.”

Overall, Lanthimos said he sees his work with actors as making sure to “give them space… (so) they can try things and be safe.”

One of the things the director has gained fame for is his unusual approach to his preparations and sets. “I create games so that the actors get to know each other and feel comfortable making a fool of themselves and making the process light and fun,” the Greek director explained. “We shouldn’t take things so seriously. We make movies.”

What games does he make his stars play? “It’s a lot of physical stuff,” he said, pointing to dancing and “silly walking” as examples, along with “raising your voice while speaking in a way that makes no sense at all.”

So what does Lanthimos think about people calling his films absurd? “It’s not always good to be trapped in one thing,” he said. “I think there’s a kind of silliness in movies, but I hope they’re more complex than that.”

The BFI event description itself also praised the director for his “wild, well-crafted absurdist stories and darkly comedic explorations of the human condition.”

Lanthimos understands such labels. “I understand why people need to describe it a certain way or understand it using language,” he told the audience. “But the problem is that language is not always enough for any kind of artistic work.”