"It's an odyssey - emotional and sexual. The movie makes you feel."
At the Venice Film Festival, 57-year-old Nicole Kidman won the Best Actress award for "Bad Girl." Frank, scandalous, it's the story of a businesswoman who meets a young man (Harris Dickinson) whose relationship outweighs both her career and marriage to the perfect man (Antonio Banderas). Kidman was recently nominated for a Golden Globe for the same role, and this week the film is officially released in Russia. Such risky and frank roles in Kidman has not been for a long time, her character - something between Madame Bovary and Daytime Beauty, which once embodied in Luis Bunuel Catherine Deneuve. "Izvestia" discussed this work with Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson.
"I thought it was an outstanding text."
- You like to work with female directors. What attracted you to Halina Raine?
Nicole Kidman: I saw her debut "Instinct" once, and it was an unexpected and powerful movie. We got to know each other, started chatting, texting. Just like that. One day we were chatting on Zoom and she told me she was making "Bodies, Bodies, Bodies." We discussed the project and a lot of other things, and then she started working on Bad Girl. It was the first script she did that wasn't co-written with someone. When it was ready, she immediately sent the text to me, first draft. And I immediately agreed. Halina said to me: "Wait, I still have a long time to finalize." But it was absolutely clear to me. I thought it was an outstanding text. And I wanted to start this project as soon as possible.
Halina Raine
- Harris, how did you get into the movie?
Harris Dickinson: When I read the script, I already knew that Nicole was going to play there. Naturally, it's very cool to play with an actress of Nicole's caliber. Besides, I like Halina's movies. But when she and I started talking about it all, I was uncomfortable because I was afraid I wouldn't be able to pull it off, and it teased me nicely. There was a lot of humor in the script, some tiny details, I've never read anything like that at all.
- Nicole, what is the most important thing about your character Romy?
N.K.: Probably the fact that she's in a state of crisis, and that's her strength as a heroine. I mean, she seems to have everything she could ever dream of: a wonderful husband, a great career, but she still wonders internally what she really wants. The heroine's strength is that she can do anything, really - anything! But in doing so, can she be honest with herself? This is where the movie starts, this is our runway. This is where the heroine begins to sabotage her life, her career. And we follow her. I personally consider it an odyssey - emotional and sexual.
"We quickly created such a sacred circle of trust."
- How was filming in general? Surely everyone must have had a lot of fun?
H.D.: We quickly created such a sacred circle of trust. That's very important for this kind of movie. And to have a director who is also an actress - it's a game changer.
N.K.: She would have loved to play all the roles for us (laughs). Really, she practically played the entire role of Harris, his character Samuel.
A still from the movie Bad Girl.
H.D.: Yeah, he was something between Romeo and the Joker.
N.K.: I mean, that's her text. She had a complete understanding of each character's psychology, all their motivations and behaviors. We were also able to suggest and change things, because there was a special space left for that. It happens that you have to follow the lines and not go beyond them. And here it was like in a theater on the stage, where you can constantly create something, move, invent. It was all very inspiring. Every scene was roughly marked out, but if we wanted to change something - okay! That's how spontaneity came about.
- Can you give me an example? Say, the scene in the motel?
N.K.: Khalina described this scene as a complete portrait of our characters' relationships in one time and place. The full gamut. I love that. But when we shot that scene, on the last day of shooting, by the way, Halina didn't warn us about it, because for her it would have meant "explaining".
A still from the movie Bad Girl.
HD: But she left us a lot of freedom. I think that's very important. When you're in a dialog in life, there are often places where you can change things, you never know exactly how or what's going to be said. I'm very grateful to Halina for allowing us to do that. It was as if she explored the characters' relationships with us so that we reached the right rhythm for this dialog. She never insisted on total accuracy.
- Nicole, there have been a lot of movies made recently about empowered women. What do you think this movie has said that is new on the subject?
N.K.: I don't know if it's an important movie, but it feels real, human to me. That's my personal feeling. And I really wanted to be a part of a piece like this, not to play something that I've played a million times before. And I really haven't seen a movie like this before. I love how power is shown in the movie, how that power turns out to be the subject of the play, how it's passed from character to character. When the woman says, "Yes, I have power, but I don't want to be strong and powerful right now. I want to submit." It's a theme that's hard to work with, but I think we got it right. Halina infused it with such nuance and delicacy that you never notice the exact moment when this "transfer of power" happens. It feels like a struggle. Like we're both fighting, and that's what's interesting about the screen. And it's as if our characters are healing each other in some twisted way without knowing it themselves.
"The viewer at some point starts to doubt that Samuel actually exists."
- How did you create the "chemistry" between the characters?
H.D.: I always saw my character this way. Samuel enters a new, foreign environment as an intern. He wants to stay in the corporate world, he wants to move to the next level, he's ambitious. But when he meets Romy, he sees something in her that needs to be challenged, or some space that is unfilled, and in him too. So he makes a game of breaking through the facade and seeing what happens next. How will Romy react? Will it interest her? Will it turn her on? Will it turn him on? Gradually you begin to realize that those who get so much respect and adulation in life because of their position sometimes need something different. Because they are surrounded by so many supportive people that they can't take it anymore.
A still from the movie Bad Girl.
NK: What's interesting is that Samuel is able to feel that. He's so empathic that he understands Romy far better than her loving husband. He's just walked in - and he's already reading her very quickly in different situations. And it has nothing to do with age, but it's exactly what you called the "chemistry" between Romy and Samuel. It's a different level of relationship, not intellectual, but it's such a weird, gut level. It's working, pushing and pulling, playing. Yes, it's a game, but it's a dangerous game.
HD: I like that the viewer at some point begins to doubt that Samuel actually exists. Maybe he's just a fantasy. We've talked about it a lot and we don't show how he lives in the real world, we don't give any facts about him, his history...
N.K.: Wait a second, we haven't talked to you about that!
H.D.: Well, yes, we did talk to Halina. Because in the script there is space for such an assumption.
A still from the movie Bad Girl.
N.K.: In general, it is right that did not discuss it with me, I would have prevented it. After all, I had to play Romy in the moment, feel the same as she did.
- And what should have felt the viewer?
NK: I think this movie makes you feel. You come out angry, wound up, intrigued, mesmerized. Whatever it is, it elicits a reaction, makes you argue. That's great!
- Do you have a favorite scene in the film?
N.K.: The scene in the rave club where everyone is dancing. Oh, I was just obsessed with that scene, I wanted to play it endlessly, over and over again, begging Halina to do another take, and another, and another. Dancing, jumping, getting lost in the crowd. It's clear that the extras worked in the scene, they didn't read the whole script, but somehow it seemed that they understood everything about our heroes and the whole plot. Thank you to all of them. Hey, friends, everyone who participated in the rave scene: we love you!
