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2, the high priestess of an alien race of perfect, golden people.
There is glamour, but that comes later and at a cost.
The following discussion includes spoilers for the film.
Did that resonate with you?Yeah, and that is fundamentally why I took the role.
And that matriarchal repression too, which we dont really talk about that often today.
And instead, theyre thrust into these circumstances where they have to grow.
I really havent gotten the chance to play a lot of those characters before, for whatever reason.
I sent her a Whatsapp and I said, Can you record this for me?
The dialogue?The dialogue in English, which kinda felt very beautiful for me, somehow.
It was very close to the bottom.
Is this your character in the movie?
And I was sort of like, Well kind of, a little bit.
But it is such brilliant scene.
She is very smart, but in an offbeat kind of way.
I remember thinking,I would totally do that.
But Alice is from the beginning, a survivor.
All of these women are.
But there is a strain in her that is sort of unbreakable.
She is not a broken person and she doesnt see herself as a victim.
None of these women become victims of their circumstances.
I love the scene when we really see her grieving.
It starts with the line, I think I should get a job.
Like, she has never had a job before!
The whole thing is thrown, and I think grief does that.
It sort of dismantles your identity.
But instead of being demolished by it, they rebuild themselves to be stronger with each other.
She is a strong woman.
In the beginning Alice would look at and think there is nothing she could learn from her.
People were like,Wow.
It is a lot.
I think they trigger each other so much in that scene to this point where it just explodes.
There is something so sad about it.
Just the two women that have nothing holding each other up.
And it is really poignant, I think.
But finding that, we churned through that scene.
We really went into it.
It was messy and pretty traumatic and all the good things.
All the things you want, really.
We were up for it and wanted to find it and Steve was really in it with us.
I am proud of that scene.
Did you hit?No.
It was very believable.We are good at acting, arent we?
No, we had a great stunt coordinator.
[Laughing]
Apparently I just really want to know how you slap people without actually slapping people.I know.
On the recipients face?Yeah, or the giver too.
Just before I hit Viola back, there is this rage.
It doesnt really get you really anywhere.
Its not like you ever could.No, and yet we did for a long time.
Have you ever felt underestimated?Yes.
Sometimes I think I underestimate myself.
I think we all do.
People say,Do you ever get pigeonholed into a niche?In a way.
How have you felt that?Not in an everyday sense, but I think my height is something … How has it affected your work?And I always find it an odd question.
And interestingly, Steve was somebody who helped me.
Typical Steve, hes so sensitive.
I remember being really struck by it, because I hadnt realized I was doing it.
I dont wanna be desirable, palatable, nice, or whatever.
Or you use it.Or you use it.
But yeah, Im sure Im underestimated.
Im an ambitious person, so I always want to keep pushing.
You never really know what youre capable of.
But thats also perversely a joy as an actor to have that kind of material to play with.
The heist stuff I found really scary.
I was so adrenalized, like high-octane.
And we really did do all those things you know.
When I think back to it, its like a fever dream I dont really remember.
Give the line to Michelle.
Give it to Viola.
And again he knew, and he was like, No, this is you.
This is your challenge, and its Alices challenge.
You have to be brave enough to do this.
I dont know.But then I remember just thinking,This is perfect.
This is exactly how Alice would feel.
Im just gonna do this.
The film ends with a scene between Veronica and Alice.
You see Veronica say multiple times,After this, this is it.
We never see each other again.
It has to finish here, if something happens, youre on your own.
She becomes this mother figure, sister figure, protector for Alice.
Shes bought a coat; she can drive a car.
And its really clever how its shot as well.
Its a microcosm of the concept of sisterhood, and how important it is.
We are stronger together and you dont have to do it all on your own.
It seems like Steve saw you could do something more rooted.He did that for all of us.
He wasnt really looking for that.
Steve made us feel seen as women and actresses and its such a relief to have that.
Really, we were waiting for it.
We were each waiting for it.
And then we got to do it together.
That might be true for all of us.Yeah, I think thats the human experience isnt it?
Gosh, this got meta real fast.
Its not even 10 a.m.!
