00:00If you could change one thing in your past, what would you change?
00:07Wow, that's a great question. I don't know. I try not to think about, like, changing things
00:14because you can't. So it seems like a frustrating exercise.
00:19What struck me in May-December is the complexity of the characters in the film, and especially
00:22the women characters, who are psychologically, morally ambiguous all the way. How rare is
00:28it in movies, Natalie?
00:30It's incredible to get the opportunity to play characters in their full humanity. And
00:36I think the more variety we see of how women can behave, the more possibility there is
00:42and the more acceptance of women as humans.
00:45But is there a lack in cinema of that kind of complexity for women?
00:48I think that, yes, there's a historical, you know, oversimplification, absolutely. And
00:56it's exciting to be at a moment in storytelling that feels like it's allowing, first of all,
01:03more voices, more voices that are reflective of society to tell the stories, but then also
01:09to have those stories be complex, human.
01:12How is your French?
01:13It's okay.
01:14You don't speak French?
01:15I do, but I'm shy about it.
01:18So in May-December, you're an actress preparing for a role. What do you need to create a character?
01:24How do you process?
01:26I usually do whatever research I can. Of course, if there's, you know, if I'm playing Jackie
01:32Kennedy, there's so much to dig into historical film, audio recordings, books.
01:40But you've got notes every time?
01:42I do have notes. I do have notes. I mean, sometimes they're my notes of imagination
01:48that are based off of the script, and sometimes they're, you know, full of extreme research.
01:53So the film is very much about confronting one's past and how difficult it is. And I
01:56remember this sentence from your character,
01:58Sometimes I feel the weight of the past.
02:01A beautiful sentence. Do you sometimes feel the weight of the past?
02:05Yeah, I think probably everyone who's lived a certain amount of time does at a certain
02:11point that that's part of what defines you and part of what is your, part of your identity.
02:17But it's interesting for you because a lot of your past is literally on screen. You've
02:22been an actress for so long, you can literally watch on film 30 years of growing up.
02:27Yes, absolutely. It's definitely surreal to have this kind of external memory, along with
02:35my internal, of course, experience and memory, internal experience of what I've lived. And
02:41I always think that, you know, now young people are living the same thing that I lived. Everyone
02:49is, because social media, everything's captured of your life the whole way. It's a completely
02:56different way for a whole generation to grow up.
02:58And on that point precisely, it's pretty difficult for your character in the film to draw a line
03:03between fiction and real life. How is it for the actress that you are?
03:08Well, I think that it's a question that I'm obsessed with is performance and, you know,
03:15how we perform in our lives, how we perform our social roles, how we perform, you know,
03:21different aspects of ourselves with different people and how we even perform with ourselves.
03:25I mean, I think that's so strong in the movie with the mirrors, the camera as a mirror,
03:30the camera as reflecting our innermost self or our performance of self. And that's just
03:38something I loved about this piece because it really asks a lot of those questions.
03:43You're an actor, Natalie, but you're also a producer now. What kind of power does it
03:47give you, especially in storytelling?
03:49It's so exciting to get to produce and to be able to nurture and support talent to create
03:56their artistic visions. And it's been really incredible to also foster the kind of storytelling
04:02I want to make.
04:04And five years ago, you were an advocate for a revolution of desire in the film industry.
04:09To what extent are you happy with how things have evolved now?
04:13I think that the conversation has been going on strong, so I'm very happy that it's part
04:22of the conversation constantly. But we obviously have a very far way to go still to get to
04:27true revolution.
04:29That's right. We talk a lot about Me Too, but we have forgotten about the Time's Up
04:33movement, for which you really fought at the time. Stepping back, what did you find exciting
04:38in this movement specifically?
04:40I think the community of women, to be in community with so many women in our industry was really
04:48incredible in terms of as a support and as a power force was just extraordinary. And
04:57to be able to share experience and to be able to fight together to try and get ourselves
05:04better valued was really extraordinary.
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