- 6 minutes ago
Jennifer Lopez, Scarlett Johansson, Lupita Nyong'o, Awkwafina, Laura Dern and Renée Zellweger joined for the annual Actress Roundtable.
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00:00Welcome to Close Up with the Holly Reporter Actresses. I'm Rebecca Ford and I'd like to welcome Laura Dern, Lupita Nyong'o, Renee Zellweger, Afqafina, Scarlett Johansson, and Jennifer Lopez.
00:23Thank you so much for joining us.
00:25So we're going to jump right in here. When were you most afraid or intimidated by a role and how did you overcome it?
00:31We can all probably relate that it happens every time before you start. It happens every time. Your imposter syndrome sneaks in and you're going to be found out and this will be the time that everyone knows you're a fraud and you're getting fired.
00:44And, you know, I don't know. It's always this wonderful, exciting collaboration and you don't want to let anybody down.
00:52So, you know, you just have those little nerves and want to make sure you hold up your end of the deal.
00:58It becomes less of fear and probably more just a sense of responsibility as you, I guess, get older and have been doing it a while.
01:08But it's always part of the joy of it, really, because if it doesn't frighten you, then it may be, yeah, why are you doing it if it doesn't somehow?
01:18Scare you. Yeah. Scare the shit out of you.
01:22There you go.
01:24Laura, was there one specific maybe that scared you more than most?
01:28And I would say, I mean, to your point, scare you, scare the shit out of you, that probably the most scared I've been is when I'm having the most fun.
01:39Because it is so boundaryless and you kind of lose sight of where you are and that's an amazing feeling.
01:45But specifics in the moment, probably I did film Citizen Ruth and that was the, I felt at the time, the most different of anyone I'd been with.
01:58I mean, not that I'm not addicted to having paint, but that was a challenge and at that time felt scary to me.
02:04And because it was a very dark comedy, trying to sort of walk this unusual line in the script was so fun and terrifying and beautiful.
02:14I would say that the last film, Us, terrified me quite a bit.
02:19Every time I work, I wonder whether I have what it takes to do that particular role because, you know, we're in a business where we're always starting again.
02:28You know, you have to, you start with ignorance with every role and the preparation is about moving from that ignorance to hopefully a sense of, you know, expertise by the time the film wraps.
02:41Right.
02:42But with Us, I had to play two characters in one movie and I had the time it usually takes me to prepare for one.
02:49And these two characters are diametrically opposed to each other.
02:53They are individual, but they're also two entities that ultimately are one.
03:00So that was a challenge just in terms of how to organize it in my head, you know, and how to make them distinct and yet feel like two parts of one entity.
03:18What do we want?
03:25We want to take our time.
03:32We've been waiting for this day for so long.
03:39I call it the untethering.
03:47I think you're always kind of excited at the undertaking of a new role, a new movie, and I've done them for so long and a lot of us have here that you're not nervous, nervous.
03:59There's like butterflies, but it's not like I'm going to go down in flames, not that nervous.
04:05But this was the first time in a long time that I was actually terrified to do that opening number, which I suggested.
04:14So it was my fault that I was there to begin with.
04:19It wasn't written in the script.
04:22It just says, Ramona finishes a final flourish and then me and Destiny meet.
04:28And I was like, no, she's like the big, you know, kind of the moneymaker at the club.
04:35She was this person.
04:36I played a stripper in that, in this movie.
04:39And I was like, but she has to show why.
04:42Like, we can't say it.
04:43We have to do it, right?
04:45We have to, I have to dance on the pole.
04:47I have to show them.
04:48I have to go there.
04:49And even though that's scary and in my mind, I was like, it's going to be scary, but it's not.
04:53But then when I was there and I have the dental floss on and I'm out there like in a way I've never been, it was so scary.
05:05It was so terrifying.
05:06I was literally like for the first time in years, like my heart beating out of my chest and going, oh, my God, I'm really nervous.
05:14I'm really scared.
05:15And I wasn't smiling like I am now.
05:17You know what I mean?
05:18What are you going to do?
05:19Go back to minimum wage?
05:20Oh, baby, this game is rigged.
05:25And it does not reward people who play by the rules.
05:29You either stand in the corner or get in the ring.
05:32I don't want to hurt anybody.
05:37Me either.
05:38Right?
05:39They would do this anyway.
05:42We're just helping them do it.
05:45I turn to my producing partner and she's walking onto the stage and everybody's excited.
05:49And it was toward the end of the shoot.
05:51And here we go towards the stage.
05:53And I have my robe on and there's 300 extras, all men.
05:57And it's like, oh, my God.
06:00Okay.
06:01And I go, I turned to her and I go, I'm scared.
06:04You know, and she was like, you are?
06:06Never hears me say that.
06:07Right?
06:08Or like, we just like working, working, working, doing our thing.
06:11Show, movie, blah, blah, blah.
06:13And I was like, yeah.
06:15I'm scared.
06:16And she was like, you got this.
06:17You got this.
06:18And I'm like, yeah, I got this.
06:20But I think that was putting myself out there in a way physically and emotionally and kind
06:27of, I don't know, something deeper than I had ever done.
06:31And playing a character that was that unapologetic in so many ways that it was so different than
06:39who I was, you know?
06:41I feel like all my characters, they have a little bit of me in them.
06:44And this one did a little bit, but it was so different.
06:47But it was, again, the most, it comes out to be the most rewarding thing that you do.
06:52It was like, oh, shit.
06:53Okay, cool.
06:54It paid off.
06:55That scene is amazing.
06:57Can I ask you how, who helped you to choreograph it and how long you did it?
07:01And how many people actually saw you do it before the 300 male audience members?
07:07That's so funny.
07:08Hardly any.
07:09Right?
07:10Safe and a quiet space.
07:11I was in a quiet space.
07:12Oh, my goodness.
07:13Probably that's why, too.
07:14And it was hard.
07:15It was, you know, I had to learn the acrobatics.
07:17And so, you know, like the shoulder was out.
07:19And build up to it, too.
07:20And build up to it.
07:21So it took like, we started like eight weeks out.
07:24And she started just showing me, I had a pole teacher who worked for Cirque du Soleil.
07:29But she lived in Vegas, so she kind of knew the strip club.
07:32So I was like, you know, this has to be like, I'm not trying to be a Cirque du Soleil performer.
07:36I'm a stripper.
07:37And so it has to have that kind of like dirty, sexy, grimy, you know, feel to it, too.
07:44Like, I want it to be that, too.
07:46And so we kind of just put it together.
07:50With the moves that I learned, and I was like, oh, this is a great one.
07:53Or, you know, I need to conquer that one.
07:55So I need to learn that one, because that one has to be in there.
07:58And we kind of put it together together.
08:00And then it was like, from doing research and going to the strip clubs, you know, there was moves I saw some of the girls do.
08:07And I was like, I'm going to put that in, I'm going to put that in.
08:10You know what I mean?
08:11And so we just kind of, I just kind of constructed it piece by piece.
08:15And then, you know, we picked a song, and we just did it in that way.
08:20But it was hard.
08:23And I think you're right.
08:24I didn't realize I was in that small space with just a few people.
08:28The director hadn't even seen it.
08:29She only saw a video of it, like, the day before.
08:33And then, you know, I went out and did it on the day.
08:36It was so scary.
08:39Now I think about it, I'm so glad it's over.
08:43It was such a crazy thing.
08:45And Skyla, what about you?
08:46You have two very different films that have come out.
08:49Is there one that was sort of more intimidating for you than the other?
08:52I don't know if intimidated is really the right word exactly.
08:55I think both of those films, even though they're really different, the thing they do have in common is that the scripts were, like, beautiful little gems.
09:03Both scripts and Laura read, obviously, Marriage Story.
09:06And it was such a, it was incredible.
09:08I mean, it was just every, I think, what people that have seen it don't necessarily realize is that every hesitation and every unfinished sentence is all scripted.
09:20And no one's really, you know, it's the words of the words.
09:23And, you know, you have to stick to that.
09:25It was there.
09:26Yeah, it's all right there.
09:27And he's a real stickler about that, you know, which is fine.
09:30But, you know, you have to, you have this kind of structure and then you figure it out.
09:40It was challenging at times just because, you know, Noah's relentless and he works, you know, to, like, to exhaustion.
09:50I've never really been able to have that experience, just burning film like that.
09:53It's something you do when you do theater because you, you know, you just keep, it's one of the beautiful things about doing theater is that you get that chance over and over again to figure it out.
10:03And you do what you figure it out, you know, every night.
10:06And it's so exciting because you have, you know, you surprise yourself all the time.
10:11And you're stuck with this, you know, with this text.
10:14And that's kind of the experience that I certainly and Laura had too is, you know, you're, you had all this, all this opera, this opportunity to just try it all out.
10:27And, and it was, it was challenging, but it also, you kind of keep coming back to, okay, I can't stray from this.
10:35So I, I'm, I'm going to, you know, make these discoveries within this kind of, the confines of this text.
10:41And it, it was, it was not, I wouldn't say intimidating, but it was, it was challenging, definitely.
10:47In the beginning, I was the actress, the star, and that felt like something, you know, people came to see me at first, but the farther away I got from that,
10:57and the more acclaimed the theater company got, I had less and less weight.
11:01I just became who?
11:04Oh, you know, the actress that was in that thing that time.
11:07And he was the draw.
11:09And that would have been fine, but I got smaller.
11:17I was intimidated when I read your monologue and watched you tirelessly learning it.
11:23Fumble through it?
11:24No, my God, no.
11:26Fail.
11:27And makeup and hair, and we would run lines, and I would listen to you memorizing it.
11:33And take one was flawless.
11:37This human being opening her heart and telling this entire story.
11:41Not one word missed.
11:43I was just mesmerized.
11:45It was amazing to watch you do that.
11:47All the actors were hand shy when Noah walked past.
11:49Yeah.
11:50I didn't add a then.
11:52I wasn't a then.
11:54The little things.
11:55But it was amazing.
11:56I think acting is, it is the, it's all about, you know, what you have with another person.
12:02That's the magic that happens is what you get from this person receiving you and you receiving
12:09them and, you know, making this beautiful shape with somebody else.
12:14And I, of course, had this beautiful creature to act opposite and be there present with me
12:21and hold me in, you know, this incredibly, like, sympathetic soul that is Laura Dern.
12:28Mm-hmm.
12:29Also, I'm just listening to you, I was listening to, like, the beauty of performing, right?
12:32Like, you're practicing and practicing and you're back there and you're looking it over
12:35and you're mentally going through it in your mind and da-da-da.
12:38And then you have to go out there and you have to do it.
12:41Mm-hmm.
12:42Mm-hmm.
12:43And the awesome thing is, like, with your heart beating out of your chest with your,
12:47you know, like, I can't say then instead of then or whatever it is.
12:50And you go out there and you just, boom, you nail it.
12:54The performance is the thing, right?
12:56Right.
12:57Like, that's what we do.
12:58We perform.
12:59We're, like, we go out there on the stage, whether it's in a set or in front of 50,000
13:03people or whatever it is, and we gotta perform.
13:06You gotta do it.
13:07And that's, like, the professional part, right?
13:10Like, you go out there and even though, like, in your mind, in the back of your mind,
13:14you're like, oh, shit, I might mess up on the first take.
13:16Okay, I have another take.
13:17It doesn't matter.
13:18Mm-hmm.
13:19You go out there and you do it.
13:20That's so dope.
13:21I'm curious if you've ever had an experience where the actor you had to work across from
13:26wasn't giving you what you needed or it just wasn't really vibing the way it needed to.
13:31You dealt with that.
13:32You don't have to name names.
13:34You can't say it again.
13:36If you've had to, you know, work with an actor and it just wasn't working.
13:40Not working meaning chemistry, like you don't connect.
13:44Yeah, yeah.
13:45And you really need to.
13:46Like, you know when you go to an authority and there are people who have their
13:51rhythm where they're listening to you and then they wait a long time before they respond.
13:59And if you're a person, and I think we all share this, where we're, like, almost finishing
14:03everybody's sentences because we're having so much fun talking, it's super weird when
14:07somebody goes, I know what you mean.
14:13How has it taken six minutes to respond to the question?
14:16So if you're with an actor whose maybe rhythm is so different, it could feel odd.
14:23Or if they're just a mean and kind person.
14:26I mean, I think, yeah, it's interesting.
14:29For me, I was trained in the theater.
14:31And so that's where I feel like most at home.
14:34And film is something that I've been working on for the last, what, six years.
14:41And what's interesting about film is that you are at risk, I think more often, of having
14:48an actor that doesn't respond.
14:52Because on stage, it is the performers who are in charge of the magic.
14:58Whereas on film, there's other people in charge of the magic.
15:01You know, yes, the performers do their thing.
15:03But then there's the editor, who ultimately is the one that puts the performance together.
15:07Then it's the take, you know, you just have to do this.
15:10The camera.
15:11Yeah, the camera.
15:12You know, all these weird things where you can't look at the person you're acting with.
15:15You have to look at the ex or something like that.
15:18So all those things get in the way or make just human exchange a little bit more challenging.
15:25And therefore, I think it's you are more likely to find moments with an actor where things are not gelling because there's so many other things to deal with.
15:37So I think for me, my growth in acting for film is almost to, you have to be a lot more self-reliant is what I'm realizing.
15:49That you have to be able to control your performance in a way that it doesn't necessarily have to rely on the other person.
16:00But for example, with us, I played both the hero and the villain.
16:04So I never had my scene partner there.
16:07You know, I was playing against green dots and stuff like that.
16:11And I had to I had to act and then I had to prepare for how I reacted.
16:16So that was one of the ways that I had to be extremely technical and self-reliant and to trust that the editor would do his job to make it make the talking and listening happen.
16:30So for me, that working on this on us was a lesson in how effective being self-reliant can be.
16:41It's almost like you have to you have to you have to control what you can and then just let go and trust that your scene partner, the editor will will do the gluing.
16:55And it sounds like a lot of preparation.
16:57Yes, a lot of preparation.
16:59You have to prepare.
17:00Yeah.
17:01Then you know what it is that you're trying to achieve on the day.
17:03And depending on the circumstances, whatever shows up, you have your arsenal sort of to fall back on.
17:10Right.
17:11What are you going to pull from?
17:13What's necessary?
17:14Exactly.
17:15And you know in the moment what's necessary because you know what the goal is and you've already sort of, I don't know, looked at the at the trajectory.
17:23Right.
17:24So you understand where all the places it might go and you just figure out for yourself as you go along how it's, you know, what's necessary.
17:31Yeah.
17:32I wonder now if like I'm that person that people are like, yeah, there just wasn't a connection there.
17:37I don't know what was going on.
17:38No, I'm just like retracing that.
17:41I think for me like if you come onto set and like if the other actor is like having a bad day or I feel like I sometimes that energy will come off a little bit, you know, and it's not anyone's fault.
17:56And I think it's always like if you hate me, then like I'm going to feel uncomfortable right now, you know, but then I think that when you do have those talks with your co-stars or whatever and you kind of realize that they're human as well.
18:08And they're going, they have the same fears.
18:10I think that helps like the onset, just knowing the empathy and knowing that we're both here going through it, you know.
18:17I'm curious how important it is for all of you to sort of shift what people expect from you based on your choices.
18:23Awkwafina, I know with The Farewell you did a really dramatic role when you were kind of known for comedy before.
18:29Did that add extra pressure?
18:31Were you worried people would expect you to be funny in the movie?
18:35Yeah, I mean it added a lot of pressure.
18:38Yeah.
18:39I was really, really scared.
18:41Yeah.
18:42Because I think, you know, you know what people think about you and stuff like that but you don't know what you can do, you know.
18:51And I think that you create all these different scenarios in your head about the worst it can go and the best it can go and you want to strive for this kind of invisible best that never will come true.
19:01But I think it's that striving that you kind of run on.
19:06It's so different now.
19:07The climate is so different now.
19:09There's so many wonderful opportunities for women of every age to, you know, play all different types of people.
19:17And, you know, I feel when I was working in my early 20s and even like my late teens, early 20s, you know, I felt that I sort of got somehow typecast as I was like very kind of hyper-sexualized.
19:36Which was, I guess, you know, at the time seemed okay to everyone.
19:44It was another time.
19:45Yeah.
19:46Even though it wasn't part of my own narrative, it was kind of crafted for me by probably a bunch of dudes in the industry.
19:52And, you know, I guess that worked then.
19:54Right.
19:55But it was really difficult for me to try to figure out how to get out of being an ingenue or the other woman because it was never anything that I had intended.
20:06You know, I'd been working since I was eight years old and certainly that was never like a goal of mine.
20:10And I sort of had to kind of shake it up a little bit because I just couldn't seem to, I just didn't want to work on stuff that I like knew how to do and knew I could do it.
20:22And it was like, what is this?
20:25I remember thinking at the time, like, maybe I need a different job in this industry that would sort of be more fulfilling because there seemed like there was just nowhere to go.
20:36And so I actually had the opportunity to do a play, to do an Arthur Miller play on Broadway.
20:43And it totally reset my whole way of thinking about how I could work and what the different kind of opportunities that could be available to me.
20:56And it's amazing how theater is limitless, you know.
21:01And it just felt so, even though it was terrifying, it felt, it was liberating because I actually felt that every night I had the opportunity to change the narrative.
21:14And I had, as Lupita had said earlier, you know, you have control of your own kind of fate on stage to some degree.
21:23And you're in charge of your own, of your own destiny up there.
21:30Renee, I know you took about a six year break from acting.
21:35Was that a choice to also sort of reset things?
21:38Or have you had to do that at other points?
21:41Not in terms of if you're talking about people's perceptions of a brand or anything like that.
21:52I was listening to what you were saying and I thought it was really interesting because it reminded me as a young person starting out that I would get those jobs.
22:03You know, I would get the cut off shorts and the, you know, the other woman, the, you know, one night stand girl.
22:12And I did about three or four of those little jobs in Texas while I was still at university.
22:16And I thought, you know, I think I'm going to not do this anymore because I know where that road will go.
22:25I don't know what it's going to look like ultimately, but I bet it would be really hard to get off that road.
22:31And there's the inevitability of things changing and your body changes and, you know, you grow older and, you know, you have a life and you look like your life.
22:41And thank God for that. Right.
22:43And I thought I want to be good with the inevitability.
22:47I want to be good with that. And I want to work in a way where I can, I can portray women who are relatable throughout my life.
23:00I don't want to have to stop at a particular time because I can't wear the cutoffs anymore because it looks weird.
23:06You know, it's a bad idea or it doesn't really relate to the person that you grow into or whatever it might be.
23:12I bet it still looks good.
23:14You're very kind. You're kind. But it's funny because, you know, I don't, you know, you feel like a different person.
23:19You know, you just, yeah, you know.
23:22So anyhow, I thought it was interesting listening to what you were saying about that because I wondered what that experience might have been like.
23:30And it wasn't even by your choosing.
23:32It's because it's just the nature of having been born a very beautiful woman, you know.
23:36So I think that's, I think it's interesting.
23:39But, and good for you because what's so, what's been, I thought it's so interesting.
23:45I've loved watching your career from the beginning, watching you grow up and, you know, through your roles.
23:49And as a, from a very young woman, you've been working.
23:53And to see that no matter what you said that you had been hypersexualized, I always felt that your, your talents who preceded that.
24:01I felt that always, I mean, it may have been your experience from the inside or whatever it was that you were being asked to do in terms of promotion or whatever it was.
24:09But I always saw a wonderful actress, always.
24:11I mean, I'm sure you guys are great.
24:14Oh yeah, no, always.
24:15And I saw you in that play on Broadway.
24:17And you were phenomenal.
24:19So, so, so gifted.
24:22Oh, yes.
24:23Yes.
24:24I'll do this again.
24:25I like it here.
24:27Yeah.
24:28This is really.
24:29Just compliments.
24:30I really like this.
24:31So I'm curious about your views on sort of the press and fan attention and that public facing part of your experience as an actress.
24:40How do you deal with when things are unkind, whether on social media or in the press?
24:46And what is, has your view of that changed over time?
24:50I feel that.
24:51I mean, I just, I, I, I, not to put anybody in an awkward position, but to say, I know we've all faced it and the difficulty of trying to keep one's life private.
25:03But I must say, you carry this other extraordinary gift of being iconic in this larger story.
25:13And I, knowing what it has felt like for me, there are moments when I'll pass a magazine cover and just feel, you know, grief for anybody having to walk through this, like, this salacious, you know, again, narrative that's created.
25:28Paper dolls.
25:29And we've all had it.
25:30Yeah.
25:31Yeah.
25:32But I mean, I, I, I turn it with curiosity to you because it is amazing to be, you know, considered this, you know, iconic music legend and also truly be considered an actor.
25:48First of all, like as two totally separate gifts.
25:51Don't make me cry.
25:52Very emotional.
25:53But, but it's beautiful.
25:54And while everybody gets to create their stories.
25:56Yeah.
25:57It's that, that, that part of it, it's, it's funny.
26:00Um, from the beginning, I've been kind of really picked out and plagued with that.
26:07Um, lots of stories, lots of lies.
26:12Uh, lots of things where you're trying to figure out like, how did this happen?
26:18How did I become that person?
26:20And, uh, I think what I've learned is that none of it matters and I don't, it doesn't really bother me anymore.
26:29I've learned that like, I know who I am.
26:33I know what I do.
26:34I know I'm a good person.
26:36I know I'm just out here working my ass off and, you know, trying to, you know, fulfill myself creatively in a way, you know, because that's a drive of mine.
26:48That's my thing, you know, and I, I don't, I just learned not to worry about anything else, anything else.
26:56Me, my kids, my life, my, my work, what I'm going to do next, what creative fun thing I can do.
27:03What can we produce?
27:04What can we, what's the show going to be?
27:06What's the, this, you know what I mean?
27:07It's like, that is the makeup of my life.
27:09And what, what you realize is, you know, because there was a time in my life where it was such a big part and it was so hurtful and it was so hard that you think, you know, I don't want to do this anymore.
27:19I don't want to be this.
27:20I don't want to be the person on the cover of the magazine every week for two and a half years.
27:24I don't.
27:25This is crazy.
27:27Why me?
27:28Like, you know, and then you go, well, it only just hurt you and even most of it wasn't true.
27:37So why do you care?
27:38Like I had to get to a point where I just was like, it just doesn't matter.
27:42It doesn't matter what people say.
27:43What matters is who you are, who you are and what you're doing.
27:47And I think eventually that got through no matter what people are writing and what they're saying.
27:54They, you, they just all of a sudden see you.
27:57They go, oh, wait, she's been around a long time and she's doing okay.
28:02And she seems pretty nice.
28:04And, you know, and I think honestly American Idol helped with that a lot of all the things that I've done in my career.
28:11People like actually just seeing me talk about how much I love music and how much I love people and how much of a girl's girl I am and how much of a crier I am.
28:19And, you know, all the things and things shifted, you know, and, but it's, I just, I just realized it just does, the biggest thing is just it doesn't, it's not really the thing that matters.
28:32But they can write whatever they want tomorrow and it wouldn't matter.
28:35Renee, I want to talk about playing Judy because obviously part of her story was sort of the way she was treated by the public and the media at a certain point in her career.
28:44How did you sort of get into the headspace of relating to her at that point in her life?
28:50Well, I guess going back to what Jennifer said, you know, where does that story come from, you know, and you, again, you get to the place where you resign yourself to needing to be the determinant of your own, I guess, I don't know, legacy, whatever that might be.
29:10How your children or your nieces and nephews think of you going forward, you know, from based on what it is that they might read.
29:18But knowing that there's so much more to a story than what's written and understanding and looking at what was written about her at the time of her passing and the years leading up to it and the last chapter of her life.
29:34It seemed so unfair to me because it was, of course, salacious, because that's what's so exciting to read about.
29:41And that news travels more quickly, doesn't it?
29:44Where they say a lie will travel around the world while the truth is still putting its shoes on.
29:49And I thought, I'd like to understand this better.
29:53I'd like to understand why that chapter is blanketed in tragedy and why she was accused of things, making such bad choices,
30:02and how she ended up in a place where she was facing so many challenges.
30:07What?
30:08The fights over custody, your children living away from you.
30:12I mean, if I'm a terrible mother, they like to write about, well, you tell me how I end up with such incredible kids.
30:19But I wasn't suggesting...
30:21Well, no, everybody suggests things like I'm not a real person, but I am.
30:29You understand, I'm only Judy Garland for an hour a night.
30:33The rest of the time, I'm part of a family.
30:36I just want what everybody wants.
30:38Was there a certain point in the process where you felt like, I really, I have it?
30:43Like when you put on the hair and the outfit and the makeup or was it much earlier than that where you felt like, I really got who she is?
30:51No, that didn't happen.
30:53It didn't happen.
30:55It was in motion.
30:57It was a process that was in constant motion.
31:00Just little experiments.
31:02We were trying things every day.
31:04And it didn't feel like making a film.
31:07It felt like this celebration of her.
31:11Because everybody came to set and was motivated by the same affection or adoration for her.
31:20And it was an expression of that.
31:22So we were all cooperatively trying things.
31:24And there was always new.
31:25Someone would find a recording or we'd read something in a book.
31:28And we were always sharing and sort of adjusting according to what came along.
31:33Making choices on the day and just sort of conjuring her essence as truthfully as we could based on, you know, those things, that treasure we were mining for every day.
31:45Was there like a time, like a couple weeks in or a few weeks in where you suddenly like felt in the pocket of it and you felt like you could be playful and, you know, kind of make decisions or act on your instinct because you were Judy then?
31:59Because there was this.
32:01It kind of settled, you know, how.
32:03The parameters were set.
32:04Yeah.
32:05You know, and sometimes it just kind of, you like drop.
32:08I feel sometimes when you're starting out and you know it's abstract, you know, you're trying to find it with everybody.
32:13Yes.
32:14There's pieces.
32:15It's fragmented.
32:16People around you, whoever it is, whether it's the camera department trying to figure out how this look is and what, you know, what's your, you know, what is this, finding that, how to capture this performance and then your hair and makeup team and all that stuff.
32:31And I feel like sometimes a few weeks in you're like, oh, I can walk on the set as this person and I have this playground and I can do all this stuff.
32:39Did you find that or was it always, did you, did you always have this, you know, thing that you're describing where you kind of, where it felt like you just had to try out all these different things?
32:50It was never, it was never disconnected, you know, we were building on something, trying to, I mean, it sounds so crazy, but it felt, her essence was palpable on the set because her music was always playing and we were always listening to recordings of her voice.
33:10The music, when I played Selena, one of the things that got me the most kind of in her body was performing because you look at her and you're going to try to imitate her a little bit and then let that go and just live, right?
33:23But the music and the actual performance, because that's what we have that is the real things where you can really like watch her because you didn't get to talk to her in person, which is the hard part, right?
33:35It's the, the music kind of got you like, okay, I'm Judy, I'm Selena, I got this, you know what I mean?
33:41Like the music was such a big part of it.
33:43I wonder if that was the same for you.
33:45Oh yeah, absolutely.
33:46Well, because there's a performance language there that's been developed over so many years.
33:51And body language.
33:51Yeah, and when that's, when that becomes familiar and then it becomes a habit and then you don't think about it anymore and you can kind of wear whatever it is that's, that's palpable in the room.
34:03On stage with you too, because those movements are like how she moves, you know?
34:08So all of a sudden you're like going, okay, well this is, this is where she was comfortable in her body and this is, this is how she moved her hands.
34:15Not just on stage, but when she was talking, you know what I mean?
34:17It's like, it's a whole thing.
34:19Yeah, and you just, yeah, you just build, you just build on that.
34:23And did you like playing somebody, like a real person?
34:27Oh yeah.
34:27I love playing real people.
34:28I feel like it's just, you got a blueprint.
34:30You're like, I know exactly what I'm doing.
34:31Yeah, it's so good.
34:34Yeah, yeah, it's nice to have a point of, you know, several points of reference, but the, the responsibility is different too.
34:42Oh yeah.
34:43Woof.
34:43Yeah.
34:44Woof.
34:45Yes.
34:46You just don't, you want, yeah, right?
34:48Because, right.
34:50Yeah.
34:50Because you want to be responsible.
34:51Well they love her.
34:52Yeah, you want to.
34:53They love her so much.
34:54They love Judy so much.
34:55And you do too.
34:57No, they love Selina.
34:58And she had just died two years before.
35:00Right.
35:00So they were like, you better not.
35:02Yeah.
35:03And I was like, luckily I was young and more ignorant.
35:06Like now if I had to do it, I would be so in my head.
35:09So much more in my head.
35:10It would be much more difficult, I think.
35:12And I own, I own that movie and watch it all the time.
35:14And I was like, he didn't fuck it up.
35:16Yeah.
35:16Yeah.
35:16Yeah.
35:16I was going to say.
35:17When I tell you, but I understand what you're saying.
35:19As a Texan.
35:20I'd say.
35:21You keep, you keep moving in like, and the, it's right when you play one of those type of
35:26characters, it's like you're constantly talking about who she was and what she did and how
35:31she did it.
35:31And it's, it's, it's, it's, it forms as it goes.
35:35It forms as it goes.
35:36It's one thing to get it right.
35:39And as I was sharing with you before we walked in here, it's another thing when I get so excited
35:42that people who've seen the film and your performance will say to me, have you seen
35:48it yet?
35:49She gave her back to us.
35:51And a few people have just literally started crying, talking about what a gift it was to
35:57feel like they had Judy.
35:59I just was so touched by that.
36:02That's so amazing.
36:03Awkwafina, The Farewell is based on Lulu Wang's true story with her grandmother.
36:14How did that help inform the character for you?
36:16The cool thing about Lulu and Billy is that Lulu wasn't like very precious about keeping
36:22her exacted.
36:24And she would say things like, you know, she wouldn't say like, that's not how I sneeze.
36:28It wasn't like that.
36:29But, and I think she was always very receptive to like any input I had about what she would
36:35be doing, what she would be thinking.
36:36And I think it's that trust that I think also really helps a performance also, you know?
36:40You don't want to, when you're working with a director and you improv something and they're
36:43like, can we not do that?
36:45It's like, you're just like the worst feeling ever.
36:47But then, you know, when you have that trust, like it's nice.
36:51But yeah, I think as a result, you reinvent something else.
36:56And I think in the case of The Farewell, Billy really became like this vessel for the Asian
37:01American experience or the Dash American experience that is lost between two worlds and, you know,
37:07doesn't know what to do.
37:08Laura, you worked with both Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach.
37:13You didn't even tell me he was sick, so it felt like he just vanished suddenly.
37:19And you wouldn't even let me go to his funeral.
37:21You were at a school.
37:23We didn't want you to miss the school.
37:24We did what we thought was best for you.
37:26But I never saw him again.
37:30And every time I came back to China, he just, he just wasn't there anymore.
37:33Laura, you worked with both Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach this year, and they're obviously
37:39a real-life couple.
37:41What did you find sort of similar about the way they work, and what was sort of the starkest
37:45difference?
37:46Well, I think they're both, as Scarlett described with Noah, they're both exacting about the
37:51words because they really, I think as a playwright would, they really hear a rhythm to the language.
37:59With Noah, it has its own specific nature, and one thing that I was so inspired by, and I think
38:07we found in rehearsals, even when we aren't in the scenes with the people at hand, when it's with
38:13Adam with his attorney or Scarlett and I together, he feels there is a real musicality to the film.
38:20I think he hears a rhythm, Noah, that he's waiting for everyone to resonate with in a
38:29really beautiful way.
38:31And so having rehearsal time and many dinners over, in the case of Scarlett and myself and
38:35Adam, over a year, year and a half as he was writing the script, you started to see him
38:41build for each character a similar melody.
38:45In the case of Greta, she was also adapting Little Women.
38:49We wanted to honor Louisa May Alcott's words and another time, seemingly, but she's so brilliantly
38:59trusting of how modern the story is, of how modern Louisa's writing is, and how clear a revolutionary
39:11Louisa was, and through these characters, complicated and beautiful different female characters that
39:18she wrote, but also that she heard the language in a way that I think is very similar to how
39:24she and Noah have worked and collaborated, both as co-writers and her as his actress, that
39:33there is a rhythm to the language that she brings that is seemingly messy and joyful and complicated
39:40and angry and all of those things, but it's very strategic.
39:44Do you love it?
39:50If he asked me again, I think I would say yes.
39:54Do you think he'll ask me again?
39:57But do you love it?
39:58Are you seeing concrete changes as you work in this business?
40:12Do you really feel a difference on sets or in the sort of culture of Hollywood?
40:16Well, Greta and Laureen are great examples of an exciting year of women having some autonomy
40:24to tell stories.
40:26I hear the conversations, and I've been in professional partnerships with men who make
40:35different choices now.
40:36Even if it's just to be clear about what their intentions are, keep the door open, or I had
40:46one gentleman say, I don't meet with women alone.
40:49I just always make sure that there's somebody else in here, because I don't want anything
40:52to be misconstrued or misunderstood, and I want her to be comfortable.
40:57So you see that there are different choices being made, and like you said, maybe it's just
41:03being more careful, and I don't know, but there you go.
41:06That's a nice way to put it.
41:06Yeah, I think we've stood up and said, hey, we don't want this to be going on, and it's
41:10been going on a long time, and it's enough.
41:14And on a more positive note, we have movies like Hustlers and Little Women and all these
41:20other movies where there's women at the forefront, and we're producing, we're directing, we're
41:26writing it, we're editing it.
41:28Our movie was all women.
41:31All women.
41:32All women.
41:33But it was great, and it was awesome, and you realize, after doing so many movies for
41:41so many years, how rare that is.
41:43When you have it like that, and you're like, wow, I've never had this experience, 40-something
41:48movies or whatever the hell.
41:49That's always very interesting to me when I hear that, because when I first started,
41:53the first two directors I worked with were women, and I'd say there was an equal amount,
41:59and when I hear about an industry that existed that was really rare, it's very mind-blowing
42:06for me.
42:07I can't imagine not working with a woman at the helm of a project.
42:10Lupita, you've worked with Jordan Peele, Steve McQueen, Mira Nair.
42:14I think a lot of filmmakers who have been underrepresented in the past in Hollywood, are you making these
42:19choices specifically to work with directors like that, or is it just the roles you've been drawn to?
42:27I think these are all directors who have offered me the most interesting roles, and I've taken them.
42:34And, yeah, I haven't really thought about the demographic of the director I've been working with.
42:48I think because I am, I mean, I am a black woman, and so, you know, this industry is, this time, this Me Too time, this Time's Up time is about allowing for more equitable representation.
43:08And I'm a beneficiary of that movement because in the work that I'm being, I've been able to do.
43:18And like Awkwafina, I can't, for me, I'm very grateful to have come into the industry at the time that I have because I am benefiting from the efforts of a lot of other women
43:34who have come before me, other black women who have come before me, who have had it a lot rougher than I have, and I'm aware of that.
43:44It's a time when directors like Steve McQueen and Jordan Peele are being given chances to make work, and so they are able to then, you know, in Jordan's case,
43:55write with someone like me in mind for their next film, you know?
44:03So I think it's, you know, it's not necessarily my conscious effort.
44:12It's, you know, this is evidence of the transformation happening.
44:18And for me, I think this is a time where there is a concerted effort to consider diversity and inclusion.
44:27What I really want is for it to not be a fad, not be a trend, you know, where right now it's really dope and cool and on trend to work with women and underrepresented groups.
44:41But I think the moment of maturity in the industry is when it is just the norm, you know, when you no longer need to ask that question.
44:51Right. I think when I first started, one of the things that I wanted to do, because I was Puerto Rican, Latina,
45:00was that I wanted to be in romantic comedies, because I felt like all the women in romantic comedies were always looked the same way.
45:08They were always just, you know, they were always white.
45:11And I was like, there's never anybody.
45:12If I can do it and just show that I'm every girl, because I'm, I am, I am the hopeless romantic.
45:20I am that I am the single working woman.
45:23I am. I am all I was those things.
45:26And that's one of the things that you asked earlier, like, do you did you make certain choices?
45:30And I remember thinking, like, I need to be the lead in a romantic comic.
45:35I need to do that. I have to do that.
45:37And that's one of the things I went for.
45:40And that's one of the things me and my agents talked about.
45:42Like, can we find me a romantic comedy?
45:44You know, yes, I've done, you know, Selena and Mi Familia.
45:47And people are taking notice.
45:50But what can, what can we do where I can change that, do that, be that, you know?
45:56Yeah.
45:56I think there's a genuine urge for audiences to want an industry that represents their life.
46:03And I think that in that way, that's why I'm very positive about the direction that we're going in.
46:08And I don't think that having people of different cultures or women will be a trend because I think that it's what people want.
46:14People, you know, we're changing as a society.
46:16I don't think that the work that Time's Up or the Me Too movement will reverse.
46:22I think that it's going to become engraved into how we work and how a set is run.
46:26You know, I think that those changes are only positive because we're moving forward as a society.
46:32You know, a couple of filmmakers have come out sort of against Marvel films.
46:35Scarlett and Lupita, I'm especially curious what you think about Marvel films being called the theme parks of movies and things like that.
46:42I think there's certainly a place for, you know, all kinds of cinema right now.
46:50I mean, people absorb content in so many different ways.
46:57You know, I actually didn't totally understand that statement because I guess I needed some insight as to what it meant exactly.
47:05And somebody had pointed out to me, because to me it seemed kind of like a little old fashioned, but somebody pointed out to me that perhaps what the statement meant was that there's no room for smaller films because the cinema is taken up by these like enormous blockbusters and that like smaller movies don't have a chance at the theater, which I hadn't actually considered.
47:31Which I think is a valid point, but I also feel like, you know, I feel like there's sort of this shift in how people watch stuff and there's all these platforms for different kinds of things.
47:46And now there's movies and shows and art films and all kinds of stuff getting made that you can watch in all these different ways.
47:54And I just feel like it's just changing.
47:57It doesn't mean it's going away.
47:58I mean, some of us, of course, it's hard when you love the idea of going to the movies and making movies and you go, oh, it needs to be projected on this big screen.
48:07And it's such a shame you watch it on this tiny thing.
48:09But it's like, that's how people watch movies, you know?
48:11And you kind of have to go with the flow of like the way that it is.
48:16Like how it changes, right?
48:18And if I can add to your point, it seems like it's a chicken and egg conversation because of what you're talking about in terms of content and how we've changed,
48:26how we sort of take in different, you know, the cinematic experiences or what used to be cinematic experiences.
48:34The place of movies, the place and the importance of cinema has also shifted a little bit.
48:41You know, we used to all watch the same things because the movie came to the theaters and it was in the theaters for a couple months.
48:47And then we went several times and then everybody was talking about it.
48:50We all had the same heroes.
48:52And so it set up a particular business model.
48:54And that was the paradigm for so many decades.
48:57It's kind of weird when suddenly the only things that sort of fit the modern financial paradigm are these bigger films.
49:04In terms of, you know, people who are eager to invest to go and make a film, that's a proven, tried and true in the current atmosphere
49:14where people don't run to the cinema two and three times to see a movie as readily as they did in, say, the last, well, millennia.
49:24It's also like so expensive to go to the movies, you know what I mean?
49:27It's crazy.
49:28Like I can't, every time I go, I can't believe that like families can afford to go to the movies.
49:33Yeah, it's crazy.
49:34And I think that's part of the problem also is it's like if you want to go see something in the theater,
49:39I'm just kind of looking at it from somebody else's perspective, maybe you just want to see something that's like big and explosive
49:44and you could take your whole family to and it's fun and you have popcorn and all this because it's like a huge experience.
49:49And then maybe the stuff that's more intimate or like you want to kind of pick and choose from, you think, oh, I'll watch this on, you know, watch this from home
49:58or watch it in some other way.
50:00Streaming services.
50:00And I think it's just the reality of also how it's just so unaffordable to go to the movies.
50:08It's crazy to me.
50:11And I guess that's also part of the business model that you're talking about.
50:14And I think this will be my last question about sort of making movies in 2019.
50:18Do you feel the culture around nudity and sex scenes has changed in the way it's discussed now and the choices you would make yourselves as actresses?
50:28I don't know.
50:28I think it's a personal choice.
50:30I've always felt like that's a personal choice for anybody.
50:32I don't judge anybody for doing it, for not doing it.
50:34You know, you take a role.
50:35You decide what you're going to do.
50:37You discuss it with your director.
50:38You see if it serves the story and the character in the best way.
50:43And then you have a choice to say yes or no.
50:45You spoke about how early on in your career you were asked to take your top off.
50:49I didn't want to.
50:50And you didn't.
50:51I didn't want to.
50:52Oh, you're talking about more of a personal.
50:55Oh, that was not a...
50:56No, that was a...
50:58No, a director at a fitting asked me to take my top off.
51:03Not for the movie.
51:04To see what?
51:06Well, because I was supposed to do nudity in the movie.
51:08Oh, they wanted to see your breasts?
51:09He wanted to see my boobs.
51:11And I was like, we're not on the set.
51:12What they looked like before you?
51:13Yes.
51:14That is crazy.
51:15Well, he was crazy.
51:17And...
51:18God, who was?
51:22And I said no.
51:24I said no.
51:24I stood up for myself.
51:26But it was so funny because I remember being so panicked in the moment.
51:30Like, oh, my God.
51:30And by the way, there was a costume designer in the room with me.
51:33Yeah, yeah, yeah.
51:34And so there was another woman in the room with me.
51:36And he says this.
51:37And I was like, no.
51:39Luckily, a little bit of the Bronx came out.
51:41You know what I mean?
51:41And I was like, I don't have to show you my...
51:43No.
51:45Thankfully, you were like that, though.
51:46Thankfully.
51:46Because not everybody would feel that way.
51:49That's the thing.
51:49Because you give in in that moment.
51:51And all of a sudden, that person's off and running.
51:53Right?
51:54Thinking they can do whatever they want.
51:56And because I put up a little boundary right there and said no, he laid off.
52:01And then later on apologized.
52:02But the minute he walked out of the room, the costume designer was like, I'm so sorry.
52:05I'm so sorry.
52:06That just happened.
52:07And I was like, you know, thrown for a second or whatever.
52:10But that was...
52:11I feel like that could still happen.
52:13I honestly don't...
52:14Yeah.
52:14I don't think we're like far away from that at all.
52:17You know, I was talking to some of our crew from the last film that I did about just inappropriate behavior in general.
52:23And they were talking about a particular DP that was just like doing all kinds of crazy stuff with the actor and like shooting up skirts.
52:30And then, you know, our first day was like AD had to go over to the actress and say, hey, just so you know, like maybe you want to check and see because I think the camera angle is like going to maybe not be something that you're comfortable with.
52:41And she had no idea.
52:42And this was like, you know, whatever, they had just finished shooting a year and a half ago or something.
52:46And the person I was talking to was just baffled by, you know, he was saying, I can't believe this goes on.
52:51But it totally still goes on.
52:53I think the difference now, though, is that because of the conversations that are happening in public, women, like for me, I feel now my...
53:03It's easier to tell.
53:05A little more empowered.
53:06Yes.
53:06It's easier to tell when something is inappropriate.
53:08Because in that moment, if the costume designer had said something, you know, it could have changed.
53:14If she had supported you in some way, spoken up, it would have changed, you know, what I mean, the dynamic.
53:21And so now I feel we're programming a younger, the younger generation to know what's okay and what's not.
53:29You know, that it's not okay to be in a costume fitting and for a man to ask that of you.
53:34And at least even though those things might happen, our defenses would be sharper, you know, in those moments.
53:42Yeah, I was thinking to your point, too, and to yours, with the younger generation, I don't know that it wouldn't occur to them to speak up where we thought, oh, whoa, this is a little...
53:55Yeah, what do I do here?
53:56What do I do here?
53:57Let me navigate this in a way that...
54:00I had a great acting teacher who told me all of the things that would happen.
54:07You know, not that he told me things about, like, oh, they're going to have to see your booze.
54:11But he was like, on the set, you kiss, you don't kiss all the way, you know, when you're rehearsing and you have respect for your actors and your director.
54:18So I had, like, a kind of an idea in my mind that this is not okay.
54:23Well, no, I'm not supposed to get naked before I get on camera.
54:27And I take it off at the last minute.
54:29Like, I know this stuff.
54:30And so, again, it's like teaching, passing it down.
54:33And what's happened now is a big lesson for all women, right?
54:37It's like, no, these things are okay, these things are not okay.
54:41And it doesn't matter what context it's in.
54:42It's never okay to feel uncomfortable.
54:45And as you said, the light is on now, both in what feels comfortable and how to set boundaries, but also in calling someone out.
54:53I mean, I know for these guys, I started auditioning at 10, 11 years old.
54:59And I listen now to the next generation saying, I mean, it's crazy.
55:03You hear these stories.
55:05Of course, nothing we would do.
55:07People used to have auditions in hotel rooms.
55:09I'm like, yeah, every single time.
55:11I'm waiting in the lobby of a hotel, and they're like, the director is waiting for you in the room now to have a chemistry read.
55:18Yeah, and there was no part of me that thought.
55:21No, that thought to question how bizarre that might be.
55:22You would have auditions in hotel rooms.
55:24Oh, yeah.
55:25All the time.
55:26Yeah, with a lot of lady casting directors, too, by the way.
55:29But, yeah, that was kind of convenient if they were looking out of town or whatever.
55:34Actors' houses.
55:35Oh, yeah, there's that, too.
55:37So, oh, yeah, I forgot about all those stuff.
55:40Yeah.
55:41And sometimes it was not inappropriate at all.
55:43Exactly.
55:44It was totally appropriate.
55:46It's not like you can put everybody in that cap.
55:48No, it just kind of afforded an opportunity to be inappropriate if you were so fine.
55:53If you were that person.
55:54Right.
55:54But also now there's intimacy coaches.
55:56I've also not been asked to do much nudity in my career and sex scenes.
56:02But I've heard that now they have intimacy coaches on set, which I think is really great.
56:09You know, when you have a fight scene, you have a fight coordinator.
56:11Why not have an intimacy coordinator?
56:13Well, on Hustlers we had a comfort coach.
56:15What was it called?
56:16It was basically somebody who understood that world and said, you know, these things are okay and these things are not okay.
56:23Oh, that's good.
56:23And made everybody on the set comfortable with what they were doing.
56:26Yeah.
56:27You know, because we had a lot of women who were half-dressed, naked, top, you know what I mean?
56:32Yeah.
56:33But this is still a professional environment and nobody should be made to feel.
56:37And those things are very, very helpful, I think, to keep things above board.
56:42Does that intimacy coach work for just normal people?
56:44I was going to say, can we get them in the grab present?
56:47I think I'm really about an eye contact in my personal life, so I would love to talk to them.
56:52I guess we've run out of time.
56:55I think we should end on that note.
56:56So thank you so much for joining us today.
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