Emily and Anne

0:00
- I'm actually time traveling. - Are you really? - [Anne] I'm actually like time traveling. - I know!
- And I'm on the set with you,
0:06
and the take's just about to go and you've just said something really, really funny. - Yeah! - I'm
just sitting on top of like this bubble of giggle.
0:12
- Or we'd make like fart noises. They'd be like, "Rolling, rolling," and I'd be like: (imitating
passing wind) (Anne laughing cheerfully)
0:17
(upbeat jazz music)
0:25
(upbeat jazz music continues)
0:33
All right, yeah, we're back! - We're back. - We're back! - Hi, honey! Hello. Hello.
0:38
So... - Yes? - I'm sure everyone is curious. How did we meet? - We met...
0:44
Did we meet before the table read of "Devil Wears Prada?" Was it at the table read? - This is so
embarrassing
0:50
because I remember every second of the first time I met you and you're like, "Did we?" - No,
because I also am very blurry on most memories.
0:56
- I'm just so much more into you than you are into me. It's fine. (Emily laughs cheerfully) It's
fine. - How did we meet?
1:02
- I remember because I joined the cast just before you. - Yeah.
1:07
- And I was like, "Oh, who's gonna play Emily? Who's gonna play Emily?" And he said- - They
were like, "Some random who no one's ever heard of." - No, you hadn't been cast yet.
1:13
And so, no, no. What I mean is that was a bad joke. What I mean is I was hearing that your name
came up
1:21
and they said, "It's this amazing girl out of England and she's so funny."
1:26
- Aw! - And then I remember David calling and saying that you'd gotten the part and I remember
walking into the room
1:32
and like turning and meeting you. And I just remember going like, "Hi, Buddy" in my head.
1:38
- Oh. - And instant thought, I was like, "What a movie star!" - What? - First thought.
1:44
You were like shedding stardust. It was crazy. - Are you getting this? - And I just remember
thinking to myself,
1:51
"Emily Blunt is going to be the biggest deal." And then we just chatted and we went for coffee
1:57
and I took you for a walk around where I live. - So I will say I was just talking to our mutual
friend this morning, to Jen, and I was saying,
2:03
"You know, I was so green coming into that situation."
2:09
And I said, "She was so kind to me." And I didn't know New York, I didn't know anyone,
2:15
and you were like the warmest embrace and you were so good to me. And even though you were
a colossal movie star at that time,
2:22
you treated me like a complete equal to you always. You were one of the people I've known
longest.
2:29
We've known each other for 18 years. What? - What? - [Emily] 18 years. - Our relationship is
the age of an adult.
2:35
- It really is! - We have an adult relationship. Crazy! Grown-up! - That is a grown-up age! A
drinking age. - [Anne] In some countries.
2:41
- In England. (laughs) In England. - We're so drunk in England right now. - Exactly! Exactly. It
was the wildest thing
2:46
and I know we just had a joy bomb of a time on that movie. It was so wild.
2:51
I don't know if any of us knew it was gonna become what it did. I mean it's quoted to me every
week. I don't know about you.
2:57
- Yeah. - It will be the movie that changed my life and you couldn't have been kinder to me.
3:04
- Oh. - Truly. Truly 'cause it was nerve-wracking. And I mean we were both absolutely terrified.
3:10
- We were. - La Streep, but. (laughs) - I was so grateful to you, your gift of a personality,
3:16
but also like your Britishness. Because I found the more nervous you get the funnier you are.
(both laugh cheerfully)
3:22
- Yeah, that's how I get myself in trouble. I make stupid jokes. - But thank God for them because
I mean
3:27
I love what you said. It was like a joy bomb. - Yeah. - Just of non-stop "Mrs. Doubtfire"
references.
3:33
- Yeah! Which now my children love. - Stop! - So much. - Oh my gosh! Time is so different.
3:39
- They quote, "A run-by fruiting" to me. I'm like, "Oh!" (Anne laughing cheerfully) And they try
and do the voice and everything.
3:45
- Go on, do it for them. - Oh, I saw him, Dear. It was a run-by fruiting. (both laugh cheerfully)
3:51
- I love that. - It's the best. It's the best. - Oh, the terrorists they ran that way. It was a run-by
fruiting.
3:56
- So we are in "The Devil Wears Prada" club together. - [Emily] Yes! - Which is incredible. And
now we're in another club together,
4:02
the Christopher Nolan Club, so. - Oh yeah. - Oh yeah. - Oh! - Oh yeah! - Captain Extraordinary.
4:09
(somber music) (baby crying) - I have been going to him all fucking day.
4:16
- When we did "Interstellar," Matthew McConaughey noted that when we were up in the glacier,
like the colder it was
4:24
and the harder the conditions were, the bluer Chris's eyes got and the blonder his hair was. And
he just-
4:29
- Yeah. I always feel with Chris's hair, I can tell when he's very happy with a take 'cause his hair
starts to dance. He has quite expressive hair I noticed.
4:36
And I can tell it's almost like he sort of vibrates a little bit when he's really happy with the take.
4:41
He's not gonna tell you that he's that happy because he's very English and so his version is like,
4:46
"Happy? Yeah. Moving on. Okay. Yeah. All right, let's go." And you're like, "Was it good?" You
know?
4:51
I remember when I first met Robert Downey Jr., I said, "You're gonna just love it so much and
the screws are gonna get tightened on you so much,
4:57
and it's just the most focused wonderful unchaotic set." I said, "But you're going to get some very
British compliments.
5:03
There will be no smoke blown up your ass and you're gonna have to be all right with it." But he
is extraordinary.
5:11
He's like a tempest of a talent encased in this completely calm, authoritative person.
5:19
But he's fun isn't he? - So fun! - And warm and accessible. And it's all those things that people
kind of
5:25
don't assume about him. I think everyone's very intimidated. - I think very, very, very
intimidated.
5:31
And it's so exciting when you talk to him and you realize he's still a human being. - Yeah.
5:36
- [Anne] Having a life. - And a dad. - [Anne] That is very real. - Like a good dad. - And, yeah. -
Like we've all been on those sets
5:41
where the director is like a bad dad. (Anne stifles a laugh) You know what I mean? Like a bad
dad. A bad dad who has an ego and an agenda.
5:49
And I just feel Chris is a good one. - The part that blows my mind about Chris,
5:54
'cause he is authoritative in the best sense of the word, is how deeply he really listens.
6:01
- Oh my God. So curious. - [Anne] And he's so present with you. - Yeah. Did you like how he'd
stand by the camera
6:06
and watch you? - [Anne] Yes. - Like no monitors, no sort of yelling from the tent in a puffy coat
as we're all freezing.
6:13
He's there freezing with you and he's just watching you and he's leaning into you, you know? -
And it's all about the work.
6:18
- Yeah. Completely. - And the whole set is so focused on that. - [Emily] Yeah. - And I remember
when I was on "Dark Night Rises,"
6:24
one of the crew members, we were just chatting one day, she said, "You know, I've really got
imposter syndrome being here."
6:30
I said, "Oh really?" She said, "Yeah, but then someone else told me, 'If you're on a Christopher
Nolan set, that means you might be one of the three best people
6:37
at your job in the world.'" - Wow! - And I thought about that and I was like, "It's kind of true
actually."
6:42
- Yeah. - And so I just, I mean... - I remember this day 'cause he really expects it from everyone,
you know?
6:49
He really wants that kind of excellence. - 'Cause he gives it. He brings it. - Gives it. And, you
know, he just...
6:55
The magnitude of what he is capable of. - Yeah. - I think he just expects the same from
everyone. I remember we were doing this shot around a table
7:02
and it was a very difficult shot to get as the dolly's coming behind me like that. And we did it a
few times and we couldn't get in.
7:09
The dolly had to come around to me and rack focus as I turn to Killian, and the whole scene's
about how
7:14
she's a drunken mess and everything. As per use. - Again. - Again.
7:20
And it comes around and it was just hard to get it right. And so I said, "Do you want me just to
turn on a specific line, Chris?"
7:26
And he goes, "No, that's not for you to worry about." He goes, "'Cause that's why I've hired the
best. Right, Ryan? Because you're gonna get it, aren't you?"
7:32
And Ryan on the dolly was like, "Absolutely." You know? But it was just kinda that assumption
that he would get it
7:39
and he did get it. And it was just, I don't know. He just is... I just love him.
7:45
- I know. It's kind of hard to express because I love what you said about the magnitude of him. -
[Emily] Mm! - And so the last thing you expect from someone like that
7:52
is that they're also kind. - Oh he's so kind. - And they also really value kindness. - Yeah.
7:57
- I remember there was this one day we were doing a shot on "Dark Knight Rises" and he came
to me beforehand.
8:04
He said, "Now I just want you to know the shot has lived in my head for many years." - Oh God.
- "So I'm going to be very specific about it.
8:10
I'm gonna make you do it a lot. But it's not actually you, it's just because I have it in my head a
certain way." - Oh!
8:15
- And I just, I couldn't. Because he didn't have to. Like, I would've done it however many times
he wanted. - No, of course.
8:21
- Like a thousand, a thousand more. Like whatever you need. - Just to preface it by saying so that
you didn't shrink and start to question yourself.
8:26
- Exactly. - [Emily] You know? - Exactly. - He's just, he's wonderful. I get lost for words about
it.
8:31
I mean we all felt that way and we're all so proud to be in it.
8:39
Like we're so blown away. - Can I tell you that I saw that watching the movie?
8:44
- Yeah. - 'Cause the movie is, the movie's the movie, and I am at a loss for words, and you are
just so wonderful in it.
8:50
- Thank you. - Just 'cause I've known you for so long, I was so proud of you. - [Emily] Oh, thank
you. - She was so different than you.
8:55
- Yeah. - [Anne] Like so different. - Yeah. - And you're so warm and you're so funny and you're
just like just a room is better with you in it.
9:03
And she's kind of like the opposite of you. She's kind of like a dying star that contracts.
9:08
- Yeah. - Painfully and dramatically and reacts to things and is frightening. (somber music)
9:15
- You don't get to commit the sin and then have us all feel sorry for you that you have
consequences.
9:21
- Knowing you as I do, I knew that that's a stretch. (both laugh cheerfully) And so the way Kitty
contracts around her life,
9:29
you know, rather than kind of opening to it and then when she finally does open and you realize,
9:36
"Oh God, the pain that she'd been in the whole time
9:41
and sort of the indignity of her life." - Yeah. That's an amazing word to use,
9:47
and actually the perfect word to use, and I so appreciate everything that you're saying.
9:53
I can't even tell you. 'Cause you speak so beautifully and you kind of word things that even I
haven't quite been able to grasp about her
10:01
and what it meant to play her. I did find her ferocity so exciting.
10:10
I thought she was so exhilarating. I mean, he was her fourth husband by the time she was 29.
10:17
- [Anne] Mm-hmm. - Like clearly she was a bit of a non-conformist for the time.
10:22
And that deterioration that she goes through
10:27
and the indignity, as you say, of having to contort herself. - Yeah.
10:33
- Into something that was so unnatural for that extraordinary brain and the capacity of it
10:40
that was so straight-jacketed and squandered really. - Yeah.
10:45
- And wasted. And I understood the anger so much and the resentment at her lot in life, you
know?
10:54
And why she must have just wanted to numb it out, you know? - Yeah.
10:59
- And the isolation and loneliness of Los Alamos. You know, she was a big party animal as well.
- Yeah.
11:05
- Yeah, she'd throw cocktail parties. But she wasn't good at the small talk. She didn't like doing
it. And so she definitely got
11:11
the reputation of not being terribly nice, and I understand why. But she was a bad mother,
11:17
she did not read "Good Housekeeping," you know? At all. She did not subscribe. - But she knew
that she needed a kitchen.
11:22
- She knew she needed a kitchen. But she was probably not a very good cook. Just to shake up a
martini. (both laugh cheerfully)
11:28
You know? - Where else would we put the ice? - Where? Where's the freezer? I kind of fell in
love with her completely,
11:34
and all of her ugliness. - Yeah. - Loved it. - It's just it was all so very long ago Mr. Rob, wasn't
it?
11:41
- Not really. - Long enough to have forgotten. - Did you return the card or rip it up? - The card
whose existence I've forgotten? That scene that you talk about, the testifying scene,
11:50
I saw it as that reclamation of that brilliant brain
11:56
like coming back to life, and when all the odds were against her and no one believed in her, and
she was so volatile
12:04
and so unpredictable at that time. It was so exciting. It's such a cool setup that Chris gave me,
you know?
12:09
And it literally says in the script, "She's barely walking in a straight line, getting into that." And
you're just like, "Oh my God, she's gonna choke."
12:15
You know? - Oh! And the way you choke. - [Emily] Mm-hmm. - The way you did before he
gives you the glass of water.
12:21
The thing I loved was I couldn't tell, you managed to make me equally believe that it was put on,
12:27
she was luring them in, and that it was something that was happening and she was smart enough
to know how to lean into it and use it.
12:32
- [Emily] Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. - And she was playing chess with the moment. But I couldn't tell
right off the bat if it was something that she was like,
12:38
"I know exactly how they see me." - [Emily] Mm-hmm. - "I know exactly where their biases are,
12:43
and I know exactly how to play them." - Yeah. I also remember in the scene Jason Clark,
12:49
who's just a great dance partner, you know? For a scene. - Yes. - [Emily] 'Cause he's so brilliant.
12:55
- Yes. - But I remember he said to Chris, "I think I'm gonna just move my chair in
13:01
and I'm gonna get really close to her." And actually I remember it made me like bristle
13:07
and it kind of made me go, "Let's roll." - [Anne] Mm-hmm. - Like, "Let's do this." It was so cool.
13:13
- Do you mean that because he and the character wanted to invade your space? - Yeah. He
wanted to intimidate me and invade my space.
13:18
And like that thing is, most women have experienced when a man tries to intimidate you. - You
go up to the wall but not through it.
13:24
- That's right. And it's just like it kind of just makes you wanna fight.
13:29
- Yeah. - It was really fun. It was a very exhilarating scene. - It looked fun. - It was so fun. So
fun. - It looked really, really fun.
13:35
And when you let this cackle out, I was like, "There she is." - I was so relieved there. - [Anne]
There she is. - Probably like relieved myself.
13:41
(Anne laughs cheerfully) Yeah, it was really such a heroic moment for her
13:47
and I'm so grateful that she gets that moment because she had deteriorated to such an extent.
13:54
It was so wonderful to give her a moment of... - Yeah! - You know?
14:00
Soaring at the end. - The whole metaphor of a star dying and what Chris did with the
cinematography.
14:07
Who was your cinematographer? - [Emily] Hoyte van Hoytema. - [Anne] It was Hoyte? -
[Emily] Yeah. - [Anne] I thought it was. - I know. - Hoyte did "Interstellar." - Oh he's just
heaven.
14:14
He's heaven. He's so brilliant. - I know he is. - And they're like soul twins together, Chris and
Hoyte.
14:19
- So I worked with Hoyte and Chris. - Was that their first scene? - On their first one, so they
must be like so deep in love. - It's secret language stuff.
14:25
- You can tell how in love they are. - It's beautiful. - [Anne] I mean, through every shot. I mean
every time. - Chris loves Hoyte more than anyone in the world, I think,
14:30
I mean apart from Emma and his children. Sorry about that. (Anne laughs cheerfully) She says
quickly. - But the whole cast felt
14:39
it was one of those thrilling things because you know what it is. Like there's the moment, there's
times when you're number one on the call sheet,
14:45
you're the Killian of the cast, and then there's the ensemble work. - Yeah. - And it's such an
exciting place to be as an actor.
14:51
- Yeah. - To be like, "Okay, I'm not just, I don't just get my moment, I just don't get my solo.
14:58
But I have to hold space for everybody." - Yeah. - And you're like, "This job is about being
present and listening."
15:04
- Yeah! - "And creating the veracity of the world around this person." - [Emily] It's so true. And
actually because it's told from Killian's perspective,
15:11
he's so extraordinary and mercurial and all of those things. - [Anne] And intimate. - Keeps you-
15:16
Oh God! - He's so intimate in his performance. - He's so intimate and he's so vulnerable and
beautiful. But I think all of these other characters come in
15:24
who are quite colorful, you know? And they just extract different facets of this
15:29
very mysterious personality. - Yeah. - And so I kind of love that all of our scenes were so I feel
like I would jet pack in and just have
15:36
these very high octane emotional scenes with him and then leave and then come back 10 days
later and do another thing.
15:42
I mean it was much easier for us. - But it also seems to me like that's the Chris of it and the
"Oppenheimer" of it.
15:47
It's like that thing I could see every single cast member aware that they were in the presence.
15:52
- [Emily] That's right. - [Anne] Of probably the best director that they were ever gonna work
with. - Oh! I think. - [Anne] You know? - I don't know where-
15:58
- So it's that extra. I saw it! - Yeah. - I saw it and then there was one scene, there was like 20
speaking parts in it
16:04
and everybody was so- It was just like actor. I was in such heaven 'cause everyone was so open,
16:09
so listening, and so specific in their part. Everyone had worked their craft so much.
16:15
- Yeah. - If they had a line, if they were just in the scene. - [Emily] Yeah. - The entire cast
showed up so prepared.
16:21
- It was beautiful that way. - [Anne] And it's just like, "Look at what I can do." - It was so
focused. - That level of respect and inspiration.
16:27
- Well, he kind of, I mean you just do. Like he walks in the room and you know it's going to be a
very rare day.
16:33
- Yeah. - Day after day was a rare day. It was amazing.
16:39
(glass smashes) Wake up! It is Strauss! It's always been Strauss and you know it.
16:45
Why won't you fight him? - The film is a hit. - I know! - The film was a hit. It was so big!
16:50
- A three hour historical drama. Even though I don't even wanna call it that 'cause I think it's like
a horror movie
16:55
and it's a love story and it's a chase thriller and it's just... - Paranoid thriller where at the end
you're just like,
17:01
"But I actually do have so much to be scared about." - Yeah. - [Anne] Like I'm not paranoid. -
Yes!
17:07
- I'm just very, very paranoid. - It's kind of like a three hour heart attack, the film. You know?
(laughs) A little bit. - Completely.
17:12
- No, I couldn't feel my legs afterwards. I remember staggering towards Chris going, "I don't
know how to describe this experience."
17:19
- Yeah. - But I can't believe none of us, none of us, we are all very awestruck by the success of it.
17:27
And that people ran to the theaters and they ran over and over again to see it.
17:32
And I don't think even Chris understands how it all happened.
17:38
I think we're all just enjoying this kind of meteoric moment
17:44
that's really difficult to word. And I think people want
17:50
the full kidnap of an experience and you are going to get that with a Chris Nolan movie.
17:56
- Absolutely. - I think that kind of togetherness that people crave,
18:02
we crave experiencing something in the dark together. - Yeah. - And being pinned to our seats by
the experience
18:13
that is impossible to word. And I think people are overwhelmed and heart-wrenched by it.
18:20
And he doesn't sort of presuppose that you're not going to understand anything.
18:26
He's really uncompromising in that vision. - Yes. - He expects you to be at
18:31
your most heightened awareness of what's going on. And like, he doesn't leave anyone behind
18:37
but he's also nothing spoonfed. - No. - And I will never forget, like I think when I realized that
18:44
"Oppenheimer" was gonna be part of a big movement and a very significant moment in history,
in cinema,
18:51
it was, you know, because of the strike, we were never able to watch the movie with an audience,
any of us.
18:57
And it was really sad, you know? 'Cause of all the movies I've done, I was like, "Is that one that I
want to see at the premiere?"
19:02
Normally I don't even. I don't really need to watch it at the premiere. We'll go have a party or
whatever.
19:07
But I really wanted to watch it with an audience, and we didn't get to. So I remember opening
weekend,
19:14
John and I managed to find two seats at an IMAX in Nyack, New York.
19:19
- Perfect. - [Emily] In a shopping mall. - Perfect. - At 4:00 p.m. and we went and we snuck in
when the lights went dark,
19:26
and I saw a group of teenage boys coming in dressed as him, in Nyack, New York, and I got like
chills.
19:33
I was like, "Oh my God." I remember calling Killian afterwards, "You're not gonna believe what
I just saw."
19:38
- Oh, I love it. - Like 15-year-old boys with like a fake martini. (both laugh cheerfully) It was
with like pipes dangling out of their mouth.
19:45
- Nyack, we love you. (laughs) - Yeah. Nyack, we love you. It was just, it was wild. It was wild.
19:50
- I have my own ideas. (fingers snapping) - What kind of ideas? - You can never tell anyone. Do
you understand?
19:57
Promise me. - Okay. - I found "Eileen" completely riveting.
20:03
- Thank you. - And I was completely intoxicated by Rebecca
20:08
and I felt gripped by how you just would glide into this very muted world
20:18
with this ferocious allure that you have. You are so sexy in this movie. It's crazy.
20:24
- Oh! Thank you. - [Emily] I know. I'm gonna make you blush. - She ruins it. - So sexy in the
movie and you just would glide in.
20:32
And I couldn't figure out, it's that thing of going, "Do I want to be with her or be her?"
20:40
It was just so ambiguous and seductive and your chemistry with Eileen is just, it's so beautiful.
20:50
And I couldn't even figure out if you were like almost a ghost of her mother or the idealized
version of-
20:56
- Oh good. - Who her mother was. Like is she like a specter? - [Anne] Good. Mm-hmm. - Is she
a friend? Is she a foe?
21:02
Is she? Oh, it was so deliciously deceptive. - Thank you. Thank you.
21:08
- [Emily] Oh, it was just gorgeous. - Never stop talking. Thank you! - It was so beautiful. -
[Anne] My God! - It was. It was just so magnetic.
21:15
- I'd like the sound of your voice sing me to sleep tonight. (both laughing cheerfully) - I always
find you so magnetic.
21:20
But there was something. I love you just embracing all of that kind of allure and sexuality and
like, it's just beautiful.
21:27
And I wanna know why you wanted to do it and what was it about the part that made you go,
21:34
"Ooh, I'm so in?" - Ooh! Thank you. - You're welcome. - Thank you.
21:39
- It's all true. It's beautiful. - [Anne] William Oldroyd, the director, made a film called "Lady
Macbeth" with Florence Pugh.
21:46
- Yes! - And I saw it when it came out because I'm always really curious about emerging
filmmakers
21:52
and I was just, my jaw was on the floor. - Yeah. - I mean, I couldn't believe it. I thought it was so
bold.
21:57
- Yeah. - Her performance! - Isn't she brilliant? - Yes!
22:03
- She's brilliant. - Really, really brilliant. And it was like Aphrodite coming out of a shell
22:08
because I'd never seen her before and then all of a sudden, it was this person sitting in front of
me picking her teeth
22:13
and it was so unreal. And I thought, "Well, you know, it's his first film
22:21
and she's new, so if it's all her, he knew what he had and if it's him too, amazing."
22:29
- [Emily] Mm-hmm. - So I was really curious about what it would be like to work with him. And
then- - What was he like?
22:35
- A dream. - Really? - He's so... Oh my gosh! He's so fun! - [Emily] Mm-hmm. - He's so fun.
And he had this, first of all, he's brilliant, you know?
22:44
Kind of has come up through the theater and he's joyful.
22:49
- Yeah. - And he's funny. - Yeah, that you could feel it in the movie. There was like a sort of
relishing.
22:55
- Yes. Yes! - The violence and the shocks and there was this wonderful relishment of it that was
wicked, you know?
23:02
- Yeah. He's a giggle of a person while also being delighted by darkness.
23:10
- Yeah. It was wonderful. And then I was delighted by darkness. It was just, it was just...
23:16
He knew exactly kind of how to pull you into this vortex of just this devilish darkness. - I think
so.
23:22
- [Emily] It was so cool. - I think. And the thing about Will that I appreciated so much was we
were in Indie. So like we had a tiny, tiny, tiny budget.
23:29
- Yeah. What did you make it for? - I don't remember. But it was in New Jersey. So I imagine 8
to $11 million.
23:34
(both laugh cheerfully) And Ari Wagner was our cinematographer who,
23:39
just watching her work was so exciting. - [Emily] Mm! - And you know, at the time she needed
for her art
23:47
and her work, and then we would have so much to do and it was Indie and we were all in wigs,
and, you know, all the underpinnings and all the stuff.
23:53
And I would be like, "We don't have enough time to shoot this scene. This scene is so
complicated." And somehow Will would like dilate time around us.
24:02
And all of the stress of being on an independent film set where you can imagine people are just
like
24:07
looking at the watch and kind of killing the vibe, Will body blocked the entire thing. - Heaven.
24:13
- And actually, so I would come out of scenes like in a blackout thinking that we'd been filming
it for seven hours and it had been like 50 minutes.
24:19
(Emily laughing cheerfully) Like it was just, it kind of started to, it was amazing. - Yeah.
24:25
- And I had to trust him so much because I was stepping so far outside my comfort zone.
24:30
You know, with this one, like, because there's a version where you hug the safe stuff and you're
just like, "I know how I look as a brunette,
24:35
I know how my voice sounds. I know, you know, what playing someone a little bit more like me
is."
24:42
And then I'm like- - Yeah, but it's so wonderful to see you do. - [Anne] But this other person is
calling me. - Yeah. But it was so dangerous and cool.
24:47
- And we wanted her to be dangerous and it was great. I remember Will and I- - It's okay to be a
bit scared, isn't it? Don't you find?
24:53
I feel like it is. - I feel braver now. - [Emily] I love a little bit of terror. - I enjoyed it. Yeah. Oh,
oh God. You mean when you're making it?
24:58
- Yeah. A bit of terror is great. - I'm learning to enjoy it. This is the film that kinda got me to
transition into enjoying it
25:04
because I remember sitting with a friend, like just on a weekend, just like this.
25:09
And he's like, "You okay?" And I'm just like, "I think I've gone too far this time." (both laugh
cheerfully) And he was just like, "Tell me everything."
25:15
And I'm just like, "Oh God, I'm blonde and I invented an accent." - No, but I think it's just- - And
I'm just like,
25:21
"But I think it's just, she's self-invented, and so I did all these. I just made all these choices that
don't have any kind of, I don't know. I'm not playing someone,
25:27
I'm not basing it on anyone except for my own imagination. This is the way I saw her and this is
how I just want her to be. And I just feel like maybe I've gone too far."
25:33
- Oh, but that's why she's so, she's like this rare bird that comes in and just bewitches everybody.
25:40
And so it's sort of wonderful that everything was so put on because you couldn't get a beat on
her.
25:47
- That was the hope. - You couldn't get a beat on her. - [Anne] Thank you. - She was so
mysterious and- - Well, he turned to me and he just goes,
25:54
"I hear that but you'd have been so mad at yourself if you hadn't gone for it." - Oh yeah.
25:59
- And I was just like, "Oh yeah, you're right." And then the film came out and I realized I was so
happy because my instinct was to trust Will.
26:04
- Yeah. - And to trust everybody really. And to just kind of get lost in the making of it because,
you know, and especially being in that cast,
26:11
Thomasin McKenzie. - Oh gosh. Yes! - And Marin Ireland. - Yeah. That monologue. - [Anne]
Oh! - Oh my God.
26:17
- Oh my God. And Shea Whigham. And so it was kind of like, "Stop worrying so much.
26:22
Just be here." - Yeah. - Just be here. You're playing a part in this cast and it's a really important
part
26:28
because you're the one that makes everybody doubt everything and moves it forward. - Oh, that
scream you do in the kitchen.
26:33
- Thank you. Thank you. - I actually went back and watched it again 'cause I just loved it so
much. I was like, boop.
26:39
I think that's what I love about these moments of sort of startling force that you had
26:45
that was so out of nowhere, you know? So she just felt so edgy and dangerous to me all the time.
26:53
And you could see this girl. - [Anne] Thomasin. - Thomasin. But I don't know if she had to even,
you know,
27:01
push anything in those scenes because she must have just been like that. (Anne laughs
cheerfully)
27:07
- Oh, to Eileen, my Christmas savior. - Savior? I didn't do anything.
27:12
- Well, you being a friend, that's everything. Cheers. (glasses clink) - I want you to tell me about
that bottle of wine scene
27:19
and how on earth did you open it like that? And what? How? What? Tell me everything about
that moment.
27:25
- Well, it was in the script. - Okay. - And we were in a home in January in New Jersey
27:35
and it said in the script, "She puts a bottle of wine in a shoe
27:42
and hits it against the wall until the cork pops out." (battle smashes) - Ha! Ha! That was a great
trick.
27:49
- Who's done that before? - [Anne] Does it work? - I know! - Do you just go, "Does it?" And the
prop guy assured me that it did.
27:55
- Should we all just do it as a party trick now? - Now we should. It's a thing now. - [Emily] This
is a trend.
28:00
- TikTok, please get on it. - TikTok, make this a thing. - And it was funny because that moment,
28:09
I'm someone I love to be in a space ahead of time. I love to work at my props. - Yes. I remember,
yeah. - [Anne] I love to know my path with it. - Yeah.
28:14
- And I don't remember which day of filming it on, but we were like, it was that thing where we
were talking about that terror. Like I was sitting on top of the terror
28:21
and it felt like things were going okay, but it also, you know, you're flying so blind. And I just
remember grabbing the bottle
28:29
and the first hit was so satisfying. And I was just like, "I know exactly why she is doing this."
28:38
And the cork popped out on one the first time. - Heaven. - Because I was just so full of some
kind of fury.
28:45
I didn't even know what it was. 'Cause you know how sometimes you're like, "I don't even know
what's coming into me right now?" Or like I'm downloading something.
28:52
- Yes, yes. - Channeling something. It feels so real. But there was this force to her in that scene
and also she's been so poised up to that point
29:01
and so in control and she's so disturbed.
29:07
- Yes. - [Emily] And so unnerved. - Yes. - By what's going on. And she's just, she is sitting on
top of a scream
29:13
and this is the moment that happens just before the scream. And so to actually get the physical
release,
29:19
because I feel like there's a physical component to the film. - Yeah! - As well about how people,
we need to go crazy.
29:27
- We do! - We need to bust out or we're just going to, oh, I can't say it
29:32
'cause it gives away too much about the film. But like the film for me is such a metaphor as to
why we keep falling backwards.
29:39
- [Emily] Mm. - You know? And to me the film, the ending of the film is very ambiguous.
29:45
- It is. It's so ambiguous. I was like, "More! No, I need to know more." - Well, but that to me is
the terrifying part of it.
29:51
I'm like, "It's so ambiguous that suddenly-" Again, I can't talk about it. - I just desperately wanted
to know more.
29:58
I wanted to know what happened and that sort of ambiguous smile she has at the moment and
whatever awakening you triggered in her,
30:05
you know that it has been life shifting. - Yeah. - And the fingerprints of you will be on her
forever.
30:11
And it's just... - Yeah! - It was terribly human as well. Like we don't always have all the answers,
we don't always know what the outcome of things will be.
30:19
But I did love that in that scene with the wine
30:25
and then into the scream is that it's also a different side of you, this wobbly, vulnerable, unnerved
side of the character.
30:34
And you'd gone from being so pulled together and so poised and so exciting, and then I think the
danger weirdly is
30:45
how weary you look and unnerved suddenly in that, and conflicted.
30:50
And I just didn't know what was going on with you in that scene. - Thank you. - And then you
went, "I have her tied up downstairs."
30:56
And I was like, "Oh!" - Emily, that is a spoiler. - Sorry. (Anne laughs) I love that you just
brought up how weary she is.
31:03
- Yeah. - Because that's what let me be so heightened in the beginning. - [Emily] Yeah. - 'Cause I
just thought,
31:08
"Oh I can have so much fun playing someone." I kind of imagined her as something- - But what
a thing to hold together. It's so much pressure to uphold that mirage all the time.
31:16
- So much pressure to uphold the mirage. - Yeah. - But I also thought she's made a deal with the
devil. - Yeah.
31:21
She's also a great dancer. So you could have that. - That was fun. (Emily laughs cheerfully)
31:26
And she's aware that she's walking into a space where there's never been someone like her. - And
knows it.
31:33
- And she knows that she's going to meet this wall of resistance. And so she's just like, "They're
not going to see me any other way
31:39
except for as a woman when I walk into this room, so I'm gonna give them quite a woman."
31:44
- Yeah. - "And while they're over here kind of staring at the bright shiny thing, I'm gonna be
doing exactly what it is that I want to do."
31:51
- [Emily] Mm-hmm. - And there's a deception kind of built into her in that. But I think that's
exactly what the definition of glamorizing is.
31:58
On day one of filming, we began with a scene in the bar. - [Emily] Mm-hmm. - And it was like a
five page monologue.
32:05
I'm like, "Wow, Rebecca talks a lot." (Emily laughs cheerfully) Then we got to this page two and
it was like a three page monologue. I'm like, "Yeah, she's still talking."
32:10
And then we got to the third scene, and I'm like, "Oh God, she's a serial monologuer." (Emily
laughs cheerfully) I was just like, "What!"
32:15
Like, "Oh she's one of those people that's probably so amazing to meet and then like becomes
so..."
32:21
(both laugh cheerfully) And then at a certain point, you just like her. - Great at a dinner party
though.
32:26
- She's perfect. - Professional dinner guest. - She's a professional dinner guest. She's so good at
it. But a long weekend though.
32:32
- And I bet she never gets that messy. - I met a young woman with so much gumption.
32:37
I'm like that too. I don't give a rat's ass what people think. (door slams) - They're probably scared
of you.
32:44
- Oh goodie. We got some fun questions. - [Director] We're gonna call TikTok and make that
trend. - Okay! - Yeah, man! - [Director] Okay.
32:49
So we have some incredible quotes in "The Devil Wears Prada." Some are your character's lines,
some are other character's lines. - Oh my God. - [Anne] Okay. - Ah!
32:55
Do you want me to go first? - I would love it. - Is there some reason my coffee isn't here? Has
she died or something?
33:01
Remember that one? (laughs) And I think that was improvved. - Has she died or something?
33:08
- There were so much. - There were so many different ones. - She was so... You too, by the way.
I remember that.
33:13
I remember coming in after seeing Meryl come up with like 18 different lines on the spot.
Stanley doing the same, you,
33:19
and I was just like this kindergartner who was like, "How are they all so good?" - No. That is not
true. - And then I went up to you and I was like,
33:25
"How are you doing this?" And you went, "I practice the night before." (laughs) - Yeah. Just
practice and try a few different-
33:31
- [Anne] You're like, "I'm prepared." - [Emily] Yeah! - [Anne] Is that how this works? - I loved
that one. - [Anne] Is that how this works? - That was...
33:39
Does she say that? She says it to me. Right? - I think when I'm- - She says it to me and you're
late.
33:45
- And then that's when you get up and you're just like, "Get in here, I have to pee." Or something
like that.
33:50
- Yes. Yes. Get in here, I have to pee. - You haven't peed since you left? - What took you so
long? I have to pee!
33:55
- What? You haven't peed since I left? - No. That's right. (laughs) All right. You go.
34:00
- Doesn't it all come back so vividly? - Yeah, it's amazing. - Okay. - Oh my God. Oh this is so
good. Looking at these. This is wild.
34:08
Okay. - Can you please spell Gabbana? Can you please spell Gabbana?
34:13
(dial tone) Hello? Were you there? - That was the cutest.
34:18
- Were you there when we did that? - No. I think I was there. Was I? Or had I gone to pee?
34:25
- That's it. You were on your pee break. - I was on my pee break. - Because I remember when we
filmed it. - And your cute little voice, "Ah-hum."
34:31
And your cute little sweater and that hair, and that skirt. Can you spell Gabbana?
34:37
Oh that was so cute. - So this is a fancy sweater. - And then they hang up on you. Hello? (laughs)
- Stefano?
34:43
I was in Italy recently and I showed up at the hotel and they baked a cake.
34:49
I arrived in my hotel room to a cake and I was like, "This is amazing." It was Italian cake so it
was really good. And they had written on the top,
34:55
"Can you please spell Gabbana?" - Oh! That is so-
35:00
- Is that not the greatest? - It's the greatest. - [Anne] Oh my God. - It is quoted to me all the time.
35:06
I mean my flight attendant coming over went- - I love that. - I'm still working on my stomach flu.
35:12
(Anne laughs cheerfully) It was so cool. And I was like, "Yeah." And then people also misquote
that,
35:17
"I'm one stomach flu away from my goal weight." - Do you correct them? Or do you let them
live in it? - No, I just let them say it.
35:22
- I think that's the right choice. - Because there's various versions, you know? - Like older
version of me, me 1.0, would've been like,
35:28
"Actually the line is." (both laugh cheerfully) I would've meant it so nice. - Yeah, exactly. -
Nicely.
35:34
But no 2.0. I'm like, "That's your 'Devil Wears Prada.'" - That's it. It's not mine. Okay, this is one
of my favorites.
35:40
Oh, I'm sorry. Do you have some prior commitment? Do you have some hideous skirt
convention to go to? (laughs)
35:47
Some hideous skirt convention you have to go to? Sometimes- - I love it. You crack yourself up
18 years later
35:54
'cause that's what happened on the day. - No, because I would laugh all the time. 'Cause I just felt
I was so horrible to you most of the time
36:00
in this movie. And it was your little face, like this beautiful like slightly sort of baffled face.
36:07
- Stunned. - Stunned by the meanness. - Deer in the headlights. - Oh, I could barely ever get
through that line.
36:13
Some hideous skirt convention. It was just, I don't even know if that was scripted or if we- - No,
it wasn't.
36:20
And I have to say, there's something about your particular voice saying the word hideous. -
Hideous.
36:25
- It just hits in this really good spot. And I have to say, if you've never seen "The Devil Wears
Prada" blooper reel.
36:33
- Oh you've got too. - I highly recommend it because this one is charm. I mean just you look like
you're having more fun
36:38
than anyone has ever had on any set. - I did. - And I can vouch for you. You were. - I cried with
laughter. I had so much fun. - And you were.
36:43
- Do you remember? So it was my first day of shooting and it's actually on the blooper reel. - I
know what you're about to say.
36:49
- And it's when I'm running down the corridor, pushing everyone out of the way, and I'm not
very good walking in heels.
36:55
This person is unbelievable in heels, as you've seen. "Devils Wears Prada," she's just like leaping
around
37:00
cobblestone streets in five inch stilettos. I was like, "Oh, I'd be dead. My knees, they'd be gone."
37:07
But I remember racing down the corridor and it was a kind of, I guess,
37:12
it was on a dolly or something. And I'm racing down and I'm supposed to crash into Meryl or try
almost crash into her at the end,
37:18
and I had to do this like turn. And I fell so hard out of frame. And I just remember Meryl going,
"Oh! Oh!"
37:26
You know? (laughs) (dramatic upbeat music) - Oh! - [Meryl] I don't understand why it's so
difficult.
37:32
- I think she always wanted to join in the fun. - No. - And she kept herself so in character. - Do
you know she's never done method acting since.
37:39
She said it made her so miserable on this one. 'Cause we were all having a party on the other side
of the set and she was like, "I won't do this again."
37:44
- No. 'Cause I remember a couple times like trying to talk to her, I'm like, "I can't tell if I'm really
off about this, but I think she wants to talk to me."
37:51
- I think. It wasn't think we couldn't approach her, it was just that- - No! - She didn't quite...
37:56
She's such a broad and she's so fun and warm. I think it just... - Do you remember in the morning
she would like be Meryl in rehearsals?
38:02
- Yeah. - And it was like the blonde hair and it was just like this. Mike Nichols once described
her as, "This irrepressible spring."
38:08
And I'm like, "Oh that's so good." - Oh my God, it's so true. - And she would just be that person
and then she would come back and just be this block of ice.
38:15
- Yeah. - And it was just, it was... Oh! - Couldn't penetrate. - No. - Just amazing. - I remember
coming in and you being like,
38:21
"I really ate it on this one take." - I really what? - You're like, "I ate it on this one take."
38:27
- Yeah, I ate it. - It just went down. But the thing that's you're a magical performer.
38:32
I was just thinking the other day about you in "Into the Woods" and the way you're walking
through
38:38
and you're like, "First a prince, then a child, then a prince, then a woman." ♪ First a witch, then a
child ♪ ♪ Then a prince, then a woman who can't ♪
38:44
- And you like eat your scarf or something. Your apron. But you just like. It's just you're so alive
in your work.
38:52
And I just remember like, I think I was stunned. I think I was a deer in headlights. 'Cause I was
like, "Who is this creature
38:59
who's just effervescence?" - I have to say- - Like, it's amazing! - No. And Stanley and I talk
about this all the time.
39:05
Who's now my brother-in-law. - [Anne] By the way. - I mean, how crazy is that? - [Anne] By the
way. - Fell in love with him on that movie.
39:11
- Well, I'm just so happy to know that the love and the chemistry that I was feeling off of you, I
was like, "This is really a lot." - He's family. He's family.
39:17
- I'm like, I was actually watching a family be formed. - Yeah. And we are. - Which is really
special. - He's wonderful. And we always talk about it,
39:24
that we could come in with all our sort of sharp edges and, you know, one-liners.
39:29
But you are the glue of that. You hold the whole thing together. You had an impossible part to
shine like that
39:38
and be that believable and just wonderfully charming and endearing.
39:44
- Emily, thank you. - And we all have been Andy, you know? - It was David. (laughs) It was
David Frenkel and a lot of picture.
39:50
- Okay. Give me your line. - No, I'm not gonna go all the way there. It was very tempting.
39:55
- Oh God. - By all means, move at a glacial pace. - [Both] You know how that thrills me.
40:00
- Oh! - Oh! - You know how that thrills me. - That day! - That was fantastic.
40:07
- That day changed me as an actor because I knew I was...
40:14
It was Meryl doing an emotional scene and the set was so quiet.
40:21
- Was it? - So quiet. - I remember you telling me about it afterwards. And you said it was the
most raw thing you'd seen.
40:27
And you were... Everyone's energy was like so reduced to keep her.
40:33
I think people were just like... - I think everyone was grateful. - Grateful. Yeah. - When we're
talking about the Chris thing of it all.
40:40
- Yeah. - Because there's an aspect of our industry that, you know, I think there's an etiquette to
set.
40:46
I don't think you bring your phone onto set and you're scrolling in between takes. I think that
you're working with something very precious
40:52
and ephemeral and can break very easily. - Yeah. - And I love to have a laugh on set,
40:57
but I do take what we do very seriously. And I think it was the crew realizing they were
witnessing something great.
41:03
- Yes. - And being fully present in it. - Yes. And how stripped back she suddenly was.
41:09
Talk about the mirage gone. - Yeah! And I also think it was her. I think it was her like her just
sitting there.
41:16
Greatest actress ever. - [Emily] So good. Yeah. - And just no makeup and just sitting there just
having the space. And none of us wanted to be the one to, not even disturb it,
41:24
it wasn't that fragile. We just all wanted to just not get in the way.
41:30
- You must have all just been staring. - And so we all just did our jobs as well as we could. You
know, that was the way the respect was shown.
41:35
So I was supposed to ask you how you remember that, but I've filled in the answer. - What? That
scene? - Yes! - Oh. Well, I mean, okay.
41:42
Is it me? Shall I ask? Okay. This is it. This is the line.
41:47
Well, I don't eat anything and when I feel like I'm about to faint, I eat a cube of cheese. (Anne
laughs cheerfully)
41:54
When I feel like I'm about to faint, I eat a cube of cheese. Guys, it works a dream. (Anne
applauding)
42:00
- Can we? Can we? One of the most iconic lines in cinema history, Emily.
42:05
- I do. That line gets misquoted to me as well. They go like, I don't know. People always kind of
paraphrase it.
42:11
- Oh God, I remember feeling so lost in that scene and just like you were so in the pocket. And
I'm like, "Thank God she's here."
42:17
- You were never lost in the scene, by the way. Never! - No, no, no. I just- - Do you remember
when you're like, "God, Em, you look so thin." (laughs)
42:25
- Yeah. (laughs) - And I say, "Well, I'm on this new diet." And then that's- - But I just also like
42:30
just love that Emily was the authority on this aspect of herself.
42:35
- Yes! - You know? Because she was always running. You know? - Yeah. - I think I'm, yeah. -
But it was just, it was such a funny episode.
42:42
- Oh and you were so cute with your cold. - The very red nose. And sort of... They would
actually spray menthol in my eyes.
42:49
- Yes. - I sort of had this idea. I was like, "Why don't you just like put menthol in my eyes and
then they'll stream?"
42:55
And then my nose got so red and I remember walking into the, remember the board meeting
they're having?
43:02
- Yes! - And Meryl was so repulsed by me coming in. Like she was, I remember handing her, I
don't know,
43:09
a clipboard or something, and she was like, (Anne laughs cheerfully) "Someone have a?" What
did she say?
43:14
Like, "Antibacterial wipe" or something? (laughs) - But I just- - It was so cool.
43:20
- But I remember. I've used the eye-watering trick, by the way. So when you have a cold, I'm like
'cause it really,
43:25
it activates your sinuses. - It really helps! - In a very helpful way. - I remember going home and I
was like, "I think I do feel sick." (Anne laughs cheerfully)
43:30
Like you kind of have been streaming with this fake cold all day that I did feel a bit sick at the
end of it. Oh, so much fun.
43:36
- Did you come up with, "I love my job. I love my job." - Yeah. - So I just have to say, so much
of this film is David Frenkel
43:42
just like giving space. - Space! - You know? - So that you kind of throw the kitchen sink at it.
43:47
- Yeah! - And of course you're gonna kinda poop the bed sometimes and it's not always gonna be
great. But his curiosity to see.
43:52
And I just remember him giggling behind the camera. - Giggling. - Giggling behind the camera. -
And just creating an environment where you just...
43:58
- Yeah. - He let joy live on the set. - Completely. Completely. - You know? And he encouraged
it. And he's so good.
44:05
I mean, he's an amazing person. - He is. He's heaven. - [Anne] Yeah. - He's heaven. He's heaven.
44:10
- Talk about a good dad. - Yeah. - Is it my turn? - It's your turn. - She's not happy unless
everyone around her is panicked,
44:16
nauseous or suicidal. She's not happy unless everyone around her is panicked, nauseous or
suicidal.
44:22
I don't remember this. - Ah! He's making the grilled cheese and you go, "I'm not even hungry
anymore."
44:29
- I'm not even hungry anymore. - [Emily] Remember that? - Okay. - Yeah. - Fun fact. I am
wearing my cousin's headband in that scene.
44:36
- Are you? - Because we used to do face masks together. - Oh! Do you know what I loved about
you in that headband is your little bangs would stick up.
44:42
(Anne laughs cheerfully) It was just so cute. It was so nerdy. I wanted that grilled cheese so
badly.
44:47
- It looked so good. - I know. Do you remember how sad he was? - $7 of Jarlsberg. - You eat
carbs for Christ's sake. God!
44:53
I think was the line. You eat carbs for Christ's sake! As I'm just. - It's not fair.
44:59
- It's not fair. No! It's so unfair. - It's so unfair!
45:04
- It's so unfair. - And how I'm like... Do you remember how the nurse comes in
45:10
and he brings me a tray of food? - And you turn so holy. - And I'm so grateful. - You turn like
angelic in your martyrdom. (laughs)
45:17
- Thank you very much, you know? Because it's the first time she's eaten in forever.
45:22
(hospital visitors chatter)
45:28
- Who is that sad little person? Are we doing a before and after piece I don't know about? - Oh
my God. It's Stanley. That's Stanley.
45:33
That sad little person. Oh my God, it's so Stan, isn't it? - Who is that sad little person?
45:40
- I know we're going through. - I get chills thinking of Stanley on that. And the day he found his
ring. - His enormous ring! (Anne laughs cheerfully)
45:47
Like could kill someone with that ring. - I think, "Huh!" - Yeah. - Stanley's on set.
45:52
- I think he asked to keep it. - He's gesticulating. (laughs) - He did ask to keep it maybe that ring.
Yeah. - Ask him!
45:58
- [Emily] And this is like- - Call your brother-in-law. (laughs) - I know. Call him. I can now. -
You can! - I know. I get free pans.
46:05
- Oh God. - It's a big deal. - Has he given you a Parmesan wheel?
46:11
- He tried to, but we don't live in England, so I was like, "How are you gonna get me a Parmesan
wheel?" You know? - So you smuggled it.
46:16
- Yeah. - In a very stinky piece of hand luggage. - And we went over to their house during
COVID
46:21
and they were like our family, literally they are our family, and he made this carbonara inside the
cheese wheel.
46:33
I can't! Like put the pasta inside the dugout Parmesan wheel, whisked it around, and it was just
like,
46:40
I can't even talk about it. - That's great. - I do eat carbs for Christ's sake. That's fantastic. - I'm not
gonna lie, I got a little turned on by that.
46:47
- To the cheese wheel. Oh, thank you, guys. - Like the idea. Oh! To be the kindest.
46:55
- You were so articulate. Eloquent. Did you guys dig it? (upbeat jazz music)
47:07
(upbeat jazz music continues)
47:16
(upbeat jazz music continues)
47:22
(no audio)