When I joined AICN my first stipulation was that I didn't want to do talent interviews. In too many instances I felt like I was just there to promote (which in many ways I am) but with no real respect for the talent. I didn't mind filmmakers, screenwriters, composers, cinematographers or the like, but I do not know what it is like to get into the mind of a thespian. It is foreign to me. When the opportunity came up to interview Mia Wasikowska I jumped on it right away. One of the best dates I ever had was with a woman I adored sitting in the Violet Crown Theater sharing this powerhouse performance in "Stoker". I thank Mia for that performance, that night and especially this interview. She is a talent of the highest caliber, that I felt could teach me a thing or two about the art of acting. "PIERCING" is an especially special piece. So without any more interruption, MIA WASIKOWSKA!!
ROMAN MORALES (RM): Hi. How are you doing?
MIA WASIKOWSKA (Mia): How are you?
Roman: Good. I've seen this film a couple of times now. It's gonna be one of those that I'm going to be showing to quite a few people. It’s something different, and it's exciting in a completely different way. What initially drew you to this? It's the same but very different from a lot of the things that you've done. The darkness is there but there is something very, very different in this from some of your other performances.
Mia: Well, I think it came off the back of a lot of period roles and sort of wanting to do something more modern and just, I guess, yeah, different. I mean it's very obviously different in one way and then in another way. It has a similar kind of darkness or strangeness to it, yeah. But originally I was approached about playing one of the other roles and then it was only really a week before we started filming that I think they had an older actress who was attached for the role of Jackie and then she pulled out and they were like, “Oh, what do you think of playing that role?". And so I had like 24 hours to think about it and then I was like "Okay, this is just such a great role." I couldn't possibly say no.
Roman: And what actually and what actually informed your performance? Jackie is such a complex character.
Mia: Yeah. I mean the script was so well-written and her character just seemed like there were so many shades that you could play with her. There was a part of her that was like a child and another part that was of course not. And I just love the freedom that she had and it just seemed like it would be so fun to play. Which is a strange freedom because it was almost like, okay, it's a freedom to say what she feels inside but also a freedom to suffer, but then to find freedom. There's so many things there that did that.
Roman: Were you able to get all of that out of the script?
Mia: Yeah, I think so. I mean it was so kooky and I loved that she would just go on these long rambling monologues that didn't really have much to do with what was going on in the plot at that point. And I kind of loved that she would just ramble away about the coffee machine in her apartment and shoes and her super collection. It just seemed like so much fun to watch. I guess I played a lot of very internal characters and very, sort of repressed, and very inside themselves. It seemed fun to play someone where everything was on the surface and everything was externalized. And of course she still has all that stuff going on inside, but it was like she kind of comes outside.
Roman: Yeah, in that perspective it was very different from something like “Stoker”.
Mia: Yeah, that definitely attracted me to it.
Roman: It really shows. When you went into it since you were speaking about period pieces, did you know that it was going to have this 70s type vibe? I want to say it was almost Grindhouse because you could tell that the director was definitely inspired. I mean the poster art, credits, and everything is there. Was that something that you knew that the director wanted to approach?
Mia: No. I mean I had no idea it was gonna be like that and when I got there and saw the direction he was going with, the style and the visuals, I was so excited because I just thought "Oh, it's brilliant!”, and it's unusual and it really helps the story in that sense that you don't really know where you are. You don't know what time it is. It kind of could be any time and I think even any time there was a shot out the window or when we're driving in the car; they used a kind of digital screen of an Asian city. I think he wanted me to use my own accent or my accent which is very in and out, of all sorts of different accents. And I think most of the cast is (using) their own accent. So the audience feels quite displaced and that adds to that kind of unsettling feeling of not really knowing where you are.
Roman: Yes. Which is why I feel it would be kind of difficult when you're supposed to feel displaced and yet you want your audience to feel comfortable which is kind of what makes this movie superb.
Mia: Yeah.
Roman: What was it like? You've worked with some really great filmmakers. I mean you've worked with Park Chan-Wook. You've worked with Del Toro. You've worked with Tim Burton. What was it like working with Nicolas?
Mia: It was great. I was really impressed by him because I guess I was quite nervous when I first read the script. I was like, "Who are these guys?" Like this is so awful. And I thought, "Yes especially when it's a bunch of guys making a movie like this". I was like “What is going on? Who are these people?” You know I had been told that his first film was really brilliant. I hadn't seen it at the time but everybody was really excited about him and I was maybe a little nervous until I spoke to Nicolas on Skype. We had a really good conversation and that kind of made me feel more comfortable. And I guess you never know what it's going to feel like when you turn up and you're playing such a kind of exploitive character like Jackie. It's quite intimidating, and there are so many ways you can imagine it going wrong. But there was something about him and the team behind it that I just felt really comfortable with and I thought they were doing it for really interesting reasons. And there was... they sort of understood the human side of it. I mean it would be really easy to say, “it's just a psychopath” but there's another kind of argument… exploration of that kind of childhood trauma and trying to recreate very shameful things that have happened in the past. And I didn't even know if (Reed) really wants to kill Jackie. It's just something he thinks he wants to do. Who knows if he'd actually ever do that? I mean there was something interesting to explore.
Roman: Right now there's been all of this talk about a certain serial killer movie. One that I won't really go to. Do you see the character different and in light of that as far as it's politically placed now? Because Jackie is very much a different kind of character than what some of these victims might have been onscreen. I've never seen someone frustrate a serial killer so much before.
Mia: What he's trying to do... well, again like everybody will have a different kind of perspective on it, but I kind of think in a way they get sort of sweeter to each other as it goes along. I mean it's hard to know if either of them is ever going to really pull the trigger. It's kind of: “Oh, maybe the cycle will just go around and around and around” and we end with them sort of, you know, "Can we eat first?", and you just get the sense that they might just keep kind of repeating this pattern again and again and again. But are they ever going to kind of physically harm each other or do what they say they're going to do? It's just beyond me trying to work it out psychologically. But it's really curious and interesting. And who knows if they want what they actually sort of say they want. I don't know. I just thought psychologically it's quite an interesting exploration.
Roman: I love your work so please keep it up.
Mia: Thank you for taking some time.
Roman: Yeah, it was great chatting with you. Whatever you're doing next, I can't wait.
Mia: Oh great. Thanks so much. You too.
The film hit Theaters, On Demand and Digital HD on February 1st, 2019.
Remember. Remember.
Roman Morales (Formerly known as VVersus the World)
Twitter: @romanmorales
