If your introduction toYorgos Lanthimoswas last year’s Academy Award-winningPoor Things, you may have been a little jarred by the “absurdism” of the world. But if you first watched Lanthimos’Dogtoothin 2009… you’d still be pretty jarred, actually. No matter the situation or time period, what remains constant for the writer-director is his ability to keep an audience off-kilter just enough to “open up your imagination in a new way.” The same can be said for his latest,Kinds of Kindness, which reunites him with Oscar-winnerEmma StoneandWillem Dafoe.
In addition to Stone and Dafoe, the movie also starsJesse Plemons(Civil War), who earned the Cannes Best Actor award for his performance,Margaret Qualley(Poor Things),Hong Chau(Asteroid City),Joe Alwyn(The Favourite),Mamoudou Athie(Elemental), andHunter Schafer(Euphoria). The ensemble takes on various roles in each ofthe three storiesLanthimos weaves together about the human psyche, showcasing all manner of connection, conniving, and control.
Both Stone and Dafoe are not only recurring characters inKinds of Kindness, but also in Lanthimos' filmography. During this interview, they share their insight into the filmmaker’s distinct vision, what about his views they find fascinating, and why audiences might find his stories a bit “strange.” Stone and Dafoe also share their favoriteStanley Kubrickfilms, and Stone shares how the dance scene in this movie differs from the now-iconic dance sequence inPoor Things.
You can watch the full conversation in the video above or read the transcript below.
Kinds of Kindness
A man seeks to break free from his predetermined path, a cop questions his wife’s demeanor after her return from a supposed drowning and a woman’s quest to locate an extraordinary individual prophesied to become a renowned spiritual guide.
Stanley Kubrick Introduced Willem Dafoe to the “Beautiful Uselessness of Art”
COLLIDER: First of all, congrats on the movie. I wore this shirt because I’m a huge fan of Stanley Kubrick.
WILLEM DAFOE: We were just talking about him. Seriously. Two seconds ago.
EMMA STONE: As you were walking in, we were just talking about Kubrick.
Do you have a favorite Kubrick film?
DAFOE: That’s fucking hard. Oh god, the crazy thing about Kubrick is he did such different films.
STONE: I have to chooseThe Shiningbecause it was such a resonant movie for me in the moment that the impact that it had on me when I watched it feels the most impactful. Now you watch it, and you go, like, “Oh, look at the film, blah, blah,” but I was younger when I saw that, and, I don’t know, that kind of feeling sticks with you. But I love all of them.
DAFOE:Barry Lyndon’s pretty great.
STONE: Yeah.
He’s made a few good films.
STONE: Yeah. LikeThe Shining. [Laughs]
DAFOE: Some of the early ones, too!
STONE: What’s your favorite?
I think2001: A Space Odyssey. There’s no right answer. I could mention each film that he made and then give a reason why it’s the best.
STONE: [To Dafoe] That’s what you were saying, basically, right? They’re all so different.
DAFOE:2001I remember distinctly seeing when I was a kid, and it was like my introduction into art.
STONE: That’s how I felt aboutThe Shining.
DAFOE: It was like, “I think this is important, and it’s really special. I don’t know what the fuck it means, but it’s pretty cool.” How can you make something that doesn’t have a use?That was my introduction to the beautiful uselessness of art.
STONE: “The beautiful uselessness of art.” That’s amazing. You need to trademark that.
Emma Stone’s ‘Kinds of Kindness’ Dance Was Improvised
What I’m curious about is, how would you rank, A through D, your dancing inPoor Things, SNL, andKinds of Kindness?
STONE: [Laughs] I don’t know that I’d be able to rank it. It’s all very different kinds of stuff, but it wasveryfun to do this inKinds of Kindnessbecause this was improvised.
So the others were rehearsed?
STONE: The others were choreographed, but this was improvised, so that’s a blast.
DAFOE: I think we felt her body more in this dance than the other ones.
STONE: The hell?
DAFOE: Yeah, you expressed yourself. [Laughs] Was that strange?
STONE: No! [Laughs]
The Mythic Storytelling of Yorgos Lanthimos
“He shows you what shouldn’t be…but that makes you think about whatcouldbe.”
One of the things I love about Yorgos’ work is that he is an auteur, and his vision on screen is unique. I love the way that he will take any scene that you’ve seen in 1,000 other movies, but find a unique way to film it, tell the story, and twist it in some weird way. Can you talk about that aspect of Yorgos’ work and what you find compelling about it?
STONE: I find the way he sees the world, or the way heshowsus the world, so fascinating. Before I met him, beforeThe Favourite, I’d seen onlyDogtoothandThe Lobster.Dogtoothwas obviously such an examination of control and of keeping someone locked into this scenario, and then I sawThe Lobster, and I was like, “They’re also in control.They’relocked into this scenario. They have to do this specific thing, or they’ll be turned into an animal.”There’s an absurdism and a sort of specificity to it that makes you think so much more than if it was a prescriptive kind of worldview.You’re thinking about what this would be like, but it’s not real, and it doesn’t really exist, but what does that mean about long-term relationships or if you break up with someone? What does it mean if someone teaches you the wrong words for everything and lies to you? It’s these bigger themes and pictures that I find actually much more emotionally resonant than these straightforward films. So, I was so responsive to that feeling before I met him 10 years ago, and then we’ve gotten to make these things from then. I love that that’s his way into the world. I find it very impactful in his storytelling.
DAFOE: As you were saying, it just occurred to me that he shows you what shouldn’t be. That’s why sometimes people are like, “I don’t like the world. It’s weird or freaky or strange.”
STONE: Everybody loves saying “weird.”
DAFOE: Yeah, I don’t like the words.He shows you what shouldn’t be, things that are off, things that are not quite recognizable because they go against the grain, but that makes you think about whatcouldbe.It opens up your imagination in a new way. It’s an invitation to get you thinking, I think. Because it’s off, you’re also emotionally engaged because you’re a little disturbed, so it’s like a puzzle that you have to figure out, at least how I see it. It’s close but not recognizable, so you’re trying to line up the poles, and as you’re lining up the poles, you usually reflect on yourself, and you learn something, and it’s really engaging.
STONE: I feel like it’s not coincidental that he’s Greek anda lot of this feels mythic in some way, especially [The Killing of a]Sacred Deer. There is that element when you read a Greek myth that it doesn’t remind you anything of your life, but it teaches you particular things, or it gets you thinking about particular things in a way that obviously we cannot relate to, with the gods and goddesses and all these things, but I think it has a lot of inspiration from that kind of Greek tradition of myth and that kind of storytelling.
Kinds of Kindnesswill be released in select theaters in the US on June 21. Click the link below for showtimes.
