Amy Adams Rewatches Enchanted, Man of Steel, Arrival & More | Vanity Fair

They sent me the script, and they're like, they want to talk to you about Charlene. And I was like, Charlene gets in the fist fight, Charlene? And they're like, yeah, yeah. And I was like, I feel seen. Hi, I'm Amy Adams, and we're going to watch a few scenes from throughout my career. Great, let's get going here. I just remember what a dream it was to be in Central Park. Like, I didn't go to New York until I was 24, and I remember the first time that I found Central Park, it just felt like very specific energy, specifically magic. This idea of an oasis inside of this huge, bustling city and the intention behind it to create the space for everybody. And so to get to go and do a musical number in this place that had become so special to me was really, really such a treat. Like a dream, like a dream come true. Patrick's reaction throughout this whole scene, I think that's my husband's favorite part of the movie. I don't dance. ♪ Dedicated song with words meant just for you ♪ And I really don't sing. He was such a great foil to her optimism. You know, his like cynicism and disbelief at what he's saying, he just towed that line so perfectly. ♪ With the little things he'll do ♪ Aw, she's a baby. That was the director's daughter, Kevin Lima's daughter. And that's the choreographer down there in the patterned shirt next to Patrick. At the time, I mean, I hadn't been professionally singing for a long time and I was more of somebody who was like featured in the chorus, not really a soloist. And this one just had like rapid fire, not a lot of room for breath. And so technically it was like the hardest one to sort of get down. But yeah, it'd be fun to try to sing it again. Cause since then I've done a lot of karaoke and I think I could tackle this one now. I mean, I feel pretty confident. I mean, I do sort of, but then I will regret it. Like I'm the kind of person that's like, yeah, I'm totally gonna do that. And then I'm like, why did I do that? ♪ That's how you know, that's how you know ♪ ♪ He's your love ♪ Enchanted's probably one of the films of mine I've seen the most in sharing it with nieces and nephews or them wanting to watch it with me, my daughter watching it. And it was nice to revisit it sort of before we did Disenchanted. I spent a lot of time with it. And I was like, I really, really like this movie. You know, it was nice to have distance from it and to be able to see it for the absolute joy that it was. It was so much fun making. I need you to send a message to the other sites. I actually came to this role. I just finished a really challenging production. And I was like, I need a break. I don't want to read anything. I'm getting ready to go do another production. And so I was like, I'm not, I don't want to read anything. And very smartly, my team of amazing women said, you can do that right after you read this. And so I got to meet with Denis and just had a beautiful way of talking about it. A, he clearly is gifted visually and has a wonderful way of creating like an emotional resonance inside of very surreal worlds, you know, but they feel so grounded and so real. But aside from that, he's so respectful and so thoughtful, so open, he has an emotional intelligence that is really beautiful to witness. He said that although he sees it with the science fiction element, that it's a mother's story. And I think that really resonated with me. One of them had, it's weird, I don't want to give spoiler alerts, but I suppose if, go watch Arrival. If you see this and you don't want any spoiler alerts, go watch Arrival. One of them is no longer, he expired. So I think, I can't remember if this is Abbott or Costello, which I feel really strangely bad about. And he's sort of explaining to me like what's going on and who my daughter is. I understand. First off, I was devastated and it made me look at the story so differently. And then I immediately went back and read it again kind of in the same way that I was talking about, like wanting people to see it again with a new perspective and saw the whole character in a different perspective. Because I had thought her as a person in mourning. And so I worked really hard to build up her backstory and her future story. So she was a really fun character to work on. Skank. Don't call me skank. I'll rip that nasty hair right out of your fucking head. I'm his mother and his manager. You're not my manager anymore. And I'm not waiting for Dickie, okay? I'm not getting any younger. I know you don't understand it, but I had nine kids and I love every one of you. You were so, so good in there. You got a funny way of showing it, letting him get beat up, letting him get his hand broken. You're fucking boss, skank. You're crazy. Fucking boss, Nicky. Stop putting your hands on her. What's my name? It was unlike anything that was sort of being put in front of me at that time. And I was in Ireland doing Leap Year, I remember. And they sent me the script and they're like, they want to talk to you about Charlene. And I was like, Charlene gets in the fist fight, Charlene? Stop! I'm not letting him. Get your hands off of me! Stop it! Get your hands off of me! Let it go! And they're like, yeah, yeah. And I was like, I feel seen. And I was like, I'm one of seven kids. So like, we grew up kind of tough and really like, you know, you never back down, you know? So I, that was like a world, I mean, not exactly, but I understood that world. So it was nice to get to sort of step into a different type of role, move in a different direction than some of the roles that I'd played before that were a little bit more wide-eyed or naive. And I'm really grateful that I had that opportunity to do that. Why are you surrendering to Zod? I'm surrendering to mankind. There's a difference. You let them handcuff you? Wouldn't be much for surrender if I resisted. I don't know what it was about Superman growing up, but I just loved it. He was so earnest. There was an idealism, this idea of like, just somebody with the best of intentions that, you know, always tried to fight for the right. And I love that idea. Lois was one of my favorite characters growing up. I would pretend to be her. What's the S stand for? It's not an S. On my world, it means hope. Well, here it's an S. I really like the challenge of working in these like really large sets that require a lot of imagination and a lot of world building and get to work on this set with Henry and Michael Shannon and all the other actors. I was really just soaking it in. One of the things I like about the superhero canons is, for me, it's almost like theater in a way. It's like different people take on the role and the role doesn't belong to one person. What advice would you give Rachel Bronham who is going to be the next Love Plane? Oh, just have fun. Just have fun. And I'm sure she will. She's wonderful. And I hope she gets to bring her sense of humor to it. She's got such a great sensibility, such a good actress, but also such great natural comedic timing. And I hope we get to see some of that in it. I'm sure you all remember, because it was only a few days ago, that I had a meltdown over my aspic and vowed to transform myself into a better human being. And then I was trussing the poulet rôti à la Normande. I don't know how to type. I still don't know how to type. Chicken livers and cream cheese. And it fell on the floor and the stuffing fell out into a big, gooey mess. I haven't seen this scene in so long. Crazy! Worse than the last. The wonderful thing about working with somebody who's written a memoir is you have this really great resource material. Also, at some point, imagination has to take over because you're sort of assuming a lot of unwritten and unspoken. But I really loved the difference between her experience with cooking and sort of coming to herself and her identity and paralleling that with Julia Child while she was spending her time in France and writing the novel. Bonjour! Bonjour, madame. You can really tell that Nora Ephron has a love of food in this because the way that the food is treated as a character is really beautiful. And it's kind of where I started to really focus on cooking in my life. So it was a great gift. I learned how to poach an egg. And I know that that's the thing I probably use the most. My daughter really likes poached eggs, so that's been the most useful. And an omelette. Eggs, eggs and omelettes. You know, sometimes when I travel, I use the name Frank Taylor. That's my secret. Frank Taylor? Yeah, Frank Taylor, you know? Frank Black, you know? Frank Black? Yeah, it doesn't matter. Why are you saying all this? This is a real baby, both of us. I'm not a doctor. I never went to medical school. I'm not a lawyer or a Harvard graduate or a Lutheran. Brenda, I ran away from home a year and a half ago when I was 16. Frank, you're not a Lutheran? Brenda. Sweet, sweet Brenda. I have enough money to last us for the rest of our lives. Well, Leo is very, very gifted as an actor. I think we all know that. But working with it and seeing it, it's like so natural out of him. It's really kind of a wonder to witness. There's this beautiful moment. He's climbed out the window. We're making plans. There's like lace and it's beautifully lit. You're gonna take a taxi, kid? I'm gonna take a taxi. You're gonna be there at 10 a.m.? I'll be there at 10 a.m., no matter what. In two days. Two days, Brenda. And I have such a visceral memory of it. And then the dollar bills kept hitting Leo in the face, like in the middle of the face. And of course, that's the time I decided that that was the funniest thing. And I just collapsed into giggles on the set with Steven Spielberg. I'm like holding up production because I cannot get it together. Because every time a dollar bill hits him in the face, I'm like, that's it. I just, I don't know why. Just watching him get hit. That is my one regret. Although, it's not so bad. But I did have to pull it together. I think he got to the point where he saw the humor in it. And I think it was the one that landed directly. But he stayed super focused, which then I thought was even funnier. Please, please, before you go, please tell me your name. Please tell me. William Abagnale, Jr. And then I remember that was the day that I got to work with Tom Hanks as well. Because he came in and we had a scene that we did later on. And that was pretty cool. I just never thought I would be working with that caliber of artists across the board from Steven Spielberg to Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio. It was like a fever dream. And I was so grateful. And I was like pivotal in my life to have that opportunity and get to do that. Oh, we need some crunchy snacks, right? Oh, hi. Oh my God, Sally, what are you doing here? I'm visiting my mom for the weekend. Baby, this is Sally. Yeah, Sally took over your mom's job at the gallery after you were born. Oh, he's super cute. Do you just love getting to be home with him all the time? I think it's so much bigger than just sort of one aspect of motherhood or parenthood or relationships. And I think that's what I love so much about doing it. It's an examination of community and society and identity and relationships. And one of the things that really drew me to it aside from the parenthood and motherhood aspect is the deep need for relationship and communication. And her relationship with her husband is really true, very authentic. If you've seen the movie, I apologize to my husband for saying that, but it rings very true. And Scoot McNeary did a wonderful job at sort of playing this person who has all of the best of intentions and just maybe not all of the information. I would love to feel content, but instead I feel like I'm just stuck inside of a prison of my own creation where I torment myself until I'm left binge eating Fig Newtons at midnight to keep from crying. And I feel like societal norms and gender expectations and just plain old biology have forced me to become this person that I don't recognize and I'm just angry all the time, like all the time. I would love to direct some of my own artwork towards a critique of the modern day systems that articulate this, but my brain just doesn't function the way that it did before I had the baby and I'm dumb now. I didn't want to talk through that because she talks, there's not a lot of breaths in that monologue, so I was just letting it kind of be. That's one of the things Mari did, which I really love is the book had such a strong inner dialogue. And so she was able to sort of bring this inner monologue out through these conversations with herself. A lot of her truth being espoused there and really giving voice and speaking that which we should not speak about is just like deep dissatisfaction and insecurities. It's always so surreal to see sort of like a retrospective. I'm reminded of the wonderful people I've gotten to work with and that I'm so grateful to have worked with. I want to go back and see some of the movies. I'm kind of like, oh, I haven't seen, I don't know when I've seen Julia in Julia last. And I know my daughter wants to see it. So maybe we'll put that on the playlist. But yeah, it always feels somewhat nostalgic, right? And I think it's that year, like I turned 50 this year. So like everything feels like a retrospective but also like a new beginning because I feel really, really focused on looking forward.