Amy Adams & Denis Villeneuve Reunite 8 Years After 'Arrival' | Vanity Fair

You are very honest. As I was having trouble with a moment in a scene, and I came up to you with all of my angst, I'm in the little orange suit with my hood off, talking at what must have been a mile a minute, and I looked at you and you go, to be honest, I don't understand anything you've said. Hola, madame. Hello. How are you? Good to see you. Good to see you too. The first time I met you, it was like I was really impressed how thoughtful and present, and just like right now, look at me with your eyes. But in French we said, une force tranquille. It means like a quiet power, and a very strong presence, and I was really impressed the first time I met you. When I first met you, I was just getting off of a film. It was a really hard experience, and I was like, I'm not reading anything. I don't know if I'm working again. I was like, and my very smart and thoughtful team said, you can not read anything, but you have to read this first. So I was adamant. I'm like, great, I'll read it. I got to the end of it. I was so moved, and then of course immediately had to read it again. So by the time I met you, I think I'd read it like three times maybe. But what I remember most about meeting you was you had a very honest energy, and you were very open and very vulnerable, and I felt very safe with you. And I knew to do this, I'd need to take that leap because it was one of those things I always felt it's either going to be one of the things I'm the most proud of, or we're going to miss, right? But it was worth it. Flirting with disaster. Flirting with disaster, but it was worth it because there was such a beautiful possibility in the script. And you communicated that to me, and I immediately felt safe. And I remember you said, okay, well, I was either going to do this or Sicario first, so I'll go do Sicario. And I thought, oh, we're never going to make it. And then you came back a year later, and we made it. Yeah, it's a promise I've made. That project was fundamental, so important to me. But I was feeling that I needed to finish something else before jumping into that project, which is still to this day one of the most beautiful experiences I had on a movie set. Me too, absolutely. I remember how grounded you were as we were shooting. I felt you were fearless. There was something about, like I gave an example, we were doing a scene in the hospital with a tiny baby, like a newborn, like he has a couple of days old or something. And the baby was a bit, of course, agitated. And you took him, and you were so calm. And the baby became relaxed right away. And you asked me, I remember you said, no, no, I don't look real. You wanted to show your shoulders, add sweat on you, mess up your hair. And I was like so moved by your appetite, your desire for authenticity. And to bring something real, because the more we will be close to something, the more moving, the more real it would look like. So at that time I was feeling that we were walking in the same direction. I felt that you're the best ally for me to put all my chips on you, because the visual effects, all that is not important. What is important is if you believe in what we were about to do. And I felt that all the time. You were my strong, you were my rock during this movie. Well, you were my rock. I remember, well, I remember, I put so much time and energy and worked so hard, especially because we're, you know, working in this tight rope of trying to play things so it can play both ways, right? Because of the reveal at the end, I had to do so much work to understand like, how do I play a character so that the first time you watch it, you think that it's one thing. And then the second time you watch it, you can see it from a totally different perspective. So that was always on my mind. So I'd done so much work and came in with all of this like energy. And I still remember the first day and we were going through the script and I was like, just hammering you with questions and thoughts and this. And the next day you gave me one of the greatest gifts a director has ever given me, where you said, you own her. I'm giving her to you. I know that you know her and she's yours now. And I don't know why I'd never really thought about being able to have that kind of faith in myself. But when you had that faith in me, I just felt free. The way that you're able to create an environment of mutual respect from all departments is a really rare talent. And everybody is in the process together. Like I never felt that I was separate from any of the departments. It always felt like we were building something. And that felt so unique to me and so different than a lot of the films that I've worked on. Dune is a little epic. A lot of people have a point of view, I imagine. What is nice about doing the adaptation is that you have always an art star. The book is like a kind of Bible for everybody. There's always something. The book is so dense, so rich, so much descriptions. There's a spirit to it. Sometimes when you make movies, a movie that you wrote yourself, or you have to... It's a music or a painting or something that would be the... But with a book, you have the object. As I'm doing the adaptation, writing, it can be a burden. Sometimes you feel like walls around you that you cannot... But otherwise, I really love to adapt. I like being a part of an adaptation as well for the very same reason. Because if I ever get stuck, if I ever want to know where the character's at, books have a much stronger internal monologue for the characters, especially a book like Night Bitch, which is written in totally an internal monologue. So I can always go back and see kind of what she was thinking in the moment, or kind of the environment, how she described something. So even if I'm not saying it, or even if the thought isn't being voiced at any point, I can internalize that. Marielle Heller, who adapted Night Bitch, did such a great job at sort of mining it out. She really did like the lion's share. And then she'd call me and we'd talk about things and kind of think about what was important to us to communicate. But she delivered that script. And I was like, if I make any notes, it's only to make myself look like I'm smart enough to make notes because it was just beautiful. I had no notes. I was like, I get it. Marie does a lot of the monologues that are done, not really breaking fourth wall, but like the internal monologues spoken out loud. I'm never going to be smart, happy person ever again. Oh, and I'm pretty sure I'm turning into a dog. You're so funny. Having had read the book and having that voice in my head really did help me understand sort of the music that I would be playing, you know? That's interesting because I don't know if the actors who play in Dune can dive more into their characters by reading the book in some ways. That it's like there's a distance between the adaptations. So I don't know if they can. But for me as a director and for my production designers and for all the other department, the book is definitely a reference. Each shoot is different. Dune part two was singular about that experience. It's just that I started the shoot tired because I had done part one, do the post, do the press, do the award season and then went into prep right straight straight. There was no time to rest. There was no time to re-energize. And I was a bit worried about that. I was excited to do the movie, but I was... And what kept me alive through all those weeks were really the actors' performances. Take my life, Ouzoul. It is the only way. I'm pointing the way. Slow down. To have that kind of spark that happens in the camera and that joy, that gave me the necessary energy to go through the journey. This is why everybody loves working with you because you have so much reverence and respect for actors. And it's just lovely to work with. You really do. You are very honest. That's one of the things I talked about when I first met you that struck me. I tell a story on set, because it's when I knew I trusted you. As I was having trouble with a moment in a scene, and I came up to you with all of my angst, I'm in the little orange suit with my hood off walking next to you, talking at what must have been a mile a minute. Because I was like, I had a problem and a question. I was working it out in my head. And I was talking, I was doing this and this. And I go, but then there's this and this. And I stopped and I looked at you and you go, to be honest, I don't understand anything you've said. And I said, that's okay, because I think I just worked it out in my own head. And really, I think I just needed a sounding board. But the fact that you just were like, I don't know what you said, because I was mumbling and talking so fast. And once you told me that, you must have known it's not what I wanted to hear, but it was what I needed to hear. And it made me also realize, oh, actually, I already figured it out. But I trusted you because I knew you would always tell me the truth. That's very funny, I remember. But sometimes, specifically on set, I understand that in a movie of nature of arrival, for you, it was a very complex storyline. But I was trying to keep it visceral, because otherwise we will lose ourselves. No, I loved it. I always loved when you pushed and pulled and brought your ideas. You were great to work with. Although you had a lot of faith in me bringing my point of view to it, you still were able to direct a vision for the character and for the film and for the energy of the film. And without losing the character. But there's something I absolutely, and not that I know we go too much in the love fest, but I love how much you trusted me. That means the world to me. Because as a director, it's like you built a boat, you said to everybody, we're going to discover a new continent, and you hope the boat will not sink. You hope the wind will blow in the right direction. And you hope you will find something at the other end. But still, that can happen only if people trust you. And I felt that you were a force that was driving everybody forward. Thank you. What you did with Jean-Marc Vallée and the sharps objects, it was absolutely incredible. I was really impressed. And I think that Jean-Marc really, it was like blossoming. I don't know if you can say that, like becoming even the best work. I did really enjoy the long format of character development and kind of getting to spend time and moments and really explore that. Are you open to, no, I'm kidding. I'm like, I'm going to pitch him something while we're on the couch. No. Personally, I don't, I'm not, I love to watch it. Got it. I love to love it. But I am not inspired by the long form. I love the economy of time of a feature film. There's something more contained that I prefer. If I was going to ask you or say what I want you to do, it's something with me. Just anything with me. What I would love is to do a musical with Amy Adams. That would be so fun. We could practice at karaoke. No, that won't happen. Because we've been to karaoke together and that was like, I'm still grateful that you're still talking to me. Oh, you're so funny, you were wonderful. Never go karaoke with Amy Adams. I can never hear Skyfall the same way. Darren and I, every time we hear it, do you. You were wonderful. Every time I hear Skyfall, I still, me too, I think of you and Darren. Yeah, it was wonderful. It was lovely to chat with you, Amy. Great to see you again. Lovely to see you. Always lovely to see you. I'll see you. Singing. Karaoke.