DP/30 @TIFF 2012: The Master, actor Amy Adams

It's hard to control how much technology they're exposed to because it's everywhere. You're having quite a season. I mean, this is kind of the first thing for me. Well, two movies here, and then you have the Clint movie coming. Yep. Just around the corner. Yeah, so this is the beginning of a little bit of seeing you guys a lot, which is great. And I'm really happy with everything I'm a part of. Is it really great? You know, it's not the people that I have a problem with, but the process makes me feel very squirrely. You always kind of feel a little insecure by the end of the day, or at least I do. I feel a little squirrely by the end of the day. Well, I figure you feel loose and open after a summer in the park. Yeah. It's a good way to relax into things. Exactly. Yeah, nothing more relaxing than ten shows in a row in high heat and humidity and three hours of sun time. But not your dream? I mean, we've talked about you singing before. No, I loved it. I loved it. It was humbling, the amount of work that it was. I guess I had forgotten how hard it was and how consuming. And, yeah, the amount of work was humbling. So now it would be easy to get back to movies. It would seem like a vacation. Yeah, no. We'll see. I had a great time. But, yeah, I miss my daughter a lot. That's wonderful. Yeah. So how did The Master come into your life? Did Paul just call one day, or did you? Yeah, you know. No. Yeah, they just sort of called me and said, you know, there's this Paul Thomas Anderson movie. They're thinking of you for this part. Will you meet him? And I was like, yeah, that would be great. I was really excited. A lot of conversation about your character? Or is it what's on the page and you have to figure it out from there? A little. There was a lot of conversation, but not directly like, here's who she is. Here's what you're going to do. Here's this. But very much on the page and also very much informed. He said something that really kind of sparked my interest, how even if Peggy isn't the focus of the scene, she's there. And I loved how omnipresent she seemed in most of the group scenes. And that was something that was really exciting for me, is to kind of sit back and play such an observant character. Truly observant. Well, Paul's not one to talk a lot, and I guess people are just seeing the movie this last couple of days as a rule. But, I mean, I found the character, unlike some of the couple of reviews that have been out, I think that the character is actually kind of the strongest character in the movie in terms of internal strength. Yeah, internal strength, sure. She's kind of the driver in a way. She's a woman. Well, is that it? Is it that simple? Could be. No, no. I don't know. I mean, I guess I identify with her in the sense of like once I am focused on a goal, I stay pretty focused on a goal. And so once I understood her protective nature, her sort of control mechanism, and it has very much to do with the time in which this takes place and very much behind the scenes. And she would never humiliate her husband in public. She would never speak against him or contradict him in public. But that was very much how it was, at least I surmise, that that's how it was or how I perceived that era to be. But she does seem to be, in some ways, in terms of the pseudo-religious side of it, the zealot, much more so than her husband. Could be. Could be. She's a true believer. Yeah. She has no doubts. And if there are doubts, they need to be pushed away because there is, the cause is the most important thing. So did you guys talk about the cause or did you have that conversation or is it just kind of what it is again on the page? It's very much about what it was on the page. Yeah, very much about it. Because I don't, I mean, the whole Scientology thing to me, I mean, I see the framework, I see the... Yeah. But I think it seems to be wildly overstated by most of the people who have been writing about it. It makes a really good headline. Yeah. You know, which, you know, I'll take it. It's attention for the movie and I think the movie deserves attention. So if that gets people to go see it, awesome, you know. I think that what Joaquin does, what Philip does and what Paul does in crafting this movie deserves to be seen. So, great. Go see it and decide for yourself. That's what I say. So is it hard to be in the frame and, you know, having that, being that essence in the background? Well, no? No, no. Well, I'm assuming you're saying, well, like these two powerhouses. Well, I mean, you're a powerhouse too. Yes, but to get to just, thank you, but to get to just choose, I'm like, yes. No, Peggy's a powerhouse. I was assuming when you were saying, to watch... Well, no, I mean, there are a lot of scenes where you're in the, you know, you're in the background, you're sitting somewhere and you're just kind of there in the moment and you're watching this happen. I love it. I absolutely love how in some scenes she's blurred almost and because really it is the presence of her that speaks more than anything she can say. And for me, that's what spoke more than anything that anyone could say to me about her was just how present she was. She did not let that man out of her sight if she could help it. Well, she knew what was coming, I guess, if he got away for a second. It's trouble. Trouble. So how was Paul? I mean, that's his fourth movie, fifth movie now? He's kind of legendary at such a young age. He makes really amazing films. But is he a different kind of director, just working on the set with him or is it much like working with other directors? It's so hard to state, you know. You're so in it when you're in it and so I can't really say how he's different or how he's the same. I mean, I would have to say that all directors, great directors that I've worked with, they have more in common than they have different, you know. Of course, their approach is all very different. Passion, the ability to, you have a thought and you don't know had you been, was I directed to have that thought or did I have that thought? And they almost make you think that you've directed your performance. And that is what a good director does, you know. They don't, at least in my experience. I know there are directors who have different techniques but at the end of the day, when you walk away, I did not, it took me a long time to understand how Paul had directed me. Because I was just letting it happen. You really want to let it happen with somebody like Paul Thomas Anderson who really directs people to really amazing performances. And so I just wanted to be present in the moment with Paul and with Philip and with Joaquin as much as possible. Did the character feel like a departure for you? Did it feel like you were doing something that you haven't really done? Because she's very hard. I felt different than I, I didn't feel like, wow, I'm doing something really different. But I know like cellularly I felt different playing this. I think you smiled once during the movie. Really? Maybe once there was a scene. Yeah, I didn't even think about that. But I'm never thinking, you know, when I'm doing a role, is this different or the same? But I know that this, I felt weird sometimes. But I was exhausted when I was making this movie. I told Paul today, I was like, I don't know if I've shared actually the behind the scenes experience of making this movie with you because I was, my daughter was still waking up at night. And we were shooting nights and there was like a week and a half where we were shooting nights where Darren was out of town. I have a really wonderful nanny who was helping me. So thank you, Lisa. But I was getting like two or three hours of sleep and I felt like I was going bonkers and it turned out to serve me very well for this film. You could have taken Joaquin's role on for a few days. No, I could not. I couldn't have. I was like, I was too, I would have gone absolutely crazy. There's no way. There's no way. He, where he's able to go in this film is, and then return to some semblance of Joaquin is pretty amazing. So all the pieces just kind of like, it sounds like they lined up for you in this case where kind of fit what you were going through in real life. Yeah, it's always hard. It's art and form life, it's life and form art, but it really did, it really did line up. Is there a lightness on the set when you're? There is, surprisingly. I really thought it was going to be this heavy, serious experience and Paul actually, he's serious. You know, he's not, but he's a lot more fun and he's funnier than I expected him to be. So did you see the movie before all of this? I saw it a couple weeks ago for the first time and then I watched it last night for the first time with an audience, so that was really, that was really fascinating. So surprising for you or? The first time I saw it, yeah, yeah. I was, I've heard a lot of people say this so I was glad to hear that I wasn't the only one with the experience, but I really, the movie ended and I just sat still for about five minutes and I was like, I don't even know what to say right now. Like I just am so, I didn't have any comment. I mean I loved it, but it was just really, I mean it's, I know a lot of people have had that experience in watching this film and I can't say why or how, but there it is. So did you dissect it intellectually or did you dissect it emotionally? Emotionally. Well it hit me emotionally and then you try to place something intellectual on it. It's impossible for me. I can, but unless I'm Paul and I know why he picked what and did this and did that. But Paul's very organic and very emotional and yes he has an intellectual side, but I think he works a lot from instinct and he has beautiful, wonderful instincts. I don't necessarily enjoy, I don't consider myself an intellectual. I don't enjoy breaking something down. I like, I'm much more of an emotional human being. I like the experience of something instead of, you know, talking about it and breaking it down. To me I, it's like rainbows. Like I don't want to know why the rain falls and the light hits and this. It's a very scientific breakdown of it. I just like to see the rainbow, you know. So yeah, I'm experiential as opposed to intellectual. It does seem like a bit of a puzzle movie. It seems a little like there's a, you know, very Kubrickian and Paul is very Kubrickian. Yeah, I mean there's that, there's, you know, Hitchcock does that too and I actually, you know, took a course where, you know, you break down film and it was great. But at the same time I was like, well I liked Vertigo just as well before I knew the significance of arches and spirals. I mean now I'm watching the film looking for spirals as opposed to just watching the film. So I mean it's, both are valid. It just depends on what your personal preference is. Great work I think gets you without, you stop thinking about it quite as much. You can't intellectualize it while you're watching at least. Yeah, but watching it the second time was good because the first time was such, I just sort of went with the emotional experience. And this time I actually got to see and value the craft of the film. The cinematography, the way the shots were lined up, just the sort of animalistic bravery of Joaquin's performance and juxtaposed to Phillip's, you know, intensity. And I was able to really kind of just, I just loved it. The scene, without giving too much away, but the scene in the jail. I started laughing because I was like, I can't believe what I'm witnessing and seeing them juxtaposed to one another was just really beautiful. Did you get a lot of laughs in that screening? Because that's, I think we were, I was in San Francisco and saw that. Yeah, there was some laughs. I mean I think Freddie makes people uncomfortable and I think their reaction is to laugh. And it is, it is sort of, he's a little outside of the norm so I think, you know, it's okay to laugh. He does funny things. One of your big scenes, your mirror scene with Phil. It's like, the audience I think is trying to figure out putting that together as it's all happening. It takes a second. I was with someone last night who said it was really interesting to watch it and to feel the audience. You could feel them shift when they realized what you were doing. Yeah. Is that fun? To shoot? In reaction? Oh, I was like, to shoot? You're not going to ask me that. Oh my goodness. It's not that kind of interview. Thank you. But the, is that, but is doing a scene like that where you're clearly, something is happening but it's hidden and not really meant to be, you know, focused on that then see the audience actually get it. You know what, when Paul told me how he was filming that, I just, his genius was confirmed for me. I was like, that, I can't imagine any other way this could have been filmed to that effect. I, did I sense the, I don't know that I sense that in the audience. Whenever I'm doing something like that I get very bashful. I don't like sex scenes or anything suggestive. You have a nude scene in this movie? Yes, I do. You do? Actually. It's a big nude scene. There's nothing shown but yes, I'm naked. I'm not afraid to try anything but then realizing that people are going to witness it or being present when people are being witness to it, I'm very, I get very, very bashful. Yeah. So do you feel bashful watching it in public? I feel bashful watching any movie with an audience but I really wanted to see this film again and see it with an audience. It's really a good film to see with an audience. I was in San Francisco and somebody who had seen it already from the studio actually told me that they'd, wherever they'd screened it before they'd seen it and the audience didn't laugh. And in San Francisco the audience laughed a lot. And they were like shocked that the audience found it as funny but it's, there's a lot of funny stuff in it. There is a lot of funny stuff. Yeah. So that audience energy is kind of a great, you don't always know where to put Paul's stuff. Yeah. You know. There's a lot of funny stuff and there will be blood also but if you were sitting alone in a room it would be hard to be sure whether you were meant to laugh. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So where did On the Road fit into your schedule and all of this? On the Road I did a long time ago. I did it when my daughter was three months old. So that was before this. Oh yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Almost like nine months before. Because it feels kind of like a loose version, the wild woman version of this character in a way. Oh. On the Road. A tough little person. I was a, that again, I just went with where I was in my life. I was like well if there was ever a time to play a drug addict it's when I'm getting no sleep, nursing, still like totally whacked out on hormones from giving birth. Just like I don't know. And so I just went with it and it's been, since having my daughter I've been really trying to go with the experience of creativity as opposed to trying to manipulate it in some way. And hopefully I get opportunities where that gets, I can take that even further. I worked with them walking again with Spike Jones and I feel like I got to do that even more and I'm trying to give myself permission to fail a little bit more and not be perfect and not try to have a clean performance and it's okay if I'm bad. Like if someone doesn't like me then that's okay. If they think I'm bad that's okay. So Walter, Spike, Paul and David O. Russell. Yeah. It's the gallery of rogue directors, of terrific directors. I love them. Is that do you think just the circumstance of them seeing you and liking you and being interested in drawing them to you? I don't know. Are you looking for great directors? I mean of course, who doesn't want to work with great directors who have an amazing vision? I think it's also for myself it's a willingness to not be the lead. It's a willingness, I'm not interested in being, I don't have to be the star of a movie for a movie to be interesting to me. It's a willingness to be number 17 on the call sheet if it means getting to do something really amazing. That's what I would say. Did that change for you or is that something that, I mean was there a moment where you were heading to I want to be the lead of every movie? No, no, no. Because you have an option I think. Well I mean, no I was just really drawn to working with really good directors and their writing really interesting parts for women. David has a really great, he just loves strong women. And so to be able to be honest with David about the strength inside myself and to be able to be honest with directors about like my neuroses or whatever. It's really freeing and I think that is what has been great is to be able to bring an honesty from my own personality to these performances and these experiences with these directors. So it's not, when you're number one on the call sheet the responsibility of professionalism. Not that I'm not professional but you really have to be the leader on set. And sometimes that is an overwhelming concept for me not in being the lead of a film but just I'm such a people pleaser that really I would probably not be able to keep track of my performance. I turn into a real mom and I want people to like me and that ends up being what I'm leading with and then it makes me crazy. So it sounds like you're kind of forcing yourself into coming of age. Yeah, I think so. I am. I feel like, you know, we've talked over the years and I'm always very honest with you about where I'm at. I remember I started crying in a Doubt interview like who am I, what am I doing, I'm done. Meryl got you as I remember. Let's not start that again because it will get me again. I saw her recently but, you know. Well now you shall share the Delacorte stage together. There you go. I saw her recently and the way she's been as a mother to see her children is inspiring to me. Now that's what I'm looking at because I have a daughter and seeing how she was able to prioritize family in a time where it wasn't as fashionable to be a mother and an actress. Well she really kind of disappeared for a while. I mean she slowed her schedule way down it seems like. She was a mother. Yeah. I really respect her. Yeah. And now we're seeing the kids in movies all over the place. Isn't that great? One of the dumber girls in a movie last night, Seven Psychopaths. Oh, that's great. She turned up in that. Oh, lovely. So do you start planning? Do you have like an idea of okay well this is how I'm going to approach this or is it still whatever comes over that feels like the right thing and exciting? I really don't see a pattern typically until after I've done a bunch of stuff and then I'm like wow I kind of think this is where my choices are leading me and I need to pay attention to why I'm choosing this and what I want to do. I think as I'm evolving as a human being I hope that I get to evolve as an actress and continue to have the opportunities to do that. I try not to be too strategic. I feel like that won't be authentic and then I can't live with that. I'll get all neurotic again. So is the intensity around a movie like this interesting to you as a person who's a part of it or is it kind of strange? It's a movie that very few people have seen and potentially it's not going to be a $100 million movie unlikely that that will happen. It's not that kind of movie. It might. It should. But quality films tend to have a slightly smaller audience and yet the intensity around this whole thing. I think people are very passionate about Paul Thomas Anderson. People are very passionate about his vision. So I feel like I'm going on a ride. I feel like if I had to steer this ride I wouldn't enjoy it. But it's nice to be on the ride and to be on it with such amazing people, amazing talent. Like I said this is the first time I've been out with a film so I've just been sort of a witness and I've kind of been hearing what's been going on. So I'll let you know I guess because I really don't know what that is yet. But it's exciting when a film like this gets attention. Like you said it's not going to be the film that makes, it's not going to win a popularity contest necessarily. But it really, all of the hype, all of the people talking about the film gets people to see the film and I think it's really, really worth seeing. And I think that the work that Joaquin and Philip do are, it's just remarkable and I really, I'm glad people are excited about it. I think all three of you. Well thank you but I mean I feel, I guess I feel very much like Peggy in this where I kind of feel like I'm in the background of everything. I'm omnipresent. Yeah. So the third in your triumphant return at the moment is Trouble with a Curve. Yeah. Is that like going on vacation compared to some of this other work or is it equally the same kind of intense thing? It was very intense. I mean that, that was working with Clint and they work at quite a pace. So that was intense in its own way really knowing kind of the reputation for the speed at which they shoot. Not because they're such a well-oiled machine. It was all the same people that Clint works with and they're just lovely. So there was some pressure to know like they do one or two takes and then they move on and you better just be ready to move on which I'm never ready to move on. Like I never, I can watch a film and go oh I wish we'd done another take. So that was hard for me to do one take and then say okay movie, I'd be like whoa boys let's just, let's do two takes. They're like oh Amy wants another take and I was like yeah I'd like two takes. They teased me but in all in good fun. So is the draw to something like that the chance to work with Clint or is it that it's a big commercial movie amongst a bunch of art films? Well it's funny I didn't necessarily look at it like a big commercial movie because I looked at it, I was really actually, I'd never done, I was thinking, no. I'd never done a father-daughter relationship movie and I thought that that was a, I thought it was really, that relationship was really well defined and that's something that I hadn't seen in film or hadn't played in film. It's not explored as much as like a mother-daughter and so a complex father-daughter relationship was something. And especially to do it with Clint in the nature that the film required was an exciting prospect. He actually has kids younger than you which is kind of remarkable. He does, I met them, they're very nice. Part of the family now. Yeah. Yeah and then Justin's in that film and he does a really good job and people are going to really like him. People seem to really like the movie. It sounds like a very commercial movie. You know what, there's a lot of heart in the movie, like a ton of heart. All of us went in there and really put a lot of heart in. So hopefully people respond to that. So you've now done your music, singing on Broadway kind of, the Delacorte. Yeah, singing on mulch anyway. That's right. On mulch. I performed on mulch. And you've had all your fabulous woodland creatures with you. I did, I did. I had raccoons and rats. And you've done all this stuff. Is it, do you feel like you've gone to another place? Have you reached the next plateau of Amy Adams or are you? I guess we'll see. I'm, I don't know. I don't know, we'll see. I hate to make any grand statements. Life changes so quickly. Was it exciting to just have all this stuff coming? To know that you've done all this work and now you can kind of. No, it's terrifying. Are you kidding? What's terrifying about it? Because I love work but then people are going to watch it and judge it and break it down. And when you're doing it, you're never doing it for that purpose. And so it always is a harsh reality, you know. Good or bad. At this point? No. No, no, no. I am not allowed to read anything. I always tell, I put myself on internet ban. No Googling yourself? No, God no. But even like on the internet, if you're looking anything else up and then it's like Venice Film Festival ends with and then you can't help but click and then there's a foot and then you click. And then sure enough, before you know it, you're reading how someone thinks you're a troll. And I don't know how it happens but it happens to everybody and I'm off the internet. Have you read anybody saying you're a troll? Well, I think I'm a troll but. You're the only person. No. I don't think I. I haven't read that. I was just being silly. I don't recall reading a bad review for you in a long time. I don't know, maybe ever. Yeah, I try not to. I try not to but I just think the energy of it. I don't know but I'm still banned from the internet. No, I mean, I can understand that. That being said, I'm banned. It's interesting but I just don't remember people. There's a likability, a natural likability that you have. Do you think people are suspicious of that? I'm turning you around. Do you think people are suspicious of a natural likability? Well, everything turns, I guess, at some point. But you haven't. You've kept it. Because you haven't capitalized on it as turning yourself into a brand. Yeah, I wouldn't. I think less so with you. I think when some actors, they get to a point where they've had the Oscar nominations and everything is going in the right direction and all of a sudden they start doing superhero movies and whatever. I've done a superhero movie. What superhero movie? I did Superman. Oh, yes. And now you've done a superhero movie. Now you've done it. See? It's all over now. But you didn't get to wear a suit or anything. Yes, but I never, I don't get to. I get to wear a suit, but like a proper suit. No, I love doing a superhero movie. You have to understand, I was a huge Superman nerd growing up. Huh. Huge. So you just liked it because of the whole vibe of it or because of the specifics of doing an action movie where there's effects and all that? I love going to the movie to see action films. I love going to the theater to see action films. So I figured this was probably my only chance to be in a superhero movie, to be in one of those movies that I like to go put the glasses on and watch because I am so not the girl who can run around in spandex and pull it off gracefully. I'm a little pigeon-toed and it's just not cute for superheroes to be pigeon-toed. So I figured that was probably my last chance to be in a superhero movie. And it's Lois Lane. And it was Zack Snyder who has an amazing visual sensibility and really cares about character. So that's a fun one for you. It was fun. It was really fun. I hope it's as much fun to watch and that people respond to it. Do you get to run in your high heels? I do. I do run in high heels. I run up and down stairs, but hopefully I'm not too pigeon-toed in it. Now I've pointed that out and people will be like, she is in fact pigeon-toed. They will be analyzing your toes for the rest of your career. That's all right. I won't be reading about it, so go ahead. Tear me apart. You are the master of your own domain. So you hang out with the guys and now that it's done and it's on the screen, is it kind of fun to go back and see everybody? It is. I worked with Joaquin afterwards, not long ago. I just finished a film with him. While I was in the park, I flew to China and finished that film. It was good. It was also good to get to know Joaquin outside of the Master. That was a pretty intense experience. So it was nice to feel like, you know, I kind of turn into Peggy when talking about certain people and Philip and Joaquin. They just bring it right out in you. They do. They do. You can go back to being nice and pigeon-toed again. Thank you. We won't be suspicious, I swear. There it is. All right.