The actress plays very different women in Searchlight’s dark comedy 'The Menu' and A24’s drama 'The Whale,' with one character engaging in a knife fight with Anya Taylor-Joy, and the other enabling Brendan Fraser as his best friend.
That’s one of the sad things about living in L.A.: You don’t get to see all of the great theater, especially the off-Broadway shows that don’t travel. The screenplay is so close to the play, and I knew it would require a lot of work. Thankfully, we had a three-week rehearsal period, which energized me in a way I wasn’t expecting. I got to see Brendan really transform from that very first table read to when we started filming.
Liz is a complicated character. She’s both Charlie’s best friend and caretaker, but at times she’s short-tempered with him and harsh about his health. How did you balance that tone? They have such a complicated relationship, and there’s so much history there. Liz is also not doing well — she’s just handling it in a different way. She has to show up for work at a hospital, barely hanging on and keeping up this great facade. What was difficult about their relationship is what I found exciting and challenging. I didn’t want her to be the best friend in a very one-dimensional way.
I grew up being spanked as a child for acting out, and it’s not that my parents didn’t love me — it was a knee-jerk reaction. We had to be careful for all of the reasons you have to be sensitive with this story. But I’m glad Darren kept that in the movie, because we’re not backing away from the reality of the situation. It’s very apparent that Liz loves Charlie, so much so that she’s enabling him by bringing him food that isn’t healthy for him.
From left: Brendan Fraser, director Darren Aronofsky, Chau, Sadie Sink and screenwriter Samuel D. Hunter at the Venice International Film Festival premiere of, as dark a comedy as they come, playing the formidable maître d’, Elsa., and I knew [director] Mark Mylod was a major part of that show. Part of the reason I also wanted to work onwas Ralph Fiennes. Because his character addresses all of the diners in the restaurant, it felt like we were being treated to a one-man show.
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