ComingSoon’s Jonathan Sim spoke to actors Maya Hawke (Stranger Things, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) and Rupert Friend (Obi-Wan Kenobi, Pride & Prejudice) about their appearances in the upcoming Wes Anderson film Asteroid City.
ComingSoon’s Jonathan Sim spoke to actors Maya Hawke (Stranger Things, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) and Rupert Friend (Obi-Wan Kenobi, Pride & Prejudice) about their appearances in the upcoming Wes Anderson film Asteroid City.
“The routine of a Junior Stargazer Convention is spectacularly disrupted by world-changing events,” it says the movies Summary.
Jonathan Sim: This is a film you worked on with Wes Anderson, and I wanted to ask what about Wes Anderson’s directing style drew you to work with him and what makes him different from other directors you’ve worked with ?
Rupert friend: Well, he’s one of the few real writers we’re working on right now, I think, because he imagined the whole thing, but he also wrote it. And he writes beautifully. So, to begin with, his screenplays are an incredibly enticing prospect. But his specificity, vision and passion for work are unflagging. So if we’ve done something 50 times, it’s day 75, or it’s 30 degrees outside, he’s still as excited as day one. And this is contagious and cannot be ignored.
Maya Hawke: And it’s like he has that joy in his films and the process of making them, that’s what I’m looking for in life.
What was the most memorable experience you had while filming Asteroid City?
Rupert: I mean, I don’t know if I can say there was one. I think the whole experience holistically is just incredibly rewarding, you know, to be with this group of people, to be shooting this special film at a very difficult time for everyone, and to try to find meaning in the quarantine. And the film has some elements of quarantine about it, but not in a depressing way, but in a very uplifting way.
Maya: I think (Rupert) was still there, but I ended up staying until the very last day of shooting. And when they closed Asteroid City, I rode my bike there and it was pretty crowded. A lot had already been packed away. And I just walked around and looked at every detail of every prop. And I was all alone in Asteroid City, where I hadn’t been before. And that, oddly enough, I think is the thing. I really will never forget this moment.
Asteroid City is this interesting cosmic movie dealing with things like aliens and the like. So if an extraterrestrial actually ever came to earth, which of your films or series would you want to show the extraterrestrial to show everything about you in the best possible light?
Maya: Well, I definitely feel like if I wanted an alien to portray me in the best possible light, I wouldn’t show them any of my work. I want them to read my diary or watch from space as I have a long conversation with my brother. I want them to see that I’m human. Or maybe I want them to listen to one of my records. That’s probably what I want to know about myself the most. Maybe this film too, not because it’s about me but because I’m so proud to have been in it, but I don’t know, you know. It’s funny, acting is so funny in that way because it reveals so much about who you are and not who you are. That’s how nobody really gets to know you by watching you play. Or at least actors like us maybe.
Rupert: No, I agree. I agree. I think it would be a way to talk about other ideas, but I don’t think you get any idea who these people are from the characters they played, maybe in any movie. I don’t know. Yes.
So is there a specific accomplishment that you’ve made in your career that you think might have stayed under the radar and that you’d like a lot of people to check out if they haven’t already?
Maya: Anything I’ve done that has stayed under the radar, I don’t want anyone to see.
Caught. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. got it
Rupert: To be honest, I don’t even know what happened under which radar, so I don’t follow my own career that closely. (laughs)