(upbeat music) - Welcome to "Close Up" with "The Hollywood Reporter Actresses". I'm Rebecca Ford and I'd
like to welcome Laura Dern, Lupita Nyong'o, Renee
Zellweger, Awkwafina, Scarlett Johansson, and Jennifer Lopez. Thank you so much for joining us. So we're gonna jump right in here. When were you most afraid
or intimidated by a role and how did you overcome it? - We can all probably relate
that it happens every time before you start. It happens every time. Your imposter syndrome sneaks in, and you're gonna be found out, and this will be the time that everyone knows you're a fraud, and you're getting fired. (laughing) I don't know, it's always this wonderful,
exciting, collaboration, and you don't wanna let anybody down. You just have those little nerves, so wanna make sure you hold
up your end of the deal. It becomes less fear and probably more just a sense of responsibility as you, I guess get older and have
been doing it a while. But it's always part of
the joy of it really, 'cause if it doesn't you
frighten you and it might be,-- - Excitement.
- Exactly. - Why you doing it? If it doesn't somehow-- - Scare you, scare the shit out of you. (ladies laughing) - Well Laura was there one specific maybe that scared you more than most? - And I would say, to your point, and scare you, scare the shit out of you, that probably the most scared I've been is when I'm having the most fun. Because it is so
boundaryless and you kind of lose sight of where you are
and that's an amazing feeling. But specifics in the moment, probably I did a film "Citizen Ruth", and that was the, I felt at the time, the most different of
any one I've been with. I mean, not that I'm not
addicted to huff and paint, but that was a challenge, and at that time felt scary to me, because it was a very dark comedy. Trying to sort of walk this unusual line, and the script was so fun,
and terrifying, and beautiful. - I would say that the last film, "Us", terrified me quite a bit. Every time I work, I wonder whether I have what it takes to do that particular role, because we're in a business where we're always starting again. You start with ignorance with
every role and the preparation is about moving from that
ignorance to hopefully a sense of expertise by the time the film wraps. But with "Us", I had to play
two characters in one movie, and I had the time it usually
takes me to prepare for one. And these two characters
are diametrically opposed to each other. They are individual, but they're also two entities
that ultimately are one. So that was a challenge just
in terms of how to organize it in my head, and how to make them distinct, and yet feel like two parts of one entity. - I think you're always kind
of excited at the undertaking of a new role, a new movie, and I've done them for so long, and a lot of us have here, that you're not nervous, nervous. There's like butterflies, but it's not the nerves, it's not like "Oh, I'm gonna, "I'm gonna go down in flames." It's not that nervous, but this was the first
time in a long time, that I was actually terrified
to do that opening number. Which I suggested, of course. (ladies laughing) So it was my fault that I
was there to begin with, 'cause it wasn't written in the script. It just says "Ramona
finishes her final flourish." And then me and Destiny meet. And I was like no, she's like the big, kind of the money maker at the club. She was this person. I played a stripper in
that, in this movie. And I was like, but she has to show why. Like we can't say it. We have to do it. We have to, I have to dance on the pole, I have to show them. I have to go there. Even though that's scary, and in my mind, I was like, it's gonna be scary. But then when I was there, and
I have the dental floss on, You know what I mean, and I'm out there, in a way I've never been, it was so scary. It was so terrifying. I was literally for the
first time in years, like my heart beating out
of my chest and going, "Oh my God. "I'm really nervous. "I'm really scared." And I wasn't smiling like I am now. You know what I mean? I turned to my producing partner, and she was walking onto the stage, and everybody's excited, and it was towards the end of the shoot, and here we go towards the stage. And I have my robe on. There's 300 extras. (ladies reacting) Oh man, and it's like, (sighing) "Oh my God, okay." And I go, I turn to her
and I go, "I'm scared." And she was like, "You are?" Never hears me say that. Like we're just like
working, working, working, doing our thing, so movie, blah, blah, blah. And I was like "Yeah, I'm scared." And she was like "You got this. "You got this." And I'm like, "Yeah I got this." But I think that was putting
myself out there in a way physically, and
emotionally, and it kind of, I don't know, something
deeper than I had ever done. And playing a character that was that unapologetic in so many ways. That it was so different than who I was. I feel like all my characters, they have a little bit of me in them. And this one did a little bit, but it was so different though. It was, again, it comes out to be the
most rewarding thing that you do. It's like "Oh shit, okay, cool." - It paid off that scene is amazing. - Thank you, thank you. - [Awkwafina] Yeah it's a good scene. - Can I ask you who helped
you to choreograph it? And how long you did it? And how many people actually saw you do it before the 300 male audience members? - That's so funny, hardly any. - [Renee] So you yourself
in a quiet space? - I was in a quiet space.
- Oh my goodness. - Probably that's why
too, and it was hard. I had to learn the acrobatics, and so like the shoulder was out. - The build up to it too.
- The build up to it. So it took like, we started like eight weeks out. and she started just showing me, I had a pole teacher who
worked with Cirque du Soleil. But she lived in Vegas, so she
kind of knew the strip club. So I was like this has to be like, I'm not trying to be a
Cirque du Soleil performer, I'm a stripper. And so it has to have that, that kind of like dirty,
sexy, grimy, feel to it too. Like I want it to be that too. And so we kind of just put it together. With the moves that I learned, and I was like, "Ah, this is a great one, "or I need to conquer that one. "So I need to learn that one, "'cause that one has to be in there." And we kind of put it together, together, and then it was like from doing research and going to the strip clubs, there was moves I saw
some of the girls do, I was like "I'm gonna put that
in, I'm gonna put that in, "I'm gonna put that in." (ladies laughing) You know what I mean? And so we just kind of, I just kind of constructed
it piece by piece, and then we picked a song, and we just did it in that way. But it was, it was, it was hard. And I think you're right. I didn't realize I was in that small space with just a few people. The director hadn't even seen it. She only saw a video of
it like the day before, and then I went out and did it on the day. It was so scary. (ladies laughing) Now that I think about it, I'm so glad it's over. (ladies laughing) It was such a crazy thing. - And Scarlett what about you? Are you, two very different films that have come out. Is there one that was sort
of more intimidating for you than the other? - I don't know if intimidated is really the right word exactly. I think both of those films, even thought they're really different. The thing they do have in
common is that the scripts were beautiful little gems. Both scripts, and Laura read, obviously "Marriage Story", and it was such a, it was incredible. I mean it's just every, I think, what people that have seen
it don't necessarily realize, is that every hesitation, and
every unfinished sentence, is all scripted. And no one's really, it's the words are the words,
and you have to stick to that. - [Rebecca] It was there. - Yeah, it's all right there and he's a real stickler about that, which is fine. But you have to, you have this kind of structure, and then you figure it out. It was challenging at times
just because Noah's relentless, and he works to exhaustion. I've never really been able
to have that experience just burning film like that. It's something you do when you do theater, because you just keep, it's one of the beautiful
things about doing theater is that you get that
chance over and over again to figure it out. And you do, you figure it out every night, and it's so exciting 'cause
you surprise yourself all the time, and you're stuck with this text. And that's kind of the experience that, I certainly, and Laura had too, You had all this opportunity
to just try it all out and it was challenging, but it also, you kind of keep coming back to, okay I can't straight from this, so I'm gonna make these discoveries within the confines of this text. And it was, I wouldn't say intimidating, but it was challenging definitely. - I was intimidated, when I read your monologue, and watched you tirelessly learning it. - [Scarlett] Fumble through it. - No, my God no.
- Fail. - And make up and hair,
and we would run lines, and I would listen to you memorizing it. And take one was flawless. This human being opening her heart and telling this entire story. No one word missed. I was just mesmerized. It was amazing to watch you do that. - All the actors were hand
shy when Noah walked passed. (Scarlett vocalizing) I didn't add a then. There wasn't a then. The little things. - But it was amazing. - I think acting is, it is all about what you
have with another person. That's the magic that happens. It's what you get from
this person receiving you and you receiving them, and making this beautiful
shape with somebody else. Of course, I had this beautiful
creature to act opposite, and be there present with me and hold me and this incredibly sympathetic
soul that is Laura Dern. - So I'm just here listening to you. I was just gonna say the
beauty of performing. You're practicing and practicing, and you're back there, and you're looking it over, and you're mentally going
through it in your mind. And then you have to go out
there and you have to do it. And the awesome thing
is your heart beating out of your chest with your, I can't say then instead
of than or whatever it is, and you go out there and you just boom, you nail it. The performance is the thing, 'cause that's what we do, we perform. We're like, we go out there on the stage, whether it's in a set, or in front of 50,000
people or whatever it is, and we gotta perform. You gotta do it, and that's the professional part. You go out there, and
even though in your mind, in the back of your mind, your like "Oh shit, I might
mess up on the first take. "Okay I have another
take, it doesn't matter." You go out there and you do it. That's so, that's so dope. - I'm curious if any of you
have ever had an experience where the actor you had to
work across from wasn't giving you what you needed, or it just wasn't really
vibing the way it needed to? Or you needed help with that? (ladies reacting) You don't have to name names. (ladies reacting) - I just watched all of these.
- Say it again, say it again! - If you had to work with an actor and it just wasn't working with? - Not working meaning chemistry, like you don't connect? - [Rebecca] Yeah, yeah
when you really need to with that person. - Well you know when you
go to a party (laughing) and there are people who have that rhythm where they're listening to you, and then they wait a long
time before they respond. And if you're a person, and I think we all share this, we're like almost finishing
everybody's sentences, 'cause we're having so much fun talking, it's super weird when somebody goes, (ladies reacting) "I know what you mean." What, how has it taken six
minutes to respond to the, so if you're with an actor
whose maybe rhythm is so different, it could feel
odd or if they're just, I mean, unkind person. - Don't answer, don't answer. - Yeah, I mean, I think it's interesting. For me I was trained in the theater, and so that's where I feel most at home. Film is something that
I've been working on for the last what, six years. And what's interesting about
film is that you are at risk, I think more often, of having
an actor that doesn't respond, because on stage it is the performers who are in charge of the magic. Whereas on film, there's other people
in charge of the magic. Yes the performers do their thing, but then there's the editor, who ultimately is the one that puts the performance together, then it's the take. You just have to do this. - The camera. - Yeah the camera. All these weird things where
you can't look at the person you're acting with, you have to look at the
X or something like that. So all those things get in the way, or make just human exchange a
little bit more challenging, and therefore I think, it's you are more likely to find moments with an actor where
things are not gelling, because there's so many
other things to deal with. So I think for me, my growth in acting for film is almost to, you have to be a lot more self reliant is what I'm realizing. That you have to be able
to control your performance in a way that it doesn't
necessarily have to rely on the other person. But for example with "Us", I played both the hero and the villain, so I never had my feet
scene partner there. I was playing against green
dots and stuff like that, and I had to act, and then I had to prepare
for how I reacted. So that was one of the ways that I had to be extremely technical and self reliant and to trust that the
editor would do his job to make the talking and listening happen. So for me that working
on "Us" was a lesson in how effective being
self reliant can be. It's almost like you have
have to control what you can and then just let go and
trust that your scene partner, the editor, will do the gluing. - And it's sounds like
a lot of preparation. - Yes a lot of preparation. - You have to prepare
then you know what it is that you're trying to achieve on the day and depending on the
circumstances whatever shows up. You have your arsenal,
sort of, to fall back on. What are you gonna pull from? What's necessary? And you know in the
moment what's necessary, because you know what the goal is, and you've already sort of, I don't know, looked at the trajectory. So you understand where
all the places it might go and you just figure out for yourself as you go along what's necessary. - I wonder now if I am
that person more like, "Yeah, there just wasn't
a connection there. "I don't know what's going on." Oh no, I'm just retracing that in my mind. (ladies reacting) I think for me if you come on to set, and if the other actor
is having a bad day, or I feel like, I sometimes, that energy will come off a little bit, and it's not anyone's fault. And I think it's always if you hate me, then I'm gonna feel
uncomfortable right now. But then I think when
you do have those talks with your costars or whatever, you kind of realize that
they're human as well and they have the same fears. I think that helps the onset connection. Just knowing the empathy, knowing that we're both going through it. - I'm curious how important
it is for all of you to sort of shift what
people expect from you based on your choices? Awkwafina I know with "The Farewell", you did a really dramatic role
when you were kind of known for comedy before. Did that add extra pressure? Were you worried people
would expect you to be funny in the movie? - Yeah, I mean it added a lot of pressure. I was really, really scared, because I think you know
what people think about you and stuff like that, but you don't know what you can do. And I think that you create
all these different scenarios in your head about the worst it can go, and the best it can go, and you wanna strive
for this invisible best that never will come true,
but I think that it's, it is that striving
that you kind of run on. - It's so different now. The climate is so different now. There's so many wonderful
opportunities for women of every age to play all
different types of people, and I feel when I was
working in my early 20's, and even my late teens, early 20's, I felt that i I sort of
got somehow typecast, I was like very kind of hypersexualized, which was I guess, at the
time seemed okay to everyone, it was another time. Even though it wasn't
part of my own narrative. It was kind of crafted
for me by probably a bunch of dudes in the industry. And I guess that worked then. But it was really difficult
for me to try to figure out how to get out of being an
ingenue or the other woman, because it was never
anything that I'd intended. I'd been working since
I was eight years old, and certainly that was
never a goal of mine. I sort of had to kind of
shake it up a little bit, because I just couldn't seem to, I just didn't want to work on
stuff that I knew how to do, and knew I could do it. It was like what is this? I remember thinking at the time, maybe I need a different
job in this industry that would sort of be more fulfilling, 'cause there seemed like
there was just nowhere to go. And so I actually had the
opportunity to do a play, to do an Arthur Miller play on Broadway, and it actually totally reset my whole way of thinking about how I could work, and what the different
kind of opportunities that could be available to me. It's amazing how theater is limitless. It just felt so, even
though it was terrifying, it felt, it was liberating, because I actually felt that every night I had the opportunity to
change the narrative. And I had as Lupita had said earlier, you have control of your
own kind of fate on stage, to some degree. And you're in charge of
your own destiny up there. (upbeat music) - Renee I know you took about
a six year break from acting, was that a choice to also
sort of reset things, or have you had to do
that at other points? - Not in terms of if you're talking about people's perceptions of brand or anything like that. I was listening to what you
were saying and I thought it was really interesting
'cause it reminded me as a young person starting out, that I would get those jobs. I would get the cut off
shorts, and the other woman, the one night stand girl. And I did about three or four
of those little jobs in Texas while I was still at university, and I thought I think I'm
gonna not do this anymore, because I know where that road will go. I don't know what it's
gonna look like ultimately, but I bet it would be really
hard to get off that road. And there's the inevitability
of things changing, and your body changes, and you grow older, and you have a life, and you look like your life. And thank God for that. And I thought I wanna be
good with the inevitability. I wanna be good with that, and I wanna work in a way
where I can portray women who are relatable throughout my life. I don't wanna have to
stop at a particular time, because I can't wear the cut offs anymore, 'cause it looks weird. It's a bad idea or it doesn't
really relate to the person that you grow in to or
whatever it might be. - I bet it still looks good anyhow. (ladies reacting) - You're very kind. Your kind, but it's funny, 'cause I don't, you feel
like a different person. - [Jennifer] Oh yeah. - So anyhow I thought it
was interesting listening to what you were saying about that, because I wondered what that
experience might have been like and it wasn't even by your choosing. It's because it's just the
nature of having been born a very beautiful woman, so I think that's, I think it's interesting. And good for you, because what's so, what's been, I thought so interesting, I've loved watching your
career from the beginning watching you grow up through your roles. From a very young woman,
you've been working. And to see that no matter what you said that you had been hypersexualized, I always felt that your
talent superseded that. I felt that always. I may had been your
experience from the inside or whatever it was that
you're being asked to do in terms of promotion or whatever it was, but I always thought a
wonderful actress, always. I mean I'm sure you guys agree. (ladies reacting)
- Thank you. - Oh yeah, no always. And I saw you in that play on Broadway, and you were phenomenal. So, so, so gifted. - Thank you. - Yeah, yes, yes. - I'll do this again. (ladies laughing) I like it here. - This is real easy. - Compliments all around.
- I really like this. - So I'm curious about your
views on sort of the press, and fan attention, and that public facing
part of your experience as an actress. How do you deal with
when things are unkind whether on social media or in the press? Has your view of that changed over time? - I mean, not to put anybody
in an awkward position, but to say I know we've all faced it, and the difficulty of trying
to keep ones life private, but I must say you carry
this other extraordinary gift of being iconic and this larger story, and I knowing what it has felt like of me, there are moments when
I'll pass a magazine cover, and just feel grief for
anybody having to walk through this salacious, again
narrative, that's created. - Paper dolls.
- We've all had it. Yeah, yeah, but I mean, I
turn it with curiosity to you, because it is amazing to be considered this iconic music legend, and also truly be considered an actor. First of all as two totally
separate gifts and careers. - Thank you, don't make me cry. I get very emotional. - But it's beautiful and
while everybody gets to create their stories and-- - Yeah that part of it, it's funny. From the beginning, I've been
kind of really picked out, and plagued with that. Lots of stories. Lots of lies. Lots of things where
you're trying to figure out how did this happen? How did I become that person? And I think what I've learned
is that none of it matters. And it doesn't really bother me anymore. I've learned that I know who I am. I know what I do. I know I'm a good person. I know I'm just out
here working my ass off and trying to fulfill
myself creatively in a way, because that's a drive of mine. That's my thing. And I just learn not to
worry about anything else, anything else, me, my
kids, my life, my work. What I'm gonna do next? What creative fun thing I can do? What can we produce? What's the show gonna be? What's the this? It's like that is the make up of my life, and what you realize is, because there was a time in my life, where it was such a big part, and it was so hurtful, and it was so hard that you think, "I don't wanna do this anymore. "I don't wanna be this. "I don't wanna be the person
on the cover of the magazine "every week for two and
a half years, I don't. "This is crazy. "Why me?" And then you go, well
it only just hurt you, and even most of it wasn't true, so why do you care? I had to get to a point
where I was just like it just doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what people say. What matters is who you are. Who you are and what you're doing. And I think eventually, that got through no matter
what people are writing, and what they're saying. They just all of a sudden see you. They go, "Oh wait, she's
been around a long time, "and she's doing okay, and
she seems pretty nice." I think honestly "American
Idol" helped with that a lot. Of all the things that
I've done in my career. People just actually seeing me talk about how much I love music
and how much I love people and how much of a girl's girl I am, and how much of a crier I am. All the things, and things shifted. But it's, I just realized,
its just the biggest thing, is it doesn't, it's not
really the thing that matters. They could write whatever
they want tomorrow and it wouldn't matter. - Renee I wanna talk about playing Judy, because obviously part
of her story was sort of the way she was treated by
the public and the media at a certain point in her career. How did you sort of
get into the head space of relating to her at
that point in her life? - Well I guess going back
to what Jennifer said, where does that story come from? And you again, you get to the
place where you've resigned yourself to needing to be
the determinant of your own, I guess, I don't know, legacy. Whatever that might be. How your children or your
nieces and nephews think of you going forward based on what
it is that they might read, but knowing that there's
so much more to a story than what's written. And understanding and looking
at what was written about her, at the time of her passing,
and the years leading up to it, and the last chapter of her life. It seemed so unfair to me, because it was of course salaciousness, because that's what's so
exciting to read about and that news travels
more quickly, doesn't it? What do they say? A lie will travel around the world, while the truth is still
putting it's shoes on. (ladies reacting) And I thought, I'd like
to understand this better. I'd like to understand why that chapter is blanketed in tragedy and
why she was accused of things. Making such bad choices, and how she ended up in a place where she was facing so many challenges. - Was there a certain point in the process where you felt like I really, I have it? Like when you put on the
hair, and the outfit, and the makeup, or was it much earlier than
that where you felt like I really got who she is? - No that didn't happen. It didn't happen. It was in motion. It was a process. It was in constant motion. Just little experiments. And we were trying things everyday. And it didn't feel like making a film, it felt like this celebration of her. Because everybody came to set, and was motivated by the same affection, or adoration for her. And it was an expression of that. So we were all cooperatively trying things and it was always new. Someone would find a recording
or we'd read something in a book and we were always
sharing and sort of adjusting according to what came along. Making choices on the day and just sort of conjuring her essences
as truthfully as we could based on those things, that treasure we were mining for everyday. - Was there was a time, like a couple of weeks
in or a few weeks in, where you suddenly felt
in the pocket of it, and you felt like you could
be playful and make decisions or act on your instinct,
'cause you were Judy then? - [Renee] Because there was this-- - It kind of settled. - The parameters were set? - Yeah.
- Yeah. - And sometimes you, it just kind of, you like, I feel sometimes
when you you're starting out, and it's abstract, you're trying
to find it with everybody. - There's pieces, it's fragmented. - That's right and all
the people around you, whoever it is, whether it's the camera department trying to figure out how this look is in, what's your, what is this, finding that, how to
capture this performance. And then your hair and make
up team, and all that stuff. I feel like sometimes a few weeks in, you're like, "Oh I can walk
on the set as this person, "and I have this playground
and I can do all this stuff." Did you find that or was it always, did you always have this
thing your describing where you kind of, where it felt like you just had to try out all these different things? - It was never, it was never disconnected. We were building on something. Trying to, I mean, it sounds so crazy, but it felt our essence
was palpable on the set, because her music was always playing. - [Jennifer] That's what I was gonna say. - And we were always listening
to recordings of her voice. - The music, when I played Selena, one of the things that got me the most, kind of in her body, was performing. 'Cause you look at her, you're gonna try to
imitate her a little bit and then let that go and just live, but the music, and the actual performance, 'cause that's what we have
that is the real things where you can really watch her, 'cause you didn't get to
talk to her in person. Which is the hard part. It's the music, kind of got you, okay I'm Judy, I'm Selena, this I know, I got this. You know what I mean? The music was such a big part of it. I wonder if that was the same for you? - Oh yeah, absolutely. Well because there's a
performance language there that's been developed over so many years. - [Jennifer] And body language. - Yeah and when that becomes familiar, and then it becomes a habit. And then you don't think about it anymore. And you can kind of wear
whatever it is, that's probable. - [Jennifer] 'Cause that
goes off stage with you too. - [Renee] Yes. - 'Cause those movements
are like how she moved. So all of a sudden you're like going okay, well this is where she was
comfortable in her body, and this is how she moved her hands. Not just on stage, but when she was talking. You know what I mean? It's a whole thing. It's so exciting. - Yeah just build, you just build on that. - Did you like playing somebody? Like a real person? - Oh yeah. - I love playing real people.
- Oh yeah. - I feel like it's just
you got a blueprint. I know exactly what I'm doing. (ladies reacting) - [Awkwafina] That's so good. - Yeah it's nice to have a point of, several points of reference, but the responsibility is different too. - [Jennifer] Oh yeah, woo, oof. - 'Cause you just don't-- - Don't remind me of that. - Yeah right, 'cause right-- - Well they love her. They love her so much. They love Judy so much. - And you do too. You love-- - No, they love Selena, and she had just died two years before, so they were like, "You
better not fuck it up." Luckily I was young, and more ignorant. Like now if I had to do it, I would be so in my head. So much more in my head. It would be much more difficult I think. - [Awkwafina] Man, I own, I own that movie and
watch it all the time. - I was like you didn't fuck it up. - Yeah I was gonna say. - I wouldn't worry about it. - When I tell you, 'cause I
understand what you're saying. You keep, you keep moving, in the, it's right, when you play one
of those types of characters, you're constantly
talking about who she was and what she did, and how she did it. It forms as it goes. It forms as it goes. - It's one thing to get it right, and as I was sharing with
you before we walked in here, it's another thing, when I get so excited that
people who've seen the film, and your performance, will say to me "Have you seen it yet? "She gave her back to us." And a few people have just, literally started crying
talking about what a gift it was to feel like they had Judy. I was so touched by that. - So great.
- That's so amazing. (upbeat music) - Awkwafina "The Farewell" is based on Lulu Wang's true story
with her grandmother. How did that help and form
the character for you? - The cool thing about
Lulu and Billi is that Lulu wasn't very precious
about keeping her exacted, and she would say things like. She wouldn't say like, "That's not how I sneezed." It wasn't like that. And I think she was always
very receptive to like any input I had about
what she would be doing, what you would be thinking, and I think it's that trust
that I think also really helps a performance also. You don't wanna, when you're working with a director, and you improv something, they're like "Can we not do that?" It's like you just like
the worst feeling ever, but then when you have
that trust, it's nice. But as a result, you
reinvent something else. And I think in the case of "The Farewell", Billi really became like this vessel for the Asian American experience or the the dash American experience that is lost between two worlds
and doesn't know what to do. - Laura you worked with both Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach this year, and they're obviously a real life couple, what did you find sort of
similar about the way they work, and what was sort of
the starkest difference? - Well I think they're both as
Scarlett described with Noah, they're both exacting about the words, because they really, I think as a playwright would, they really hear a rhythm to the language. With Noah, it has it's
own specific nature, and one thing that I was so inspired by, and I think we found in rehearsals, even when we aren't in the
scenes with the people at hand, when it's with Adam, with his attorney, or Scarlett and I together, he feels there is a real
musicality to the film. I think he hears a rhythm Noah, that he's waiting for
everyone to resonate with, in a really beautiful way. And so having rehearsal time, and many dinners over, in the
case of Scarlett and myself, and Adam over a year, year in a half, as he was writing the script, you started to see him build for each character a similar melody. In the case of Greta, she was also adapting "Little Women." We wanted to honor Louisa
May Alcott's words, and another time seemingly, but she's so brilliantly trusting of how modern the story is. Of how modern Louisa's writing is. And how clear a revolutionary Louisa was, and through these characters,
complicated and beautiful different female
characters that she wrote, but also that she heard
the language in a way that I think is very
similar to how she and Noah have worked and collaborated, both as co-writers and her as his actress, that there is a rhythm to
the language that she brings that is seemingly messy,
and joyful, and complicated, and angry, and all of those things, but it's very strategic. - Are you seeing concrete
changes as you work in this business? Do you really feel a difference on sets or in this sort of cultural of Hollywood? - Well Greta and Lorene
are great examples-- - [Rebecca] Yeah two female directors. - Of an exciting year of
women having some autonomy to tell stories. - I hear the conversations, and I've been in partnerships with men, professional partnerships with men who make different choices now. Even if it's just to be clear. - They're more careful. - Yeah, even if it's just to be clear about what their intentions are. - [Awkwafina] They're
definitely more careful now. - Yeah keep the door
open, or I don't meet, I had one gentlemen say, I don't meet with women alone. I just always make sure that
there's somebody else in here, because I don't want anything to be misinconstrued or misunderstood, and I want her to be comfortable. So you see that there are
different choices being made. And like you said, maybe it's just being more careful. - [Awkwafina] Consideration. - There you go that's
a nice way to put it. - Yeah I think we stood up and said, "Hey we don't want this to be going on, "and it's been going on a long time, "and it's enough." And on a more positive note, we have movies like "Hustlers"
and like "Little Women" and all these other
movies where there's women at the forefront and they're produce, we're producing, we're
directing, we're writing it, we're editing it, we're doing. Our movie was all, all women. All women, all women. (laughing) But it was great, and it was awesome, and you realize, what a, I've been doing so many
movies for so many years, how rare that is. Like when you have it like that, and you're like "Wow, I've
never had this experience." Forty something movies
or whatever the hell. - That's always very interesting
to me when I hear that, because when I first
started, the first director, the first two directors that
I worked with were women. And I'd say there was an equal
amount and when I hear about an industry that existed that
really that was really rare, it's very mind blowing for me. I can't imagine not working
with a woman at the helm of a project. - Lupita you've worked with
Jordan Peele, Steve McQueen, Mira Nair, I think a lot of filmmakers who have been underrepresented
in the past in Hollywood, are you making these choices specifically to work with directors like that or is it just the roles
you've been drawn to? - I think these are all
directors who have offered me the most interesting roles, and I've taken them. And yeah, there was, there's, I don't, I haven't really thought, I don't. Yeah, I haven't really
thought about the demographic of the director I've been working with. I think because I am, I mean I am a black woman, (laughs) and so this industry is, is this time, this Me Too time, this times of time, is about allowing for more
equitable representation. And I'm a beneficiary of that movement, because in the work that
I've been able to do. And like Awkwafina, I can't, for me I'm very grateful to
have come into the industry at the time that I have, because I am benefiting from the efforts of a lot of other women
who have come before me. Other black women who have come before me, who have had it a lot rougher than I have. And I'm aware of that. It's a time when directors
like Steve McQueen and Jordan Peele are being
given chances to make work. And so they are able to then, in Jordan's case, write with
someone like me in mind, for their next film. So I think it's, it's not necessarily my conscious effort. It's, this is evidence of
the transformation happening. And for me I think this
is a time where there's a concerted effort to consider
diversity and inclusion. What I really want is
for it to not be a fad, not be a trend. - [Scarlett] People shouldn't be trends. - Right now it's really dope
and cool and on trend to work with women and underrepresented groups, but I think the moment of
maturity in the industry is when it is just the norm. - [Awkwafina] Yeah for sure. - When you no longer need
to ask that question. (ladies responding) - I think when I first started, one of the things that I wanted to do, 'cause I was Puerto Rican, latina, was that I wanted to be
in romantic comedies, because I felt like all the
women in romantic comedies would always looked the same way. They were always just, they were always white, and I was like there was never anybody, if I can do it and just
show that I'm every girl, 'cause I am a hopeless romantic. I am that, I am the single working woman. I am, I am, I was those things. And that's one of the things that, you asked earlier "Did
you make certain choices?" and I remember thinking, I need to be the lead
in a romantic comedy. I need to do that. I have to do that. And that's one of the things I went for, and that's one of the things
me and my agents talked about. Like can we find me a romantic comedy. Yes, I've done, "Selena" and "Mi Familia", and people are taking notice, but what can we do
where I can change that, do that, be that? - I think there's a
genuine urge for audiences to want an industry that
represents their life. And I think that in that way, that's why I'm very
positive about the direction that we're going in. I don't think that having
people of different cultures, or women will be a trend, because I think that
it's what people want. People, we're changing as society. I don't that the work that Time's Up or the Me Too movement will reverse. I think that it's going to
become engraved into how we work, and how a set is run. I think that those
changes are only positive, because we're moving forward as a society. - A couple of filmmakers have come out sort of against Marvel films, Scarlett and Lupita, I'm especially curious what
you think about Marvel films being called the theme parks
of movies and things like that. - I think there's certainly a place for all kinds of cinema right now. People absorb content in
so many different ways. I actually didn't totally
understand that statement, because I guess I needed some insight as to what it meant exactly. And somebody had pointed out to me, 'cause to me it seemed kind
of a little old fashioned, but somebody pointed
out to me that perhaps what the statement meant
was that there's no room for smaller films, because the cinema is taking up by things like enormous blockbusters
and that smaller movies don't have a chance at the theater. Which I hadn't actually considered, which I think is a valid point. But I also feel like, I feel like there's sort of this shift in how people watch stuff. And there's all these platforms
for different kinds of, and now there's movies
and shows, and art films, and all kinds of stuff getting
made that you can watch in all these different ways, and I just feel like it's just, it's just changing. It doesn't mean it's going away. I mean some of us of course it's hard when you love the idea
of going to the movies, and making movies. You go out and see projected
on this big screen, and it's just a shame you
watch it on this tiny thing, but it's like that's
how people watch movies. - [Renee] They sure do. And you kind of have to go with the flow, of like the way that it is.
- That it is. - Well like how it changes. - And to, if I can add to your point, it seems like it's a chicken
and egg conversation. Because of what you're talking
about in terms of content and how we've changed how we sort of take in different cinematic experiences or what used to be cinematic experiences. The place of movies, the place
and the importance of cinema, has also shifted a little bit. We used to all watch the same things, because the movie came to the theaters and it was in the theaters
for a couple of months. And that you went several times, and then everybody was talking about it. We all had the same heroes, and so it set up a
particular business model, and that was the paradigm
for so many decades. That's it kind of weird when suddenly, the only things that sort of fit the modern financial paradigm
are these bigger films. In terms of people who are eager to invest to go and make a film. That's a proven, tried and true, in the current atmosphere
where people don't run to the cinema two and
three times to see a movie as readily as they did in say
the last, well millennial. (laughing) - It's also so expensive
to go to the movies. I mean it's crazy. Every time I go, I can't believe that families can afford to go to the movies. It's crazy and I think that's
part of the problem also. It's like if you wanna go
something in the theater, I'm just kind of looking at it from somebody else's perspective, maybe you just wanna see something that's like big and explosive, you could take your whole family to, and it's fun, you have
popcorn and all this, 'cause it's like a huge experience. And then maybe the stuff
that's more intimate, or like you wanna kind
of pick and choose from, you think oh I'll watch this on, I'll watch this from home, or watch it in some other way. - [Jennifer] Streaming, streaming. - And I think it's just
the reality of also how, how it's just so unaffordable
to go to the movies. It's crazy to me. I guess that's also part
of the business model that you were talking about. - And I think this will be my
last question about sort of making movies in 2019. Do you feel the culture
around nudity and sex scenes has changed in the way it's discussed now, and the choices you would
make yourselves as actresses? - I don't know. I think it's a personal choice. I've always felt like that's
a personal choice for anybody. I don't judge anybody for doing it, for not doing it. You take a role, you decide what you're gonna do. You discuss it with your director. You see if it serves the
story and the character in the best way, and then you have a
choice to say yes or no. - You spoke about how
early on in your career, you were asked to take your top of? - I didn't want to. - [Rebecca] And you didn't. - I didn't want to. Oh your talking about more of a personal. - An early, oh that was not a, that was a-- - Yeah that was a director
at a fitting asked me to take my top off. - Not for the movie. - To see what? - Well because I was supposed
to do nudity in the movie. - Oh they wanted to see your breast? - He wanted to see my boobs. And I was like-- - What they looked like before you got? - [Jennifer] Yes! - That is crazy. - Well he was crazy. (laughing) - [Awkwafina] The guy who violates. (ladies laughing) - And I said "No." I said no. I stood up for myself, but it was so funny, because I remember being
so panicked in the moment. Like "Oh my God." And back when there was a costume designer in the room with me. And so this was another
woman in the room with me and he says this, and I was like, "No." Luckily, a little bit of Bronx came out, and I was like "I don't
have to show you my, no!" On the set, you've seen them. - Well thankfully you
were like that though, because not everybody would feel that way. - Thankfully, that the thing, but that's the thing, because you give in in that moment, and all of a sudden, that person if off and
running thinking they can do whatever they want. And because I put up a
little boundary right there and said no, he laid off and then later on apologized. But the minute he walked out of the room, the costume designer
was like, "I'm so sorry, "I'm so sorry that just happened." And I was like thrown
for a second or whatever. But that was early in my career. - I feel that could still happen. - [Jennifer] Oh yes. - I don't see, I don't think we're like
far away from that at all. I was talking to some of
our crew from the last film that I did about this
inappropriate behavior in general, and they were talking
about a particular DP that was just like doing all kind
of crazy stuff with the actor, and shooting up skirts, and then on the first day, his AD had to go over
to the actress and say, "Hey just so you know, maybe
you wanna check and see, "because I think the camera angle's gonna maybe not be something
you're comfortable with. And she had no idea. And this was like a year, whatever, they just finished shooting a year and a half ago or something. The person I was talking
to was just baffled by. He was saying, "I can't
believe this goes on," but it totally still goes on. - I think the difference now though, is that because of the conversations that are happening in public, women, like for me, I feel now my, it's easier to tell. - A little more empowered. - Yes, it's easier to tell when
something is inappropriate. - [Awkwafina] Oh yeah. - Because in that moment, if the costume designer
had said something, it could have changed if
she had supported you, in some way spoken up, it would have changed. You know what I mean, the dynamic. And so now I feel we're
programming the younger generation to know what's okay and what's not. That it's not okay to
be in a costume fitting and for a man to ask that of you. And that at least, even though
those things might happen, our defenses would be sharper, (ladies reacting) In those moments. - Yeah I was thinking to your point too, well and to yours. With the younger generation, I don't know that it wouldn't
occur to them to speak up. Where we thought, "Oh
whoa, this is a little--" - Yeah, what do I do here? - What do I do here? Let me navigate this in a way that-- - [Awkwafina] Trapped you feel trapped. - [Renee] We grab on to this. - I had a great acting teacher
who told me all of the things that would happen. Not that he told me things about like, "Oh they're gonna ask to see your boobs." But he was like on the set, you kiss, you don't kiss all the way
when you're rehearsing, and you have respect for your actors, and your director, and so I had a kind of an
idea in my mind that this-- - Is not okay. - No I'm not supposed to get
naked before I get on camera. (laughing) and I took it off at the last minute. Like I know this stuff, and so again, it's like teaching, passing it down. And what's happened now is
a big lesson for all women. It's like no, these things are okay, these things are not okay, and it doesn't matter what
context it's in, it's never. - And you get to have a choice. - [Awkwafina] Never okay
to feel uncomfortable. - And as you said, the light is on now, in what feels comfortable,
and how to set boundaries, but also in calling someone out. I mean I know for these guys, I started auditioning at 11 years old, and I listen now to the
next generation saying, I mean it's crazy. You hear these stories, of
course nothing we would do, people used to have
auditions in hotel rooms? I'm like every single time. Waiting in the lobby of a hotel, and they're like the
director is waiting for you in the room now to have a chemistry read. - [Jennifer] Yeah, it didn't seem weird. - Yeah and there was no part of me that-- - Thought to question how
bizarre that might be. - You had reads and
auditions in hotel rooms? - Oh all the time. - Yeah with a lot of lady
casting directors too by the way, but yeah that was kind of convenient, if they were looking
out of town or whatever. - [Jennifer] Actors houses. - Oh yeah there's that too. Oh yeah, I forgot about all that stuff. Yeah, that I guess people
would ask the question now. - Sometimes it was not appropriate at all. - It was totally professional. (ladies reacting) It's not like you can
put everybody in that. - No it just kind of
afforded an opportunity to be inappropriate if
you were so inclined. - If you were that person. - But also now there's intimacy coaches. I've also not been asked to
do much nudity in my career, but and sex scenes. But I've heard that now they
have intimacy coaches on set which I think is really great. When you have a fight scene,
you have a fight coordinator, why not have an intimacy coordinator. - Well on "Hustlers"
we had a comfort coach. What was it called? It was basically somebody
who understood that world and said these things
are okay and these things are not okay, and made everybody on the set comfortable with what they were doing, 'cause we had a lot of
women who were half dressed, naked, top, you know what I mean? But this is still a
professional environment, and nobody should be made to feel-- - And those things are
very, very helpful I think to keep things above board. - Does that intimacy coach
work for just normal people? - I was gonna say. (laughing) Can we get them a wrap present? - No 'cause I think I'm
really good at eye contact in my personal life. We're allowed to talk at home. (conversation muffled by laughing) - I guess we've run out of time. I think we should end on that note, so thank you so much for joining us. - [Awkwafina] Thank you. - Hi I'm Jennifer Lopez. - I'm Lupita Nyong'o. - Hi I'm Awkwafina. - Hi I'm Scarlett Johansson. - Thank you for watching. - Thanks for watching
"The Hollywood Reporter." - "The Hollywood Reporter Rountables". - On YouTube. - On YouTube. - Bye. (rhythmic music)
Laura Dern is eternal
Lupita deserves a nomination for Us.
A joke how every non White person didn't get nominated. Unbelievable.
I am not trying to be contentious, i am just trying to understand... why did Jennifer Lopez have buzz? I saw hustlers, and I kind of think that Constance Woo did an equally good job but wasn’t being talked about. Basically what did I miss out of her performance that makes Jennifer Lopez a snub?
Jeniffer Lopez is still hot af. Father Time seems to have no effect on her
Still mad about Lupita snub.
Renee’s performance is by far the most average and forgettable but it’s a biopic so I guess it has to win all the awards.