in the next roomWriter-director Pedro Almodóvar draws on his woman-centered repertoire with some beautiful performances from Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore.
When the trio appeared on a panel on Saturday at Deadline’s Contenders Film event, the actresses talked about working with the acclaimed director on the Golden Lion-winning film that centers on a long-lasting female friendship.
“He’s amazing. Moore said: “It really honors the female experience.” “I think it’s something he talks about, sitting under the kitchen table when his mom was talking to her friends and absorbing those stories and how powerful they are, and understanding that point of view. I think it’s always in that female point of view. Like I said, he honors that world. You feel very representative when you work with Pedro.
Based on Sigrid Nunez’s 2020 book What you’re going through, Adjacent room Moore and Swinton star as Ingrid and Martha, two women who reconnect under harsh circumstances years after becoming best friends while working at the same magazine.
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For Swinton, she relishes the rare opportunity to dive into such a dynamic movie with two fully realized main characters who happen to be women.
Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore in The next room (2024). (Sony Pictures Classics/Everett Collection courtesy)
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“What happened, Hollywood? Come on,” Swinton quipped. “We know, not just people with feminist persuasion know that we exist and that our stories are very interesting, and we’re all here to make them. There have been women making movies in Hollywood since Lois Weber in the early 1900s. There’s no shortage of women to make these movies, and there’s certainly no shortage of women to make these movies. It seems like a complete no-brainer to me.
In their first film together-which premieres on Christmas Day in limited theaters before expanding nationwide in January-Swinton and Moore chose to be considered both the leading star before awards season.
Almodóvar was certainly impressed with their performances, saying he was “very lucky to work with them” on his first English-language feature film, and added: “I’m a very boring or reckless director. I tell the actors many, many, many, many things, and what I learned about these two is that maybe I don’t need to say so much information to the actors.
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“There was something very important [scene of Moore reading] He remembers the message at the end. “For me, it was very important. I almost cried when I talked to her and said, ‘Okay, Julian, this is what I want in this letter. [She] And he said: “Pedro, please let me do it, and then, after that, give me all the indications.” And she was right. When I just read it, I mean I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t interfere, but it was more than perfect. So I learned by that time that maybe I don’t need to tell the actors so many things.
Check back on Monday for the video of the panel.
The presenting sponsor of this year’s Contenders movie: Los Angeles is United Business. Sponsors are Eyeglasses, Final Draft + ScreenCraft, and partners are Four Seasons Maui, 11 Ravens and Robina Benson Design House.