Why Kristin Scott Thomas owes her career to Prince

You’d think Anthony Minghella and his stunning on-screen romance “The English Patient” would immediately spring to mind if Kristin Scott Thomas were asked to review her past as a rookie actress and evaluate her enviable career in the performing arts.

More than her roles in “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “Gosford Park,” and her recent Emmy-nominated role in “Fleabag,” it was Minghella’s period piece that first drew global attention to the potent appeal of Give me Kristin as the protagonist of immense skills, charm and seriousness.

When we spoke to Kristin last Thursday to discuss her disgusting role in director Ben Wheatley’s visually stunning new take on Daphne du Maurier’s “Rebecca,” which was first made into a movie 80 years ago through the first And Alfred Hitchcock’s only Oscar winner for best picture, we asked the British Actress how much she had evolved as an actress since she appeared in Prince’s 1986 film “Under the Cherry Moon.”

After all, we can all agree that it’s not every day that Kristin’s name is mentioned alongside Purple One’s.

To be clear, there were reports that pointed to Kristin’s supposed “disdain” for the aforementioned movie. But our interview with her softens the blow quite a bit. In fact, he recalled his experience with the iconic music superstar with such sincerity and affection that it unexpectedly touched our heartstrings.

“He [Prince] He was an extraordinary person, ”Kristin said. Well, I hope I evolved because I’m not particularly proud of my performance in that movie (laughs). But he was actually the first person to give me my first acting job in a movie … He saw something that no one else saw, and didn’t see for a while, I have a feeling. So, you know, I’m eternally grateful for what he did.

“He became … I hesitate to say friend, because I didn’t know him very well … But he was a regular feature in my life. He would contact me when he came to Europe. I would see my work. He would send me messages. I think he was proud of me.

“I had a certain pride in having been the first person to give me a job, and that makes me proud. We were only 23 when we made that movie. And, you know, life is an endless adventure. So yeah, I think I’ve evolved as much as he has since. “

In “Rebecca,” which premieres on Netflix this Wednesday, Kristin plays Mrs. Danni Danvers, the housekeeper of the castle-like Manderley mansion owned by widower Maxim de Winter (Armie Hammer).

Fiercely loyal to Max’s beautiful first wife, who allegedly perished in a boating accident, Danvers makes life hell for Max’s uncomfortable and insecure new wife (Lily James).

Despite all the pessimism of the story, Kristin, who turned 60 this past May, said it didn’t take long for her to shed the character’s darkness at the end of each shooting day.

“Not in this case, no, because I was surrounded by people who played this as a fantasy,” she explained. “This is a ghost story set in an extraordinary setting. We were making up the story; okay, no we weren’t making it up because we were just repeating something that had been done so many times before. But we were creating this world and it felt like a very defined environment.

“So when we left the set, and particularly with Lily, it was all very relaxed, sweet, friendly and kind. There was a huge disconnect from the world of Manderlay, Mrs. Danvers, Mrs. De Winter and the world of caravans. Our beautiful summer day in England was disconnected from all that. “

When asked to speak about the general themes of the film, Kristin said: “Right now, we are going through a phase where women in general are becoming aware of the inequalities that still persist, and this film highlights that.

“In the 1930s, women depended on men. To some extent, they still do, but in this version, a woman is able to react and fight back. Whereas in previous versions, the same character was less aware of those differences.

Our Q&A with Kristin:

His work features a long series of dramas. Is the setting in acting different than when you participate in a gothic horror piece like “Rebecca”?

It is the same mindset, you are simply evolving in a different environment. I really enjoyed its theatricality, and part of the drama was very moving for me. I also really enjoyed the visuals in the movie.

He had no reservations on paper. In fact, I had been emailing the producer when I learned that it was going to be made into a movie, saying, “You know, you have to hire me because I have to play Mrs. Danvers. I’m hesitant to say, ‘I’m Mrs. Danvers,’ because that would be very unpleasant (laughs). They didn’t ask me for a long time. Then finally my agent called me and said, ‘Yes, you have the offer.’ I said, ‘Ah, finally!’ “

Why is Mrs. Danvers faithful to Maxim’s first wife Rebecca almost to the point of obsession?

Because he started taking care of Rebecca when she was little. He watched her grow up, had this incredible maternal relationship with this little girl. He had adored her since she was little, then he watched Rebecca grow into a teenager, then a young woman, and then a married woman. He didn’t see anything wrong with everything he did. She was blinded by love. So that’s what it is.

She herself has all kinds of frustrations as a woman. She is dissatisfied, which is reflected very strongly in both the novel and our script: someone who has only lived for Rebecca and received nothing in return. In the end, Rebecca dies, then this other girl arrives. Disappointment, anger, and jealousy are what drive her.

We have all met people like Ms. Danvers who take pleasure in making others feel insignificant. She’s probably overcompensating for the fact that she ended up as a housekeeper … when she could have owned the house. She has had a huge breakdown in her condition, and that’s when she takes it out on other people. She is a bully!

The movie has already been reworked several times. How will this new version stand out from the rest?

We are relying heavily on the ghostly atmosphere of it. It is also very different visually, it is extremely rich and beautiful. In the 2020 version, we express more strongly the frustration that the novel implies … of being born a woman and having to simply depend on the presence or absence of a man.

In the case of Ms. Danvers, it is the latter, because no one really knows what happened to Mr. Danvers, although presumably there was one. He must have died in the First World War. So many women of that generation in that age group lost their partners, husbands, brothers or fathers in the war. So she has no man.

Not having a man in those days made life extremely difficult for many women. Now we can see that more clearly. We have a better distance from it, so we can consider it and weigh what that really means; I think that’s where this movie differs from other remakes.

His version of Ms. Danvers is scarier than the original due to the element of ambiguity – there is a sinister nature that is not so obviously described. We think the stakes are high, but we don’t really know what he’s up to. Was it a conscious decision on your part to deviate from how it was first portrayed?

The only conscious decision we made that deviated from the original version was with my hairstyle. Because I wanted to remove a lot of all that hair, and we thought it was too much like the hair that Judith Anderson (who played Mrs. Danvers in the Hitchcock movie) wore.

But then the one that really scared me personally was the version of Anna Massey, who played Mrs. Danvers in the BBC miniseries in 1979, that was really scary! So it wasn’t difficult for me to walk away from that.

You know, the part is so rich. And when you have very few scenes to nail something into, you have to be very precise, which is what I like to do.

What does the audience take to see the movie?

Don’t hold on to the past, I think that’s the message (laughs). Let it go. Otherwise, things will come to a difficult end, because Mrs. Danvers is the absolute example of someone who clings to a memory, to something that does not exist. It is very unhealthy.

Read next