Themes

“I don’t really think of themes themselves,” Lanthimos shared when asked by an audience member what topics and themes he was planning to take on in future movies. “It is more about coming up with the stories and the structures and sensing that there’s something there that I’m interested in.” He also said that it was only “after that that you realize what it is about for yourself [since] for other people it could be about another thing. So it’s hard to say what the themes are.”

He then mentioned his latest project, which is entitled Kinds of Kindness and features Stone, Jesse Plemons, Margaret Qualley and Willem Dafoe, among others. “We’ve just shot this film … which is three different stories,” the director said, calling it “a contemporary film.” He added: “It’s three different stories, and we’re finishing the edit right now, and I still can’t tell you exactly what it is about. But I also wouldn’t want to tell you what I thought the stories are about because it just makes it so small. I try not to even think about it during the process, because I’m afraid that it will make my choices more narrow.”

The filmmaker behind Dogtooth, The Lobster, The Killing of a Sacred Deer and The Favourite also discussed his body of work and creative process during the appearance at the British capital’s Southbank Centre. The event, under the title “Lanthimos in Conversation,” drew big crowd, including Stone in the front row.

Their black-comedy sci-fi fantasy Poor Things recently earned 11 nominations each for both the BAFTA Film Awards and the Oscars.

My Oscar Book:

Creative partnership with Stone

“I tell her, but she doesn’t believe me, I thought of her for The Lobster. She has this wonderful speech impediment, it feels like a lisp. In the world of The Lobster that would be very critical, very particular characteristic. So she could be the lisping woman.”

“She immediately jumped on Poor Things as soon as she heard the story. … And the rest is history.”

Mark Ruffalo

Asked about how he showed new sides of Mark Ruffalo in Poor Things, Lanthimos said the credit for the acting work should go to his stars and their creativity.

But he did share that Ruffalo had doubts initially: “I just set him free, he was ready to go,” the Greek director said, calling Ruffalo “a brilliant actor.”

“He was a little bit reluctant, because he hasn’t done anything like that,” he recalled. “Now that I know him better, I think in general he always thinks he’s not good for it.” But then Ruffalo got excited and “completely embraced” his role, Lanthimos recalled. “He came in strong when we started rehearsing. We had two or three weeks of rehearsal. He was the guy who was already there. And we had so much fun during rehearsals.”

Reaction to the broad appeal Poor Things?

Lanthimos said: “I have been surprised.”

Lanthimos sees his work with actors as making sure “to give them space … (so) they can try stuff and they are safe.”

On his unusual approach to his prep work and sets: “I come up with games for the actors to get to know each other and feel comfortable, to make a fool of themselves and make the process light and fun. We shouldn’t be taking things too seriously. We are making movies.”