TORONTO (AP) 鈥� Vicky Krieps noticed that while there鈥檚 plenty of instruction for getting into a role, there's curiously little about getting out of one.
For Krieps, the disarmingly natural Luxembourgish actor of 鈥淧hantom Thread,鈥� and it鈥檚 not a small issue. It may even be the most important part of the process. If she's still stuck the headspace of a character, she can't keep moving forward.
After struggling in the aftermath of her breakthrough in Paul Thomas Anderson鈥檚 鈥淧hantom Thread,鈥� in which she starred opposite Daniel Day-Lewis, Krieps found a solution. She could put a capstone on the character through music.
鈥淚 have to leave my characters in a peaceful way and say: Now she lives in song,鈥� says Krieps.
Krieps, 39, has since followed every performance by writing a song for the character. She sings and plays acoustic guitar. She's currently recording an album of those songs but she took a break to travel to the for the premiere of her latest film, directed by Viggo Mortensen.
The film, Mortensen鈥檚 second and most accomplished directing effort, is a Western from a different, more feminist perspective. Mortensen plays a Danish immigrant named Holger who meets the French-Canadian Vivienne (Krieps) in San Francisco. They soon settle down in a corrupt Nevada town, but Holger is compelled to join the Union Army. Vivienne is left in their remote cabin, and is brutally raped while Holger is away.
Vivienne鈥檚 song, Krieps says, is sad and dark.
鈥淚t starts as a lullaby of a woman singing her child to sleep,鈥� Krieps says, sipping tea in a hotel restaurant. 鈥淎nd it always breaks off when she says, 鈥業 can鈥檛 sleep. I can鈥檛 close my eyes.鈥� There's the hope of him coming back. At the same time, this is something that鈥檚 been done to women over centuries.鈥�
鈥淭he Dead Don鈥檛 Hurt,鈥� one of the highlights among the films on sale in Toronto, received from the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Radio and Television Artists since it was an independent production and doesn鈥檛 yet have a distributor. Krieps is also to receive a tribute award at the festival.
The film is the latest in a naturally evolving project for Krieps of playing women throughout history who reject the social conventions of their times. In last year鈥檚 she played the much constricted, independently minded 19th century Austrian Empress Elisabeth. In the 鈥�50s-set 鈥淧hantom Thread,鈥� only her Alma is capable of countering a battle of wills with Day-Lewis鈥檚 fastidious couturier Reynolds Woodcock. In 鈥淭he Dead Don鈥檛 Hurt,鈥� Vivienne packs her bags to flee after the assault, then puts them down and resolves to stay.
鈥淎t one point you have to ask yourself: What are you living for? I do believe that something is changing for women and I鈥檓 part of this. I can tap into my grandmothers and great-grandmothers and also try to connect with who鈥檚 coming and who was before," says Krieps. "I don鈥檛 really know why. I just know that鈥檚 how it feels. I think the dialogue is broken between men and women because women learned to hide the wound.鈥�
Since 2017's 鈥淧hantom Thread," Krieps has emerged as one the movies鈥� most authentic, instinctive and defiant screen presences. It's not an act, either. Krieps, who lives in Berlin with her partner and two children, is herself a force of stubborn independence.
She doesn鈥檛 like to rehearse. Every take she does differently. She鈥檚 willing, she says, to risk a scene being bad in order to make it real.
鈥淎nd I believe inside: They can鈥檛 tell me what to do,鈥� says Krieps, smiling. 鈥淚 was working with Gabriel Garcia Bernal, and he was like, 鈥業 think this director really wants us to say the lines.鈥� And I said, 鈥業 don鈥檛 care. They cannot tell me what to do.鈥� And he looked at me rather impressed.
鈥淔or me, art is like a wild creature,鈥� she adds. 鈥淭o tame it, you pretend that you鈥檙e not seeing it. But, of course, I want it to come to me so badly.鈥�
This rebellious streak in Krieps is clearly present in other parts of her life. She describes being resentful of a streaming service that, after she had played Hitchcock, would recommend only things like 鈥淭omb Raider."
鈥淵ou鈥檙e trying to (expletive) influence me!鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd by chance, it鈥檚 made by you as well. What a coincidence! That鈥檚 why the system is (expletive). It鈥檚 hiding good cinema.鈥�
Krieps, a deeply anti-algorithm actor, has sensed that her progress in the film industry, too, could become its own construct. She has, she says, tried to work frequently with first or second-time directors. She's turned down many more Hollywood offers than she's accepted.
鈥淚f I get too comfortable, then I might be led into superficial things as well,鈥� Krieps says. 鈥淎s an actor, you could be easily led into some life that鈥檚 not your life. You start thinking of who you are as an actor. 鈥極h, I鈥檓 this guy,鈥� or 鈥業鈥檓 this woman. That鈥檚 what they like me for.鈥� All this stuff and the gifts and the parties, the 鈥業 love you鈥� and 鈥業 love you too!鈥� It鈥檚 like foam. It goes up and up and then there鈥檚 nothing left that鈥檚 actually real.鈥�
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Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
