Zoe Kravitz talks her DIRECTORIAL DEBUT 'Blink Twice'

so I'm fresh out literally walked across from watching my God how are you feeling freshly traumatized but thoroughly entertained okay yeah congratulations okay thank you but you know what I thought first coming out the film is like I feel like I've seen something really unique really different and it's so refreshing so congratulations thank you thank you so much yeah where did the where did where did the idea come from what kind of sparked this idea to write it first of all I think like a life time of of of Rage um but really I started writing this just as kind of an exercise of kind of not knowing where to put a lot of my feelings and you know both reflecting on you know things I've witnessed things I've experienced things my girlfriends and my family you know really just so many questions and and so con yeah so so much anger and um wanting to try and find a way to um kind of highlight the absurdity of of The Human Experience but specifically you know the female experience and and what we are not only asked but expected to to do and when you were writing it was the idea always that you wanted to direct it I was just writing I I was like this is some insane thing I'm just putting down to kind of work out you know these feelings and to let it out of my body and then you know kept on writing but again not even sure it would ever get made um and so it kind of just kept evolving to the point of you know oh okay this is done oh it's a script now oh we're going to make it oh okay um but at that point I just I'd seen the film so clearly in my mind and it is so strange and specific um tonally that I felt like I just you know I would didn't feel like I could just explain to someone else this is what it is so was it like being on set for that first day of filming on your film as your kind of first feature insane insane I mean there's like there there's a picture of me somewhere that someone has I think Chan has with me like super excited early morning here we go and then the end of the day I was like I can't do this and it wasn't the day went badly it was just so overwhelming um but you know you kind of get into your groove and then yeah and you bring such a wealth of experience with you from you know being a creative and I imagine you're a type of person that brings along you know experiences and you things you've observed and things that you've learned and watching whilst you've been on the other side of the camera oh absolutely I mean I I'm I'm I'm in love with Cinema and so I've always just kind of you know sat over the director's shoulder and really wanting to learn understand you know what it takes but the craziest part is that even though I am so interested and I've been on so many film sets I had no idea what it takes to make a film like actors are just and I think you know it's a good thing but so protected from what really goes into it so that they can focus on their job you know but you just don't know until you see it you know the amount of work that's gone into everything before the actor shows up shows up on set and says where's my coffee you know yeah in terms of cost and the casting in this film is absolutely brilliant and you know across the board all those kind of all those little roles as well as the kind of you know the the leads in The Ensemble how was that process for you you know in terms of putting this this group together that it that would really work and you could feel those connective tissues but also those kind of places where they're needed to be distance as well I mean in terms of everyone sounds like the start fil I know a piano um sorry um so I okay so in terms of casting this film I I I've been comparing the story to a to the metaphor is a destination wedding because it's so out there yeah it's like the people who don't show up are the kind of the people you didn't want to come anyway and it kind of weeds out the people who don't understand it and the ones that really want to be there are the ones who show up yeah and so it was really easy in terms of kind of finding those people that really understood and were excited by this story and I do think even though everyone is so different and comes from different places and you know different ages and different careers I do think that there was a frequency in terms of Storytelling and interest that brought everybody together and you we you know when we all got together you could see it it was like gel it was incredible incredible like seeing the cast just like mold into this incredible creature all together I mean it was we love each other it's so brilliant the way we're introduced to a lot of the male cast at the at the kind of Gala dinner yeah you know where you kind of when they go past and you kind of you know it's like my God it's Christian Slayer you know they kind of all come in and stuff and it's it's such a clever way of introducing particularly these male characters in that environment and that quite clinical you know that kind of white really sort of in-your-face environment just some brilliant choices in terms of um you know the design but also the way that you've written that in terms of the kind of come in and out of sure it's so such a wonderful way I really wanted to feel like you know when you're overwhelmed you're like oh hi and the whole beginning of the movie too you kind of have to be like there's this Whirlwind that just happened and all of a sudden I'm here you know what I mean when you don't really have time to to think about it and everything moves so quickly and you don't have time to you know if you if you sit on a character long enough you might have enough time to go this guy's a little weird yeah you know what I mean and I wanted it to feel so quick that you didn't notice until you're already on the island yeah yeah yeah with the island what was the reality of where you filmed we shot in the Yucatan in Mexico oh wow yeah you can feel you can feel the um the kind of the the way that you've used the sound design and the music and things as well you kind of it's really Central yeah you know in terms of the sounds of the the insects and things and all that you kind of almost like you know kind of feel it yeah we we had we also I mean a lot of it's just in the you know from the environment we time record a lot of the and have that layer over everything and so that was really fun to play with in the sound design how much music was written in the score because there's a great mix of of um Shonda is this Shanda sh of the the score but then also those fantastic needle drops that you've choose bot Candy by James Brown of course great y thank you um I did write certain stuff into the into the script but I think almost none of it actually ended up making I it was more about places where I knew there would be a song here you know there needs to be a needle drop here um but for whatever reason whether it was you know money or rights or whatever you know those things didn't happen um but we you know found incredible um you know Replacements and you know almost better in every way and um in terms of score I didn't really think about it that much in term until you know I we found chonda and God bless her really went on a on a Journey with me because I didn't really know what I wanted um I knew I knew I wanted a feeling but it was I didn't know what I wanted and at first actually we went on this whole journey where you know the whole thing is like it's a fantasy and this is great and we went with like these kind of like beautiful like sweet sounds and bells and things like that and um and for and then I realized this isn't working and I realize I needed contrast to the beauty of the place and this feeling of dread and and also a repetitiveness instead of like a new sound here a new sound here it's like we have a score we have a theme for Freda and then we have a theme and a and and a feeling of the place and this feeling of dread that's kind of this underlying thing that you always feel and it gets louder and louder and louder until it explodes because you kind of that's you you're you're you're hit with a sound at the very start that kind of it's almost kind of um almost kind of reverberates inside you and that it kind of kind of physically um uncomfortable yeah way so you're kind of like the kind of um inquisitiveness is there from the start yeah and the returning to that sound you know it's like it's subconscious but it's the first thing you hear and then when you get back to that you know to the island you hear it again and even though I think you know maybe for a first time watch you might not even pick up on that but there's a familiarity now that you know that okay I know this feeling I know this feeling you know there's something there's something wrong with this place yeah absolutely God yeah um and also I love that Joe hel osman's character is kind of like like the sort of the the DJ like play a tune and it's just like he's always like I'm on it yeah his phone kind just hit and play yeah and and it and it's it's so clever because those songs that you've you've ended up with whether it's Candi Sten or Shaka Khan that they just really kind of they make you as an audience kind of almost dance in your seat and it's s of like you're like wait a minute I'm sure I shouldn't be doing this yeah this is terrifying I mean I love contrast you know it's one of my favorite um aspects of of film and you know when you can make something um terrifying that shouldn't be you know uh specifically that the the the Young Hearts Run Run free it's like at that point in the movie you know something's got to happen soon you know and something's got to go wrong and we hold on that scene for quite a long time and I do think there's this like feeling of tension and there's also something when it it's familiar songs too so people have their own associations or memory and that song comes on they go oh love this song you know and then all a you're like uh oh what's going on uncontrollably dancing to it which is like referenced to almost kind of the characters as well absolutely and but then I love that that kind of almost not a ju's position with it but it could only ever really be Beyonce that then kind of when they they kind of when there's a shift in power and it's kind of like it's got to be the feeling is beyon I know when I was shooting that scene um I was playing music on a speaker for for Naomi and audrea to walk to because I really wanted them to feel like this is your this is what we call the hero March you know this is your badass moment and I kept on playing other songs and they kept on saying Play Beyonce we want Beyonce and I was like we will never we can't afford Beyonce and so I was like okay I'll play it but just like it's not going to be in the movie don't get too excited and then when we were editing you know we tried so many songs and just yeah you know it's Beyonce and so we put the song in and even when I put it in the the studio my producers they were like it's not going to happen you know and we sent it to her and she said yes and it was like we couldn't believe it I mean we almost sent it like just to say we sent it just to say we tried but the fact that she said yes was I mean incredible that's what that's all you want isn't it you want artist supporting artists yes absolutely and you know she could have said no she could have said they could have given us a number that was so insane we couldn't you know but it was definitely an act of support yeah that's so awesome so good yeah um I don't want to be give any spoil the away for people because you really have to be in it but Gina Davis's character all I want to say is family member qu is that a question yeah kind of Up For Debate okay not NE it's really interesting I've been seeing the different theories about that um and not necessarily the Way It Was Written okay but kind of in the edit left it ambiguous on purpose yeah she is incredible oh my go this in the swimming pool everyone in that moment is so I love it I love it she just kind of like walks out and people go crazy for her in that scene it's so funny she's so funny she the turn the way she just starts by ladies through the pool like why is she in the pool with her bag it's just oh I love it were there were there any specific um filmmakers or films that kind of going into this were really inspiring for you yeah absolutely um I mean Paul Thomas Anderson um Quinton Tarantino I love heightened films I love films that um you can feel the film not only the filmmaker but there's an understanding that this is a movie and there's a playfulness within that and I and there's also a bending of genres like all of their movies in particular are funny heartbreaking terrifying there's tension there's levity you know and I I do love films that kind of play with all of those things and so um I think in terms of tone you know those and you know Scorsese as well like so entertaining you know um um and you don't have to choose between substance and style um and entertainment um so yeah those are definitely some my favorite F Naomi is brilliant in this I mean she's just she's phenomenal and and those kind of th those kind of two almost Partnerships three really Partnerships that she has throughout the film um are just you know absolutely wonderful um I love I love almost the the growth of that second friendship in a way which is just really that's another thing as well there's there's so many lovely themes that run through the film as well and there's that that speech that um aan gives at the table which is about kind of how women don't support each other enough and or and and it's it's like God you're it's it was there's some really lovely things to come out the film as well as the kind of plot of the film if that makes sense yeah absolutely I wanted to um I mean the film is really is about the the female experience right and so that is not only you know what it is to be in the world and and our experience with with men and fear but also um our experience with each other and it is so complex you know and we really are often made to feel like there's not enough room for both of us and um and I feel like also because women are often meant to feel like our our worth is is is desire is to be seen by men specifically you know I think oftentimes like don't look don't look at her look at me because that's that's my worth and so it's gotten in the way of us connecting with each other and I've had some of my best friends are people that I did feel competitive with at first and thank God I kind of you know got past that and checked myself and whether it's through a situation or just kind of like getting past it you know um those are some of my favorite people and so I wanted to see that at something I hadn't really seen before in a film yeah and Alia as well just I could yeah I could I could watch her paint a room I know she she she's one of the most beautiful charismatic wonderful I mean she's one of my best friends so I just was so um happy to get to to get to work with her how was it director it was great it was so different though I know I mean we've been really good friends for you know 15 years and so um to I've never seen her on a set and she is someone who you know she grew up on on a movie set you know or on a TV set so she's really comfortable on set and very in control and actually a little bit more serious than I was expecting her to be cuz we're always so like like silly and drinking wine and hanging out and I was like oh business Alia serious actor Alia you know she takes her work very seriously um and is super prepared and you know she knows what she's doing she's a brilliant actor yeah she's phenomenal um channing's extraordinary that I'm sorry scene yeah talk to me a little bit about the kind of what you wrote on the page for that and and playing with that in the moment when you were filming it that scene in particular I mean me and Chan had worked for a very long time on SL backstory and really wanting to get clear even if it was just for us to know who he is where he comes from why he is the way he is um really not wanting him to feel onedimensional or evil for Evil's sake you know we wanted to really make a person that you know no person thinks they're doing the wrong thing they think they're doing the right thing and so with that scene in particular really wanting to um you know give the audience a little bit of information without that you know kind of like let me tell you about everything you know so just finding it was great because we we knew the whole story and we could just take little pieces of it and put it in there and um and then the the concept of the apology video and um that scene in particular I think we did it a bunch of times and he was always saying it to Naomi and then I think the last two takes I said you know it's crazy but try saying it directly into the camera and it worked so beautifully and it was such an interesting moment and um and he just pushed himself to this place that was just I mean I all of us behind the monitor were like you know but um yeah I mean that's one of my favorite scenes in the film yeah it's kind of the it's the emotions you go through as a viewer sort of as you're watching yeah and the repetitiveness of it kind of makes you uncomfortable and then angry and then maybe compassionate like you get to go through all these emotions with him it's really interesting I hope you've got the next one lined up I have some ideas but I I I have to kind of um get this out into the world so I can make some room um in my brain but I but I I do want to I'm I'm very excited to to start writing soon yeah that's great I want to ask before we finish just um you know we talked about soundtracks and music and how important they are to to storytelling is there a is there a score or a soundtrack that you go back to more than than others you know in terms of something that you choose to listen to uh let see I mean I don't listen to a lot of sound to a lot of scores again my life but I do you know I'm very aware of the scores that have affected me um I think particular you know there's The Shining score which is perfect um I love all of Johnny Greenwood's work and all of pta's films you know particularly um There Will Be Blood yeah um is one of my favorite scores and also Phantom thread and um even and Rosemary's Baby as well that beginning that la la la la it's like so creepy um I think those are some of my favorite scores yeah well from the directors you mentioned earlier as well their kind of use of music is kind of so you know it's it's such a big part of their world where it's Tarantino or SC Tim and both that kind of scored on needle drop sort of thing as well it's absolutely mix and getting that right yeah and the ju to position like we were saying too you know one of my favorite scenes is that scene in Boogie Nights where um they're going to do like the the drug deal and there's God what song is it it's like I I can't remember the song but there's like a kid throwing um you know uh uh like little firecrackers on the ground and there's like I forget I can't think of the song right now but it's like this kind of disco song or whatever and it's just like the tension is incredible and um yeah I mean so playful so genius subverting you know the expectations yeah which you've done brilliantly in blink twice as well great to talk to you yeah so nice talk really enjoyed that thanks so much