Elizabeth Olsen, Carrie Coon, Azazel Jacobs | His Three Daughters | Q&A screening

play right and so it's very important to us that things be well constructed we just don't see it very often I think the first thing that um that I mean it's it's kind of impossible to ignore was the use of language and um I i' I've never opened a script and seen a page and a half of one character speaking with such Clarity of how it was going to be shot um and so there was such a Clear Vision of how we were able to read it and then there is a clear idea of of a rhythm to the script and that the this the way that these women spoke to each other it is very I I believe grounded in a a a very true reality and there it's also this other way they speak with each other within the film I feel like it takes you on a journey with them because the language is so specific and so that was something I loved and I think a moment that always stood out for me um was was uh because I'm I was looking specifically as at as many details that made me enamored by my Tor as one do when they read something and knowing that they're supposed to be reading specifically imagining one one you know you as one person um it was uh Christina trying to find space in this chair and of course we didn't have it's the scene with the the weird wall and she's just sitting and it's um funny and it's at a strange place within the story you know it's this moment where we all kind of need to laugh but we're not quite sure what's why and what's happening um and because we didn't have the space what we were you know in my head she was like in a closet sitting in a chair and so when we got to the set and we were trying to figure out what that place was it was it was absolutely like one of those moments of oh now this makes more sense than what I had in my head cuz who would be hiding in a chair in a closet um who has a chair in a closet like I don't know why that is what I imagined but it always um it always was a a funny moment to me that stood out and was uh incredibly specific to um everyone's survival mechanisms of trying to create spaces for themselves within this confined space it's really interesting you bring that up because oh you know what it was it was the fact that we were all stuck in that apartment in between setups with a crew of 12 moving equipment from room to room and so basically we were sitting on each other's laps playing spelling beat and so that helps with intimacy most most behind the scene photos that were taken uh Natasha Carrie and I our limbs are completely entwined um you can't tell who whose leg is who say before I hand it out to the similarity is that AA shot in order when you do a play you generally do it in order and so when you have a climax you've had a whole bunch of story leading up to it and then you do your big speech and you cry and then there's sort of the coming down from that moment and the resolution and we never ever do that anymore in TV and film because of budget so it's always location dependent so when I'm shooting guilded Age season 3 sometimes I'm shooting scenes from three different episodes in one day and I have absolutely no idea what's going on or what I'm doing I'm like are we fighting right now is this the part where we're fighting I mean I just don't know what's happening and so so the pleasure of shooting in order is that you get to make discoveries about where everybody ends up and so when we found ourselves in the final Tableau and you've spoken beautifully about this we didn't know what that moment was going to be after we met Vincent and we were in that moment and so I remember being so startled that Christina was in the middle you know I'm the big sister I'm in charge but she was the one actually who was holding us together and I was able to be vulnerable to her you know and she was holding Natasha like that was very you put us in those positions I know that you did but never indicated how you hoped we would respond or feel by the end there's no indication of of emotions on the page or that I think you gave us his notes and I and I think we could have only have made those decisions having the experience of the film all the way up to that point um and you know if we were to have shot the ending on day seven of 20 I think we would have made decisions like oh shoot which happens all the time and sometimes it's informative and it becomes a pillar that you get to and you try and trick yourself into ways of it being helpful um but it's not largely helpful um but uh and I think I i' i' I love getting to use language and I feel like because I haven't done a a play in so long to use enough to use language that much language in one day um is something I mean there have been some characters where I've been able to you know shoot like8 13 pages of dialogue in a day and it's dialogue heavy and that is a thrilling day at work um but every day felt that way here um and and so I I don't I can't actually say it's been so long since I've been on stage sadly but um the language is the thing I was most excited to to use anyone else have a question oh we have someone the film your character is relatable I don't know if that's a good thing or not but um so in your so youve previously played characters that have dealt with grief but it's more like post grief after they died whereas this film it's like most of the film anyway it's before they died so how did you navigate that like how did you navigate that with Christina and like what sort of emotions must she have been feeling um it's funny because you don't even realize the like trends that you're following in your own choices um but oza truly could have come to me with an independent you know million dooll budget film telling me that Carrie Natasha and I were preparing to be astronauts going to Mars um in a room and I probably would have done it so I it wasn't necessarily that I had to explore you know different stages of of the grieving process but I also don't think I've ever been able to explore this kind of exploration of of the time and space that Oz is speaking to um this this way where you wake up one day and you have no idea if you've been sitting for 11 days with a body that's ready to pass or not I think um I think the thing that was was interesting for me was exploring the fact that even though this this woman comes across as uh overly potentially emotional and unable to process what's going on at the beginning because it's all so overwhelming she actually has these skills as uh performative as they may seem with yoga and breathing and meditation um that she's really gripping on to to um to be able to process the time she's spending inside the room with her father and all that's really off camera um but I do believe that that's what leads her to a different place than than her siblings who are um kind of suppressing and and trying to avoid um but it but I would have done it I think anything else would have presented to me as a as a you know a friend and um it's our third time collaborating together so I I hope to do I want to see the astronaut I'm pretty excited about it [Laughter] too just one room it's a white room it's padded itself does anyone else have a question oh yes we have a lady just down at the front here sorry I'm really making you work for it I should have gone for a middle question during your time in London so far um my question is um I'm so fascinated um by the process from um script to screen um because usually when you read a script um the lines that you read may not translate how you think they will um compared to when you see on screen so um I guess this a um this is a question directed to um all of you I'm just really interested to hear if um any particular scene may be um when you watch it back compared to how you read it um it felt different or um it translated different to how you thought it originally would have and um if it was if you think you made the conscious decision to maybe um change the script slightly because you think it would um look better on screen or translate better um like in relation to the sister's um very like uh complicated relationship on screen I just find it so fascinating what we never changed anything um I think the only thing that might have been was a math age thing like would I have been seven or 12 or something like that but other than that um every every single Interruption was on the page we we followed the punctuation um the moment we started this their Rhythm would change and we had to start overlapping at places we were drilling it because it was we wanted to be as as true to what oza had written because it seemed like it was following such a a pace and and and it was it was like a musical to us and I think to you um and so to that I know we we didn't change do you guys have anything to speak to what what well surprised you I would say it's a great question I I think that um you know I wrote at some point I was picturing the three of them and ra okay get the other Q&A time I'm such a midle child everybody has to be treated the same it's so uncomfortable people aren treated the same do you see him go ahead raise your hand again yeah he rais his hand every time and we never saw him but I saw him what your I better be good that was that was that was so sweet to be honestly um now I feel bad cuz my question was for was not great you can just tell us how great we are um first of all the the movie was incredible it's made me laugh cry brought back some good bad memories um which is fine um but the movie was great Carrie Elizabeth the director you guys did an amazing job uh my question to Elizabeth is uh in your role in his three daughters what differs you from your other roles well gosh uh I don't feel like I have um play anyone is uh gentle and uh and and good hearted and kind I think I gravitate towards characters that are hard to get behind or like because I find it um interesting to have to understand people that I I don't necessarily uh uh I think other people might have a challenge with because I find an interesting exercise for myself um and so it was it was when oza wrote this thing I would you know I wrote this you know hope thinking of you and I thought well then I must be nicer round off or something or or less uh definitive or aggressive or something um and so that's that was the the thing that I I found uh most interesting in in exploring that felt different and I don't know how different that is for other people who have seen other projects of mine not or if it you know you hope they all feel different and that you're the only common denominator okay now actually [Applause]