{"id":201,"date":"2020-11-30T01:06:02","date_gmt":"2020-11-30T01:06:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lilycollinsfan.com\/?p=201"},"modified":"2020-11-30T01:06:29","modified_gmt":"2020-11-30T01:06:29","slug":"lily-collins-on-starring-in-new-oscar-contender-mank-and-what-to-expect-from-emily-in-paris-season-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/lilycollinsfan.com\/2020\/11\/30\/lily-collins-on-starring-in-new-oscar-contender-mank-and-what-to-expect-from-emily-in-paris-season-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Lily Collins On Starring In New Oscar Contender \u2018Mank\u2019 \u2014 And What To Expect From \u2018Emily in Paris\u2019 Season 2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

From the story behind her recent engagement to her transformation into a prim British secretary for David Fincher\u2019s latest black-and-white epic, the actor tells Radhika Seth about her extraordinary year.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This has been Lily Collins\u2019s year. When I meet the 31-year-old actor on Zoom, speaking from her home in Los Angeles, she\u2019s fresh-faced and optimistic, with her hair in perfect curls and wearing a biscuit-coloured Biden-Harris sweatshirt. \u201cI sleep in this,\u201d she later tells me with a grin, though the recent US presidential election result isn\u2019t the only reason she has to celebrate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In September, she became engaged to her boyfriend, writer-director Charlie McDowell. A week later, Emily in Paris landed on Netflix. Created by Sex and the City\u2019s Darren Star and starring Collins as the titular midwestern marketing executive who relocates to the French capital, the show became a cultural phenomenon. But, it\u2019s not the only project Collins has launching on the streaming giant this year. Up next, she\u2019ll appear in David Fincher\u2019s Mank, a glittering tribute to Old Hollywood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Born in the UK and partly raised in California, the daughter of musician Phil Collins and actor Jill Tavelman was always ambitious. As a teenager, she wrote articles for Teen Vogue and in 2008 covered the US presidential election as a host on Nickelodeon\u2019s Kids Pick the President. She went on to study broadcast journalism at the University of Southern California but acted too, joining the casts of The Blind Side (2009), Mirror Mirror (2012) and Rules Don\u2019t Apply (2016). The latter earned Collins a Golden Globe nomination in 2017 and more high-profile roles followed, in the harrowing anorexia drama To the Bone (2017), the critically acclaimed Okja (2017), the BBC adaptation of Les Mis\u00e9rables (2018) and the crime thriller Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mank, however, is a cut above the rest. Set in 1940 and filmed in luminous black and white, it tells the semi-fictionalised story of screenwriter Herman J Mankiewicz as he struggles to pen one of the greatest movies of all time: Citizen Kane (1941). Known as \u2018Mank\u2019 to his friends and played with relish by Gary Oldman, he\u2019s a gambler and heavy drinker who is given one last chance to redeem himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In flashbacks, Mank recalls run-ins with starlet Marion Davies (Amanda Seyfried) and her powerful lover, the media mogul William Randolph Hearst (Charles Dance) \u2014 both of whom inspire the script \u2014 but it\u2019s his British stenographer, Rita Alexander (Collins), whose help he relies on in order to keep working. Holed up on a ranch in the Californian desert, the pair become friends as Mank dictates his masterpiece to Rita. The result is a swooning epic that is close to David Fincher\u2019s heart, as its razor-sharp screenplay was written by his own father, Jack Fincher, before his death in 2003.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ahead of Mank\u2019s release on 4 December, Collins shares how she got into character, what has got her through lockdown and why she first met co-star Gary Oldman at the age of two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mank<\/em> is such a passion project for David Fincher. How did you first get involved?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI heard about it a couple of weeks before I was leaving for Paris [to film Emily in Paris<\/em>]. David is someone that I never thought I\u2019d have the chance to work with. I sent a tape just before I left, and then a few weeks into my job in Paris, I Zoom auditioned. When I found out that I got it, I was so confused [laughs]. I thought, \u2018This is so weird. It can\u2019t all work out like this!\u2019 After that, I had to fly back to LA for fittings and rehearsals, but I was shooting Emily<\/em> \u2014 I\u2019m in every scene and I have no days off. So, I flew back twice for 24 hours. I flew on a Saturday morning after a night shoot in Paris, landed on Saturday morning in LA, went to rehearsals, or a fitting, or a camera test, flew back, went to bed and woke up at 5am to be Emily again. It happened really quickly and I couldn\u2019t stop and think about it because the end result was going to be that I could work on both, one after the other.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Was it dizzying to finish Emily in Paris<\/em> and go straight into Mank<\/em>?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I flew back to Paris the second time [from LA], they were just starting to film\u00a0Mank<\/em>. It was before I finished\u00a0Emily<\/em>, but my part didn\u2019t start until I got back. I had two weeks after that, before I went in. But, it wasn\u2019t that hard because Emily and Rita are polar opposites. Not only is Emily bright, bold and a little bit obvious personality-wise, but she\u2019s also in a bright, bold and obvious world, whereas Rita is in a black-and-white world. She\u2019s harder to read, more no-nonsense, more poised in a sense, and British. So, I could disassociate the second I got on a plane.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What did David want the character of Rita to represent?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRita is, of course, a real person, but there\u2019s little information to be found about her, other than the fact that she\u2019s a stenographer from England and her husband was in the war. I think I saw two photos of her. So, in terms of creating her persona, it was about what she represents for Gary [Oldman]\u2019s character, because he\u2019s at his most vulnerable when he\u2019s with her. They\u2019re each other\u2019s confidantes. For a woman of that time and in that position, Rita was very bold. She believed Mank was capable of more than he himself did, and she\u2019d remind him of what he\u2019d promised to do. He needed that extra kick sometimes. David wanted Rita to have an innate sense of goodness. I loved that there\u2019s not a romance between her and Mank \u2014 it\u2019s a soulful friendship that neither expects.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did you work with Gary Oldman to build that familial relationship between Rita and Mank?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019d actually met Gary when I was about two years old on the set of Bram Stoker\u2019s Dracula<\/em> [1992]. My dad was in Hook<\/em> [1991] and those two films were being shot on the same lot in LA. Then, years later, at the Heavenly Bodies Met gala [in 2018], I was at the valet and saw Gary and his wife Gisele [Schmidt]. I told him how much I admired him. Who would have thought that years after, I\u2019d be playing this character who so admires his character? On Mank<\/em>, we\u2019d laugh and joke around between takes and then when they said \u2018action\u2019, he\u2019d just go back to being Mank. I\u2019d have to pinch myself sometimes because I\u2019d forget that I had to respond. He was amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did those intricate period costumes help you get into character?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRita isn\u2019t a Hollywood starlet, so she\u2019s not done up all the time, but she wants to look presentable. She has little jewellery, she wears small heels but also brogues, and she\u2019s slightly more sporty sometimes. She wears suits, but [often] they\u2019re quite dishevelled \u2014 for instance, if Mank and Rita have been up for hours writing and they\u2019re sweaty. David would say, \u2018Don\u2019t touch them up unless you\u2019re adding more sweat. Don\u2019t make them look perfect.\u2019 I liked the idea of roughing up that time period.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your other Netflix project, Emily in Paris<\/em>, is one of the most talked-about shows of 2020. Why do you think it\u2019s managed to capture the zeitgeist in the way that it has?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe all want to travel. We all want escapism. Being an American in Paris is not a revolutionary idea, but right now it\u2019s impossible. The gift of meandering around a foreign city and losing track of time is something that we all miss. In Emily in Paris<\/em>, we had [stylist] Patricia Field on costumes, so you know you\u2019re going to have a treat for the eyes, and Darren Star, who always [turns] the cities [his shows are set in] into characters in themselves. The show has a sense of humour, a silliness and a brightness to it, and I think it hit at a time when we all needed it the most. We all want to laugh and smile. I think there\u2019s hope on the horizon [now] and the show leans into that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that the second season has been confirmed, what are you hoping to see more of?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI really hope to see Emily spend more time with her co-workers at [the marketing firm] Savoir outside the office and get to know them and [her friend] Mindy [Chen, played by Ashley Park] more. I also hope Emily\u2019s French improves as she continues to grow within her company as a useful and more positive asset, while of course still always finding herself in funny situations. I\u2019d love for her to start to feel more at ease in the city and dive deeper into life as more of a resident than a visitor. But, who knows what will happen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ve had an eventful lockdown in that you got engaged. What was that moment like?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was totally surreal. It was a complete surprise and you can tell from my face [in the\u00a0Instagram post<\/a>]. I\u2019m not\u00a0that<\/em>\u00a0good of an actress [laughs]. I knew from the moment we got together that I wanted to be with him, but I didn\u2019t know when that was going to happen. We were on a road trip, which we love to do with our little dog, and he\u2019d planned the whole thing. There were no other humans around for miles and miles. It was so beautiful and now I get to be a fianc\u00e9e and get into the planning of it all. I\u2019m really excited.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From your Instagram<\/a>, it also looks like you\u2019ve been surfing a lot recently?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[My fianc\u00e9] Charlie\u2019s been surfing since he was a kid. He\u2019s so great at it and a really good teacher. He taught me how to surf during quarantine. It\u2019s cool because it makes you strong. You have to be balanced when you\u2019re up on the board and you\u2019re not in control, so you just have to let go, be calm and roll with it. I feel like that\u2019s a perfect metaphor for right now. Also, I\u2019m a Pisces \u2014 I love the water.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s making you feel hopeful for the future right now?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe [US] election results and the idea that we\u2019re headed towards four years of hope, not hate. I don\u2019t think I\u2019d ever been as involved and invested before. With Obama\u2019s [2008] election, I was covering it for Nickelodeon<\/a> and I was involved because it was my first year of voting, but this year I wanted Joe Biden and Kamala Harris<\/a> to win so badly. I\u2019ll never forget the moment it happened. With these results, we\u2019ve proven that we can use our voices collectively. And, how crazy is it that this was an American election that [felt like] a global election? I had friends in England sending me videos of them celebrating. It\u2019s so powerful and such a relief.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Mank\u2019 is on Netflix from 4 December 2020.<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From the story behind her recent engagement to her transformation into a prim British secretary for David Fincher\u2019s latest black-and-white epic, the actor tells Radhika Seth about her extraordinary year. This has been Lily Collins\u2019s year. When I meet the 31-year-old actor on Zoom, speaking from her home in Los Angeles, she\u2019s fresh-faced and optimistic, … Continue reading “Lily Collins On Starring In New Oscar Contender \u2018Mank\u2019 \u2014 And What To Expect From \u2018Emily in Paris\u2019 Season 2”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/lilycollinsfan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/lilycollinsfan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/lilycollinsfan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lilycollinsfan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lilycollinsfan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/lilycollinsfan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":202,"href":"http:\/\/lilycollinsfan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201\/revisions\/202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/lilycollinsfan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lilycollinsfan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lilycollinsfan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}