TOmy Adams embraces me warmly: she is generous, maternal and transparent. I’m serious. I went to the screening of his new film, Nightbitch. Beast of the night: I hadn’t seen her for four years and I wanted to say hello. «I wonder if she recognizes me», I thought…And her? He sees me, comes towards me, holds me tight. I’ve always liked her, and not because she hugs me every time I meet her… Rather because she instantly communicates kindness. He has a sensitivity, a humor and an irony which arise from her feeling – and always having felt – a little different, not exactly at ease among the crowd and the dictates of the Hollywood world.
Amy Adams, a long and varied career
And to say that, at this point, he should have gotten used to it. With six Oscar nominations – but he has never won one, yet – nine Golden Globes and I don’t know how many other awards, she is considered one of the best actresses of her generation. She can do it all: we saw her as an effervescent, candid and memorable pregnant wife in Junebugprincess “tumistufi” in As if by magiccynical scammer in American Hustle – Appearances can be deceiving and neurotic reporter in the miniseries Sharp Objects. In Nightbitch. Beast of the night by Marielle Heller (former director of Diary of a teenager and of An extraordinary friend with Tom Hanks) – on Disney+ from January 24th – we witness her most radical and surprising metamorphosis: she becomes a bitch.
“Mother” in Nightbitch. Beast of the night
In the movie – based on the novel by Rachel Yoder and of which she is the producer, as well as the protagonist – Adams is a woman who gives up her career as an artist to be a full-time mother. Frustrated by a claustrophobic situation, between an incapable husband and the constant tantrums of her little one, tired from months of sleepless nights, she finds herself increasingly isolated.
“Mother” – this is her name – begins to develop light hair on her chin, then on her body, an exceptional sense of smell, and gradually this impotence to express herself unleashes her repressed ferinity. He gradually transforms into an animal who digs holes in the garden at night and howls at the moon. The story, surreal and ironicis a caustic investigation into the condition of a mother, with neuroses, loneliness and, finally, the loss of identity: she undergoes a radical change and becomes a primitive being.
Amy Adams in “Nightbitch. beast of night” by Marielle Heller. on Disney+ from January 24th.
Amy Adams, the interview
The subject fascinated the actress-producer: inevitabletherefore, when I meet her (three times in the last two months) talk about motherhoodloss of identity, and the overwhelming need to transform and evolve.
Let’s start with Franz Kafka and The metamorphosis. She had been fascinated by the story when she was a girl and dove into it again while preparing for Nightbitch…
I remember those classroom lessons well. For the first time I felt intellectually stimulated, encouraged to think, to analyze the symbolism of the work, to investigate deeply. That book taught me to read in a new way: I found analogies that I had never imagined, I faced the concept of identity for the first time, I studied to try to understand the complexity of mental processes. I was a teenager who was always uncomfortable, torn between my inner world and reality, my true self and the outer one, unable to communicate with others. Reading The metamorphosis with the story of Gregor Samsa who wakes up inexplicably transformed into an insect – I suddenly felt less alone: there too there was a conflict between two realities that did not correspond… They were themes that fascinated me, capturing my imagination in an unexpected way, of course never tried before.
In the film, Mother experiences that profound sense of loneliness and inadequacy sometimes experienced by those who become mothers. She has a 14 year old daughter. What memories do you have of that experience?
After many months of physical exercises and psychological studies that had convinced me that I was prepared for my future, the experience of birth was instead solitary, truly solitary, I faced it as if in a world apart. And the thing that struck me most was seeing that little creature: it was no longer an extension of myself, but an individual now distant, separate. It was – and to this day I can’t explain why – a surprising revelation. And, above all, alarming: I realized that I didn’t know her, I began a mysterious journey to discover her, and that thought scared me. All my security was gone and it took me a while to realize that I needed help. I still remember the first night Aviana (she named her daughter this way in homage to Avianowhere she was born when her father, an American soldier, was stationed in Italy, ed) he had an annoying sob that never stopped. It devastated me, I didn’t know how to help her, I lost my temper, my family was far away, my husband (the actor Darren Le Gallo, ed) – also having his first experience as a father – had no familiarity with a baby… Yes, I felt alone in the world, without any support community to count on.
And the first day at home?
As we returned to the car I thought that nothing would ever be the same again, and I didn’t know how to deal with this. I was terrified.
Amy Adams is “Mother” in “Nightbitch. beast of night” by Marielle Heller. on Disney+ from January 24th.
Amy Adams and being a mother… or rather, “Mother”
Mother can no longer stand singing the same lullaby dozens of times. In the end he doesn’t recognize himself, he doesn’t know who he is, he feels invisible, insignificant, he loses his identity. And it transforms, exactly. She is a convincing dog.
(smiles) It wasn’t difficult to see myself on all fours, I’ve always loved dogs: I have three! It came naturally to me. I perfected my growl and barked by running here and there. “How do you like my barking?” I asked the director. “Do you want it in a higher or lower key?”. I was fine as a Golden Retriever. (laughs)
Speaking of transformations and identity crises, how do you feel today? Mother of a teenager, a solid marriage, a more than rewarding career…
We are constantly changing and transforming, right? Personally, I hope to continue this process in a harmonious and constructive way. There are phases of life in which metamorphoses are rapid and traumatic, others (this is my case now) gradual and calm. I am more serene and less hypercritical, and it is a great relief. It gives me a sense of calm. I also learned to be less anxious, to control my need to please and please. I can’t make everyone feel comfortable and happy: there’s nothing to be done, that’s how it is.
Amy, what do you do after filming to shake off a challenging and intense character like Mother?
Intense, but also cathartic, I would say! Look, I have learned over the years, and especially after the birth of my daughter, not to take the character home with me. Yes, of course it takes me a few days to “clean up”, but the family is patient and supportive. Do you know what the ritual is? I go to my favorite Mexican restaurant: it’s been there for 50 years, same place, same menu… And we’re the same age! (laughs) A few baby carrots with jalapeños, a touch of salsa diablo and I’m back in my skin!
He just finished shooting Klara and the sunfrom the novel by Nobel Prize winner Kazuo Ishiguro: it talks about genetic engineering and an inexorably close future.
I’m fascinated by the vision of Ishiguro and the director (Taika Waititi, ed) of a dystopian future. And I am struck by the idea of genetically manipulating a child to make him a perfect being, hoping to give him a better existence. I think we parents aspire to a lot, too much: in reality everything we learn in life we learn on our own…How do you plan a way of life perfectly? And who can do it?
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