Lworking with Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese? «Like climbing Annapurna» she laughs – composed and sweet – Lily Gladstone. A decidedly victorious climb: thanks to Killers of the Flower Moon, in cinemas from October 19thwill (in all likelihood) be the first Native American actress nominated for an Oscar as a leading role. «She IS amazing: she has the entire film on her shoulders» “Leo” recognizes her. Timemeanwhile, has included it in the annual list 100 Next (i.e. among the hundred leaders, in various fields, of the future), citing – for his performances – “magnetism, depth, truth, emotional honesty, extreme preparation and at the same time immediacy”.
Exposé thriller
Features that Lily – a distant descendant of the English Prime Minister William Gladstone due to surprising genealogical connections – had already demonstrated in Certain Women of the cult director Kelly Reichardt and in two series, Billions And Reservation Dogs, but which this time manifest themselves with even greater urgency. “I felt a heavy responsibility in giving voice to Mollie Burkhart, whose grandchildren I met.”
Reign of Terror
Yes why Killers of the Flower Moona documented denunciation film as gripping as a thriller, has at its center an ignoble and repressed story, reconstructed in 2017 by reporter David Grann in The killers of the red earth (Corbaccio): in the 1920s – after the discovery of oil on the reservation, in Oklahoma – the richest population in the world was that of the Osage. The intoxication did not last long: profiteers pounced from the rest of the United States and a period known as “the reign of terror” began, with a chain of 24 murders interrupted with the collaboration of Mollie, married to the ambiguous Ernest (DiCaprio, precisely ).
How did you prepare to play her, other than meeting relatives?
I come from the Blackfeet of Montana and the Nez Perce, not from the Osage, and we had different experiences (after all, there are 560 Indian nations recognized at a federal level, plus the 700 not recognized), but I grew up surrounded by the same strong and resilient: they inspired me. The main key, however, were my father’s stories about his grandmother, who was called Lily like me: she was born in 1896, Mollie in 1886 and I in 1986… Nice, right?
“Grandma’s Tales”
Lily Gladstone with Leonardo DiCaprio in Cannes (Getty Images).
Burkhart has a quiet steadfastness. Does she look like her?
Eh, I would like to be as “solid” and measured as her, but I tend to open up about everything. I talk at a thousand miles an hour and I can talk for hours… The aspect in which I feel really close to her is the love for the family. I owe a lot to mine, I had enlightened parents: in the schools of the reserve, a small rural reality, there are many children and little means, so my mother opted for a year of parental education. My gaze has broadened. For the first time I heard of Mollie and, above all (at the time I believed that my future was dance), Maria Tallchief: an Osage who became a principal dancer in New York and Paris, married to the choreographer George Balanchine. On her set I wear her century-old blanket-cloaks, a gift from her heirs. But do you know from whom I received the most significant compliments?
From who?
Tantoo Cardinal, you will remember her in Dance with wolves (he played Black Shawl, ed) although it was centered on Kevin Costner. She was an icon, a key personality as a native woman in cinema, she conquered a space that was unthinkable at the time.
“My first DiCaprio”
Lily Gladstone and Leonardo DiCaprio in a scene from “Killers of the Flower Moon”.
Even DiCaprio’s praise will have left its mark… Do you remember the first time you saw him on screen?
Maybe in Happy Birthday Mr. Grapebut where it hit me was in Want to start again: I was nine or ten years old and I was fascinated and moved, I felt like I was undertaking the pilgrimage from city to city told in the story together with that restless teenager. It even helped me understand some of my friends who were in difficult situations and develop some understanding, almost sympathy for bullies… Which may not be a healthy thing (we need to protect ourselves and set boundaries), but it was helpful to understand Mollie’s love for Ernest. Since then I have always followed her career as a star.
And now he calls her a Muse, and she already has an Oscar in sight… How does she manage to keep her feet on the ground?
Staying in the present moment. I am grateful to my father for raising me with meditation since I was a child. At the beginning he had shocked me by inviting me to “not think any thoughts”, I didn’t understand what he meant! The other “source” to keep the bar straight in what is happening to me is the bond – and the constant comparison – with the family and the community.
An example of the connection with the community?
The day after the presentation of Killer of the Flower Moon in Cannes I received a photo from Theda New Breast, an extraordinary Blackfeet woman among the founders of the Native Wellness Institute, an institution that deals with the well-being of natives and their common thread with their ancestors… It also has a role in Reservation DogsI helped her with the audition… I’m getting lost… Oh yeah: Theda sent me a picture of Chief Mountain, the local mountain, because we have a saying: “As long as you can see Chief Mountain, you’re home.” Do you know Maslow’s pyramid of needs?
“Great empathy”
Lily Gladstone with Michelle Williams, Laura Dern and Ktisten Stewart in 2016, at the premiere of “Certain Women” (Getty Images).
Mmmhmmm no.
This psychologist, Abraham Maslow, established a hierarchical scale of human needs in 1954. At the base there are the physiological ones (breath, food, water, sleep, sex), then security (health, family, work), friendship, self-esteem up to the top: self-realization. Every need must be satisfied to reach the fulfillment of one’s potential. Well: it seems that he formulated the theory after a period spent with the Blackfeet, observing a society in which self-realization is actually the starting point, not the arrival point. And, on top of that, helping you as a young person identify your purpose and voice is the community’s responsibility. People highlight your strengths and, if they love you, they also highlight your weaknesses, without making fun of you or shaming you.
Utopia?
No, it is not pure idealism, there is a very pragmatic aspect: if you are healthy and balanced, you contribute to the good of all your people and to the transmission of their culture. I compared myself a lot with Martin – not immediately, I waited until I had a bit of confidence (smiles) – on what we leave the audience with this film, apart from creating great empathy towards Mollie and the victims of the “reign of terror”.
Good and evil
Lily Gladstone on set with Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro.
And what did you conclude?
That this story of greed, oppression and violence that happened in the 1920s actually echoes in what is happening today, exactly a century later. The film questions big themes: Good, Evil… Are we facing an uncertain future, and what are the answers? My presence itself is a – very partial – answer: I belong to a native community that has survived the end of the world over and over again… I hope it is a message of hope for those who are uncertain about the fate of humanity.
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