Marin Ireland Says She Channeled Tarkovsky and ‘The Act of Killing’ for Her Indie Spirit-Nominated ‘Eileen’ Role

Ryan Lattanzio and Vincent Perella
·2 min read
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Ottessa Moshfegh may have been channeling Hitchcock for her screenplay for William Oldroyd’s “Eileen,” but star Marin Ireland turned to a much different filmmaker for creative inspiration on the 1960s-set noir. The film was co-written by Luke Goebel.

Ireland, nominated for Best Supporting Performance for “Eileen” opposite Anne Hathaway, who was also nominated, came by IndieWire’s spot at the 2024 Film Independent Spirit Awards red carpet to talk the 2023 Neon release. In the film, Ireland plays the mother of a teenager who’s been arrested for his father’s murder, and she’s hiding a secret.

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“I had read the book years earlier, and I was like, what are we doing? Where did this come from?” Ireland said of her first meeting with Moshfegh. “She told me about this documentary she had watched called ‘Lost for Life’ about teens who were convicted as adults, who were serving life sentences, and that was huge for me. I also rewatched the documentary ‘The Act of Killing.’ We talked a lot about Tarkovsky. I watched a lot of Tarkovsky moments. It was a long process for me of being like, how in god’s name? It was a lot of talking to Will [Oldroyd] about it. We had rehearsals for like a month before that, and Will included me in all of that, so that we felt ready, ready, ready, ready. It was one of the most terrifying things I’ve had to do. It involved a lot of prep work and thinking about this kind of moment of vomiting up the most disgusting thing.”

Eagle-eyed fans of Marin Ireland may have noticed her most recently on TV’s “Feud: Capote vs. the Swans” as Katharine Graham, the head of the Washington Post at the time, during the Gus Van Sant-directed third episode that reimagines a Maysles Brothers black-and-white documentary about Truman Capote’s famous Black and White Ball.

“I’m the guest of honor of the Black and White Ball who doesn’t really maybe want to be there,” Ireland said. “She’s being a little bit used by Truman and she knows it, at least according to her memoir.” For the styling, she said, “It was like giant bouffant wig and a Zac Posen recreation of this iconic gown and a whole other vibe. So that was glam, but [for] a woman who doesn’t really like to do that.”

Check out the “blue” carpet interview with Marin Ireland below.

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