Samara Weaving on the Joys of Playing a Diva in Hulu’s The Valet
The post Samara Weaving on the Joys of Playing a Diva in Hulu’s The Valet appeared first on Consequence.
“It is quite fun being a little bit evil. It’s just a bit more interesting than being nice all the time,” says The Valet star Samara Weaving, who didn’t realize until this interview how many times she’s played a “crazy actress” (her words) in the past few years.
The Australian actress (and niece of Lord of the Rings star Hugo Weaving) got her first screen credit in 2008, and since then has appeared in projects including the Oscar-winning drama Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, the Showtime dramedy SMILF, and the delightfully twisty horror film Ready or Not.
But she also played aspiring actress (and daughter of the studio head) Claire in the Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan Netflix series Hollywood in 2020, and in The Valet, she’s Olivia, a major star who convinces titular valet Antonio (Eugenio Derbez of CODA) to pretend to be her boyfriend, in order to keep her affair with a married businessman (Max Greenfield) out of the public eye. Also, later this year, she’ll also appear in Damien Chazelle’s Babylon, a secretive but star-studded picture set in 1920s Hollywood — featuring Weaving as another actress.
While The Valet very much belongs to the genre of romantic comedy, the film takes some unexpected paths in depicting the growing bond between Olivia and Antonio, and also pulls back the curtain on certain realities of Hollywood life (like, for example, just how much damn work goes into making even a naturally beautiful woman “red carpet ready.”) In the interview below, transcribed and edited for clarity, Weaving explains how her research into actresses of the 1920s and ’30s affected her portrayal, and why she’s very grateful to be working in this decade.
So, when you were reading the script, how much of your character do you feel like was on the page already and how much did you feel was kind of a work in progress?
Rob Greenberg and Bob Fisher, the writers, were really collaborative. It was very much there on the page to begin with, they had a fantastic character. But we had lots of inside jokes pertaining to the industry, and we were reading stories about actresses in old Hollywood and finding really interesting little tidbits. They were really really collaborative, and so was the director, which was really fun. We were able to play a little bit.
I was reading about actresses in the 1920s and 30s who, you know, they had a rough go at it because back then, Hollywood wasn’t the kindest toward them. A lot of them had to claw their way to get respected and there were some really really great stories from back then, so I sort of mirrored and based her on that old school diva kind of personality.
Can you share an example?
There was an actress who refused to work with dogs or babies, because they would steal screen time from her. I love that so much.
That is a delightful detail. When it comes to playing a character who you seem comfortable calling a diva, like, you know, what was important about finding the line between “She’s being assertive, she’s being self-confident,” and “She’s going to push into perhaps inappropriate or rude behavior.”
Yeah, I really played with intention — what really is her intention here? Is it to, you know, tell women’s stories and be an advocate for the “future is female.” Or is it just to get attention? Playing with that fine line was quite fun.
How often do you think she was more on the side of wanting attention?
Definitely for the first half-hour of the film, it’s just very selfish intentions — just validating her self-worth.
How fun was that to play?
It was really fun, It was really really fun. Exhausting, but getting the freedom to see what it’s like if you really behave that way was fun.
Did you find yourself between takes becoming overly nice, like, “No, this is just a character I’m playing”?
Yeah, I really wanted to make sure that everyone knew that this was just an act. “I promise, I don’t usually scream at people!”
There are also a lot of really good, very lived-in details in the film, things people outside the industry might not have been aware of. How much of that do you feel like you were able to contribute?
Yeah, like the writers asked me about getting ready [for premieres] — there were really funny tidbits. I have had to lie down in the car so I don’t crease the dress, or [seen] a lot of people standing up in a bus so that they don’t mess up their hair and dresses. Little things like that. Yeah, or having like a dress delivered right before you walk out, yeah.
It’s nice to have films that reveal all of the effort that goes into red carpet looks because it’s very easy to look at those photos and be like “Oh, why don’t I look like that?”
Totally! Yeah, there’s a lot going on behind the scenes, a lot of people.
So you’ve worked on this project, you played an actress on the show Hollywood, and you’ve got Babylon coming up — this feels like it’s becoming a sweet spot for you. Is that just a coincidence, or is there something about telling stories about Hollywood that really interests you right now?
You know, I never thought of that until you said that. That’s really interesting. Yeah, I’ve done three projects where I’ve played a crazy actress. Ok, I might have to switch it up for the other ones. Um, I don’t know. It is quite fun being a little bit evil. It’s just a bit more interesting than being nice all the time.
The Valet (Hulu)
Your character in Hollywood is pretty grounded. Olivia has definitely her ups and downs. Is your Babylon character on that same scale?
I’m really nervous to talk about Babylon, but you’re not far off.
While we’re on the subject, though — I feel like a lot of people have suggested that you and Margot Robbie could play sisters at one point. Is that finally happening?
Not that I know, not that I know of. It would be fun.
Continuing on the question of Hollywood, though, what is it about projects about this subject matter that interest you?
It is just such an elusive industry. It’s so many crazy people, especially back in the day. I think it’s getting harder now to be an insane human being and get work, like people are fed up with it now. But, you know, even especially 50, 100 years ago, people were just bonkers and drunk all day. So it’s really fascinating.
I mean, if you picked one era of Hollywood to work in, would you have picked this one?
Weaving firmly nods yes.
So you have no actual fondness for the idea of being a star in the 50s or 20s
Oh, look, I mean if I were a man, sure, it would be great. Being a woman back then sounds awful. Yeah, no. It’s much better now.
Was there a table read for The Valet? Because it feels like such a fun cast, I’m curious what it was like if they were all gathered at one place at one time for the first time
There wasn’t a table read. I don’t know if that’s perhaps because of COVID restrictions. I don’t know if we could have all of us in one room. Yeah, we just sort of had to see how it would unfold, which was really great because when I watched it for the first time, it was a lovely surprise because I hadn’t seen a lot of the scenes, I only witnessed the ones that I was in. And all the scenes with the family, and at the valet stand, were just so funny and sweet.
Yeah, I think that what’s really nice is the central relationship of this is relatively unconventional, especially for a project in this genre. How big a factor was that in your interests?
It was really great because it is really unexpected. And this story is, you know, there’s a familiarity there but it’s not something I had really seen or read before. It kind of skirts around the rom-com cliches but still pays homage to it. It’s very clever in that way.
Was there a particular favorite moment on set?
Oh, there were so many. The scenes where my character is quite hungover and gets sort of bombarded by Antonio’s entire family were really fun, because everyone was sort of talking over each other and it’s always really fun when there’s a lot of cast members and we’re just laughing and being ridiculous in between takes.
The Valet (Hulu)
And there was this scene, it was quite a short scene, but for some reason, we couldn’t get through it. Max [Greenfield] and I are in a car and we’re scheming, and we just couldn’t stop laughing — I mean, Max makes me laugh at the drop of a hat, but it was hard because we were shooting, gosh, six-to-eight scenes a day. But there were a lot of laughs.
What was the toughest part about playing an actor acting?
I think it really easily could have been a caricature or an impersonation of an actress, so trying to walk that fine line of making it a character… She’s very extreme and outlandish, but grounded at the same time, and because her life is so crazy and the situation she gets into is so insane and she’s insane. So trying to level that all out was a bit of a game of Tetris. But hopefully we pulled it off.
Yeah, I think there’s just a decision you have to make at the beginning, which is how good an actress is she?
I mean, she must be good because she’s very, very famous. You know she almost has that ’90s Julia Roberts fame. There’s a few snippets of her in films throughout [The Valet] and I tried to take them as seriously as possible. I know they’re sort of spoof-y in their own way, but I tried to play them so straight so that you bought that she would be a somewhat successful actress.
In the film, Olivia is starring in a biopic about Amelia Earhart — would you want to make a Earhart biopic for real?
I mean, sure, great! Sign me up!
Great, well I’m running out of time with you, but before I let you go, I want to ask about something you’re doing that’s not playing an actress — the film Chevalier which sounds like a really fascinating project, and I love the writer’s work so I’m curious if you could say maybe about that.
Yes, Stefani Robinson is awesome. I’m still in the dark, I haven’t seen it. But it was fabulous to make and just stunning. And the cast is overwhelmingly talented, so I think it has all the ingredients to be a fabulous watch. I’m excited to see how that turns out.
The Valet is streaming now on Hulu.
Samara Weaving on the Joys of Playing a Diva in Hulu’s The Valet
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