Toni Collette talks new comedy 'Mafia Mamma,' viral legacy of 'Hereditary': 'I am mother'

In her new capo comedy, Toni Collette gets an offer that she can't refuse.

"Mafia Mamma" (in theaters Friday) follows a hapless American woman named Kristin who travels to Italy for her estranged grandpa's funeral, where she learns she's inherited his powerful crime syndicate. Kristin embraces the role of Mafia don with bumbling naivete: She wields high heels in self-defense and brings muffins to a mobster meeting.

In real life, that's not how Collette would do business. "I don't bake and I can't cook," says the Oscar-nominated actress, whose hobbies include yoga and meditation. Instead, "I'd give everyone a little Reiki session."

Wine and whack jobs aside, the movie also has deeper messages of independence and self-worth, as Kristin grapples with empty-nest syndrome and her husband's infidelity. Thematically, the film has surprising similarities to Collette's Amazon Prime Video series "The Power" (new episodes streaming Fridays), in which young girls develop the ability to zap electricity from their fingertips. In turn, they feel safer and more confident and can protect themselves from oppressive men.

"One is very funny and one is very intense, but they're both really empowering stories," says Collette, 50. She tells us more about those projects and the viral legacy of "Hereditary," her 2018 horror hit.

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Question: "Mafia Mamma" might be best described as "The Godfather" meets "Eat Pray Love." Do you get wanderlust?

Answer: Totally. I am a complete adventurer. When I was 24, I rented a car with ("Muriel's Wedding" co-star) Rachel Griffiths. We drew the shape of a heart over a map of Ireland and then drove around the country following that heart shape. That was pretty amazing.

It's so nice to see you in a comedy again. What drew you to this script?

It came to me during COVID, and it was like a beacon of light in a very murky, unknowable place. It just made me laugh out loud, but there's also some moments of real depth. And I cannot express how joyous it was to make. Italy itself is magical, but being in Rome was so special. I have completely fallen in love with that city.

There's one scene where you get to stomp vineyard grapes. Did it feel just like "I Love Lucy?"

It felt freaking great is what it felt like. It gets really slippery very quickly, though, so you have to be careful about it.

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What sets "The Power" apart from other genre series?

It's less about a fictitious superpower and more about the power we all have within us, whether we acknowledge it or not. More than anything, it's about looking at the potential of a world that actually is inclusive and thrives on equality.

As the season goes on, the government tries to control and criminalize women's bodies. Young men also get radicalized by an Andrew Tate-like figure, who makes misogynistic videos about male dominance. Has it been eerie to see these storylines play out in the real world?

When Naomi Alderman released the book (the show is based on) in 2017, it was already quite pertinent. And then the show was pretty much shot over the last three years (amid pandemic delays). So I feel like no one could have known how sadly necessary this story would be in this particular time. I'm so glad it exists to challenge certain things, but I'm sorry that it has to exist at all. It's bonkers how it's become more and more relevant.

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Your character, Margot, is a politician who stands up for young women with powers, including her daughter (Auliʻi Cravalho). The series' trailer also teases the possibility of Margot gaining electrical abilities herself. What can you share about her arc going forward?

She feels like she has to be the truth-teller among a lot of people who are trying to squash and deny these girls their powers. What becomes interesting is the strain it has on her marriage. She's a good person trying to do the best for everybody. But when her own husband (John Leguizamo) starts questioning it, it's really a punch to the gut.

Five years on, people are still obsessed with "Hereditary," in which you play a woman who discovers her late mom was in a Satanic cult. There's even an Etsy tote bag with your entire "I am your mother" monologue printed on it.

I discovered recently that apparently, I am mother. In terms of social media, I didn't realize (that's what people call me). There's a lot of enthusiasm for that film – it's so wild to me. But it's about this woman who's completely betrayed (by her mom). She manipulated and used and lied to her. And at the time, Trump was in power. I didn't want to say this then, but I was like, "Nobody feels represented. This man is a lunatic." I think there were so many threads between that film, and what was going on politically and socially, that maybe people's rage was projected onto the film. It was a period where people felt unheard and unsafe, and that might have been an unconscious chord that was struck.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: ‘Mafia Mamma’: Toni Collette talks mob comedy, Amazon show ‘The Power’