Sometimes, shooting a movie with a non-human costar is, quite literally, tough s—.
Birds dont act, and magpies are aggressive birds that nobody likes!"
Watts tells EW just ahead of the film’s Saturdaypremiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Credit: Courtesy of TIFF
Watts remembers, laughing.
and it literally went into my mouth."
Read the full conversation onPenguin Bloom directed by Glendyn Ivin and also starringAndrew LincolnandJacki Weaverbelow.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: This film is based on a real family’s journey toward healing.
They drew my kids in right away.
I loved this family experience that it created right there on that morning.
You just never know who that person is until you get in the room with them.
With Sam, it was an instant connection.
She couldnt have been more generous and open.
She’s a very dear woman.
I was looking at photos of Sam, and it looks like you guys shot in her real home?
You’re absolutely right!
It was their house.
We totally redesigned it to suit Glendyn’s aesthetics and sensibilities for the look and feel of the film.
How does that change the way you express emotion or perform when one part of your body is immobile?
Every time I would do that transfer, Glendyn would say, Oh, I saw your leg move!
or Your stomach was obviously very involved in that!
These are things Sam doesnt have the capacity to do.
Thats how trapped she felt constantly.
Also helpful: You worked with a real bird, right?
That was one of my big concerns going into it: How do we fall in love with birds?
Birds dont act, and magpies are aggressive birds that nobody likes!
Its 90 percent of all live birds.
Were there any mishaps or unexpected surprises with the birds?
Um, well, I didnt expect to be s— on the face!
and it literally went into my mouth.
There was a trust issue as well, like, is it going to peck my eyes out?
It felt weird in the beginning.
We all bonded over these birds.
No animal likes being on their back unless theyre truly comfortable, so it was a magical moment.
What happened to that?
That just never happened.
Thats a long time ago now we talked about it, over 10 years!
You channeled the fear of the birds into this!
Weve all had to rethink our lives in isolation and in deep ways.
