EXCLUSIVE: Rupert Friend & Maya Hawke Talk Starring Together in ‘Asteroid City’
Maya Hawke and Rupert Friend star in Wes Anderson’s new film, Asteroid City. We got the chance to hear from the two stars regarding working together, building cast chemistry, and so much more. Check out what they had to say below.
Friend on collaborating with Hawke: “There was so much freedom One of the things we’ve talked about a lot is that Wes [Anderson] wrote one of his more succinct stage directions in the scene where we have our musical number, and it just said, ‘They dance.’ That was it. We kept saying, ‘When’s the choreographer coming? When’s the rehearsal?’ And he was like, ‘Oh, yeah, another time, another time.’ And we got there and we hadn’t had any of that, we kind of went for it. And that feeling of exuberance was actually an amazing moment.”
Hawke on building a bond with Friend through Anderson’s approach to filming: “Wes sort of cut all the fat and ridiculousness out of the moviemaking process. In so many times when you have a scene partner, you have to establish a bond. You have these chemistry reads. And it’s like, ‘Oh, we’re all gonna meet, and we’re gonna talk, and you guys are gonna get to know each other.’ And instead, Wes is like, ‘Why don’t we just have dinner every night together? Wouldn’t that be fine? And actually, you guys are off tomorrow, and you should go for a walk.’ And Friend and I just did. We went for a bicycle ride.”
Hawke on Anderson’s ability to build cast chemistry between takes: “Often you’re on hold when you’re doing a movie. And you get brought in and you sit in your trailer, and you wait. Wes has fixed that because you don’t feel like you are on hold. He’s taken you out of this magical, wonderful place where you get to be both kind of engaged in other people doing their work. I remember sitting and watching Scarlett [Johansson] and Jason [Schartzman] do those incredible scenes between that window. And I would come and sit next to Roman [Coppola] at his little monitor and watch them. Then after a little while Adrien [Brody] would come over and he’d be sitting there, too. We were all engaged in the movie as a whole. It never felt like, ‘Oh, this is my part, this is your part.’ It always felt like everyone was lifting each other up. And that built chemistry really quickly and easily.”
Friend on whether he has a musical background: “I have a slide guitar lap steel background. Only in a very kind of campfire sort of way. And when Wes asked if I wouldn’t mind learning this instrument, and then playing it live with some musicians I’d been admiring my whole life, it was a big, daunting kind of gulp moment. I got to sit down to jam with Jarvis Cocker and Sir George, and the other two guys were extraordinary musicians. And they all do this for a living, and they’re incredible. I really was the odd man out. But I think Wes says things to me and I always feel that’s sort of a bit of a challenge, a bit of a dare, and I love that. So I enjoyed trying to rise to that.”
Asteroid City will be released to theaters tomorrow, June 23.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity
Photo credit: Pop. 87 Productions/Focus Features