You three obviously share a lot of screen time together and it kind of feels like a little movie within the movie. Did Wes ever share any of his inspirations, influences, or his touchstones with you to hone your performances and the tone and emotionality that he was going for?
del Toro: One of his inspirations for Zsa-zsa, who was a famous billionaire from the turn of the century, was an Armenian businessman called Calouste Gulbenkian, and he mentioned that to me. We even talked about [Luis] Buñuel too, the filmmaker. [Looks at Mia] Yeah, did he talk to you about…?
Threapleton: He didn’t talk to me about specific character reference points at all. He did send me some visual references for things, for the green tights or green stockings, those sort of things. I mean, I had formulated a little to-do list during my preparation time before I got to Berlin and we back-and-forthed if he had anything to add to that. And he didn’t, really, but we talked through each point. As I went along, something popped up. I said, “Oh, I found out about this thing.” And then he’d say, “Oh, great. Actually, let’s do a little bit more research on that, really.” Or he asked me to make my [character’s] dossier that we see. That’s come out of my brain, and he asked me to collaborate with the props department, and I was not expecting that to happen. My whole kitchen floor looked like a murder investigation for a while.
Cera: That’s amazing.
Threapleton: It was very weird.
del Toro: That’s cool.
Cera: That’s a lot of work.
Threapleton: It was fun. It was a lot of fun, though.
Cera: We didn’t really talk about movies as touchstones, but it wasn’t necessary either, because this was so vivid. And when you show up, Wes and [costume designer] Milena Canonero have already figured out what you’re going to wear and you see what the sets look like. Wes did play us the Stravinsky piece.
Threapleton: Oh yes, he did play us that piece of music.
Cera: So that gives you a big feel for the kind of movie you’re making. But you also know who you’re working with and you’ve read this script and you know his own filmography and the language is just clear. And also what’s exciting is what’s new for Wes in this kind of movie — this palette and this world — and you just try and bring something new to life together.