Cannes Best Actor Winner Jesse Plemons Unpacks ‘Kinds of Kindness’
Jesse Plemons has become an undisputed auteur’s favorite. The 36-year-old star’s beguiling unshowiness onscreen has landed him memorable parts in films from Paul Thomas Anderson (The Master), Steven Spielberg (Bridge of Spies, The Post), Martin Scorsese (The Irishman, Killers of the Flower Moon), Charlie Kaufman (I’m Thinking of Ending Things), Adam McKay (Vice) and Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog), among so many others. Arguably even more viewers know him from his indelible work on the small screen, which began with his breakthrough role on NBC’s Friday Night Lights, continued through AMC’s landmark hit series Breaking Bad and culminated with an Emmy nomination for FX’s Fargo, where he met his wife, actress and co-star Kirsten Dunst.
Plemons touched down for the Cannes Film Festival on Friday for the world premiere of Yorgos Lanthimos’ Kinds of Kindness, the acclaimed Greek director’s follow-up to his multi-Oscar-winning period fantasy Poor Things. Described as a surrealist fable set in the present day, the new project is an anthology film told in three parts, reuniting Lanthimos with the provocative screenwriting partner of his early career, Efthymis Filippou (Dogtooth, The Lobster, The Killing of a Sacred Deer). Plemons co-leads an impressive cast including Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley and Hong Chau, with each actor playing three different characters across the film’s thematically interlaced stories.
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The film won raves from critics in Cannes after its Friday night premiere, with The Hollywood Reporter’s lead reviewer David Rooney praising Plemons as “an actor with extraordinary range who’s the standout of a stellar ensemble,” while summing up the movie as “a work of audacious originality, vicious humor and balls-to-the-wall strangeness.”
THR sat down with Plemons at Cannes’ historic Carlton Hotel shortly before Kinds of Kindness’ world premiere. On May 25, Plemons won the 77th Cannes Film Festival’s best actor award for his performance in the film.
What were your impressions when you read the Kinds of Kindness script for the first time?
Shock. Confusion. By the time I reached the end and finished it, I felt like I had experienced such a wide range of emotions and feelings. My body was just on fire. But then on an intellectual level, you can’t quite comprehend why or what ride you’ve just been on. But that was exciting to me. This isn’t just a weird film for the sake of being weird. There’s something really human about it. I felt that it’s exploring issues that we all deal with but rarely look at in this way. After I read the script a few times — before I really started diving into it in terms of how I was going to play it — it was like I had downloaded all of these feelings, but I had no idea where to put them or how to organize them. So that was strange but exciting.
What did Yorgos Lanthimos tell you — about his intentions and his ideas for the characters you would be playing?
He’s not one to explain himself, which is a little unnerving in the beginning. You’re sort of desperate to try and find something to hold on to. And so for me, it was a process of spending a lot of time [with the] script, doing work on my own and making choices, and hoping that they fit into this world. We did talk about certain aspects of it. You know, playing the three different characters. He said early on that he wasn’t into the idea of really extreme transformations and it turning into some actor show-off kind of thing, with everyone showing how different they could be across these three films. So it was about finding this line, where they are different and specific. The physicality was something I was thinking about; the wardrobe really helped. Because, you know, we were wrapping one film, taking the weekend and then starting the next one. So, you make your choices and decide at that point what it means to you — but it constantly changes, because it’s such a movie where, depending on where you are when you watch it or read the script, it totally shifts in how it resonates with you.
The film is set in the contemporary world, but the costumes and the set design feel very specific and slightly heightened in an interesting way.
Yeah, the colors are very specific, too, right? I really fought for that turtleneck worn by my character Andrew in the first film. Our costume designer really had her work cut out for her — we were basically doing three films at once. And a lot of it was just trial and error — put it on and see how it feels. And with Andrew, we hadn’t looked at anything for him until the camera test. Without thinking, I just put that shirt on and really became attached to it. A lot of it was just a feeling. Yorgos is really collaborative and open, but it has to align with his feeling as well. So it’s an interesting process.
I want to ask the big, obvious question of how you interpret this movie, but I realize that’s a big ask.
I know. I’m really conflicted about that question because part of me doesn’t want to give a definitive answer. I don’t think there’s a wrong interpretation. And that’s what is exciting and interesting to me about this movie. Like I said, it changed for me even throughout the course of shooting. Even just looking at one of the three films, I’d be like: “OK, I know what this is now.” And then two days later, I’d think, “No, actually, it’s all of these other things.” Obviously, the themes he’s dealing with in a very general sense are: control, relationships, institutions and things we’re brought up and conditioned just to accept and not to question. These constructs or institutions that are supposed to make us feel safe and secure — or in the case of the religious one, to lead us to some form of transcendence. They’re all, in a nutshell, very simple but very human themes. We’ve just dealt with them in a really roundabout and unusual way. But in my mind, it’s all very universal.
How about the title? There isn’t a lot of kind behavior in this film.
Yeah, it’s a pretty messed up title. In a perfect way.
Watching you play these three different characters made me think of the way that actors who have become very recognizable, as you’ve become, inhabit each role differently, of course, but there’s also a consistent quality across their performances — those things that are unique about them as a person and performer, which are always kind of there. Have you ever thought about what your consistent quality is as a screen persona?
I’d like to figure it out so I can stop doing it.
That’s probably impossible, no?
(Laughs) I think it is. But I think that’s probably some of the fun of acting — to escape and transcend your own shit. But at the same time, it’s all you’ve got to draw from — your experience and your own limited imagination. And you research something and try and try to see the world through their eyes and from their perspective. Inevitably, you’re always kind of merging the two because we’re all built with the same emotions. And so it always feels like you’re sort of conjuring up and amplifying certain aspects of yourself. But yeah, as far as what that quality is, I don’t know. I’m just drawn to things that feel like life — authenticity, even in the absurd.
I’ll take a stab at it. Watching you and your career, one of the things I find so compelling about a lot of your performances is the way you exude an emphatic normalness, but you often put it to very abnormal ends.
What do you mean by ‘normal’? Like an everyman?
Yeah, it’s hard to put your finger on. It’s this normal guy-ness, but it’s so radically normal that it’s slightly abnormal. I mean this as a compliment, by the way. It’s really compelling.
I think I get what you’re saying. I’ll take it. It’s really hard to see yourself, isn’t it?
I’ve heard a bit about Yorgos’ rehearsal process — how he has the actors play theater games rather than do straight rehearsals of the scenes. What was that like?
It was interesting. I’m always game to do something different — to throw myself into something that’s a little uncomfortable or unfamiliar. So, yeah, Yorgos’ rehearsal process is rooted in some kind of avant-garde Greek theater games. It seems like he’s been doing it for so long that he’s just making some of the games up on the spot. One thing it does is take some of the reverence off the script. He helps you break through some of the rules that you’ve come to believe are essential when it comes to filmmaking and acting. A lot of it is about being silly and feeling totally lost. I think it’s also just a very quick way to get to know your castmates because you’re all in this vulnerable state of silliness.
What are the games like?
For one exercise, everyone has their eyes closed except for one person and there are chairs scattered around the room. So the people with their eyes closed are just sort of wandering around and then you’re supposed to start to very slowly sit; and the person with their eyes open has to rush and put a chair under them before they fall on their ass. There are others where we’ll all read a scene looking at the script, and then we’ll do it again and add a game element — maybe someone is behind you and you have to mirror whatever gestures or dance they are doing as you say the lines. So it’s all kind of physical, strange and disorientating.
This cast seems like a uniquely cool group of people. Was it a fun set?
Yeah, it was. And it’s not all that common. You know, even though this was my first film with all of them, you stepped onto set and there was this comfortability between everyone. It felt like a weird family theater troupe sort of environment among them. And Willem Dafoe was one of the more interesting creatures I’ve ever met. He just completely marches to the beat of his own drum, and has the excitement and enthusiasm of a 12-year-old theater kid who’s just so happy to be there.
Trust is always such a big part of what we do — to be willing to take risks. This was such a unique group of crazy-talented people and it felt like everyone had each other’s backs.
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