'Skincare' star Elizabeth Banks relates to character's 'battle for relevance' in a world obsessed with success

Playing a celebrity aesthetician in Skincare (now in theatres), Elizabeth Banks is a woman striving for success, starting her own skincare line. With the film looking at themes of fame, power and the pressure to stay relevant, particularly for women, Banks loves her character Hope Goldman so much she said she would be "jealous" if another actor played that part.

"I related to a lot of the elements of this woman's life, the desire to stay relevant as you age, the pressure to figure out how technology works in the business world around us," Banks told Yahoo Canada. "I just felt like that battle for relevance was really something a lot of people can relate to, especially if you've poured your heart and soul into your business, as she has done."

"When it is threatened, her entire identity is threatened, and so I loved playing with, what would you do? What lengths would you go to to protect yourself and protect everything that you've built?"

In Skincare, from director Austin Peters, Hope faces some competition when a rival aesthetician, Angel Vergara (Luis Gerardo Méndez), opens up a studio right across the street from Hope's business. Just as Angel moves into the neighbourhood, Hope starts facing a threat that someone is trying to sabotage her business, starting with her email being hacked and embarrassing messages sent to her contact list.

As things escalate, Hope relies on her new friend Jordan (Lewis Pullman), who describes his occupation as a life coach mixed with martial arts, to help her figure out who's trying to take her down.

"He's a capitalist and he's a schemer, but he's also very charming," Lewis Pullman said about his character. "I think he kind of just tries to become whatever the person in front of him wants him to be, and I think that sometimes he gets lost in that himself."

"Everybody wants to be famous and nobody really is actually famous anymore. It feels like there's no movie stars anymore. It's just like everyone is everywhere all the time. ... Hope Goldman has put her whole life into this thing and [Jordan] meets her and... is in love with her, also ... wishes that he was her."

'It's never enough'

One of the most impactful moments in Skincare actually starts and ends the film. It shows Hope at home, doing her makeup, meticulously putting on her lip liner as police are at her door. Without spoiling too much of the film, it's a moment that you really get to tap into Hope's psyche.

"I think the narcissism of this woman really comes through in that moment and I just loved how singularly focused she was," Banks said. "I feel like her makeup routine is her armour. It's what she puts on to go into battle every day."

"It begins and ends with that moment. You sort of see what it is and you're not quite sure where it is in the film, and what's going to happen. And then it comes back at the end and you realize what's going on, and that she is getting ready, frankly, for the press. For the opportunity to be super relevant, which is what she's been fighting for the entire time, to be seen. And she suddenly is like, 'This is my chance,' as bonkers and dark as it is. ... I loved that about this character, that even as she's going down in flames, she's going to rise from the ashes."

What runs through all the characters in Skincare is this evaluation of not just each person striving for success, but exposing their flaws or vulnerability that they try to keep private. A more fun example of that in the movie is when we get a look inside Angel's home, where he's doing karaoke alone.

"The movie tries to show you the cracks in all these characters," Luis Gerardo Méndez said.

"You could think that Angel, my character, is the most successful one. He's the one who has this salon, with the best technology from NASA, and he's killing it, ... but when you are with him in his house, ... you realize it's never enough, not even for this guy."

'We're living in this world that has so many requirements'

For Hope, in particular, her story really speaks to the relatable fear for a lot of women, that as they age they need to fight to stay relevant and desirable.

"I feel it as a middle-aged woman in Hollywood going like, what is happening around me? What's AI going to do to my industry? How are we going to be telling stories in the future? Do people's attention spans even want to watch a two hour [movie]?" Banks said. "I mean, these are the questions that every artist is asking themselves right now, me included, and I felt like this movie really tapped into it on a primal, deep level that a lot of people could relate to."

"The world we're living in is so connected and it's all about being more productive, being more successful. Stay relevant. Stay healthy. Do yoga, do meditation, be part of the community. We're living in this world that has so many requirements that it gets exhausting, and I think the movie is a little bit about that."